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About Rodney Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1994 to represent the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey, Rodney Frelinghuysen is now serving his seventh term in Congress. The 11th Congressional District includes all of Morris County and portions of Essex, Passaic, Somerset, and Sussex Counties. Rep. Frelinghuysen serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, including three of its most important subcommittees: Defense, Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, Commerce, Justice, and Science, of which he is Ranking Member. In these roles, Rep. Frelinghuysen has authority and oversight of virtually all defense and domestic activities of the federal government, most notably the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Justice, National Science Foundation, NASA, as well as many others. As part of his job serving on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Frelinghuysen spends his time visiting and talking with our troops at our military facilities here in the U.S and abroad, so he can evaluate the needs of our service men and women firsthand. As a Vietnam veteran, Rep. Frelinghuysen knows the seriousness of war and the very real sacrifice being made by our troops and their families. Every American wants our troop's service in Iraq and Afghanistan to be as safe and short as possible. He remains a strong supporter of our National Guard, reserve and active duty soldiers and their families. Rep. Frelinghuysen is well known for his determined efforts to strengthen our military, especially in New Jersey. He is a champion of the work at Picatinny Arsenal, and not only saved it from being closed, but helped it create hundreds of new jobs and become the Department of Defense's "Center of Excellence for Guns and Ammunition." To support our veterans, the Congressman regularly visits the Lyons and East Orange VA hospitals in northern New Jersey to talk with veterans and monitor the progress of the facilities. Most recently, he opened a new Ambulatory Care Center for outpatient services and Domiciliary Care facility for homeless veterans at Lyons. Rep. Frelinghuysen remains focused on his top domestic priorities: job creation and fiscal discipline. The Congressman continues to be a leading proponent for pro-job policies, including successful efforts to reign in excessive government spending, reduce the marriage penalty tax, increase the child tax credit, eliminate the alternative minimum tax, and advance America's leading role in the global economy. For these efforts, Rep. Frelinghuysen has received the "Hero of the Taxpayers Award" from the Americans for Tax Reform. To strengthen our national homeland defense and protect our local communities from another terrorist attack, Rep. Frelinghuysen is the author of legislation that endorses the 9/11 Commission's recommendation for distributing federal homeland security funds to areas like northern New Jersey where the consequences and threat of terrorism are greatest. The Congressman also successfully pressed the Department of Homeland Security to distribute more security funds based upon risk to our nation's high density, high threat areas, which includes much of the 11th Congressional District. He is also expanding security measures to protect mass transit commuters, supplying our first responders with the tools they need to protect our neighborhoods, protecting our ports, securing our borders, and enforcing and reforming our nation's immigration laws. The Congressman has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill that makes border security a reality and not just an overdue promise. As the senior New Jersey Member on the Appropriations Committee, Rodney Frelinghuysen is the point person in Congress for New Jersey's priorities. Working with limited resources, Rep. Frelinghuysen has secured federal help for many of New Jersey's top priorities. A leading advocate for mass transit, Rep. Frelinghuysen secured critical federal funds to expand the Hudson-Bergen line, Newark Light Rail, the Lackawanna Cutoff, and the completion of a new transit station in Mt. Arlington. To protect our environment and to highlight the historical significance of New Jersey, the Congressman authored the Highlands Conservation Act and the Crossroads of the American Revolution Act, purchased thousands of acres of open space in northern New Jersey, expanded the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Morristown National Historical Park, purchased wetlands, cleaned up toxic waste sites, replenished our beaches, and provided needed protection to flood-prone areas. Rep. Frelinghuysen also continues to look out for the future and well-being of children in the 11th Congressional District. Knowing northern New Jersey has some of the best schools in the nation, he is leading the effort to increase education standards in every classroom. To prepare our future leaders, the Congressman is committed to improving the quality of math, science, and technology education in our schools and raising student achievement in these areas. For health care and business in New Jersey, Rep. Frelinghuysen helped expand the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Morristown Memorial Hospital, the Cancer Center and Emergency Room at the Somerset Medicare Center, and the Gallo Prostate Cancer Center as well as promoted more medical and scientific research at virtually all our state's research and education institutions, including fusion research at Princeton. For our nation's seniors and all those who are concerned about access to affordable healthcare, Rep. Frelinghuysen supported adding a voluntary prescription benefit to Medicare, making Medicare easier to use, strengthening New Jersey's critical drug savings programs, expanding preventative care benefits, guarding patients from out of control medical costs and fraudulent lawsuits, protecting social security recipients from fraud and abuse, and creating tax-free Health Savings Accounts. Rep. Frelinghuysen has also been instrumental in the successful effort to expand the federal investment in finding cures and treatments for all diseases through the National Institutes of Health. For those in need of our special care and attention, especially for people with developmental and mental disabilities, Rodney Frelinghuysen has been widely recognized across the country as one of their most effective leaders on Capitol Hill. Rep. Frelinghuysen received the "John Chafee Leadership Award" from the National Association of Retarded Citizens for his leadership on community housing for people with disabilities and his work in support of special education. Back in New Jersey, Rep. Frelinghuysen is focused on his top priority: constituent service -- helping thousands of area residents each year in resolving issues with federal, state and local government agencies. He holds regular town hall meetings, visits local school classes each week, attends hundreds of community events and personally responds to nearly 100,000 letters, emails, faxes and telephone calls each year. The Congressman's outreach initiatives include his Youth Advisory Council, Picatinny Advisory Council, Veterans Working Group, and much more. Prior to his election to Congress, Rodney Frelinghuysen served in the New Jersey State Assembly for 11 years, where he served as Chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee from 1988-1989, and was a 3-term member of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1974 to 1983, serving as Director in 1980. After graduating from Hobart College in 1969, Rep. Frelinghuysen served in the U.S. Army in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam in the 93rd Engineering Battalion (Const.). He was honorably discharged in 1971. He is a Member of the American Legion Post 59, Morristown, NJ, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 3401, Morris Plains, NJ, and a patron Member of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S., Post 213. Rodney Frelinghuysen and his wife, Virginia, reside in Harding, New Jersey, with their two children. He was born on April 29, 1946. He is active in a wide variety of private charities and organizations. The Congressman has been recognized for his public service by various groups including: The New Jersey Veteran's of Foreign Wars' Legislator of the Year Award The Trust for Public Land Award The Science Coalition's Champion of Science Award The ARC's John H. Chaffee Leadership in Public Policy Award The National Federation of Independent Business' Guardian of Small Business Award Lane Evans Veteran Entrepreneur Public Service Award |
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