U.S. Congressman George Miller
Occupation: Congressman. 7th District, CA. Elected in November 1974.
Committee Assignments: Chairman, House Education and Labor Committee; Member, House Natural Resources Committee; Chairman, House Democratic Policy Committee
Birthday: May 17, 1945
Place of Birth: Richmond, CA
Hometown: Martinez, CA
Relationship Status: Married, two children, five grandchildren
Religion: Roman Catholic
Most Recent Book Read: The Dignity of Difference, Jonathan Sacks
Hobbies: Reading, hiking in Yosemite, listening to music
Disappointment: That American troops have not -- yet -- come home from Iraq.
Most Recent Achievement: College Cost Reduction and Access Act
What I enjoy About My Job: being able to help people; making Miller TV
Recent Popular Quotes of mine: “What is this, Comedy Central?”
Congressman George Miller is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, a leadership position. George is a leading advocate in Congress on education, labor, the economy, and the environment.
He has represented the 7th District of California in the East Bay of San Francisco since 1975. His district includes portions of Contra Costa and Solano counties, including Richmond, Concord, Martinez, Pittsburg, Benicia, Vallejo and Vacaville. He is a life-long Democrat and Californian.
George is a member of the Democratic Leadership, serving at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s direction as chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee. In that role he helps Democrats to develop and articulate a wide range of policies of benefit to all Americans.
He was re-elected by his colleagues in January 2009 as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, a panel he has served on since first coming to Congress. George also sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, one of Congress’ primary committees overseeing the environment, energy and public lands. He was chairman of that Committee from 1991 to 1994 and the Senior Democrat until 2000.
Among George’s top priorities in Congress are strengthening and growing America’s middle class and ensuring economic growth that creates good jobs that stay in this country. He is a leader in the effort to protect Americans’ retirement and health security, to further innovation in technology, science and education, to reduce global warming, and to make college more affordable and k-12 public schools more successful.
The first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama, on January 29 of this year, was written by George and passed out of the Education and Labor Committee. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act overturned a Supreme Court ruling that restricted a woman’s right to challenge her employer on the basis on pay discrimination.
In response to President Obama’s call to action, George passed out of his committee in March the GIVE Act, now called the Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Service Act, to expand national service opportunities. The President signed this bill into law on April 21. And George is part of a team of three committee chairmen who are working together with the White House to draft national health care reform legislation.
In 2007, immediately after the Democrats were elected to a majority in Congress after 12 years of being the minority, it was George’s bill that increased the minimum wage -- from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour -- for the first time in 10 years.
That same year, George authored and passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the single largest expansion of federal financial aid for college since the GI Bill. The bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush. The law cut interest rates for Stafford Loans in half, increased Pell grants, and provided loan forgiveness to qualified public service employees with student loan debt.
George has been a vocal critic of President Bush’s war in Iraq and in 2002 voted against the war resolution. He supports President Obama’s call to withdraw American forces from Iraq as quickly as possible.
George is one of the four original congressional authors of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. He is leading the effort to reauthorize the law to make it fairer, more flexible and better funded, while adhering to the law’s key goals of accountability, high standards and improved student achievement.
George is an expert on California water issues. In 1992, he passed and enacted into law the historic California water reform law, known as the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. He also co-authored with Senator Dianne Feinstein the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. George has a long history of other legislative achievements on a wide range of education, labor and environmental issues.
George Miller was born in Richmond, CA, on May 17, 1945 and lives in Martinez. He graduated from Diablo Valley Community College, San Francisco State University, and earned his law degree from the University of California, Davis, Law School. He served on the staff of then-State Senate Majority Leader George Moscone in Sacramento. He is married to Cynthia Caccavo Miller, a life-long resident of Contra Costa County. They have two sons, George and Stephen, and five grandchildren.
Updated: April, 2009
