Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas (Republican and committee co-chair):
Website: http://hensarling.house.gov/
129 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3484
Fax: (202) 226-4888

Leadership in Congress

• Serves as Chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth highest ranking position in the Republican leadership.
• Serves as Vice-Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and as a leader on consumer choice, competitive markets, and smart regulation in our financial markets.
• Served as former Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, fighting for conservative principles in the House.
• As former member of the President’s Debt Commission, demanded spending cuts to solve our spending-driven debt crisis.
• Served on the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP, provided tough oversight and accountability on the Obama Administration’s use of Wall Street bailout funds.

Personal Background

• Born in Stephenville, Texas and grew up working on his father's farm near College Station.
• Active student leader at Texas A&M University, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1979. Later, he went on to earn a law degree from the University of Texas in 1982.
• Spent ten years in the private sector, serving as an officer for a successful investment firm, a data management company, and an electricity retail company.
• Served on the staff of Senator Phil Gramm for many years.
• An Eagle Scout who is actively involved in his community- served as a leader with the American Cancer Society of Dallas and a board member for the Children's Education Fund.
• Jeb and his wife Melissa are members of St. Michael and All Angels Church and reside in Dallas with their two children, Claire and Travis.

Hensarling -- chairman of the House Republican Conference -- served on President Obama's debt commission but voted against it. What did he object to exactly? Tax increases.
The debate over taxes is expected to be fierce. If his past positions are any clue, Hensarling is likely to be vocally opposed to any new revenues.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (Democrat and committee co-chair):
Website: http://murray.senate.gov/public/
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238

The first woman elected to the Senate from Washington state, Murray has been a champion for women and families. She has spearheaded efforts to close the pay gap, protect women in retirement, and increase access to child care. Murray helped write and pass the historic Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and helped reauthorize it in 2000 and 2005.

Murray has also worked to improve opportunities for Washington’s rural communities. She has worked to open new agricultural trade markets overseas, to strengthen the farm safety net and to assist farm workers. She was instrumental in passing the 2008 Farm Bill that invests in rural jobs, ensures more families put a nutritious meal on their table, and for the first time provides meaningful support for Washington state fruit and vegetable growers. Murray has also initiated an effort to bring hi-speed Internet access to rural areas that commercial providers have neglected.

Senator Murray is a strong advocate for protecting our environment. She has increased funding for environmental programs, repeatedly opposed harmful, anti-environmental riders to appropriations bills, and sponsored several pieces of environmental legislation. In May 2008, Senator Murray completed a nine-year legislative effort when her Wild Sky Wilderness Act was signed into law. Wild Sky protects more than 106,000 acres of low-elevation old growth forest in Snohomish County, Washington and is the state's first new wilderness land in more than two decades. Wild Sky will preserve the pristine nature of the land, protect wildlife, promote clean water, enhance and protect recreational opportunities for the region, and contribute to the local economy.

Senator Murray has been a long-time advocate for increased resources at the Northern Border and worked to provide funding to triple the number of border agents to help keep communities along the Northern Border and across America safe. Murray is also working to create and fund the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative which will reimburse Northern Border communities for the costs of prosecuting border-related crimes.

Murray is not just a senator. She also chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and it is her job to recruit candidates who can beat her Republican colleagues.
Her appointment has already drawn criticism from the Republican National Committee, which views her as an overly political figure.

She is a member of the Budget and Appropriations committees.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (Democrat):
Website: http://vanhollen.house.gov/
1707 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5341
Fax: (202) 225-0375

Congressman Chris Van Hollen was elected to Congress in 2002 in a high-profile election that received national attention. He quickly earned a reputation as an active, engaged, and effective member of Congress, rising to become one of the youngest members of the Democratic leadership in 2008. In addition to representing the Eighth District of Maryland and serving in House leadership, Congressman Van Hollen was elected by his colleagues in 2010 to serve as the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. In this position, he is working to advance policies that support job creation and economic growth, reduce the deficit, and put America on a path to long-term fiscal sustainability.

The Washington Post named Chris Van Hollen one of “10 members to watch in the 112th Congress.” Roll Call has noted that “Van Hollen gets near-universal respect from his colleagues for his intellectual firepower and combination of policy and political chops.”

Congressman Van Hollen is a tireless advocate for Maryland in Congress, and his leadership has helped to obtain funding for a wide range of critical investments in our community, including infrastructure, biotechnology and education; public transportation in the Washington National Capital area; and anti-gang initiatives. Congressman Van Hollen was recognized by Washingtonian Magazine as the ‘Best Metro Area Member of Congress’ in 2010 and as the ‘Best Local Elected Official’ by Bethesda Magazine in 2008.

Van Hollen played a key role in the debt talks led by Vice President Joe Biden earlier this year, and is the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee.

A Pelosi acolyte, Van Hollen frequently appears on television to represent House Democrats on policy issues.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona (Republican):
Website: http://kyl.senate.gov/
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207

Senator Jon Kyl is currently serving his third term in the United States Senate, after having completed four terms representing Arizona’s Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected unanimously by his colleagues in 2008 to serve as Republican Whip, the second highest position in Senate Republican leadership.

Senator Kyl serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he has played key roles in the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and Samuel Alito as Associate Justice. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, he has also helped write the landmark Crime Victims Rights Act, and important provisions of the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and other anti-terrorism laws.

As a member of the Finance Committee, he has been the chief advocate of death-tax repeal and progrowth tax policies, including low tax rates on income, capital gains, and dividends. He has also been a strong proponent of step-by-step solutions for health-care reform that can improve access, lower costs, and preserve the sacred doctor-patient relationship.

Michael Barone wrote in the 2010 Almanac of American Politics that “the unassuming Kyl quietly built a reputation for hard work, for his knowledge of the nuances of policy, and for his ability to play the inside game.” Senator Kyl was recognized by Time magazine in 2006 as one of the 10 best Senators.

The No. 2 Republican in the Senate behind Mitch McConnell and a staunch advocate for the military, Kyl is a member of the Finance Committee.
Kyl is a reliable conservative vote and is opposed to tax increases. He has said he will not run for re-election and walked out of debt negotiations with Biden earlier this year after an impasse over increasing revenue.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (Democrat):
Website: http://kerry.senate.gov/
Washington D.C.
218 Russell Bldg.
Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2742

When he came home to the United States, John Kerry spoke out against a policy he felt gave politicians political cover while soldiers bore the real burden.  He also began a lifelong fight for his fellow veterans – joining with other vets to found the Vietnam Veterans of America to fight for veterans’ benefits, for extension of the G.I. Bill for Higher Education, and for treatment of PTSD.

Later, John Kerry accepted another tour of duty - to serve in America's communities. After graduating from Boston College Law School in 1976, he went to work as a top prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He took on organized crime, fought for victims' rights and created programs for rape counseling.

John Kerry was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1982. Two years later, he was elected to the United States Senate and he has won reelection four-times since. He is now serving his fifth term.

John Kerry entered the Senate with a reputation as a man of conviction. He helped provide health insurance for millions of low-income children. He has fought to improve public education, protect our natural environment, and strengthen our economy.

From his ground-breaking work on the Iran-Contra scandal to his leadership on global AIDS, John Kerry has distinguished himself as one of our nation's most respected voices on national security and international affairs. As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, he worked to learn the truth about American soldiers missing in Vietnam and to normalize relations with that country. As the ranking Democrat on the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, he is a leading expert on that region, including North Korea. He worked on a bipartisan basis to craft the American response to September 11th and has been a leading voice on American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terrorism, the Middle East peace process and Israel's security.

A former presidential candidate, Kerry is best known on Capitol Hill for his foreign policy experience. He will lend his expertise on national security matters to the debate over cuts to military funding.

He is a member of the Finance Committee and has spent 27 years in the Senate so has participated in his share of closed-door negotiations.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania (Republican):
Website: http://toomey.senate.gov/
Washington, D.C.
502 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4254
Fax: (202) 228-0284

Senator Pat Toomey was elected to the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania on a platform of limited government, economic and job growth, and restoring fiscal responsibility.

Since joining the Senate in January, he has distinguished himself as a leader on economic, financial services and budgetary issues, striving to restore fiscal discipline to Washington and economic opportunity for all Americans. Among other things, Sen. Toomey has introduced a 10-year balanced budget proposal that received more votes in the Senate than any other budget plan this year, and he has successfully helped cut federal red tape for local communities and job creators in Pennsylvania.

The senator serves on the Budget; Banking; Commerce; Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction; and Joint Economic committees. He also is the ranking member on the Commerce Committee's Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance Subcommittee.

Sen. Toomey previously served in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's Fifteenth Congressional District, where he championed economic growth and fiscal discipline. In fulfillment of his three-term pledge, he retired from the House in 2004.

Elected to the Senate last year, Toomey was a prominent voice in the debate over raising the debt ceiling, arguing that the United States could prioritize its payments in the event of a debt ceiling breach to avoid a true default.

In the end, Toomey voted against the debt ceiling bill that created the super committee. He sits on the Senate Budget and Banking committees, and is the former president of the staunchly anti-tax Club for Growth.

Sen. Max Baucus of Montana (Democrat):
Website: http://baucus.senate.gov/
511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2651
Fax: (202) 224-9412

Throughout his career, Max has never forgotten where he came from or who he represents. Raised on a ranch near Helena, Max understands the values of hard work, faith, family, and community. That's why he does "Work Days" as often as he can with local businesses in Montana.  Max spends a full day working alongside Montanans to gain a better perspective of the challenges they face. Over the years, he's done Work Days on farms and ranches, at butcher shops and pharmacies, schools and construction sites.

In 1995 and 1996, Max walked the entire 820-mile length of Montana. An avid runner, Max completed a 50-mile running marathon in just over 12 hours in 2003.

Boosting the state's economy and creating good-paying jobs in Montana top Max's priority list. By combining his trademark work ethic with independence and experience, Max has helped create thousands of good-paying jobs in Montana. He's held five separate statewide Montana Economic Development Summits, each of which attracted more than 1,000 people. These meetings, amongst the state's top economic development officials and business people, helped lay the foundation for economic development planning in the state.

Whether fighting to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program or writing landmark health care reform legislation that is  working to reduce the deficit and provide quality, affordable health care coverage for all Americans, Max is leading the charge to improve choice and competition and make health care work better for Montanans . For decades he has led efforts to cut the rising number of the uninsured in Montana and to strengthen Medicare for Montana seniors.

Baucus -- chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- served on Obama's debt commission.

But Baucus voted against the final Simpson-Bowles recommendations because he said they cut too deeply into farm subsidies and would have changed Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in away he found unacceptable.

Those same issues -- changes to those entitlement programs -- are likely to be a central part of any grand bargain to reduce deficits.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio (Republican):
Website: http://portman.senate.gov/public/
Washington, D.C. Office
338 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3353

Rob Portman is a United States Senator from the state of Ohio. He was elected in 2010, running a campaign that focused on common-sense conservative ideas to help create jobs and get the deficit under control. Rob won with a margin of 57 to 39 percent, winning 82 of Ohio's 88 counties.

Rob was born and raised in Cincinnati, where he lives today with his wife Jane, and their three children, Jed, Will and Sally. He grew up in a small business family, where he learned early on the value of hard work, leadership, and fiscal responsibility. When Rob was young, his dad, Bill Portman, borrowed money to start Portman Equipment Company, where Rob and his brother and sister all worked while growing up. His father, and then his brother, built the family business from a small forklift truck dealership with five employees, with Rob's mom as the bookkeeper, to one that employed more than 300 people. Rob became a lawyer and developed his own private practice, representing Portman Equipment Company and other small businesses. In 1993, Rob was a partner in the Cincinnati law firm of Graydon, Head and Ritchey when he was elected to Congress, where he represented the diverse, seven county Second District in southern Ohio. He was proud to serve the Second District for twelve years, and in seven elections, he never received less than seventy percent of the vote.

During his time representing the Second District, Rob earned a reputation as a serious leader who focused on results. Rob was actively involved in crafting and promoting the historic welfare reform efforts as a member of the committee that wrote the legislation, and he was a forceful advocate of the balanced budget that passed in 1997. Rob gained the respect of both Republican and Democratic colleagues through his successful, bipartisan legislative initiatives, including several measures he authored to increase retirement savings, reform the IRS and add over fifty new taxpayer rights, curb unfunded mandates, reduce taxes, and expand drug prevention and land conservation efforts.

A former White House budget director in the Bush administration, Portman is a Senate novice and a member of the Budget Committee.

More moderate that some of his colleagues, Portman could be a key player in a compromise.

Rep. Xavier Becerra of California (Democrat):
Website: http://becerra.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1
Washington, D.C.
(Capitol Office)
1226 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6235
Fax: (202) 225-2202

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, Representative Xavier Becerra serves as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, is a member of the powerful Committee on Ways And Means and is Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.

His committee is responsible for formulating our nation’s tax, Social Security, Medicare, trade and income security laws. As Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Rep. Becerra wields a strong voice in House Democratic leadership, helping to set priorities and drive the legislative decision making process.

He has dedicated himself to promoting issues affecting industries critical to the economic vitality of the Southern California region such as health care, high technology, entertainment, and stimulating free, yet fair, trade.

The first Latino to serve on the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Becerra has used his position to increase opportunities for working families, to improve the Social Security program for women and minorities, to combat poverty among the working poor, and to strengthen Medicare and ensure its long-term viability. He currently serves on the Oversight and Social Security Subcommittees. In 2010, Rep. Becerra served on the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

A senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Becerra served on the Bowles-Simpson debt commission.
But he voted against the plan because he said it cut too deeply into discretionary spending and did not raise revenues to a high enough level.

Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan (Republican):
Website: http://camp.house.gov/
341 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3561
Fax: (202) 225-9679

Congressman Dave Camp represents the people of the 4th Congressional District of Michigan, which spans from Owosso to Greenville and northward to Traverse City and the Leelanau peninsula. Camp is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which is one of the oldest and most powerful committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As the head of the Committee on Ways and Means, Camp is one of the most influential policymakers in Washington, D.C., helping to set the nation’s economic, health care and social welfare policies. His committee has sole jurisdiction over tax policy and oversees tariff and trade laws, Medicare, Social Security, and welfare and unemployment programs.

Born and raised in Midland, Michigan, where he and his wife and three children reside, Camp’s top priority has always been serving his constituents. Known for personally signing thousands of constituent letters each year, in addition to thousands of one-on-one meetings, Camp stays in close touch with his district.

Camp -- the House Ways and Means Committee chairman -- served on President Obama's debt commission, but voted against it. >He objected to the plan's tax hikes and said it failed to address rising health care costs.

An expert on taxes -- he will bolster GOP credentials on any tax reform that might be discussed.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina (Democrat):
Website: http://clyburn.house.gov/
2135 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3315
Fax: (202) 225-2313

President Barack Obama has said he is, "One of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens." As Assistant Democratic Leader in the 112th Congress, the number three Democrat in the House, James E. Clyburn is the leadership liaison to the Appropriations Committee and one of the Democratic Caucus' primary liaisons to the White House. Working with the internal caucuses, he plays a prominent role in messaging and outreach.

The third-ranking Democrat in the House and veteran of the Appropriations Committee, Clyburn maintains close ties to Pelosi. He also participated in the Biden debt reduction talks.

Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan (Republican):
Website: http://upton.house.gov/
2183 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3761
Fax: (202) 225-4986

Congressman Fred Upton has represented the commonsense values of southwest Michigan since 1987.  In 2010, Fred was selected by his House colleagues to serve as Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Prior to his election to Congress, Fred worked for President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  While at OMB, he learned from President Reagan’s example that it does not matter who gets the credit, as long as the job gets done.

Fred has a well-earned reputation for getting things done in Washington and at home in southwest Michigan.  The South Bend Tribune writes that Fred “attacks government spending and wants tax cuts retained and the budget balanced.”  Fred’s hometown paper, The Herald Palladium, praises Fred as someone who has “consistently fought against out-of-control spending and bigger government” and has “always treated constituent services as a vital part of his job.”

He previously served as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment (2007-2010), a critical position as the nation seeks to fortify its energy supply and reduce its dependence on foreign oil.  In the 111th Congress, Fred was selected as co-chair of the House Republicans’ American Energy Solutions Group, which is focused on lowering energy prices for American families and small businesses through the development of domestic energy sources.  Fred strongly supports an “all of the above” approach with a greater emphasis on domestic exploration, the advancement of breakthrough technologies, and the development of nuclear power.  Fred has also been a leading opponent of cap-and-trade legislation and needless EPA regulations that stifle growth, kill jobs, and raise energy costs.

Upton chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He has taken some moderate positions in the past, including attempts to decrease tax cuts in the George W. Bush administration that remain contentious today.