Chris Dodd (D) - Biography*
Published: Sep. 26, 2007 at 9:22 PM CDT|Updated: Jan. 22, 2008 at 11:26 PM CST
Chris Dodd (D) - Biography*
Chris Dodd was born May 27, 1944 in Willimantic, Connecticut. His father was a senator. Dodd joined the United States Peace Corps in 1966 and moved to the Dominican Republic. He helped build a school and a maternity clinic in rural communities and became fluent in Spanish. After two years, he enlisted in the Army National Guard and later served in the U.S. Army Reserves. He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1972.
Elected to Congress in 1974, Dodd served three terms in the House of Representatives on behalf of Connecticut's Second District. He was elected to the US Senate in 1980 and is now in his fifth term. He has served as the general chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He now serves as the chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees America's financial institutions. He's a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He helped enact the Family and Medical Leave Act and legislation that has provided more than $3 billion to help towns and cities hire, equip, and train firefighters. He advocates for fiscal discipline for the federal budget-making process and introduced a "pay-as-you-go" budget proposal early in his Senate career. Dodd has fought to ensure our troops in Iraq have the essential equipment that they need and deserve. He received the Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service Award and is a recognized expert on Latin and South America.
Chris Dodd lives in East Haddam, Connecticut with his wife Jackie and their young daughters Grace and Christina.
*Chris Dodd is no longer running for the presidency.
