Rush Holt

Rush Dew Holt, a Democrat has represented the 12th Congressional District of New Jersey in the U.S. Representative since 1998.

Iraq War
Holt voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Support for gun control
Holt cosponsored H.R. 1312 (Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005) on April 21, 2005.

Abortion
Holt is pro-choice, and is strongly supported by Planned Parenthood. 

Election reform
On February 5, 2007, Holt introduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (H.R.811), to amend the Help American Vote Act in order to require a paper trail. As of late March, the legislation had 211 cosponsors. Specifically, the bill would:


 * Require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to study, test, and develop best practices to enhance the accessibility of ballot verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, voters whose primary language is not English, and voters with difficulties in literacy.
 * Require laboratories to meet standards prohibiting conflicts of interest as a condition of accreditation for the testing of voting system hardware and software.
 * Outline additional voting system requirements and prohibitions.
 * Extend the authorization of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
 * Provide for complaints to the Attorney General by persons affected by violations of HAVA.
 * Make available additional funding to enable states to meet the costs of the requirements imposed by the Act.
 * Direct the chief auditor of each state to appoint an Election Audit Board to administer, without advance notice to the precincts selected, random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots required to be produced and preserved for each such election held in the state.
 * Repeal the exemption of the EAC from certain government contracting requirements.

Bio
Holt was born October 15, 1948 in Weston, West Virginia. He is the son of Rush D. Holt, Sr., who served as a United States Senator for West Virginia (1935–1941), and Helen Holt, the first woman to be appointed West Virginia Secretary of State (1957–1959). Holt graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, and holds a Ph.D. in physics from New York University. "From 1989 until he launched his 1998 congressional campaign, Holt was Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the largest research facility of Princeton University and the largest center for research in alternative energy in New Jersey. He has conducted extensive research on alternative energy and has his own patent for a solar energy device."

Congressional career
His first race was in 1996, where he finished in third place in the Democratic party primary. Holt ran again in 1998 and won the primary, putting him against Congressman Mike Pappas in the general election. (Pappas was hurt by reading a poem, set to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", praising Ken Starr on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.) Holt won the election in a traditionally Republican district by a 49-47% margin. In 2000, Holt was challenged by former Representative Dick Zimmer. Holt's prior win was thought by Republicans to be a fluke, and the race attracted considerable money and advertising. On election night' Holt was ahead by a few hundred votes and a recount battle ensued. In the end, Holt won the election by 1,101 votes. Redistricting before the 2002 elections gave Holt a safer district.

"On February 3, 2005, Rep. Rush Holt reintroduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550), a bill designed to restore confidence in the outcomes of elections and in our electoral process generally. The measure would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record that voters can view to check the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to verify votes in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. Experts often refer to this paper record as a "voter-verified paper trail." To date, the bill has 168 co-sponsors, of whom only eight are Republicans. Holt first introduced the bill in 2003.

In 2006, the Republicans nominated Joseph S. Sinagra to face Holt in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Holt retained his seat.

Money in politics
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Committees and Affiliations

 * Director, Population Resource Center

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
 * House Committee on Education and Labor
 * Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
 * Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
 * House Committee on Natural Resources
 * Subcommitee on Enery and Mineral Resources
 * Subcommitee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lans

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Education and the Workforce
 * Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness
 * Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations
 * House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
 * Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence

Articles and Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Blue Jersey