RICHARD BLUMENTHAL
UNITED STATES SENATOR
Originally sworn in January 5, 2011, Richard Blumenthal is serving his second term as a United States Senator from the state of Connecticut.
A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he worked as assistant to Daniel Patrick Moynihan when he was Assistant to the President of the United States. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves in 1970, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1976. After graduating law school in 1973, Senator Blumenthal clerked for U.S. District Judge Jon Newman, and then for United States Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun.
He then transitioned to lead U.S. Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff's staff as Administrative Assistant. From 1977 to 1981, Senator Blumenthal served as a U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1984 to 1987, and the Connecticut State Senate from 1987 to 1990. As a volunteer attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Senator Blumenthal saved the life of an innocent, wrongly convicted death row inmate who came within hours of execution.
Senator Blumenthal served five terms, from 1991 to 2011, as Connecticut's Attorney General. A key player in the national fight against Big Tobacco, he helped end deceptive marketing aimed at children--a victory significantly lowering youth smoking rates, and compelling a multi-billion dollar settlement for Connecticut taxpayers. He also helped lead a coalition of all 50 states that culminated in historic agreements with social networking sites to better protect children from internet predators. He personally argued several major cases in court, including four before the U.S. Supreme Court--among them his successful effort to uphold the Connecticut sex offender registry.
In the U.S. Senate, Senator Blumenthal has built on his longtime advocacy for consumers by holding companies accountable for the safety of their products. He has pushed GM to fix its cars' fatal defects, fought to keep dangerous nicotine products out of the hands of children, and worked to make communities safe from hazardous chemicals. As chair of the Commerce Consumer Protection subcommittee, he has led hearings and legislation to hold tech platforms accountable for privacy failings, toxic and illegal content, and other serious harms.
Working with Connecticut's Congressional Delegation, Senator Blumenthal has secured billions of dollars of federal funding to improve rail safety, promoted climate resiliency, and protected Long Island Sound and Connecticut's rivers and streams.
He has spearheaded legislation to support veterans by expanding employment opportunities, increasing housing access, holding the VA accountable, and providing health care for those exposed to toxic chemicals during their service including Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and veterans working near burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Blumenthal authored the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a bipartisan law to improve mental health care and suicide prevention resources.
Senator Blumenthal is a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Special Committee on Aging.
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY
UNITED STATES SENATOR
Chris Murphy, the junior United States Senator for Connecticut, has dedicated his career to public service as an advocate for Connecticut families. Senator Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy.
As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), Senator Murphy has worked to make college more affordable and ensure that our public education system works to serve all students. Senator Murphy also led a bipartisan effort to reform our mental health system, working across the aisle to craft the first comprehensive mental health bill in the Senate in decades.
Senator Murphy has laid out a forward-thinking foreign policy vision for the United States. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights, and the need for clear-eyed American leadership abroad.
Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Senator Murphy became one of the leading proponents of commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence. In 2022, he successfully passed the first significant federal gun safety legislation in 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murphy has fought to increase investments in Connecticut manufacturing and promote procurement of world-class national defense products made in the state. He has fought to expand American manufacturing and create jobs through his Buy American initiative, which urges the U.S. government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods. Additionally, Senator Murphy has worked in partnership with local city and town leaders to rehabilitate former brownfield and factory sites so that they can be developed into new community spaces and businesses.
Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Murphy served Connecticut's Fifth Congressional District for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Murphy worked to improve access to housing for homeless veterans, foster job creation, and advocate for affordable health care for all Americans. Murphy authored the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to revitalize housing programs for people with disabilities. The bill was signed into law by the president in 2010.
Before getting elected to Congress, Murphy served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly where he was the author of the state's historic stem cell investment legislation and the state's workplace smoking ban. Senator Murphy grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law and practiced real estate and banking law with the firm of Ruben, Johnson & Morgan in Hartford, Connecticut.
He is married to Catherine Holahan, an attorney. They have two sons, Owen and Rider, as well as two cats and two guinea pigs.