American Politics

From the humble, working class family of small town, East Newark, New Jersey, Congress-woman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) became the first member of her family to ever attend college.

“I grew up in a small town where my father managed a grocery store and my mother worked as a secretary,” Rep. Tauscher reflects back with pride. “They taught me self-discipline, perseverance and dedication to the principle that individual responsibility must be accomplished by community concern and respect for others.”

“We didn’t have a lot of money, but my parents knew that for us to have a better life, we would have to go to college. They made sacrifices and saved while my brother and sisters and I worked after school, and we made it.”

Through a strong commitment to her family to one day graduate, Rep. Tauscher received her Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from Seton Hall University in 1974.

Once out of school, she started her career with Bache Securities in New York City. At age 25, the fast track executive earned a prestigious seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and became one of the first women to hold a seat on Wall Street. She still shakes her head in amazement as she recalls, “When I first got on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange – and keep in mind there are two thousand people down there – there was only one other woman.”

Rep. Tauscher is no stranger in accomplishing things that others thought impossible. She continued on Wall Street for fourteen very successful years. In 1987, she left because of the dramatic shift in the business from the focus on personal relationships to the more important target of increased numeric transactions.

In 1988, while serving as a member of the Seton Hall University Board of Regents, she met husband, William Tauscher, current chief executive officer of Vanstar Corporation (formerly ComputerLand). The very next year, they moved out west to Pleasanton, California, the new home to Vanstar’s corporate headquarters. The Tauscher’s currently have significant holdings in the publicly held company.

After briefly settling into the West, challenging times came upon the new couple. Tragedy struck hard. Her first child died at birth, and later she lost her second by miscarriage. It was just shy of her fortieth birthday in May of 1991 that Tauscher then gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Katherine.

To add to their trying times, Katherine was born prematurely. She had a dislocated hip and respiratory troubles. At a tender three weeks old, the baby had lung surgery to correct Respiratory Distress Syndrome. What followed within the next two years were three operations where Katherine spent time in a body cast, each one for a month at a time. During the ordeal Tauscher immersed herself in finding out everything she could about her daughter’s condition, from the best books to the best doctors. Through a mother’s love and the unbelievable patience of a child, Katherine is now a happy and healthy first grader.

It was through this growing time and challenge of finding the best care for her daughter that Tauscher decided to form the ChildCare Registry in 1992. It became the first national pre-employment screening and background verification care provider in the United States.

In 1996, Rep. Tauscher expanded on her desire to help others and published her first book “The ChildCare Sourcebook” which serves as a comprehensive child care reference guide for parents. It starts with the most basic question – What kind of child care is needed? – and helps parents sort through the confusing world of nannies, au pairs, family day-care and day-care centers.

In addition to her own successful businesses, Tauscher some how managed to find time to become an active fund-raiser for local Democrats. She co-chaired the successful 1992 and 1994 bids for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate campaign.

Although active in a support role in Democratic politics, Rep. Tauscher had no prior ambitions to enter politics herself. That was until December of 1995 when the family was back in New York for the holidays. She was encouraged by California politicians and friends that, maybe she should run for Congress.

At first she just laughed. Her friend Judy Kantor, head of the political fund-raising organization Emily’s List said, “We need representation that is more reflective of the hearts and minds of the people in the 10th District. Someone that has significant business experience and can provide common-sense solutions, and that someone is you.” Rep. Tauscher talked it over with her husband and he agreed that she was the best person for the job.

In the race for representation of the 10th district of California, Congresswoman Tauscher narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Congressman, Bill Baker in a race that went down to the wire.

Congresswoman Tauscher targets developing a bi-partisan approach to Congress in order to find common sense solutions to the problems affecting the varied interests of her district.

Rep. Tauscher has already scored one of her top goals of the 105th Congress by being appointed to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure which is critically important to her high growth commuter district. She also serves on the Science Committee which is instrumental to the two national laboratories that are located in her district.

Balancing the budget is top on the list of Tauscher’s goals in Congress. In the recent balanced budget agreement between the President and Congressional leaders, she states, “This is truly an historic day. For the first time in a generation, we will be giving the American people a government that has learned to live within its means... This budget agreement is pro-working families, pro-children, pro-growth, and pro-business.”

Rep. Tauscher has managed to balance many things in her life, most of them against the odds, from her broad experience of Wall Street investment banker, to small business owner, author, wife, happy mom and to now, a politician with character who manages to get the job done.

There is no doubt, we will continue to see Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher help rekindle our faith in American politics and help bridge a bright future, for all hard working Americans.

Resource Information:
United States House of Representatives