Senator Judd Gregg (R, New Hampshire) Elected to a second term in the United States Senate in 1998 with the highest voter percentage in New Hampshire's history, Judd Gregg holds several key leadership and committee positions that give him an influential voice in national affairs. As the Chief Deputy Whip in the Senate Republican Leadership,Senator Gregg shapes the Senate's legislative agenda and builds consensus on important legislation. Senator Gregg was appointed to this position in 1995 by current Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Assistant Republican Leader Don Nickles (R-OK). Senator Gregg also shapes national policy from his seat on several important Senate committees, including: Appropriations; Budget; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP); and Governmental Affairs. Senator Gregg chairs the Appropriations' Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary. In addition, Senator Gregg sits on the following Appropriations' Subcommittees: Interior, Defense, Labor-Health-Education, and Foreign Operations. He also chairs the HELP Committee's Subcommittee on Children and Families, and is a member of both the Aging, and Public Health and Safety Subcommittees. On these committees, Senator Gregg impacts the national debate on such vital issues as the federal budget, international affairs, anti-crime efforts, Social Security, education and health care. Senator Gregg's second term agenda includes saving Social Security for current and future generations, improving the nation's education system with a focus on fully funding special education, maintaining fiscal responsibility in Washington, supporting policies that promote strong economic growth in New Hampshire and the nation, and protecting New Hampshire's environment. Knowing that millions of Americans rely on Social Security, Senator Gregg has been deeply involved in efforts to save the program. By serving as Bipartisan Co-Chair of the National Commission on Retirement Policy, Co-Chair of the Senate Republican Task Force on Social Security, and Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Task Force on Social Security, Senator Gregg introduced a landmark bipartisan proposal that saves Social Security for the next 100 years without raising taxes and moved us closer to solving this core public policy problem. Believing that our children are our greatest asset, Senator Gregg is working to improve the educational system in our nation. One area in which Senator Gregg has made significant progress is by increasing by $3 billion over the last three years the federal share of special education costs. This cash infusion has eased the fiscal burden on school budgets across New Hampshire and the nation. Senator Gregg will continue to lead the fight to have the federal government meet its commitment to fund 40 percent of special education costs. Because of his demonstrated commitment to deficit reduction and responsible fiscal policy, Senator Gregg served as a member of the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform in 1994. He was appointed by President Clinton at the recommendation of former Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole. In 1995, Senator Gregg chaired the Leadership's Working Group on Non-Social Security Entitlement Reform. This group made recommendations on reforming and slowing the rapid growth of the country's largest entitlement programs. Those recommendations were incorporated, in large part, into the original Republican Balanced Budget Act. Senator Gregg introduced a comprehensive plan called "Choice Care" to reform Medicare to expand choices for seniors, which was later made law in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Senator Gregg's efforts to reduce spending and introduce fiscal responsibility in Washington have earned him awards from the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Concord Coalition, Watchdogs of the Treasury, Inc., and Citizens for a Sound Economy. In recognition of Senator Gregg's outstanding record on the environment, many environmental leaders in New Hampshire have applauded his efforts, including the NH Timberland Owners Association, the Trust for Public Lands, the Nature Conservancy, the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, the NH Audubon Society, the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, the Lamprey River Advisory Committee and the Southern NH Resource Conservation and Development District. The NH Sierra Club honored Senator Gregg by naming him as a Champion of Clean Air. Senator Gregg's numerous conservation efforts include preserving and protecting the following environmentally-sensitive areas: Lake Umbagog; the Great Bay Estuarine Research Reserve; the purchase of conservation lands surrounding Lake Tarleton; co-authoring a bill to designate segments of the Lamprey River into the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers System; allocating funds to New Hampshire from the Land and Water Conservation Fund; securing funds to add the Pondicherry Wildlife Preserve to the Silvio Conte National Wildlife Refuge; banning supertrawlers from New England waters; securing funds for Colebrook Interpretive Center and for the Cocheco River Dredging Project. Senator Gregg has also secured federal funds through the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for innovative scientific and environmental research initiatives, including: the Mount Washington Observatory Weather Discovery Center; the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Aquaculture program; the UNH Hydrographic Center; the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology; and the Seacoast Science Center Interpretive Exhibits in marine biology and aquaculture. Judd Gregg has the unique honor of being the first elected official in New Hampshire history to serve the state in each of the following capacities: two terms as United States Senator, 1992-2004; two terms as Governor of New Hampshire, 1989-1993; four terms as United States Representative for New Hampshire's Second Congressional District, 1981-1989; and one term as Executive Councilor for New Hampshire's District 5, 1979-1981. Currently, Senator Gregg serves as Vice President of the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Foundation, located in Greenfield, New Hampshire. This center for the multiply-handicapped has been the focus of much of his attention for many years. A New Hampshire native, Senator Gregg was born in Nashua on February 14, 1947. He was educated in Nashua public schools, Phillips Exeter Academy (1965), and Columbia University (A.B., 1969). He received his J.D. in 1972 from Boston University Law School and his L.L.M. in tax law in 1975. Upon graduating from law school, Senator Gregg returned to Nashua and became a partner in the law firm of Sullivan, Gregg and Horton. Senator Gregg is married to the former Kathleen MacLellan. They have two daughters, Molly and Sarah, and a son, Joshua. Senator and Mrs. Gregg are residents of Rye, New Hampshire.