About Bob
When he was elected in 2006, U.S. Senator Bob Casey was the first Pennsylvania Democrat elected to a full Senate term since 1962. As a public servant, he is focused on giving voice to Pennsylvania priorities in Washington, helping those who are struggling in the worst economy in a generation and working to create and retain Pennsylvania jobs.
Job Creation and Economic Recovery
Shortly after entering the Senate in 2007, Senator Casey was one of the first senators to urge a quick response to address the foreclosure crisis that would eventually contribute to the global recession.
Senator Casey has supported initiatives to create jobs, retrain workers and provide unemployment insurance and health care premium assistance to workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. To help small business expand and hire new workers, Senator Casey has support new tax cuts and measures to expand access to capital. He is also a leading proponent of getting tough on China's unfair trade policies that hurt Pennsylvania companies and workers.
Protecting and Nurturing Children
During the health care debate, Senator Casey was a strong proponent of protecting and improving health care for children. He helped to stop an attempt to dismantle the successful Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Previously, Senator Casey helped to pass a new law to expand the CHIP program to cover more children.
Senator Casey is a nationally recognized leader for his work to promote increased access to high-quality pre-kindergarten education and to improve the availability of child care.
Holding Insurance Companies Accountable and Improving Care
As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Casey helped to write the new law that will hold health insurance companies accountable, provide stability for families with health insurance and expand coverage to 32 million Americans who lack health insurance.
Increasing Security at Home and Abroad
As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, Senator Casey has sought to increase our security at home and rebuild our respect abroad. He is a leader in the Senate on promoting nuclear security and combating the threat posed by terrorist obtaining nuclear material. Senator Casey has been an outspoken critic of Iran’s nuclear program and he helped pass legislation to allow tougher sanctions against Iran including his bipartisan Iran Sanctions Enabling Act to make it easier to divest investments in Iran’s oil and natural gas sector. He also has introduced bipartisan legislation to increase global food security and prevent hunger.
Cleaning Up Washington
In his first year in office, Senator Casey helped pass ethics reforms to clean up Washington. These efforts continue today as he has helped to expose contractor abuses that have endangered U.S. service members overseas and has sought to change the rules to make it harder to stall work in the Senate.
Family and Career
Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, 50, graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in 1982 and spent the following year teaching fifth grade and coaching eighth grade basketball in inner city Philadelphia for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He received his law degree from Catholic University in 1988 and entered the practice of law in Scranton.
He served two terms as Pennsylvania Auditor General from 1997 to 2005. He also served as Pennsylvania State Treasurer before being elected to the Senate in 2006. In state government, he was a fiscal watchdog who made nursing homes safer, child care more affordable and government more accountable. He led the fight to reform Megan's Law to better protect Pennsylvania communities and children. He also aggressively fought to stop waste and fraud involving tax dollars and improve the effectiveness of government services and agencies. His efforts directly resulted in changes that saved Pennsylvania taxpayers more than $1 billion.
Senator Casey lives in Scranton with his wife Terese. They have four daughters: Elyse, Caroline, Julia and Marena.