20061029 Meet Ben Cardin

Meet Ben Cardin

Meet Ben – from his website: http://www.bencardin.com/

October 29^th, 2006

Ben Cardin has dedicated his life in public service to a basic belief – that by putting principles into action, we can give every Maryland family the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

A third-generation Marylander, Ben Cardin has never forgotten the lessons of his family’s success. Through hard work, Benjamin Green – Ben’s grandfather – opened a family-run, neighborhood grocery store and turned it into a successful wholesale food distribution company. His grandfather’s success taught Ben that nothing is more important than the family around you and the job at hand.

His father, Meyer Cardin, devoted his life to strengthening his community through public service. He served in several prominent positions, including as member of the House of Delegates, Chief Police Magistrate and Associate Judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City.

Ben’s father taught him the value of public service, fairness and honesty. He also taught Ben that government should be there for those who work hard and play by the rules – not just the politically connected.

While still a student as the University of Maryland School of Law, Ben was elected to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates. He was chosen by his colleagues to become one of the youngest Speakers of the House in Maryland history, a position he held for eight years. As Speaker, Ben reformed the state’s ethics laws, made the tax system fairer and passed legislation to make school funding more equitable.

In 1987, Ben was elected to represent Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Congress, Ben has developed a reputation for turning his principles into action in order to solve problems and pass important legislation.

The Baltimore Sun once said that “few members of the U.S. House in either party can match his stature as legislative architect and master of bipartisan lawmaking.”

As a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee and ranking member of the Trade Subcommittee and the Helsinki Commission, Ben is a national leader on issues such as health care, Social Security, retirement savings, trade and human rights.

Ben’s foremost passion in Congress is improving our health care system to give more Americans access to quality care. He has put those principles into action by authoring meaningful laws to expand Medicare to cover preventive benefits such as screenings for breast cancer, prostate cancer and osteoporosis. Ben has also introduced legislation to fix the new Medicare prescription drug bill, which he has called a raw deal for America’s seniors.

Ben also led the fight to oppose President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. Alternatively, he authored legislation to help all Americans build and strengthen their retirement accounts and put more money into their IRAs and 401(k) accounts. Worth Magazine named Ben “one of the 100 people who have changed the way Americans think about money.”

Ben believes that every Marylander – no matter where he or she lives – deserves to make an honest wage to provide for themselves and their families. He has fought tirelessly to bring quality jobs to Maryland, including thousands to the state through the Military Base Realignment (BRAC) process. As the top Democrat in Congress on trade, Ben has lead the fight to oppose unfair trade deals that ship American jobs overseas and ignore fair labor standards.

Ben voted against the war in Iraq. By ignoring diplomacy and rushing to war, President Bush has damaged America’s standing in the world. Ben has repeatedly called on President Bush to present the American people with a plan to bring our troops home safely, responsibly and quickly.

Ben strongly believes that education must truly be a national priority. He introduced the Master Teacher Act in 2004 to help put the best teachers in the lowest performing schools. He is also a strong advocate for increasing Pell Grant funding and improving access to student loans.

Ben is also a leading voice for human rights at home and around the world. As the Ranking Member on the Helsinki Commission, he has traveled around the world to address such problems as anti-Semitism and human rights abuses. He co-sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment and the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, as well as legislation to prohibit wage discrimination based on sex, race or national origin. Ben fully supports the rights of women, rather than politicians and judges, to make decisions about their own reproductive health.

As a lifelong Marylander determined to keep our state safe and clean, Ben has secured millions in federal homeland security dollars for local fire and police departments in Maryland and championed programs to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

Ben and his wife of 41 years, Myrna, grew up in the same Forest Park neighborhood of Baltimore and met in elementary school. They have a daughter, Deborah, son-in-law Jonathan and two grandchildren, Madeline (5) and Julia (2).

For more information on the Ben Cardin campaign, please go to: http://www.bencardin.com/

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