Chris Van Hollen

Christopher Van Hollen was born in 1959 and is currently serving as the junior United States Senator from Maryland. Senator Van Hollen’s seat will be up for election in 2028.

Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, Van Hollen represented Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 until 2017. He served as Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, responsible for leading efforts to defend seats held by Democrats and get more Democrats elected to the House. He held the corresponding position in the Senate as the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2017 until 2019.

Senator Van Hollen is currently serving on the Appropriations Committee; the Budget Committee; the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Below is Senator Van Hollen’s voting record and public positions on issues important to the Jewish community.

Senator Van Hollen supported the Iran nuclear deal. He cosponsored the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018, a legislation that supported full funding of security assistance to Israel as outlined in the 2016 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding. Senator Van Hollen voted against the Taylor Force Act in the Foreign Relations Committee but supported the amended version.

Senator Van Hollen has said that he opposes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets Israel, but he does not support anti-BDS legislation citing First Amendment concerns.

In 2019, he voted against the Strengthening America’s Middle East Security Act which, among other things, strengthened Israel’s security and allowed a state or local government to adopt measures to divest its assets from entities that boycott Israel.