Congressman Wolf has represented Virginia's 10th District since 1981. The 10th District is comprised of the counties of Clarke, Loudoun, Frederick and Warren, the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park and Winchester, and parts of the counties of Fairfax, Fauquier and Prince William.
Congressman Wolf is Virginia’s most senior member of the House and is commonly referred to as the “Dean” of the delegation. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is the co-chairman of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Congressman Wolf has been widely – and repeatedly – recognized for his tireless efforts to improve our region's transportation system. Fighting gridlock always will be a top priority. He knows everyone wants to spend less time sitting in traffic and more time with their family and friends.
Congressman Wolf has been involved in nearly every major transportation improvement in the region over the last 25 years, from helping obtain funding for the original 103-mile Metrorail system to improvements on critical commuter routes such as I-66, Route 50, Route 7 and the George Washington Parkway. He is presently working to bring mass transit out the Dulles corridor to Loudoun County and to establish a Bus Rapid Transit system on I-66 outside the Beltway.
In addition to working to ease traffic congestion, highway safety is a priority for Congressman Wolf. He worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a child safety video focusing on the proper use of child safety seats, seatbelts and air-bag restraints. He also teamed with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to require that all 50 states adopt the same criteria to determine whether or not someone is driving drunk. The national .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) standard is estimated to save at least 500 lives a year.
Protecting our neighborhoods also is important to Congressman Wolf. He was the force behind the creation of the anti-gang task forces operating in our region. These task forces, working across jurisdictional boundaries from Alexandria to Winchester, are making a difference.
Congressman Wolf is the author of the legislation that created the Iraq Study Group – also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission – and is presently pushing legislation to establish a blue ribbon panel aimed at reforming our nation’s tax and entitlement systems. The measure has bipartisan support and has been endorsed across the political spectrum by groups such as the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution and the Concord Coalition. A number of newspapers in the country also have editorialized in favor of the legislation, including the Washington Times, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Winchester Star.
Recognizing the need to preserve the Shenandoah Valley’s distinct Civil War heritage and expand tourism, Congressman Wolf introduced legislation establishing the “Shenandoah National Battlefields Historic District Commission.” The legislation was supported by property owners, local elected officials, historians, preservationists and citizens alike and was signed into law in 1996. An outgrowth of the work of the commission was the creation in 2002 of the nation’s newest national park: Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Park. The park, whose boundaries include approximately 3,000 acres in Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren counties, serves as a model for future national parks because private landowners and organizations continue to live, work and operate within the boundaries and local governments retain control over land use within the boundaries.
Congressman Wolf also introduced the legislation that led to the creation of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage area, which generally follows U.S. Route 15 from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville north through Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun counties across the Potomac into Maryland and up to Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. Designation as a National Heritage Area will help support the four-state public/private partnership that has been developed to promote and celebrate the historic and cultural resources along the route.
Congressman Wolf also has a long record of speaking out for the persecuted around the world and is considered one the leading crusaders in Congress for human rights. He has traveled the world to call attention to human rights abuses and religious persecution around the globe.
Congressman Wolf was born in 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended public schools. He received his B.A. degree from Penn State University in 1961 and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1965. Prior to his election to Congress, he was employed on a congressional staff, at the Department of the Interior, and as an attorney. He lives in Vienna with his wife, Carolyn. They are the parents of five grown children.
