| Paul
David Wellstone, Minnesota's senior senator, was born
to Russian immigrants Leon and Minnie Wellstone on July 21,
1944. In 1963 Paul married Sheila Ison, with whom he has three
children, David, Marcia, and Mark. Today the Wellstones have
six grandchildren: Cari, Keith, Joshua, Acacia, Sydney, and
Matt. Paul was raised in Arlington, VA and attended Wakefield
and Yorktown high schools. An accomplished student and athlete
he went on to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
where he was a champion wrestler. In 1965 he earned his B.A.,
and four years later was awarded a Ph.D. in Political Science.
Soon he accepted a teaching post at Carleton College in Northfield,
MN where he taught for 21 years.
In 1990,
underdog Senate candidate Paul Wellstone rallied a dynamic
volunteer force and traveled throughout Minnesota in his
trademark green bus. On election day he was the only Senate
challenger that year to unseat an incumbent.
United States Senator
Paul
Wellstone's experience as a teacher and community organizer
in Minnesota, and his work representing Minnesotans in the
Senate provides the framework for his progressive priorities
and accomplishments. Minnesotans have a long tradition of
electing strong and determined leaders willing to fight
for those they represent and Paul Wellstone is proud to
stand within this tradition
During
his first Senate term Wellstone led legislative battles
to make health care more accessible and affordable, and
won workers protection to take time from work to care for
their families without losing their jobs. He helped raise
the minimum wage, successfully fought to protect seniors'
pension funds from corporate raiders, and authored historic
ethics and lobbying reform measures that forever changed
how the people's business is done
on Capitol Hill. Since 1996, Wellstone has expanded health
care coverage for those suffering from mental illness, worked
with a bipartisan coalition to write a new farm bill, and
blocked harsh bankruptcy reforms unfair to consumers as
well as efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to oil drilling. He has fought for and secured federal resources
for Minnesota schools, and worked tirelessly on behalf of
veterans, passing legislation to aid homeless veterans and
securing compensation for "atomic veterans" suffering
from cancers due to radiation exposure during their military
service. He has been a leader in efforts to combat violence
against women. In 2000, Wellstone joined with Senator Sam
Brownback (R-KS) to pass historic bipartisan legislation
to prevent international sex trafficking of women and girls,
establishing first-ever penalties for those who enslave
and traffic in persons.
Paul
and Sheila Wellstone live in St. Paul, commuting to and
from Washington when the Senate is not in session.
|
