My father, a Holocaust survivor, dedicated his life to serving as a naval officer. I earned my engineering degree from Stanford through an ROTC scholarship and later pursued my M.S. in Technology and Policy at MIT.

About Chrissy | Chrissy Houlahan for Congress

I served as President and COO/CFO for Springboard Collaborative, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing early childhood literacy in underserved communities across the country. I am a proud mother, living with my family in Chester County for 30 years. Notably, I made history as the first woman elected to Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District and the first Democrat since the Civil War.

Chrissy Houlahan earned an engineering degree from Stanford and a master's degree in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a mother and has lived in Chester County with her family for 30 years.

I served as a Captain in the USAFR, with three years of active duty and thirteen years in the Inactive Reserve. My professional journey includes being the COO of AND1 Basketball, where I played a key role in transforming the company from a startup into a prominent apparel and footwear brand.

My professional journey includes being the COO of AND1 Basketball, where I played a key role in transforming the company from a startup into a prominent apparel and footwear brand. Additionally, I was the founding COO of B-Lab, a nonprofit advocating for B Corporations and ethical business practices.

My career also includes impactful roles in education, having worked as a chemistry teacher in North Philadelphia as part of the Teach for America Corps. I served as President and COO/CFO for Springboard Collaborative, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing early childhood literacy in underserved communities across the country.

Chrissy previously served as president and chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Springboard Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on early childhood literacy. She also served as chief operating officer of AND1 Basketball and as founding chief operating officer of B-Lab. She served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, including three years of active duty and 13 years in the Inactive Reserve.

Biography

Chrissy Houlahan is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District. She was elected to Congress in 2018 and is a member of the Democratic Party. Houlahan has a background in engineering and business, and she has worked in various roles in the private sector and in education.

Chrissy Houlahan | Congress.gov

Chrissy currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District. She was elected to Congress in 2018.

2026 Pennsylvania General Election 

* Support Education and Learning: As a former educator herself, Chrissy knows that a child’s early learning of language and numbers is the foundation for later success. To increase awareness of the many resources available to parents, she brought the Sesame Workshop and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to Reading for a town hall and resource fair.

To help older learners more easily afford college, and to make jobs in the public sector more attractive to students, Chrissy led legislation to reform the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, to ensure that public servants are receiving the loan forgiveness promised to them.

Accomplishments | U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan

* Save the Phoenixville JROTC Program: After learning that the Phoenixville Area High School Air Force JROTC Program was going to be cancelled, Chrissy worked to save it. She wrote a bill and got it signed into law that enables smaller programs with fewer students, like Phoenixville’s, to continue.

Led legislation to reform Public Service Loan Forgiveness so public servants receive promised loan forgiveness.

Authored a law allowing smaller Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs, including Phoenixville's, to continue.

- Led legislation to reform Public Service Loan Forgiveness so public servants receive promised loan forgiveness.
- Authored a law allowing smaller Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs, including Phoenixville's, to continue.

Education

“Four years ago, when I founded the House Bipartisan Paid Leave Working Group with Rep. Bice, I did so with a simple goal: to find durable, bipartisan policy solutions that help American workers, businesses, and families gain access to paid family and medical leave,” said Rep. Houlahan. “Today, I am proud that our bill, the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act, now has a Senate companion, and I applaud Senators Gillibrand and Boozman for their leadership and partnership in advancing this effort.

For more than three decades, roughly three in four American workers have lacked access to paid leave. We have a real opportunity to help states build programs that change that reality. Today, we've charted a clear bipartisan, bicameral path forward, and I urge House and Senate leadership to seize this opportunity and finally deliver paid leave for more American families.”

The More Paid Leave for More Americans Act would establish a competitive grant program for states that provide a minimum of six weeks of parental, caregiving, or medical leave, and it would create an interstate agreement to coordinate and harmonize paid leave benefits across participating states.

Houlahan Paid Leave Bill Companion Introduced in Senate

* Grow Small Businesses: As an entrepreneur who started and grew organizations throughout her career, Chrissy knows how hard it is to be a small business owner. That’s why she’s working to remove the obstacles the federal government creates. For example, Chrissy’s bipartisan Small Business Contracting Transparency Act, which passed the House, helps address the challenges that small business owners face in competing for federal small business contracts.

Advocates for state programs providing paid family and medical leave that provide at least six weeks of parental, caregiving, or medical leave.

Sponsored the Small Business Contracting Transparency Act to address barriers small businesses face when competing for federal contracts.

- Advocates for state programs providing paid family and medical leave that provide at least six weeks of parental, caregiving, or medical leave.
- Sponsored the Small Business Contracting Transparency Act to address barriers small businesses face when competing for federal contracts.

Economy

* Chrissy continued her work with the For Country Caucus, comprised of veterans from both sides of the aisle, and the Service Women and Women Veteran’s Caucus, to support legislation that improves the lives of our servicemembers and ensure that the unique challenges faced by service women are not overlooked in legislative efforts. Her MOMS Who Serve Act, which creates the first-ever perinatal mental health program at the Department of Defense, was signed into law.

Advanced the MOMS Who Serve Act, which established a Department of Defense mental-health program related to pregnancy and childbirth.

- Advanced the MOMS Who Serve Act, which established a Department of Defense mental-health program related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Healthcare

Washington, D.C., September 15, 2026 | Legacy at Brandywine WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), George Whitesides (CA-27), and Pat Ryan (NY-18) introduced the Protect Our Polls Act, a bill to prevent armed federal agents from being deployed to polling places without Congressional approval.

Reps. Houlahan, Goodlander, Whitesides, Ryan Introduce Protect Our Polls Act, Blocking Armed Federal Agents at Polls

Federal law has restricted the deployment of troops or armed federal personnel to polling places since the Civil War era, with a narrow exception for repelling “armed enemies of the United States” that has never been invoked.  “Americans should never have to walk past armed federal agents or military personnel to cast their ballot,” said Rep. Houlahan. “Since the Civil War, federal law has kept troops away from our polling places, and for good reason.

Our military exists to defend the Constitution and the American people, not to police our elections.  “When I asked a senior military official whether troops could be deployed to polling places this November, I could not get a commitment that they would not be. That should alarm every American. We should not have to rely on the restraint of this or any President or administration when something as fundamental as the right to vote is at stake.

The Protect Our Polls Act makes the guardrails unmistakable: no President gets to put armed federal forces at our polls without Congress and the law standing in the way.”

Introduced the Protect Our Polls Act to bar armed federal agents from polling places without congressional approval.

- Introduced the Protect Our Polls Act to bar armed federal agents from polling places without congressional approval.

Voting & Elections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06) introduced the Women Add Resourcefulness and Resilience to Improve Operational Readiness (WARRIOR) Act, a bill to codify the role of women in combat and protect women’s ability to serve through the creation of true gender-neutral standards. Rep. Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, introduced the bill with Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH-01), a Navy Reserve veteran and only other female veteran in the U.S. House, and cosponsors Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06), Rep. Pat Ryan (NY-18), Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04), and Rep. Derek Tran (CA-45).

Houlahan Introduces WARRIOR Act to Protect Military Women in Combat | U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan

“Now more than ever, we should be supporting each and every servicemember willing to wear the uniform, not scrutinizing and pushing out qualified women simply because they are women,” said Rep. Houlahan. “The WARRIOR Act protects our servicemembers, ensuring that no one is excluded from a military assignment on the basis of gender.
This bill is about strength – the strength of our military standards, the strength of the women who meet them, and the strength of our nation when we enable these women to serve.”

Chrissy also introduced the Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act to advance sustainable agriculture practices by unlocking federal funding for farmers to adopt practices that increase carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas emission. She continued to build support for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act which helps farmers by reforming the visa for year-round agricultural jobs from one year to three.

* Support Humanitarian Aid for Gaza: Following Hamas’s violent attack on Israel and Israel’s violent response in Gaza, Chrissy called on the White House to use all available leverage with Israel to compel them to protect civilians, aid workers, and journalists. She urged the Israeli government to pursue Hamas in a way that complies with international law and to allow food and water to reach civilians, to end the humanitarian crisis. She called for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages.

Introduced the Women Add Resourcefulness and Resilience to Improve Operational Readiness Act to establish gender-neutral military standards and protect women’s ability to serve in combat.

Supports the Farm Workforce Modernization Act's extension of visas for year-round agricultural jobs from one year to three years.

Calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, civilian protections, humanitarian aid access, and adherence to international law.

- Introduced the Women Add Resourcefulness and Resilience to Improve Operational Readiness Act to establish gender-neutral military standards and protect women’s ability to serve in combat.
- Supports the Farm Workforce Modernization Act's extension of visas for year-round agricultural jobs from one year to three years.
- Calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, civilian protections, humanitarian aid access, and adherence to international law.

Foreign Policy and Immigration

“As we continue to seek bipartisan climate solutions, we must leverage the important role the federal government can play in incentivizing research opportunities,” said Representative Houlahan. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is a win for our research institutions whose work will help farmers and conservationists, like those in southeastern Pennsylvania, adopt sustainable practices that will protect the environment and increase climate resilience.”

Houlahan, Garbarino Introduce First Climate Solutions Caucus Bill to Spur Climate Research and Support Farmers

* Deliver for Rural and Agriculture Communities: Chrissy hosted U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the district to discuss climate-smart agriculture and new conservation grant funding. She introduced the bipartisan Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act to provide crop insurance tailored to mushroom farmers like those in Kennett Square.

Chrissy also introduced the Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act to advance sustainable agriculture practices by unlocking federal funding for farmers to adopt practices that increase carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas emission.

* Protect Communities from Extreme Weather: Chrissy knows that the harmful effects of climate change are being felt now, and we need to take urgent action to protect our communities from extreme weather events.

In 2023, in her role as co-chair of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, she attended COP 28, the United Nation’s annual summit to address climate change, and supported implementation of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, which deploys renewable energy sources and creates new jobs in the process.

Introduced legislation to incentivize climate research that helps farmers and conservationists adopt sustainable practices.

Introduced the Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act to fund agricultural practices that increase carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Supported implementing the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act to deploy renewable energy sources and create jobs.

- Introduced legislation to incentivize climate research that helps farmers and conservationists adopt sustainable practices.
- Introduced the Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act to fund agricultural practices that increase carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Supported implementing the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act to deploy renewable energy sources and create jobs.

Energy & the Environment

* Respond to Local Disasters: Following the deadly explosion at the R.M. Palmer Chocolate Factory in Reading in 2023, Chrissy reviewed the federal investigatory reports which faulted old, corroded steam pipes for the disaster. She took action to reduce the chance of such a tragedy happening again. She wrote a bill, The Aldyl A Hazard Reduction and Community Safety Act, with her Berks County Republican colleague, Rep.
Dan Meuser, that, when enacted, will remove dangerous older plastic pipe materials from high impact areas.

* Combat the Fentanyl Crisis: The number of deaths caused by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids is declining but narcotics trafficking remains one of the nation’s top health and national security challenges. That is why Chrissy introduced the Enhancing Intelligence Collection on Foreign Drug Traffickers Act which gives the intelligence community increased powers to disrupt international drug smuggling networks. In 2024, her bill was signed into law.

Co-authored the Aldyl A Hazard Reduction and Community Safety Act to remove older plastic pipe materials from high-impact areas.

Co-authored a bill to remove older plastic pipe materials from high-impact areas.

Introduced the Enhancing Intelligence Collection on Foreign Drug Traffickers Act to expand intelligence authorities to disrupt international drug-smuggling networks.

- Co-authored a bill to remove older plastic pipe materials from high-impact areas.
- Introduced the Enhancing Intelligence Collection on Foreign Drug Traffickers Act to expand intelligence authorities to disrupt international drug-smuggling networks.

Public Safety

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Chrissy Houlahan

- Introduced the Enhancing Intelligence Collection on Foreign Drug Traffickers Act to expand intelligence authorities to disrupt international drug-smuggling networks.

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- Your US Representative represents the interests of your district in the US House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Pennsylvania currently has 19 US Representatives.
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