Commission on Wartime Contracting

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Christopher Shays
Christopher Shays

Christopher Shays

Co-Chair
Appointed 2009 by then House Minority Leader John Boehner

Public service
U.S. Representative from Connecticut's 4th Congressional District, 1987-2009.
Representative, Connecticut General Assembly, 1975-1987.
Peace Corps volunteer, 1968-1970.

Education
BA, Principia College, 1968.
MBA, New York University, 1974.
MPA, New York University, 1978.


Christopher Shays was appointed co-chair of the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan in April 2009. The bipartisan, independent commission was created by Congress in 2008 to evaluate and recommend improvements in America's wartime contracting for logistics, reconstruction, and security.

Shays served in the Peace Corps in Fiji from 1968 to 1970 with his wife Betsi. He was elected to the Connecticut State House of Representatives in 1974, then to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987.

Shays served as a Republican member of the U.S. House from 1987 to 2009, representing the southwest region of Connecticut. He was a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform (HOGR), Financial Services, and Homeland Security Committees. He chaired the HOGR Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, which played a major role in reforms following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

He co-founded and co-chaired the 9/11 Caucus, Congressional National Service Caucus and Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus. He also co-chaired the Congressional Arts Caucus and the Nonproliferation Task Force.

A graduate of Principia College in Illinois, he holds an MBA and MPA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and Wagner School of Public Administration.

He serves on the board of directors of North Highland, a management and technology consulting firm. Shays is also a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioner.

Betsi and Christopher Shays live in Bridgeport, CT.

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