Ellen Tauscher
Official State Department portrait
15thUnder Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
In office June 26, 2009 – February 7, 2012
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Robert Joseph
Succeeded by	Rose Gottemoeller
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's10th district
In office January 3, 1997 – June 26, 2009
Preceded by	Bill Baker
Succeeded by	John Garamendi
Personal details
Born	Ellen O'Kane (1951-11-15)November 15, 1951 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 29, 2019(2019-04-29) (aged 67) Stanford, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	William Tauscher ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1999)​ James Cieslak ​ ​ (m. 2009; div. 2011)​
Children	1
Education	Seton Hall University (BS)

Ellen O'Kane Tauscher (November 15, 1951 – April 29, 2019^[1]) was an American businesswoman, diplomat, andDemocratic Party politician who was theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, she served as theUnder Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. She then served as Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense at theU.S. State Department.

While in Congress, Tauscher was a leading centrist Democrat, and the chair of theNew Democrat Coalition, a caucus of moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives. She also served as vice-chairwoman of theDemocratic Leadership Council from 2001 to 2005.

Ellen Tauscher was born inNewark, New Jersey, the daughter of John E. O'Kane, ashop steward for theUnited Food and Commercial Workers union at aShopRite store inUnion City,^[2] and his wife Sally, a secretary forMarsh & McLennan in New York City.^[3] She graduated in 1974 fromSeton Hall University, where she obtained aBachelor of Science degree inearly childhood education.^[4]

She then worked as aninvestment banker withBache & Co. and, at age 25, was the youngest and one of the first women to become a member of theNew York Stock Exchange.^[4] She also served as an officer of theAmerican Stock Exchange from 1979 to 1983, after which she worked forBear Stearns and a subsidiary ofDrexel Burnham Lambert.^[5]

In 1989, Tauscher moved to California and later founded the ChildCare Registry, the first national research service to help parents verify the background of childcare workers.^[5] She also publishedThe ChildCare Sourcebook and headed the Tauscher Foundation, which provided funds for elementary schools to buy computers andInternet access.^[6]

Before running for theUnited States House of Representatives, Tauscher was active inDemocratic circles as afundraiser^[7] and also chairedDianne Feinstein's successful1992 and1994 Senate campaigns.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, Tauscher was recruited to run against two-termRepublican incumbentBill Baker inCalifornia's 10th congressional district, which included several wealthy suburbs in the East Bay. During the campaign, Tauscher emphasized balancing the federal budget, her support for business, the environment, and the military.^[8] She also charged that Baker was tooconservative for the district, particularly given his opposition toabortion andgun control.^[9] She narrowly defeated Baker, claiming victory by a margin of 1.45% of the vote.^[10] The race was ranked as the fourth most expensive of that year's 435 House races.^[11]

Tauscher was re-elected in1998 and2000 against vigorous Republican opposition. While the 10th district was once considered "solid Republican territory,"^[9] most Bay Area Republicans tend to be more moderate than their counterparts in the rest of California and since the 1990s have been increasingly willing to support Democrats at the national level.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, during the statewide redistricting process, some of the more Republican-leaning parts of Tauscher's district were removed and replaced with more Democratic territory nearBerkeley and inSolano County. She was subsequently re-elected to four more terms, facing no substantive opposition and receiving more than 65 percent of the vote after2002.^{[citation needed]}

In the House of Representatives, Tauscher served on theArmed Services Committee and theTransportation and Infrastructure Committee. She chaired theStrategic Forces subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, which oversees the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, missile defense program, and the national labs. Tauscher was the only member of Congress who had two national labs in her district,Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the California campus ofSandia National Laboratories. At the time she left Congress, Tauscher also was the senior member from California serving on theHighways and Transit subcommittee and theAviation subcommittee of theTransportation and Infrastructure committee.^[12] From her position on the Transportation Committee, Tauscher brought $33 million to her district for transportation and infrastructure projects.^[13]

On March 18, 2009, President Obama nominated Tauscher to the position ofUnder Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. She was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on June 25, 2009, byunanimous consent.^[14] Notwithstanding her appointment, confirmation and acceptance, she served asSpeaker Pro Tempore on June 26, 2009, when the House narrowly passed (219–212) acap-and-trade global warming bill.^[15] Tauscher resigned her seat on June 26, 2009, after voting was finished on theAmerican Clean Energy & Security Act.^[16] Her resignation necessitated aspecial election.^[17] Tauscher served asUnder Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until her appointment on February 6, 2012, as Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense. Tauscher retired from the State Department on August 31, 2012.^{[citation needed]}

As Under Secretary of State, Tauscher successfully negotiated theNew START treaty with the Russian Federation in March 2010.^[18] The first major agreement signed with Russia in nearly 20 years, the treaty was signed by Presidents Barack Obama andDmitri Medvedev on April 8, 2010, and ratified by the U.S. Senate on December 22, 2010. Tauscher represented the United States at theU.N. NPT review conference that is held every five years to review the status of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).^[19] The 2010 conference was the first in 10 years to result in an consensus agreement. Tauscher was also the lead official in the State Department working on the bilateral agreements with Poland, Romania, and Turkey for the European Phased Adaptive Approach missile defense system, negotiating timely agreements that allowed the President's deployment timeline to be met.^[20]

In 2008, Tauscher was a strong supporter ofHillary Clinton's candidacy for president. She traveled around the country as a surrogate for Clinton's campaign in the primary. In 2013, she was one of the first prominent elected officials to join theReady for Hillary effort which became one of the largest independent grassroots efforts on behalf of an undeclared Presidential candidate in history.^[21]

A leadingcentrist Democrat, Tauscher was the chairwoman of theNew Democrat Coalition, acaucus of moderate Democrats in the House. She also served as vice-chairwoman of theDemocratic Leadership Council from 2001 to 2005.^[9]

Tauscher received an 11% lifetime rating from theAmerican Conservative Union,^[22] and a 95% rating for her 2008 voting record fromAmericans for Democratic Action.^[23]

While in Congress, she supporteduniversal health care and, in particular, coveringuninsured children through theState Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).^[24] She also supported scaling back theestate tax, tighteningbankruptcy rules, and expandingfree trade.^[8]

Tauscher was stronglypro-choice. She received a 100% positive rating fromNARAL.^[25] She voted against bans onlate-term andpartial-birth abortions.^{[citation needed]}

She also supported federal funding ofstem cell research, voting in favor of bothStem Cell Research Enhancement Acts.^{[citation needed]}

Tauscher was in favor of more extensive gun control. She expressed her support for theSecond Amendment, but has also said that "we should keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those with history of violence." She called for "common sense gun safety legislation that strikes a balance between Second Amendment protections and protections for the public."^{[citation needed]}

While in Congress, she supported arming commercialpilots, requiringbackground checks of legal gun owners, and banningSaturday night specials.^[26] She received an F rating from theNRA Political Victory Fund.^[27]

In October 2002, Tauscher voted in favor of theIraq Resolution, approving theuse of military force inIraq. However, she later became a critic of theIraq War, while continuing to vote for funding for the War (see HR 1585^[28]). In December 2005, Tauscher led a group of twenty-two other House Democrats in sending a letter toPresidentGeorge W. Bush urging him towithdraw U.S. troops, expressing the hope that the "Iraqi government takes increased responsibility" for its political and security needs.^[29] She later voted to redeploy troops out of Iraq within 90 days^[25] and even toimpeach President Bush over the war.^[30]

Tauscher was an early proponent of same-sex marriage, publicly stating in 2004 in response to President George W. Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, "It is clear to me that this is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, and it is unambiguous in my mind that the government cannot discriminate by gender the rights conferred by the state in marriage."^[31] In 2006, she voted against theFederal Marriage Amendment, which would haveconstitutionally defined marriage as being between a man and woman.^[25]

On March 3, 2009, Tauscher introduced theMilitary Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 to theHouse of Representatives, which would have repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The bill eventually passed in a slightly different form in 2010 after Tauscher had left the House, repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.^{[citation needed]}

She was opposed tobanning gays from theBoy Scouts. She had a 100% rating from theHuman Rights Campaign, the largestgay rights advocacy group in theUnited States.^[25]

After leaving the State Department, Tauscher assumed a number of publicly held corporate and non-profit board positions, including serving on the boards ofEdison International/Southern California Edison (EIX) in Rosemead, California, and eHealth (EHTH) in Mountain View, California. She served on the Board of Advisors ofSpaceX and the Board of Directors ofBAE Systems,Invacare Corporation, andSeaWorld Entertainment. She was a member of the Board of Governors ofThe Commonwealth Club of California. She served as vice chair of theAtlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and was a member of theUniversity of California Board of Regents.

She also served as chairman of the Board of Governors forLos Alamos National Security andLawrence Livermore National Security, a member of the board of directors of theNational Comprehensive Cancer Network, and was chairman of the board of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Foundation.^[32]

In August 2013, theAlliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety elected Tauscher as independent chairperson.^[33] The Alliance is a coalition of some of the largest clothing retailers and brands in North America, including Wal-Mart, Target, the Gap, Costco, and VF Brands. The Alliance is working with the government of Bangladesh, factory owners, and international organizations to improve worker safety for Bangladeshi garment workers.

Tauscher was also a strategic advisor to the Washington, D.C. law firm ofBaker Donelson on matters of defense, transportation, energy, and health care.^[34]

Tauscher was a member of the ReFormers Caucus ofIssue One.^[35]

Tauscher lived inPleasanton and laterAlamo, California, during her Congressional career.^[36][37] Prior to theirdivorce in 1999, she was married to William Tauscher, former chairman andCEO ofVanstar Corporation, currentdirector ofSafeway, Inc.,^[38] and founder of the Tauscher Group, which invests and assists in the management of enterprises in home products,transportation, security andreal estate.^[39] She had a daughter, Katherine (born 1991).^[6]

On the same day as her taking the office of Under Secretary, she married widower James Cieslak, a retired pilot forDelta Air Lines.^[3][40] They divorced in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2010, Tauscher was diagnosed with Stage 3esophageal cancer, one of the fastest growing cancers in the United States and one of the deadliest, with a survival rate of 18%.^[41] After a grueling regimen of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery to remove her esophagus, Tauscher was declared cancer-free in December 2010. Following that time, she was active as a board member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and as chair of the NCCN Foundation, as well as speaking around the country, advocating for more information, more funding and earlier screening for the disease.^{[citation needed]}

Tauscher died of pneumonia on April 29, 2019, at the age of 67 at theStanford University Medical Center, inStanford, California.^[42]

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

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