Susan Molinari serves the dual role of chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Group and President of Ketchum Public Affairs. Ms. Molinari is a former Member of Congress from New York, winning a special election in 1990. After just 4 years in Congress she was elected vice chair of House Republican Conference, making her the highest-ranking woman in Congress. She was unanimously re-elected to the House leadership in 1996 and was selected as keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in San Diego. A member of the House Budget Committee, Susan chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Railroad Subcommittee. Prior to serving in the Congress, Susan was the minority leader of the New York City Council.
Ms. Molinari was an effective leader in the fight for crime victims, passing sweeping judicial reforms to toughen laws on repeat rapists and child molesters and to increase funding for the Violence Against Women Act. She also won passage of measures to enhance adoption, and promote breast cancer awareness and research funding.
As a member of the House Budget Committee, she was at the forefront of producing Congress’ first balanced budget in 29 years. Ms. Molinari chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Railroad Subcommittee, which passed legislation to overhaul the nation’s Amtrak passenger rail service. As chair, she also implemented the transition of the Interstate Commerce Commission, to the Surface Transportation Board, and played a key role in fashioning the historic, five year, multi-billion dollar transportation-funding bill (TEA-21) adopted in 1997.
Prior to Congress, Ms. Molinari was twice elected to the New York City Council, where she was Minority Leader. In 1997, she left Congress to co-anchor the inaugural broadcast of CBS News’ Saturday Morning.
Today, she can regularly be seen on television analyzing politics, government and current events. In addition her broadcast experience, Susan has addressed hundreds of audiences on politics, policies and the media in nearly every state. She lecturers before business and trade organizations, universities and civic groups from coast-to-coast.
She is the co-author of the book Representative Mom: Balancing Budgets, Bill and Baby in the U.S. Congress (Doubleday, 1998). Ms. Molinari has also authored scores of articles published by national magazines and daily newspapers on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from the role of women in politics to national fiscal policy.
Ms. Molinari was selected as a Visiting Fellow at the prestigious Institute of Politics/ Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1998. In 2003 Susan was recognized for her efforts to develop a framework to address the national housing crisis. As co-Chair of Millennial Housing Commission, the National Housing Conference named her “Housing Person of the Year.” She also served as a member of the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee.
Ms. Molinari chairs the Century Council, a national, not-for-profit organization committed to reducing drunk driving and underage drinking. Ms. Molinari is a member of several boards including the Toyota North America Diversity Advisory Board, and the March of Dimes Advisory Board. She also served on the bi-partisan Commission on Federal Election Reform. The Commission, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III, studied the adequacy of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.
Ms. Molinari quickly became “one of the most distinctive Members of the House” and “one of the most visible voices for her party” according to the authoritative Almanac of American Politics. She was one of Time magazine's "Most Influential People Under Age Forty," in 1994, Glamour Magazine's "Women of the Year," in 1996 and one of Toastmasters International "Top Five Speakers," in 1998.
She is married to former New York Congressman Bill Paxon and they have two children and reside in Virginia.