Donna Christian-Christensen

Donna Christian-Christensen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from United States Virgin Islands's At-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Victor O. Frazer
Personal details
Born	September 19, 1945 (1945-09-19) (age 66) Teaneck, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Chris Christensen
Residence	Christiansted, US Virgin Islands
Alma mater	St. Mary's College, George Washington University
Occupation	physician
Religion	Moravian Church

Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, formerly Donna Christian-Green (born September 19, 1945), is the non-voting Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives (map).

Biography

Early life

Donna Christian-Christensen was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, the daughter of a county judge. She attended St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana and the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. and earned an M.D.^[1] She interned at San Francisco's Pacific Medical Center and performed her residency at Howard University medical center.

Career

Donna Christian-Christensen worked as a physician, first in the emergency room and later in the maternity ward. She then served as medical director for the St. Croix Hospital in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. She was the Commissioner of Health for the Virgin Islands in 1993 and 1994 and also ran a private medical practice until 1996. Christian was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions for the 1984, 1988, and 1992 elections. She has also previously served on the Status Commission and the Board of Education for the USVI.

U.S. House of Representatives

Donna Christian-Christensen ran unsuccessfully for the position of USVI delegate in 1994, losing a three-way race to Victor Frazer of the Independent Citizens Movement. However, she was elected as a Democrat to the House in a 1996 rematch with Frazer and has served from January 3, 1997, to the present.

Donna Christian-Christensen is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She was featured on The Colbert Report's Better Know a Protectorate segment. She is also the first female physician to win a congressional election.

During the 2008 electoral campaign,^[2] she appeared in a TV advertisement endorsing the reelection of neighboring Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who went to trial after the November 2008 elections for a twenty-four-count federal Grand Jury indictment for corruption.^[3] The jury found him not guilty, though he did lose his bid for re-election.

She was reelected in a landslide on November 2, 2010.^[4]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus

Honors and recognitions

On March 23, 2009, Delegate Christensen became the Ship Sponsor of the USCGC Reef Shark during the vessel's commissioning ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Reef Shark is a new 87' cutter, built at an approximate cost of $7.5 million by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana.

References

1. ^ Donna Christian-Christensen, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
2. ^ http://anibalgobernador.com/blog/?n=129
3. ^ http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otras/noticias/libre_sin_fianza_anibal_acevedo_vila/173083^{[dead link]}
4. ^ http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/christensen-re-elected-in-landslide-1.1059442

External links

• Official site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Victor O. Frazer	Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from U.S. Virgin Islands January 3, 1997 – present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Christian-Christensen, Donna
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 19, 1945
Place of birth	Teaneck, New Jersey
Date of death
Place of death