James C. Greenwood

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Jim Greenwood

James Charles (Jim) Greenwood (born May 4, 1951) represented Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional District for six terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican.

Greenwood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Holland, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College. After earning his degree in 1973, Greenwood worked for four years as an aid to state representative John Renninger. From 1977 until 1980, he was a caseworker for the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Service Agendy, working with abused and neglected children.

Greenwood was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1980 as a Republican and the Pennsylvania Senate in 1986. In 1992, Greenwood defeated Congressman Peter H. Kostmayer for a seat in the House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 8th district. Greenwood's voting record has been moderate and he voted against two of the four impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton. He voted with the House Democrats to oppose Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He also served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In this role, he led investigations and held hearings on a variety of issues within the vast jurisdiction of the Committee including corporate governance, bioterrorism, port and border security, drug importation, and the safety of nuclear power plants.

A co-founder and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, Greenwood was the author of comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to preserve, protect, and research ocean resources. As a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, he was a leading voice in the efforts to ensure that sufficient federal funds were appropriated to meet the needs of children in special education programs and to prevent school violence. He also worked to increase communication among world leaders to address international environmental issues.

Greenwood retired after his sixth term in Congress in January 2005.

Greenwood is currently the president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agriculture, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.