Anthony C. Beilenson

Anthony Charles Beilenson (born October 26, 1932) is a former Democratic Congressman from Southern California who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1997.

Tony, as he is known to his friends, was born in New Rochelle, New York and grew up in an upscale suburb of New York City. He attended Harvard University, earning a Juris Doctor. Beilenson then relocated to Los Angeles and became a partner in a prestigious law firm that represented the film industry.

Beilenson was elected to the California State Assembly in 1963, serving until 1967, and then served in the California State Senate from 1967 to 1976. One of his accomplishments in the California State Legislature was the Beilenson Act, which requires public hearings whenever hospitals close or reduce services.

The Sacramento Union, on December 22, 1973, stated that he, representing Beverly Hills, brought pressure on state officials and had the nativity scene removed from the Capitol grounds because it offended him and the other Jews from his district.

Beilenson then served ten terms in the U.S. House of Representative in the United States Congress, beginning in 1977 until his retirement in 1997. He served on the House Rules Committee, and chaired the House Intelligence Committee.^[1]

Numbered among his accomplishments while in the Congress was the successful enactment early in his tenure there of legislation he introduced to create the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and the Channel Islands National Park in California.^[2]

In tribute to his career of public service, Balboa Park in California was renamed as the "Anthony C. Beilenson Park". It is located at 6300 Balboa Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91406. The park is an 80-acre (320,000 m²) water recreation facility, holding Balboa Lake in the center, an artificial 27-acre (110,000 m²) lake filled with water from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.

One of his sons is Maryland politician Peter Beilenson.

References

1. ^ Congressional Directory, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
2. ^ John Gingles - "My Years as a Capitol Hill Legislative Aide", from A Personal Memoir, Washington, D.C., 2007.

External links

• Anthony C. Beilenson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.