Jim Saxton served as a member of the United States House of Representatives starting in 1984 retiring in 2009 after 25 years of distinguished public service. Prior to his election to Congress, he served in the New Jersey State Assembly from 1975 to 1981 and in the State Senate from 1982 until November of 1984. Before his election to the state legislature, he was an educator in the Bordentown Township School District followed by a short stint as the owner and operator of a real estate brokerage business.
As a member of the House of Representatives, Saxton represented the 3rd district of New Jersey, which includes parts of three counties: Burlington County, Camden County, and Ocean County. The district has a population of more than 650,000.
Throughout his tenure in Congress, Saxton served on several influential committees including the Banking Committee (member) , the Armed Services Committee (member) and the inaugural chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee (member), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Conservation and Wildlife ( 1995 -2000) which earned him the moniker “Teddy Roosevelt Conservationist,” from his colleagues and many awards.
Most recently, he was honored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation for his work as co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, and by the Barnegat Bay National Estuary Program for his leadership on issues that affect the environmental integrity of the Bay, he was honored by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation for his steadfast championship of environmental causes and received the Champion of the Ocean Award from the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute.
Mr Saxton co-chairs the New Jersey open space panel (the Green Ribbon Council) of New Jersey Conservation Foundation with former NJ Governor Brendan Byrne.