Summary

Christopher Scott Murphy was born in 1973 and is currently serving as the junior United States Senator from Connecticut. Senator Murphy was reelected in 2018 and his seat is up for election in 2024.

A member of the Democratic party, he previously represented Connecticut’s 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013. Before being elected to Congress, Murphy was a member of both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and in the Connecticut Senate from 2003 to 2007.

Senator Murphy is currently serving on the Foreign Relations Committee; Appropriations Committee; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

Below is Senator Murphy’s’s voting record and public positions on issues important to the Jewish Community 

Senator Murphy supported the Iran deal. In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he voted against the Taylor Force Act, which states that no American governmental funds shall be given to a Palestinian entity that financially rewards terrorists or their families. He criticized the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which claimed that Israel’s settlements have no legal validity, and spoke out against the decision of the US administration to not veto the resolution.

Senator Murphy is a supporter of the two-state solution. He did not support the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem by arguing that “the relocation could spark a wave of violence, jeopardize peace talks, and undermine American foreign policy interests.”

Senator Murphy voted against the Taylor Force Act in the Foreign Relations Committee but supported the amended version. Senator Murphy cosponsored the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, a legislation that supported full funding of security assistance to Israel as outlined in the 2016 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding. In 2019, he voted against the Strengthening America’s Middle East Security Act which, among other things, strengthened Israel’s security and allowed a state or local government to adopt measures to divest its assets from entities that boycott Israel.

In June 2019, Senator Murphy expressed his support for a resolution that opposes the delegitimization of Israel and the global BDS movement.