Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, who has been active in soliciting Indian American support and has been a member of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has also become a member of the Pakistani American Caucus, according to the Washington-based Pakistani American Liaison Center (PALC).

In a release issued on March 21, the PALC said it welcomes Rep. Van Hollen to the Congressional Pakistan Caucus. Congressman Van Hollen, who was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on Jan. 10, 1959, lived in India and Sri Lanka, as well as Turkey while growing up, being the son of a U.S. Foreign Service officer. He joined the Pakistan Caucus on March 21, the PALC said.

Rep. Van Hollen is also member of several other country Caucuses in Congress, including the Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Caucus, Filipino Caucus, Hellenic Caucus to name just a few.

“Congressman Van Hollen’s joining the Pakistan Caucus is very good news for the Pakistani American community. The community enjoys a special bond with the congressman and hopes to see Chris in a leading role on the Caucus,” said Faiz Rehman, Executive Director of PALC, a Washington-based group working with the Congressional Pakistan Caucus.

The Congressional Pakistan Caucus was launched last year in September by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at a ceremony on Capitol Hill. Since then, 63 members of Congress have joined the Caucus, according to PALC. A number of legislators are members of both caucuses.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and long-time India critic Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) are two co-chairs of the Caucus.

Rep. Van Hollen was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in November 2002 and was reelected in 2004 with 75 percent of the vote. He serves on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee for Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Government Reform.

He is also the Vice Chair of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, a Co-Chair of the Congressional Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force, and a Vice-Chair of the Democratic Task Force on Tax Policy and the Budget. His name has been mentioned among a slate of Democratic Congressmen who might consider running for the U.S. Senate to replace Sen. Paul Sarbanes who last week announced his retirement in 2006.

Roll Call newspaper, which reports on happenings on the Hill, once named him a “rising star” in Congress and the Washington Post recently noted that Van Hollen “has distinguished himself as a shrewd legislative player.”

In his first term, he was singled out as the “Outstanding New Member of the Year” by the Committee for Education Funding, which is the nation’s largest and oldest non-partisan education coalition, and he has already received numerous other awards for legislative leadership.