Klaas de Vries
Klaas George de Vries, born on April the 28th in Hoensbroek, the Netherlands, is a member of the Dutch Senate on behalf of the Dutch Labour Party, PvdA. De Vries is known for his extensive political career. He has been a member of parliament for more than fifteen years, served as a minister in the Dutch government, and played an important role in the formation of two Dutch cabinets.
Political Career
In the year 1973, De Vries became a member of the Dutch House of Representatives. Initally, De Vries was the Defense specialist of parliamentary party PvdA. He was chairman of the Defence Committee of parliament between 1978 and 19871. He also served in the North-Atlantic Assembly. He was member of the board of the PvdA between 1981 and 1988, and from 1981 to 1985 he was active as the vice-president and president of the Parliamentary Association for Euro-Arab Cooperation (PAEAC). Between 1981 and 1986 De Vries was a member of the Presidium of the House of Representatives, and between 1986 and 1988 he became director of the Association of Dutch Municipalities. In 1994 De Vries became informateur of the first Kok cabinet. He became chair of the Social-Economic Council in 1996.
After this, in 1998 De Vries served as informateur of the second Kok cabinet. He became Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in 1998, and temporarily took over as Minister of Agriculture, Fishery and Environmental Conservation. In 2000, De Vries became Minister of Home Affairs. As Minister of Home Affairs, De Vries initiated several government reform programs. On the national level, De Vries initiated the temporary referendum law. Locally he was responsible for the revision of the number of municipalities, the revision of the system of municipal government, and the constitutional revision that would allow a mayor to be directly elected. In 2002 De Vries returned to parliament. He contested in the 2002 PvdA leadership election, which he lost to Wouter Bos. In parliament De Vries plays a leading role in Home Affairs and Government Reform. He chairs the Parliamentary Committee which revises the parliamentary research procedures and the PvdA Committee on democratic renewal.
De Vries was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau on December 10, 2002. He is also a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion.
Education
De Vries attended a protestant grammar school in Heerlen between 1949 and 1955, after which he attended the Grotius College. He graduated Gymnasium-alpha in 1961. Between 1961 and 1962 he attended Hamilne University in St. Paul (Minnesota, United States) where he studied Liberal Arts. In 1962 he returned to the Netherlands to study Law at the University of Utrecht. He graduated in 1968, and joined the PvdA that same year. Between 1968 and 1973 De Vries worked for the Ministry of Justice, and was member of the Delft City Council between 1970 and 1971. In 1971 De Vries became research fellow at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, researching Administrative Law.
