Hans Riemer

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Hans Riemer (b. September 5, 1972) is a policy expert and progressive advocate with a unique record in national politics fighting for issues such as Social Security, voting reform and civic engagement.

Hans is the Political Director for Rock the Vote, the Los Angeles based nonprofit organization dedicated to building political power for young people. In 2005, Hans led Rock the Vote in a groundbreaking, intergenerational campaign with the AARP to fight against “privatizing” Social Security.

In 2003-2004, Hans led Rock the Vote’s political programs as Rock the Vote registered more than 1.4 million voters and sparked an unprecedented increase in the youth vote, with 5 million more young voters turning out in 2004 than in 2000.

From 2001-2003, Hans was a senior policy analyst directing the Social Security Information Project at the Institute for America’s Future, a progressive research and advocacy organization. While there, he ran a national coalition of organizations dedicated to protecting Social Security and played a pivotal role in bringing the Bush Administration’s first term agenda for Social Security privatization to a halt.

From 1996-2001, Hans was the director of the 2030 Center, a public policy organization for young adults focused on economic issues and particularly Social Security, which he founded at the age of 23. The 2030 Center’s work drew national attention and Hans was widely recognized as a leading expert on issues affecting young adults, and particularly the challenging question of how to protect the nation’s social insurance programs for future generations.

Hans has testified before the House Ways & Means Social Security Subcommittee, the House Financial Services Committee, and the Senate Select Committee on Aging. He has spoken on a panel at the White House with President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore; and on a panel with Vice President Al Gore, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and others. He spoke during primetime on a citizen panel for the 2000 Democratic National Convention and he was an advisor to the Gore presidential campaign.

Before founding the 2030 Center, Hans was a policy assistant to Dr. Arthur S. Flemming, former Secretary of Housing, Education and Welfare and U.S. Commissioner of Civil Rights, where he staffed a national coalition focused on social welfare policy issues that Dr. Flemming chaired.

Hans is a member of the National Academy for Social Insurance. In 2007, Hans joined the board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

[edit] Personal life

Hans Riemer was born and raised in Oakland, California. He now resides in Silver Spring, Maryland. He married his wife, Angela Walker Riemer, in 2002.

[edit] Maryland activism

In 2006, Hans ran for elected office for the District 5 seat of the Montgomery County County Council. Though a newcomer to the area, he earned 38.12% of the vote against then School Board Member Valerie Ervin in the Democratic Primary. Mr. Riemer is an appointed member of the Long Branch Citizens Advisory Board and is president of the Action Committee for Transit.