 He got a direct mandate in the electoral district Saarlouis, which he defended at the federal elections in 2005.From 1991 to 1997 he was a speaker of the SPD's parliamentary group in the "Ausschuss für Arbeit und Sozialordnung" (Committee on work and social order).From 1997 to 1998 he was deputy chairman of his party's group in the Bundestag.