John Boehner

John Boehner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1991–
Preceded by	Donald "Buz" Lukens
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Deborah L. Gunlack

John Andrew Boehner (BAY-ner; IPA pronunciation: 'beɪnɚ) (born November 17 1949), is an American politician of the Republican Party who served as House Majority Leader in the 109th Congress, and a U.S. Representative from Ohio's 8th congressional district, which includes parts of the city Dayton as well as several southwestern counties along the Indiana border. On Feb. 2, 2006, Boehner was elected House Majority Leader after Tom DeLay was forced to resign from the post after a criminal indictment. On Nov. 17, 2006, after the Republican defeat in the 2006 elections, Boehner was elected House Minority Leader for the incoming 110th Congress.

Background and personal life

Boehner was born in Reading, Ohio, into a large Roman Catholic family, and has 11 siblings. He attended Moeller High School. During the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Navy. He was honorably discharged after eight weeks of training because of a bad back.

He received a bachelor’s degree in business from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1977, and then worked as a businessman.

He lives in the Wetherington section of West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. He and his wife Debbie have two daughters, Lindsay and Tricia. Boehner is a very heavy smoker.

Boenher takes a conservative position on most issues. He has worked to lower income and inheritance taxes, arguing, "Americans are being taxed almost every moment of their lives. My goodness, when they are dead, do we have to tax them again?">ref> speaking of the estate tax[2]</ref> In terms of Congressional procedure, he has demanded that they treat the minority better, saying, "What we really expect out of the Democrats is for them to treat us as they would like to have been treated."

Political career

In 1981 Boehner served on the board of trustees of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio. In 1984, he served as president of that board.

Boehner served as an Ohio state representative from 1985 to 1990. In 1990, when U.S. Rep. Donald "Buz" Lukens (R-Ohio) was caught in a sex scandal involving a minor, Boehner challenged Lukens in the Republican primary and defeated the incumbent, also defeating the district's former Representative, Tom Kindness. Boehner then won the November 1990 general election and became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 102nd Congress. He was a member of the Gang of Seven, a group of freshman conservatives who publicly criticized Congressional perks.

From 1995 to 1999, Boehner was the House Republican Conference Chairman. He was the as Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee from 2001 until 2006, when he resigned to become House Majority Leader.

Boehner is widely credited with championing the 1994 Contract With America, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, and the passage of "No Child Left Behind Act." He was also alleged to be one of the key figures in the failed 1998 coup to replace House Speaker Newt Gingrich with Buffalo, New York congressman Bill Paxon.

Congressional leadership

Boehner was elected House Majority Leader on February 2 2006, following Tom DeLay's departure after DeLay was indicted on criminal charges.

There was brief controversy on the first ballot for Majority Leader. The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting. However, this turned out to be due to a misunderstanding as to whether Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico was allowed to vote or not.

Boehner campaigned as a reform candidate who could help the House Republicans cleanse and recover from the political damage caused by charges of ethics violations, corruption and money laundering leveled against prominent conservatives such as DeLay and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in spite of his own ties to Abramoff. He bested Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri and Representative John Shadegg of Arizona, even though he was considered an underdog candidate to Blunt.

This was the most contested election among House Republicans since 1998. Shadegg dropped out of the race after finishing third in the first round of voting. In the second round, Boehner received 122 votes compared to 109 for Blunt. Blunt kept his previous position as Majority Whip, the No. 3 leadership position in the House.

Boehner has a strong pro-business reputation but the social conservatives in the GOP are questioning his commitment to their values. According to the Washington Post: "From illegal immigration to sanctions on China to an overhaul of the pension system, Boehner, as chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, took ardently pro-business positions that were contrary to those of many in his party. Religious conservatives — examining his voting record — see him as a policymaker driven by small-government economic concerns, not theirs… [He opposes] a tough illegal immigration bill that passed in December [2005] with overwhelming Republican support over Boehner's opposition. One provision in the bill would mandate that every business verify the legality of every employee through the federal terrorism watch list and a database of Social Security numbers. For the bill's authors, the measure is central to choking off illegal immigrants' employment opportunities. To business groups and Boehner, it is unworkable."

On May 25, 2006, with support for Bush and the GOP Congressional candidates lagging in the polls, Boehner issued a fiery statement defending the Republican agenda and attacking his "Democrat friends" like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. He said, regarding national security, that voters "have a choice between a Republican Party that understands the stakes and is dedicated to victory, and a Democrat Party with a non-existent national security policy that sheepishly dismisses the challenges of a post-9/11 world and is all too willing to concede defeat on the battlefield in Iraq."

Controversies

Connections to lobbyists

In June 1995, Boehner provoked contentions of unethical conduct when he distributed campaign contributions from tobacco industry lobbyists on the House floor as House members were weighing how to vote on tobacco subsidies. Boehner stopped handing out the checks only "after being questioned about the practice by two freshmen who’d heard about the handoff on the House floor". Rep. Linda Smith (R-WA) said of Boehner’s actions, "[I]f it is not illegal, it should be.". This pressure from within his own party forced him to apologize for handing out the checks. He later led the effort to change House rules and prohibit campaign contributions from being distributed on the House floor.

Boehner's PAC has raised $31,500 from four Indian tribes who at one time were associated with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is currently the central figure in an unfolding lobbying scandal. Boehner and spokesmen for the Indian tribes say that the contributions were not related to Abramoff's lobbying.

Boehner was the chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. In October 2004, Rose DiNapoli, a lobbyist for student loan giant Sallie Mae, held a fundraiser in her Arlington, Va., home for Boehner. At the dinner, 34 Sallie Mae executives -- including more than half the senior management team -- wrote checks, most for $1,000 apiece, for Boehner's political action committee. In December 2005, Boehner told lenders that he thought they would be happy with the final results of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. "Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands," he said, "I've got enough rabbits up my sleeve to be able to get where we need to." Boehner championed a bill that would "soften [proposed] cuts to lenders" and "deal a serious blow to the competing direct-loan program." The direct-loan program gives students access to loans directly through their school, instead of through private lenders and banks. The bill also sought to prevent students from consolidating their loans. "Several GAO and CBO studies have found that the direct-lending program costs taxpayers much less than extending loans through lenders like Sallie Mae. Government watchdogs have estimated that every dollar loaned through these middlemen costs the federal government at least 9 cents."

Boehner rents a two-bedroom Capitol Hill apartment for $1600 a month. The apartment building is owned by a Washington lobbyist; the Washington Post evaluated his rent to be about the market rate. Boehner does not deny his close ties to "K Street" lobbyists and says that his relationships are ethical.

Lawsuit against Congressman McDermott

Boehner is currently involved in a lawsuit, first filed in 1998, against fellow Congressman Jim McDermott — the first such case ever between two sitting Congressmen. Boehner v. McDermott centers on the release by McDermott to the media of a taped conference call between Boehner, Newt Gingrich, and other Republican Congressional leaders. The call was a discussion of strategy over an investigation of Gingrich by the House Ethics Committee. Gingrich had publicly pledged not to organize opposition to the probe. McDermott was ordered to pay $60,000 to Boehner in addition to attorney fees and costs and this verdict was upheld on appeal.

2006 Mark Foley scandal

Main article: Mark Foley scandal

Republican Leader John Boehner told the Washington Post that he knew of "contact" between Foley and Congressional pages in the spring, but was unaware of their nature or content. Boehner maintains that he believes he informed Speaker Dennis Hastert, and that Hastert assured him it had been "taken care of." Boehner was unaware of Foley's e-mails and instant messages until the messages were released to ABC News and other sources.

2006 re-election campaign

In the November 2006 election, Boehner defeated U.S. Air Force veteran Mort Meier 56% to 44%.

Other reading

• Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 2006: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (2005).

External links

• Official website
  • Stick to the Basics (Fall 2003)
• Office of the House Minority Leader
• Committee on Education & the Workforce
• Template:CongBio2
• The Freedom Project
• Friends of John Boehner
• List of Donors to John Boehner's Campaigns
• NNDB profile - John Boehner
• The Charter Difference (8.24.04)
• The Farm State Pig Out (2002-05-05)
• Washington Post article
• Alleged Abramoff ties
• Gingrich is Heard Urging Tactics in Ethics Case. The New York Times, January 10 1997, pA1.