Collin Peterson

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Collin Peterson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Arlan Stangeland
Born	June 29, 1944 (1944-06-29) (age 63) Fargo, North Dakota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Divorced
Religion	Lutheran

Collin Clark Peterson (b. June 29, 1944 in Fargo, North Dakota), is an American politician from the U.S. state of Minnesota. Peterson has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing Minnesota's 7th congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota. The district, Minnesota's largest and most rural district, includes the entire northwestern area of the state. It includes Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Bemidji, Willmar, Marshall, Alexandria and part of St. Cloud.

Since 2007, Peterson has been chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

[edit] Background and education

Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Moorhead State University in Moorhead. His current home is Detroit Lakes, just east of Moorhead.

[edit] Campaigns

Peterson was a member of the Minnesota State Senate for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party) from 1977 to 1986, representing a district in northwestern Minnesota.

He was elected to the Congress in 1990, defeating seven-term Republican Arlan Stangeland in 1990 on his third try after unsuccessful attempts in 1986 and 1988. The 7th has always been a somewhat conservative district and Peterson struggled to hold on to his seat in close elections. In 1992 he narrowly won re-election by a 50-49% margin against former state representative Bernie Omann. In a 1994 re-match against Omann, Peterson won by a 51-49% margin. From 1996 on, he has been re-elected by a wide margin, with voters giving him between 65 and 72 percent of the vote. He has served in the 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th congresses thus far (January 3, 1991–present).

[edit] Issues and positions

Peterson was a cosponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005, which would provide amnesty and job protection for three million illegal immigrant agricultural workers and their families, and extend the visas of legal immigrant agricultural workers.

In 1998, Peterson gained attention by proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the residents of Minnesota's Northwest Angle to vote on whether they wanted to secede from the United States and join the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats in the House.

An avid hunter, Peterson is known for his interest in conservation and sportsmen's issues. In 2000, he introduced H.R. 1275 to stop the interstate shipping of birds for cockfighting, a bill with 206 cosponsors that did not make it out of committee. He is a strong supporter of preserving wildlife and gaming refuges.

Representing a mostly rural district, Peterson takes a strong interest in corporate agriculture issues, and support for increasing agricultural investment programs, farm support programs, and promoting the use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

In January 2005, he was selected by the House Democratic Caucus to succeed former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm as the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. He became the committee's chairman after the Democrats won control of the House two years later.

Peterson is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the Minnesota delegation in the 109^th Congress, scoring 50% conservative by a conservative group^[1] and 57% progressive by a liberal group.^[2] He is somewhat conservative on social issues; he strongly opposes abortion and has been one of the few Democrats to vote against even stem cell research and the vast majority of gun control measures. He has voted to ban physician assisted suicide and also to approve the flag desecration amendment. Peterson also supports the federal marriage amendment and the death penalty. His socially conservative views are not surprising given the makeup of his district. The 7th contains some of the most conservative counties in the state. As previously mentioned, it is also the state's most rural district; many DFLers outside the Twin Cities are hunters and trappers who oppose gun control.

On economic issues, however, he is somewhat closer to the liberal wing of his party: he has voted against most free trade agreements, the Freedom to Farm Act, and the Telecom Act of 1996. He also voted against both versions of the Patriot Act and he has been sharply critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, which he contends is unfair to rural students. Since becoming ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, Peterson has voted more often with liberal Democrats. However, political commentators often note that Peterson once dated former Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who, as the Republican Secretary of State of Florida during the 2000 presidential election, infuriated Democrats by certifying George W. Bush as the election winner.[1]

Peterson was one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.[2]

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Peterson brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005^[3]. The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed.^[4]

In May of 2007, Peterson was the lone Democrat to vote against the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act.^[5]

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Agriculture Committee (Chairman)
• Military Veterans Caucus, Co-chair

[edit] Agriculture Committee

From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Petterson is reported to have brought $874 million to his District. ^[6]

In Peterson's district, which includes sugar beets, wheat and poultry, 58% of the $2.8 billion paid out in crop subsidies from 1995 to 2005 went to 10% of recipients, according to the Environmental Working Group, which tracks farm spending. The chairman says he has no problem with that. "Ten percent of the farmers produce 90% of the food," he says.

Rep. Peterson has been among the largest recipients of campaign contributions from farm interests. He has raised this year, as of June 30, 2007 from agricultural interests - $153,667. From individuals - $47,530 From political action committees - $106,137 Other contributions - $206,295 Total receipts $359,962 Source: Center for Responsive Politics

[edit] Other activities

In December 2005, Peterson joined with several other Congressmen to form the Second Amendments, a bipartisan rock and country band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the Holiday season. 1

[edit] Electoral history

• 2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 7th District
  • Collin Peterson (DFL) (inc.), 70%
  • Mike Barrett (R), 29%

• 1990 Race for the U.S. House of Representatives — 7th District
  • Collin Peterson (DFL), 53%
  • Arlan Stangeland (R) (inc.), 46%

[edit] References

• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present

1. ^ Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
2. ^ Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
3. ^ Associated Press. "11 House Members to Sue Over Budget Bill", ABC News, 2006-04-27. Retrieved on 2007-02-20. 
4. ^ Associated Press. "Judge Dismisses Budget Bill Lawsuit", ABC News, 2006-11-06. Retrieved on 2006-11-28. 
5. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives. "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 404", House of Representatives Roll Call, 2007-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. 
6. ^ Dilanian, Ken, " Billions go to House panel members' districts", USA Today. July 26, 2007.

• Collin Peterson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

[edit] External links

• Congressman Collin Peterson official U.S. House website
• Peterson for Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• MPR — Campaign 2006: Collin Peterson profile from Minnesota Public Radio
• Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005