Todd Tiahrt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Todd Tiahrt | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Dan Glickman |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Born | June 15, 1951 Vermillion, South Dakota |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Vicki Tiahrt |
| Religion | Assembly of God |
Todd Tiahrt (born June 15, 1951), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing Kansas's 4th congressional district (map), which is based in Wichita.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Tiahrt was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. He attended Evangel College and received an M.B.A. from Southwest Missouri State University. He worked for Boeing, where he worked on numerous government contracts, from 1981 until his election to Congress.
He was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1992. After only one term, he won the Republican nomination for the 4th District and was elected to the House in an upset over 18-year Democratic incumbent Dan Glickman. A factor in the win was the 1990s reapportionment, in which Hutchinson and surrounding Reno County were shifted to the "Big 1st" District. Hutchinson was replaced with more reliably Republican Montgomery County. After a tough reelection bid in 1996, he has been reelected five more times with little difficulty, including 68% of the vote in 2004.
Tiahrt is one of three Pentecostals in the 110th Congress. The others — all Republicans — are Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado and Tim Johnson of Illinois.[1]
[edit] Committee Assignments
- Appropriations Committee
- Subcommittee on Defense
- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
- Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management
- Founder and chairman of the House Economic Competitveness Caucus
[edit] Environmental Record
Tiahrt has been recognized for his efforts in wildlife conservation. [2]
The organization Republicans for Environmental Protection gave Tiahrt the score of -4 on environmental issues in 2005; his score for the entire 109th Congress is 6 on a scale of 100. The group specifically criticized Tiahrt for signing a “Dear Colleague” letter “in an effort to pressure House Conferees to include language authorizing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge….”[3] The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters assigned Tiahrt the lowest possible score for 2005 and 2006; his lifetime score is three out of 100. For the 109th Congress, the LCV cited a pattern of “anti-environment action” for Tiahrt: he cast what the group qualified as anti-environment votes on twelve out of twelve critical issues ranging from oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, salvage logging and logging roads, and the Clean Water Act, to the Toxics Release Inventory program and low-income energy assistance.[4]
[edit] Tiahrt Amendment
Tiahrt is the author of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) from releasing information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation. Additionally, any data so released is inadmissible in a civil lawsuit.[5] Some groups, including the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, believe that having further access to the BATFE database would help municipal police departments track down sellers of illegal guns and curb crime. These groups are trying to undo the Tiahrt Amendment.[6]
[edit] Electoral History
- 2006 race for Kansas 4th District
- Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 64%
- Garth McGinn (D), 34%
- 2004 race for Kansas 4th District
- Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 66%
- Michael Kinard (D), 31%
- 2002 race for Kansas 4th District
- Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 61%
- Carlos Nolla (D), 37%
- 1996 race for Kansas 4th District
- Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 50%
- Randy Rathbun (D), 47%
- 1994 race for Kansas 4th District
- Todd Tiahrt (R) 53%
- Dan Glickman (D), (inc.) 47%
[edit] References
- ^ Religion of US Congress. Adherents.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ REP. TODD TIAHRT AWARDED FOR EFFORTS TO HELP CONSERVE WILDLIFE
- ^ REP 2005 Scorecard
- ^ LCV 2006 Scorecard
- ^ Full text of current Tiahrt Amendment From ProtectPolice.org, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
- ^ Knight, Healther (June 19, 2007) "Mayors Fight Gun Measure." San Francisco Chronicle.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt official House site
- Todd Tiahrt for Congress official campaign site
- 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
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- What's The Matter With Kansas? ISBN 0-8050-7774-X
| Preceded by Dan Glickman |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 4th congressional district 1995 – present |
Incumbent |
|
||||||||||||||
