Tom Petri

Tom Petri
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 6th district
In office April 3, 1979 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Bill Steiger
Succeeded by	Glenn Grothman
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 2nd district
In office January 1973 – January 1979
Preceded by	Myron Lotto
Succeeded by	Don Hanaway
Personal details
Born	(1940-05-28) May 28, 1940 Marinette, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Anne Neal
Alma mater	Harvard University
Religion	Lutheranism

Thomas Evert Petri (born May 28, 1940) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 6th congressional district from 1979 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and early career

Born in Marinette, Wisconsin of German and Norwegian ancestry,^[1] he graduated from Goodrich High School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Petri then attended Harvard University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. He served as a volunteer with the Peace Corps.^[2]

Early political career

Wisconsin Senate

Petri served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1973 to 1979.^[3]

1974 U.S. Senate election

Petri ran for the U.S. Senate in 1974. He won the Republican primary with 85% of the vote.^[4] In the general election, incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson defeated Petri 62%–36%. Petri only won five counties in the state.^[5][6] In 1977–78, Petri made a run for governor for Wisconsin, but lost his party's convention nomination to Bob Kasten in 1978. Kasten lost the Republican primary to Lee S. Dreyfus, who won the general election over incumbent Marty Schreiber.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1979, he won a special election to finish the term of the late U.S. Congressman William A. Steiger, who had died shortly after being re-elected in 1978. He won the seat in his own right in 1980 and has been reelected 16 times. He has only won re-election with less than 64% once, in 1992. That year, he defeated State Representative Peg Lautenschlager 53% to 47%. He won ten of the district's thirteen counties. He lost Manitowoc, Brown, and Outagamie counties.^[7] He has run unopposed in 1990, 1994, 2002, and 2006. He faced no major-party opposition in 1986 and 1998. In April 2014, Petri announced he would not seek re-election in November 2014.^[8]

Tenure

Petri was a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership and supports stem-cell research, although he generally opposes abortion. Although he also has called for a moratorium on the death penalty, he has voted against other restrictions on it.^[9] Petri was a member of the moderate ^[10] Republican conference, The Tuesday Group, and received a $10,000 contribution from The Tuesday Group in 2008 ^[11] as well as a $5,000 contribution in the 2012 cycle.^[12]

On transportation issues, Petri was the author and sponsor of three surface transportation laws. He supported the laws that eliminated the 55-miles-per-hour speed limit and got rid of the Interstate Commerce Commission.^[13]

Petri's three largest contributors in the 2012 campaign cycle were labor unions,^[12] and Petri has often voted with labor unions on closely contested issues. Petri has repeatedly voted for Project Labor Agreements (PLAs),^[14] and twice cast a deciding vote to allow the use of PLAs in government contracts.^[15][16][17] Petri also voted to permit the use of taxpayer funds to comply with the Davis-Bacon Act,^[18] voted to use federal funds for collective bargaining by the Transportation Security Administration,^[19] and voted in favor of $233 million in taxpayer funding for the National Labor Relations Board.^[20]

In 1994, Petri introduced H.R. 4469, titled "The Multicare Act of 1994", which would have greatly expanded the government's role in healthcare. This bill would have established federally funded government-run health insurance programs, and would have authorized states to require an individual to purchase insurance from one of these government-run insurance plans.^[21] Petri continued to push for the passage of Multicare until 2004.^[22]

In 2005, Petri voted to fund the "bridge to nowhere,"^[23] and voted to prevent the drilling for oil in ANWR.^[24]

On November 2, 2005, Petri voted against the Online Freedom of Speech Act.^[25]

On January 18, 2007 Petri voted in favor of HR 6, which made it more difficult to obtain a lease to drill for oil domestically.^[26]

On August 1, 2011, Petri voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011 which raised the nation's debt limit and included the creation of the "super committee" that was empowered to produce legislation that would be immune from amendments or filibuster.^[27]

In 2011, Petri sponsored an amendment to allow Michigan based Badger Ferry to dump more than 500 tons of coal ash a year into Lake Michigan.^[28] He received $14,751 in campaign donations from executives of Lake Michigan Carferry,^[29][30] the owner of Badger Ferry.

In 2012, Petri introduced H.R. 4148, titled "Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway National Heritage Area Act of 2012", which would place 1,444 square miles of land in Wisconsin under the control of the federal government.^[31]

Petri endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.^[32] Petri subsequently endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Petri was honored by U.S. English, Inc. in May 2008 for his votes and co-sponsorships of official English legislation in the 110th Congress.^[33] Petri had previously sponsored legislation declaring English as an official language in 1999.^[9]

In 2005, Petri introduced the Direct Loan Reward Act,^[34] and in 2006 introduced the Student Aid Reward (STAR) Act.^[35]

Petri has pushed for additional federal spending for Oshkosh Corporation while he bought stock in the company.^[36] The third-most-senior Republican representative is under additional ethics violations scrutiny by the Office of Congressional Ethics in regard to another Wisconsin-based business, the Manitowoc Company, in which he owns a sizable financial interest.^[37]

Committee assignments in final term

• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit (Chairman)

Caucus Membership

• Congressional Arts Caucus

Electoral history

References

External links

• Tom Petri at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Tom Petri at DMOZ