Marcy Kaptur
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| Marcy Kaptur | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Ed Weber |
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| Born | June 17, 1946 Toledo, Ohio |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | single |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Michigan |
| Religion | Catholic |
Marcia Carolyn "Marcy" Kaptur (born June 17, 1946) is a Democratic politician in the United States House of Representatives for the Ninth Congressional District of Ohio. The district is based in Toledo.
Serving her thirteenth term, Kaptur is currently the most senior woman in Congress and in the House of Representatives; she ranks 32nd out of 435 members on the seniority list.
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[edit] Personal details
Kaptur, who is of Polish descent, is a life-long resident of Toledo and a member of Little Flower Roman Catholic Church. She is a from a working-class family, who operated a small grocery in the city. Kaptur graduated from St. Ursula Academy in 1964 and was the first member of her family to attend college. She received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968 and a Master's degree( in Urban Planning) from the University of Michigan in 1974. She did post-graduate study in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.
[edit] Early career
Kaptur served on the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions from 1969 to 1975 and was director of planning for the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs (1975–1977) founded by the late Msgr. Geno Baroni. She later served as a domestic policy advisor during President Jimmy Carter's Administration.
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
[edit] Entry
While pursuing a doctorate in urban planning development finance at MIT, Kaptur's was recruited to run for Congress in 1982 against freshman Republican Ed Weber, who had upset 26-year incumbent Lud Ashley two years earlier. Kaptur had been a well-known party activist and volunteer since age 13.
Despite being outspent by almost 3 to 1, she defeated Weber by 19 points. While the 9th has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, Kaptur's win was and still is considered a major upset. Kaptur claims that her strong roots in the area helped her reclaim the 9th for the Democrats.[1]
[edit] Subsequent elections
Kaptur faced a strong challenge from Frank Venner, longtime anchorman and weatherman at WTVG, in 1984, taking 55% of the vote even as Ronald Reagan carried the district. She has only faced one truly serious opponent since, when Lucas County auditor Larry Kaczala ran against her in 2004. However, Kaptur turned back this challenge fairly easily, winning 68% of the vote — the only time since 1984 that she didn't gain 70% of the vote.
Kaptur intends to run for a 14th term in 2008.
[edit] Service
Kaptur is the most senior Democratic woman on the influential House Appropriations Committee. Kaptur also serves on the Appropriations subcommittees for Agriculture (the leading industry in her state) and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Kaptur also sits on the Appropriations subcommittee for Defense where she is the first Democratic woman to be appointed to the subcommittee, the only woman presently on the subcommittee and the third-ranking Democrat on the subcommittee. In addition to her duties on these committees, Kaptur is also a member of the House Budget Committee. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Kaptur is a staunch opponent of free trade agreements. She helped lead opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Permanent Normal Trade Relations for the People's Republic of China, and fast track authority for the president. She has consistently supported military spending bills.
Although generally reckoned as a liberal-to-progressive Democrat Kaptur holds moderately conservative views on abortion. She voted against funding for stem-cell research in January 2007--the only member of the Progressive Caucus to do so.
The National Journal gives Kaptur a score of 68.8, meaning she is more liberal than 68.8 percent of the House Members, which puts her in the least-liberal quadrant of the Democratic caucus. She scores 68 on the liberal scale on economic issues, 66 percent on social issues and 70 percent on foreign policy issues.
[edit] World War II Memorial
Responding to a constituent - Roger Durbin, a World War II veteran - Kaptur first suggested the creation of a World War II National Memorial in Washington, D.C.
On December 10, 1987, Kaptur introduced the World War II Memorial Act to the House of Representatives. The legislation authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II memorial, however, as the bill was not voted on before the end of the session it failed to be enacted into law. Kaptur introduced similar legislation in 1989 and 1991 but these bills also failed to become law.
Kaptur introduced legislation for the fourth time on January 27, 1993. This time the legislation was voted on and passed in the House on May 10, 1993. After a companion bill was passed in the United States Senate, President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on May 25, 1993. Unfortunately, Roger Durbin died before he managed to see the memorial built, but Kaptur spoke at the memorial dedication ceremony, along with Durbin's granddaughter, on May 29, 2004.
Kaptur later said that she felt "a great sense of fulfillment" that the memorial was finally built. "This generation was the most unselfish America has ever seen," she said. "They never asked anybody for anything in return."[2]
[edit] Committee Assignments
- Appropriations Committee
- Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Defense
- Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
[edit] Gaffe
In January of 2008, during Ben Bernanke's House testimony, Kaptur confused the Fed chairman for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. She was quickly stopped by Mr. Bernanke and the laughter in the room.[3]
[edit] See also
- Ohio's 9th congressional district
- List of United States Representatives from Ohio
- National World War II Memorial
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur official U.S. House website
- Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur 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
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
| Preceded by Ed Weber |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 9th congressional district 1983– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
