John Olver

For other people named John Olver, see John Olver (disambiguation).

John Olver
Olver in the 112th Congress
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office June 18, 1991
Preceded by	Silvio Conte
Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Franklin and Hampshire district
In office January 3, 1973 – June 15, 1991
Preceded by	John D. Barrus
Succeeded by	Stan Rosenberg
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 2nd Hampshire district
In office January 1, 1969 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Donald W. Madsen
Succeeded by	James G. Collins
Personal details
Born	September 3, 1936 (1936-09-03) Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Rose Olver
Children	Martha Olver
Residence	Amherst, Massachusetts
Alma mater	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (BS) Tufts University (MS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Occupation	College professor

John Walter Olver, PhD (born September 3, 1936) is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, serving since 1991. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early in his career, he was a chemistry professor and served in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court.

Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Olver graduated from college at the age of 18 and went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for eight years, he won a Massachusetts House of Representatives election in 1968 and unseated an incumbent member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1972.

Olver ran in a 1991 special election to succeed deceased 17-term incumbent Congressman Silvio O. Conte. The district is a primarily rural district that makes up most of Western Massachusetts, and Olver is the first Democrat to ever represent the district. He has since become a member of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Olver has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2012, and will retire at the end of his eleventh term in Congress. His retirement makes it possible to avoid a contentious redistricting process in Massachusetts, as Massachusetts will lose one congressional district in the 2012 election.

Early life, education, and academic career

Olver was born September 3, 1936 in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He grew up on a farm owned by his father, where they tended for two dozen cows, and his mother ran a boarding house which served families from Philadelphia and New York. Olver graduated from a schoolhouse when he was 15 and enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry at the age of 18. He went on to earn a Master of Science in chemistry from Tufts University in 1956, and a Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. He was a chemistry professor at the Franklin Technical Institute in Boston, Massachusetts,^{[citation needed]} at MIT^{[citation needed]} and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for eight years before entering politics.

Massachusetts legislature

He served two terms as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from January 1, 1969, to January 3, 1973. He won a Massachusetts Senate race in 1972, when he defeated a Republican incumbent. He served nine terms in the Massachusetts Senate from January 3, 1973, until his resignation in 1991.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

The first congressional district of Massachusetts in the 109th Congress. The district is a primarily rural district that makes up most of Western Massachusetts.

On February 18, 1991, 1st District Congressman Silvio Conte died just one month after taking office for his 17th term. That June, Olver, who had just been sworn in for his 10th term in the state senate, narrowly defeated Republican Steven Pierce in a special election for the seat, becoming the first Democrat to win the seat since it changed from being the 13th district in 1893. He resigned from the state Senate on June 15 and was sworn in June 18.

Olver won election to a full term by 8 points in 1992. In 1994--a year that saw many historically Republican seats revert to form--Olver ran unopposed. In 1996, he defeated State Senator and future Acting Governor Jane Swift by a 53% to 47% margin. Olver didn't face another contest nearly that close, and was reelected eight more times. He even ran unopposed in 2004 and only faced an independent in 2006. His district is now considered safely Democratic, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+14. On October 26, 2011, he announced he would not seek re-election in 2012.

Tenure

CQ's Politics in America described Olver as "a staunch liberal who prefers to yield the spotlight to other similarly ideological members." He has consistently high rankings from the progressive lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and consistently low rankings from its conservative counterpart the American Conservative Union (ACU).

Olver was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He announced his commitment to Senator Barack Obama on June 3, 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Foreign policy

With regards to United States involvement in Iraq, Olver has consistently opposed a United States military presence in Iraq, and voted against the 2002 authorization for the use of force in Iraq at the beginning of U.S. military engagement with the country. Olver has since advocated for the quick removal of U.S. troops from the country, and has consistently voted no on proposals in the House to increase funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq and the deployment of more U.S. troops in Iraq. In a position paper written on the subject of the United States presence in Iraq, Olver stated that he believes that the United States should seek out a political solution in cooperation with the States neighboring Iraq, such as Iran and Syria, rather than pursuing a strategy based primarily on military means in order to create a stable and democratic Iraq.

Olver has been critical of the United States lack of involvement with the genocide in Darfur. Olver was one of five members of Congress arrested April 28, 2006 after protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy.

Domestic policy

He was one of the 31 who objected in the House to the counting of the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004.

Olver is one of the co-sponsors of H.R. 676, the US National Health Care Act, or Expanded & Improved Medicare for All, which introduces a universal health insurance program with single-payer financing. In addition to supporting different pieces of liberal healthcare reform legislation in the House, Olver has also strongly supported allowing federal funds related to health care programs to fund abortion operations. For example, Olver voted against a proposed amendment to House Resolution 3962 which prevented federal funds from being spent on abortion operations.

In addition to supporting the inclusion of coverage for abortions in healthcare legislation, Olver has consistently supported pro-choice legislation in the house and has received very favorable ratings from pro-choice interest groups such as the NARAL Pro-Choice America, which gave Olver a rating of 100.

With regards to immigration policy, Olver has stated that he supports efforts to reduce the number of immigrants entering the United States illegally, but that he believes that rather than simply increasing punishments for those who enter the country illegally and for those who employ illegal immigrants, the U.S. Government needs to reform immigration so as to allow qualified foreigners to easily acquire guest worker status in the U.S. Olver has consistently voted against legislation that would cut off public benefits to illegal and legal immigrants, has voted against legislation aimed at erecting physical barriers to stop illegal immigration, and has voted against legislation aimed at making English the official language of the U.S. Olver also believes that illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States need to be provided with a pathway to citizenship, and that these immigrants should not have to return to their countries of origin before obtaining citizenship.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)

Party leadership

• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus

Personal life

John Olver is married to Rose Olver, a Professor of Psychology and Women's and Gender Studies at Amherst College. They have one daughter, Martha. The family has lived in Amherst, Massachusetts since 1963. In October 2011, Olver announced that he will not be seeking re-election in 2012, in part due to his wife's cancer diagnosis.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Congressman John Olver official U.S. House site
• Citizens for John Olver for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch
• First campaign ad on YouTube

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Silvio O. Conte	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district June 4, 1991 – present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Sam Johnson R-Texas	United States Representatives by seniority 62nd	Succeeded by Ed Pastor D-Arizona