Todd Tiahrt

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Todd Tiahrt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Dan Glickman
Born	June 15, 1951 (1951-06-15) (age 58) Vermillion, South Dakota
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Vicki Tiahrt
Residence	Goddard, Kansas
Alma mater	Evangel University, Southwest Missouri State University
Occupation	Aerospace Executive
Religion	Assembly of God

Todd Tiahrt (pronounced TEE-hart, 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). The district encompasses 11 counties in the south central region of the state, including the city of Wichita.

Tiahrt has announced he will be a candidate for the United States Senate seat held by Sam Brownback in 2010.^[1]

[edit] Biography

Tiahrt was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. He attended and earned a bachelor's degree from 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. One 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 and with over 63% of the vote in 2006.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)

[edit] Leadership roles and Caucus memberships

• Dean of Kansas' delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives
• Founder and chairman of the House Economic Competitiveness Caucus

[edit] Environmental record

The organization Republicans for Environmental Protection gave Tiahrt the score of -4 on environmental issues in 2005; his score for the entire 109th Congress (2005-2007) was 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….”^[2] The liberal, 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.^[3]

In March 2008, the organization Teaming with Wildlife gave Tiahrt an award for his support for federal funding for state-based wildlife conservation under the State Wildlife Grants Program. ^[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

• 2008 race for Kansas 4th District
  • Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 63.63%
  • Donald Betts (D), 32.17%

• 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

1. ^ Jeffrey Young (2009-01-31). "Kansan Tiahrt makes Senate bid official". The Hill. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/kansan-tiahrt-makes-senate-bid-official-2009-01-31.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-31. 
2. ^ Republicans for Environmental Protection 2005 Scorecard
3. ^ League of Conservation Voters 2006 Scorecard
4. ^ "Rep. Todd Tiahrt Awarded For Efforts to Help Conserve Wildlife", press release, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, March 14, 2008
5. ^ Full text of current Tiahrt Amendment From ProtectPolice.org, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
6. ^ 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