Marcy Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Ed Weber
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Residence(s)	Toledo, Ohio
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Michigan University of Manchester Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation	urban planner

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 fourteenth term, Kaptur is currently the most senior female Member of the Congress. In the House of Representatives, she is 30th out of 435 members on the seniority list.

Personal details

Kaptur, a lesbian of Polish descent, is a life-long resident of Toledo. Her family operated a small grocery. Kaptur graduated from St. Ursula Academy in 1964 and was the first member in 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 (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.

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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Entry

While pursuing a doctorate in urban planning development finance at MIT, Kaptur 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.

Ohio's 9th District

Despite being outspent by almost 3-1, she defeated Weber by 19 points. Although the Ninth had traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, Kaptur's win was considered a major upset.

Subsequent elections

In 1984, Kaptur faced a strong challenge from Frank Venner, longtime anchorman and weatherman at WTVG, but captured 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 his challenge easily, winning 68% of the vote — the only time since 1984 that she didn't gain 70% of the vote.

In 1996, Kaptur was asked by Ross Perot to be his vice-presidential running mate. Kaptur, like Perot, being a fierce opponent of free trade would have been a natural selection, but she eventually declined.

Kaptur ran for a 14th term in 2008 and defeated her Republican opponent, Bradley Leavitt, with 74% of the vote.

In the weeks preceding the 2008 election Joe Wurzelbacher (better known as "Joe the Plumber"), known for challenging Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama about the effects of his tax policies upon small businesses, announced that he is considering challenging Kaptur in the 2010 election although Kaptur conceivably could run for the U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated by George Voinovich.[1]

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. She is 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.

Toledo, Ohio

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.

She was recently named "Most Valuable Member" of the House by The Nation. Though generally reckoned as a liberal-to-progressive Democrat, Kaptur holds moderately conservative views on abortion. In January 2007, she was the only member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to vote against funding for stem-cell research.

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.

World War II Memorial

Responding to a constituent - Roger Durbin, a World War II veteran - Kaptur first suggested the creation of a National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The 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."

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

Position on The 2008 Economic Crisis Bailout

Marcy Kaptur has expressed her strong opposition to the multibillion dollar bailout plan brought before congress. In her speech she criticized Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson's Plan for

1. Forcing congress to rush the decision.
2. Disarming the public through fear. Controlling the media enough to ensure that the public will not notice that this bailout will indebt them for generations taking from them trillions of dollars they earned and deserved to keep.
3. Controlling the playing field (hiding info from the public, holding private hearings, and private teleconferencing calls).
4. Diverting attention and keeping people confused.
5. Having the goal to privatize gains and socialize losses.

She also blamed Wall Street executives for their greed and held them responsible for the crisis and said

You have perpetrated the greatest financial crimes ever on this American Republic. You think you can get by with it because you are extraordinarily wealthy, and the largest contributors to both presidential and congressional campaigns in both major parties.

She pleaded a "Wall Street Reckoning" and an alternate plan where by "America doesn't need to bail you out. It needs to secure real assets and property. Federal regional reserve banks should have a new job to help renegotiate mortgages. American people should get equity in any companies. Major job creation to rebuild our infrastructure. Regulate, we need a modern Glass-Steagall act. Refinancing must return a major share of profits to a new social security and medicare lock box."

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio, 2008#District 9
• Ohio's 9th congressional district
• List of United States Representatives from Ohio
• National World War II Memorial

External links

• Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur official U.S. House website
• Marcy Kaptur for U.S. Congress campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia