Marty Meehan

Marty Meehan's official portrait

Martin Thomas Meehan (born December 30, 1956) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Massachusetts. A Democrat, Meehan has served in the United States House of Representatives since 1993 as the representative of Massachusetts's fifth congressional district.

Personal Life and Education

Meehan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the oldest son in a family of seven children. He attended public schools in Lowell, graduating from Lowell High School in 1974. Meehan went on to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education/political science. Later Meehan attended Suffolk University, graduating with a Master of Public Administration degree in 1981, and Suffolk University Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor law degree in 1986. Meehan is a Roman Catholic. He has been married to Ellen T. Murphy, a vice president at Lawrence General Hospital, since 1996, and they have two together: Daniel Martin and Robert Francis.

Political career

Interspersed with his post-college studies, Meehan held a number of political positions. From 1978 to 1979 Meehan served on the staff to the mayor of Lowell. He was the press assistant to Representative James Shannon from 1979 to 1981 and the head research analyst for the Massachusetts Senate's joint committee on election laws from 1981 to 1984.

After completing his law degree, Meehan served as director of public affairs to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and Deputy Secretary of State for Securities and Corporations from 1986 to 1990. From 1987 to 1988, Meehan was a member of the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and Harvard Law School. From 1991 to 1992, Meehan was the First Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County.

Meehan ran for the U.S. House in the 1992 election and was elected on November 3 1992. He took office in January 1993. Meehan is a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform and was one of the major sponsors of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (called the "Shays-Meehan Bill" in the House and the "McCain-Feingold Bill" in the Senate).

The Marty Meehan for Congress Committee fund is among the largest campaign accounts of any House member, with $4,829,540 cash on hand reported in a Federal Election Commission filing on October 15, 2005. This is the result of raising more money than he spent in several campaigns since his first in 1992. In the 2004 Congressional race, Meehan raised $3,170,733 and spent $459,977 of that, thus adding $2,710,756 to his cash on hand. His opponent, Thomas Patrick Tierney raised $30,943 and spent $30,406. Overall, in the 2004 race, incumbents in the House of Representatives on average raised $1,122,505 compared to $192,964 for their challengers.

Controversies

Meehan celebrates gaining enough votes to bring his campaign finance reform bill to the floor.

Term limits

Meehan successfully ran for the House in 1992 on a platform of reform. As part of that platform Meehan made a pledge not to serve more than four terms. On the House floor in 1995 he scolded members who might go back on their promise to limit their tenure in office (see George Nethercutt). "The best test of any politicians' credibility on term limits," he said, "is whether they are willing to put their careers where their mouths are and limit their own service." Despite his pledge, Meehan again ran for Congress in the year 2000, exceeding four terms. Meehan has won every contest for reelection, and is currently running for his eighth term in office.

Committee assignments and caucus memberships

Committee assignments

• House Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Military Personnel
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities (ranking member)
• House Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
  • Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims

Congressional caucuses

• Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
• Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
• Congressional Fire Services Caucus
• Congressional Human Rights Caucus
• Congressional Manufacturing Task Force (founder)
• Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health (co-chair)
• Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
• Minor League Baseball Caucus
• National Guard & Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization
• Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition (co-chair)
• Sustainable Development Caucus (co-chair)

External links

• Congress 'made Wikipedia changes'
• Official House website
• Official 2004 campaign website
• United States Congress. "Marty Meehan (id: M000627)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
  • Voting record from Project Vote Smart
  • Interest group ratings from Project Vote Smart
• Marty Meehan on the Issues from OnTheIssues.org
• Financial disclosures from the Center for Public Integrity
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post