Rob Portman

Rob Portman
United States Senator from Ohio
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011 Serving with Sherrod Brown
Preceded by	George Voinovich
35th Director of the Office of Management and Budget
In office May 29, 2006 – June 19, 2007
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Joshua Bolten
Succeeded by	Jim Nussle
14th United States Trade Representative
In office May 17, 2005 – May 29, 2006
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Robert Zoellick
Succeeded by	Susan Schwab
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 2nd district
In office May 4, 1993 – May 17, 2005
Preceded by	Bill Gradison
Succeeded by	Jean Schmidt
Personal details
Born	Robert Jones Portman (1955-12-19) December 19, 1955 Cincinnati, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jane Dudley Portman
Children	Jed, Will, Sally
Residence	Terrace Park, Ohio
Alma mater	Dartmouth College (B.A.) University of Michigan (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Website	www.portman.senate.gov Portman for Senate Rob Portman (Facebook) Rob Portman on Twitter

Robert Jones "Rob" Portman (/ˈrɒbʌrt ˈdʒoʊs ˈpʊərtˈmɪn/; born December 19, 1955) is an American lawyer and the junior United States Senator from Ohio. He served as the 14th United States Trade Representative and 35th Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Portman graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan Law School before becoming an associate and partner with several nationally recognized law firms. He worked briefly in the White House during the first Bush Administration before entering the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the eastern half of Greater Cincinnati and neighboring counties along the Ohio River, and serving six consecutive terms.

A small business entrepreneur, Portman and his brother and sister own the Golden Lamb Inn, Ohio's oldest continually operating restaurant and inn. Throughout his legislative career, Portman has authored or co-authored over a dozen bills that became law, including legislation to reform the Internal Revenue Service, curb unfunded mandates, and preserve tropical rainforests. Portman resigned from Congress to serve as U.S. Trade Representative from May 2005 to May 2006. As Trade Representative, Portman is cited for initiating worldwide trade agreements between other countries and the United States, and pursuing claims against China and the European Union at the World Trade Organization. He later served in the Bush Administration from May 2006 to June 2007 as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he advocated a balanced budget. The author of policy papers, as well as a 2004 book about Shaker life in Ohio, Portman's modest collection in writing complements his unassuming political positions that have helped him gain a reputation for willingness to work with Democratic lawmakers. Portman is married and has three children. He is noted for his fondness of kayaking, as well as his impersonation of other politicians during practice debates.

Portman has been considered a potential contender for national office since at least 2008. A centre-right member of the Republican Party, Portman founded a political action committee and is a regular speaker at Republican events and fundraisers, occasionally addressing audiences at Tea Party rallies. Portman was elected U.S. Senator in 2010, and gained national attention in 2012 for assisting Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He has been listed as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate in the past two presidential elections, and is named by many sources as a strong contender for the party's presidential nomination in 2016.

In the Senate, Portman was a member of the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, and sits on the Committee on the Budget, Armed Services Committee, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Throughout his time in Congress, the Cabinet, and the Senate, Portman has visited over thirty countries, including Israel, China, and Iraq.

Portman has never lost an election.

Personal life

Heritage and early life

Portman was born in 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Joan (née Jones) and entrepreneur William C. "Bill" Portman II. Portman was raised in a Presbyterian family. His patrilineal great-grandfather, surnamed "Portmann", immigrated from Switzerland; Portman also has Scottish, Northern Irish, English, and German ancestry. When he was young, his father borrowed money to start the Portman Equipment Company, a forklift dealership where he and his siblings all worked growing up. The company grew from a small business with five employees and Joan Portman as bookkeeper to one that employed over 300 people.

Portman graduated from CCD School in 1974 before enrolling at Dartmouth College.

In 1926, the Golden Lamb Inn was purchased by Robert Jones, grandfather of Portman and husband of Virginia Kunkle Jones, who refurbished the inn and decorated it with Shaker furniture. In 1969, Mr. and Mrs. Jones leased the Golden Lamb to the Comisar family, who owned and operated the now defunct five-star Maisonette restaurant. Because of the inn's location on a highway between Cincinnati and Columbus, it has hosted many historical figures: Presidents William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, as well as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Daniel Webster, Bill McIntire, Thomas Corwin, Clement Vallandigham, Cordell Hull (who went to school near the inn), Robert A. Taft, Dewitt Clinton, and Lord Stanley (who later became prime minister of the United Kingdom), have visited the establishment.

According to a 2010 Weekly Standard profile, Portman "developed a political philosophy grounded in entrepreneurship," having grown up "[hearing] talk about regulations, and taxes, and government getting in the way of small business" because of his early experiences with his family business. It was from his mother Joan, a liberal Republican, that Portman inherited his political sympathy for the Republican Party.

Education and early career

Portman graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School in 1974, where he had served as treasurer of his class, enjoyed playing baseball, and developed an interest in politics, later telling the National Review “[In high school,] I wasn't a Democrat or a Republican. No one in my family had ever been in politics. My dad thought it was something that got in the way.” He went on to attend Dartmouth College, where he started leaning to the right, and majored in anthropology and earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1979. He spent summers throughout college in the American West, on cattle farms and ranches, tending to livestock, riding horses, and assisting in related chores. In Cincinnati, Portman worked on Bill Gradison's Congressional campaign, and Gradison soon became a mentor to Portman. Portman next entered the University of Michigan Law School, earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1984 and serving as vice president of the student senate. During law school, Portman embarked on a kayaking and hiking trip across China, and, not long before, blind dated a young Democratic volunteer, Jane Dudley. Dudley's aunt and uncle lived in Cincinnati and were friends with Portman's parents. Dudley embarked on a hiking trip with her aunt in the Himalayas, and took part in the date with Portman following her aunt’s advice. Dudley had become interested in politics by working for a family friend who was running for the state legislature in North Carolina. She majored in political science at Vanderbilt University, and wanted to work on Capitol Hill. She then worked in a U.S. Senate campaign in 1984 for Jim Hunt who was governor of North Carolina. After graduating from law school, Portman moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a trade law expert and lobbyist for the firm Patton Boggs; fifteen percent of his work involved advising lobbyists for the duty free retailing industry. Portman next became an associate at Graydon Head & Ritchie law firm in Cincinnati.

Marriage and family life

Throughout his career, Portman and his family have resided in Terrace Park, Ohio.

Portman married Jane Dudley in July 1986. Dudley, who previously worked for Democratic Congressman Tom Daschle, "agreed to become a Republican when her husband agreed to become a Methodist." The Portmans attend church services at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church. Dudley Portman has served on the board of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for 7 years and has driven a route for Meals on Wheels for 12 years. The Portmans have three children: Joseph Dudley “Jed” Portman, William Dudley “Will” Portman, and Sarah Dudley “Sally” Portman. In March 2013, Rob Portman announced that his son Will is gay. The family lives in a 12-room, 3,901-sq. ft. home, built in 2009, on 3.293 acres in Terrace Park, Ohio. Portman still owns the Gold Lamb Inn with his brother Wym Portman and sister Ginna Portman Amis. In 2004, a Dutch conglomerate purchased the Portman Equipment Company. Portman had researched the firm's local acquisitions, stating “It's a concept I've heard described as 'Glocalism.' All these companies are trying to achieve economies of scale. This lets us develop a network and coverage globally. But you can still have the local spirit, the local name and the customer intimacy to accomplish great things.” A July 2012 article about Portman stated that in 40 years, his only citation has been a traffic ticket for an improper turn while driving. Portman is an avid kayaker, is fluent in Spanish, and enjoys bike rides.

Early appointments and return to Ohio

In 1989, Portman began his career in government as an associate White House Counsel under President George H. W. Bush. From 1989 to 1991, Portman served as George H. W. Bush's deputy assistant and director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. While serving as White House counsel under George H.W. Bush, Portman visited China, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In September 1996, after his return to Ohio and after a 16-year-old named Jeff Gardner died from a lethal combination of huffing gasoline and smoking marijuana, Portman founded the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati. Portman wrote of the effort:

I decided we could not afford to wait for another tragedy to prompt us to action. Over the last year and a half, I have spearheaded an effort to establish the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati. [...] It's a serious, long-term initiative that brings together for the first time community activists already involved in the antidrug effort, key business figures, religious leaders, the media, parents, young people, law enforcement officials, and others. Our aim is to develop and implement a comprehensive, community-based strategy to reduce drug abuse in our region.

The coalition advances “a comprehensive effort to address youth substance abuse.” Portman gradually became a confidante of Cincinnati’s spotlighted elite, and has remained an associate of several of Ohio’s widely-known residents, including Bob Taft, Carl Lindner, and Anthony Munoz.

United States Representative: 1993-2005

The Golden Lamb Inn, Ohio's oldest continually operating restaurant and inn, is owned by the Portman family.

See also: Ohio's 2nd congressional district

Congressional elections

In 1993, Portman entered a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Willis D. Gradison Jr. of Ohio's second congressional district, who had stepped down to become president of the Health Insurance Association of America. In the Republican primary, Portman faced six-term Congressman Bob McEwen, who had lost his Sixth District seat to Ted Strickland in November 1992; real estate developer Jay Buchert, president of the National Association of Home Builders; and several lesser known candidates.

Prince Rob criticism

Portman was criticized by Jay Buchert during the 1993 special election primary campaign for his previous law firm's work for Haitian dictator Baby Doc Duvalier, while McEwen was questioned about bounced checks he had written on the House bank. Buchert ran campaign commercials citing McEwen's checks, the expenses of his Congressional office, and his campaign finance disclosures, while calling Portman "the handpicked choice of the downtown money crowd" and "a registered foreign agent for the biggest Democrat lobbying firm in Washington," labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob." In the primary, Portman won only Hamilton County, taking 17,531 votes (35.61%) overall, making him the overall winner.

General elections

In the general election, Portman defeated his Democratic opponent, attorney Lee Hornberger by 53,020 (70.1%) to 22,652 (29.1%). Portman was re-elected in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004, defeating Democrats Les Mann, Thomas R. Chandler, and Waynesville mayor Charles W. Sanders, respectively.

House legislative career

An earlier Congressional portrait of Rob Portman.

Among Portman's first and most deciding votes in Congress was his support of the North American Free Trade Agreement on November 17, 1993, for which he has been criticized throughout his career. NAFTA gave the president and the U.S. trade representative more power in trade negotiations, and kept Congress from amending the trade agreement, as they were faced with an up- or down-vote. Portman would later utilize the perameters set by NAFTA as U.S. trade representative.

During his tenure in Congress, Portman authored or co-authored over a dozen bills that became law, including legislation to reform the Internal Revenue Service, curb unfunded mandates, and expand pensions. Portman also co-authored legislation to swap Costa Rica's debt for the preservation of tropical forests. He published an article called “Addicted to Failure” in the congressional Policy Review in autumn 1996. In the article, Portman writes:

President Clinton hurt the antidrug effort by cutting the Office of National Drug Control policy from 147 to 25 full-time positions, by hiring a surgeon general who advocated legalization of drugs, by cutting funding for interdiction efforts, and by sending confusing messages about the stigma of illegal drug use. It is no surprise, then, that after dramatic reductions in drug use during the decade before Clinton took office, drug use has nearly doubled among teenagers during his administration. […] The public rightly expects the federal government to do something about drug abuse, which diminishes and threatens the lives of so many of our young people. And the federal government clearly has an important role in combating drug abuse: protecting our borders and interdicting drugs from other countries, strengthening our federal criminal-justice system, and providing federal assistance for the best prevention and treatment programs. […] Despite a significant federal effort, however, our country is still seeing dramatic increases in drug use among our teenagers. In the last two years alone, use of drugs has increased 50 percent. We need a new approach.

Of Portman's work on the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union said, "He set a professional work environment that rose above partisanship and ultimately gave taxpayers more rights." Democratic Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones from Cleveland said Portman, "compared to other Republicans, is pleasant and good to work with." Additionally, during the first four years of the Bush Administration, Portman served as a liaison between Congressional Republicans and the White House. Portman voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. Portman was known for his willingness to work with Democrats to ensure that important legislation was enacted. In December 2004, Portman and Cheryl Bauer published a book on the 19th century Shaker community at Union Village, in Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio. The book was titled Wisdom's Paradise: The Forgotten Shakers of Union Village. At the end of the twelfth chapter, “An Eternal Sabbath, A Restless Peace,” Portman summarizes the dual aspects of Shaker impacts at the close of their way of life at Union Village as both warming to mainstream worldly culture and detrimental to long established order:

Intentionally or unintentionally, the Believers were influencing society in many ways. Little by little, they were becoming more similar to their neighbors. The trend made them more acceptable to society, but in retrospect may have contributed to their demise in Warren County. In economic affairs, they increasingly adapted the methods of the world: taking out loans, using mass marketing techniques. Those stategies sometimes compromised inherent Shaker principles of self-sufficiency and modesty. The Believers were no longer the radical group that attracted people who hungered for a different kind of faith; they were becoming a part of mainstream society.

Portman has said that his proudest moments as a U.S. Representative were "when we passed the balanced budget agreement and the welfare reform bill." As a congressman, Portman traveled to Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait and Mexico. During his time in the House, Portman began assisting prominent Republican candidates prepare for debates by standing in for their opponents in practice debates. He has taken on the role of Lamar Alexander (for Bob Dole in 1996), Al Gore (for George W. Bush in 2000), Hillary Rodham Clinton (for Rick Lazio in 2000), Joe Lieberman (for Dick Cheney in 2000), John Edwards (for Cheney in 2004), and Barack Obama (for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012). His portrayals mimic not only the person's point of view but also their mannerisms, noting for instance that he listened to Obama's audiobook reading to study his pattern of speech.

White House appointments: 2005-2007

Further information: Presidency of George W. Bush

United States Trade Representative

Rob Portman speaks on March 17, 2005, at the White House with President George W. Bush.

See also: Office of the United States Trade Representative

Portman spoke on March 17, 2005 at the White House during a ceremony at which President George W. Bush nominated him to be United States Trade Representative, calling Portman "a good friend, a decent man, and a skilled negotiator." Portman was confirmed on April 29. Portman was sworn in on May 17, 2005.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the organization that tracks foreign trade statistics on a month-to-month basis, during Portman’s 13-month tenure as U.S. Trade Representative, America’s trade deficit to China rose by almost $228 billion. In the 13 months prior, it rose by only $189 million, showing a 20 percent increase under Portman.

Portman sponsored an unfair-trading claim to the World Trade Organization against Airbus because the European Union was providing subsidies that arguably helped Airbus compete against Boeing. European officials countered that Boeing received unfair subsidies from the United States, and the WTO ruled separately that they each received unfair government assistance.

Portman spent significant time out of the United States negotiating trade agreements with roughly 30 countries, visiting Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. During his tenure, Portman also helped to win passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Portman utilized a network of former House colleagues to get support for the treaty to lift trade barriers between the United States and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to The Hill, Portman took his wife, Jane, with him to the Capitol on their wedding anniversary so he could work on the deal.

Hong Kong and trade suit

See also: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005

As the United States' Trade Representative, Portman was an attendant of the World Trade Organization's Hong Kong conference in 2005. He addressed the conference with a speech on development in Doha, and advocated a 60% cut in targeted worldwide agricultural subsidies by 2010. Portman then sponsored a claim against China for extra charges it levied on American auto parts. U.S. steel manufacturers subsequently beseeched the White House to halt an influx of Chinese steel pipe used to make plumbing and fence materials. This was a recurring complaint and the United States International Trade Commission recommended imposing import quotas, noting “the economic threat to the domestic pipe industry from the Chinese surge.” With Portman as his top trade advisor, Bush replied that quotas were not part of U.S. economic interest. He reasoned the American home-building industry used the pipe and wanted to maintain a cheap supply and that other cheap exporters would step in to fill China's void if Chinese exports were curtailed. This occurred at a time when the U.S. steel industry lost $150 million in profit between 2005 and 2007, although China's minister of commerce cited the U.S. industry's “record high profit margins” in the first half of 2004 and continued growth in 2005. China next lobbied Portman to leave matters alone, meeting with his office twice and threatening in a letter that restrictions and what it called “discrimination against Chinese products” would bring a “serious adverse impact” to the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship. Portman vowed to “hold [China’s] feet to the fire” and provide a “top-to-bottom review” of the U.S.-China trade relationship. Portman's claim that China had improperly favored domestic auto parts became the first successful trade suit against China in the World Trade Organization.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget

See also: Office of Management and Budget

On April 18, 2006, President Bush nominated Portman to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, replacing Joshua Bolten, who was appointed White House Chief of Staff. Portman said at the time that he looked forward to the responsibility, "It's a big job. The Office of Management and Budget touches every spending and policy decision in the federal government," while President Bush expressed his confidence in the nominee, "The job of OMB director is a really important post and Rob Portman is the right man to take it on. Rob's talent, expertise and record of success are well known within my administration and on Capitol Hill." He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate unanimously by voice vote on May 26, 2006.

As OMB director from May 2006 to August 2007, Portman was involved in the Bush administration’s FY 2008 budget process, proposing a highly contentious but balanced budget over a five-year period. According to historical data tables from the OMB, the FY 2008 budget yielded a deficit of $459 billion, more than twice the FY 2007 budget deficit of $161 billion. Portman is said to have been “frustrated” with the post, calling the budget that President Bush’s office sent to Congress, “not my budget, his budget,” and saying, “it was a fight, internally.” Former Bush administration officials said that Portman was the leading advocate for fiscal discipline within the administration.

On June 19, 2007, Portman resigned his position of OMB director, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and three children. Democratic Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Kent Conrad expressed regret at Portman's resignation, saying, "He is a person of credibility and decency that commanded respect on both sides of the aisle."

Post White House career

On November 8, 2007, Portman joined the law firm of Squire Sanders as part of the firms transactional and international trade practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. His longtime chief of staff, Rob Lehman, also joined the firm as a lobbyist in their Washington, D.C. office. In 2007, Portman founded Ohio's Future P.A.C., a political action committee dedicated to ensuring "the critical policy issues important to Ohioans remain at the forefront of Ohio's political agenda." In 2008, Portman was cited as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. On September 8, 2008, McCain and Alaska governor Sarah Palin dined and spoke at the Golden Lamb Inn. Portman remained critical of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed while he was out of office.

United States Senator: 2011-Present

Map detailing the Ohio counties that Portman received pluralities within (shown in red) during the 2010 U.S. Senate election.

2010 election

See also: United States Senate election in Ohio, 2010

On January 14, 2009, two days after George Voinovich announced he would not be running for re-election, Portman publicly declared his candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat. Running unopposed in the Republican primary, Portman benefitted substantially from Tea Party support, and by July 2010 had raised more campaign funds than Democrat Lee Fisher by a 9 to 1 margin. During the campaign, he toured Ohio in a large RV, meeting with voters and reporters between events. Of all candidates for public office in the U.S., Portman was the top recipient of corporate money from insurance industries and commercial banks in 2010. Portman possessed the most campaign funds of any Republican during 2010, at $5.1 million, raising $1.3 million in his third quarter of fundraising. Portman won the election with a margin of 57 to 39 percent, winning 82 of Ohio's 88 counties. In his campaign, he was a vocal supporter of the "Blunt Amendment," which would have allowed employers to deny coverage of contraception or birth control measures on religious grounds. In a 2010 campaign advertisement, Portman said a “[cap-and-trade bill] could cost Ohio 100,000 jobs we cannot afford to lose;” subsequently, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and PolitiFact called Portman's claim “off the rails” for posing the “extreme” 100,000 figure.

Tenure

In August 2011, Portman was selected by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to participate in the United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. During the committee's work, Portman developed strong relationships with the other members, especially Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Chris Van Hollen. The committee was ultimately unsuccessful, with Portman left disappointed, saying "I am very sad about this process not succeeding because it was a unique opportunity to both address the fiscal crisis and give the economy a shot in the arm." Portman spoke at the May 7, 2011 Michigan Law School commencement ceremonies, which was the subject of criticism by some who opposed his stance on same-sex marriage.

Portman has sided with his party's majority in 90% of his House and Senate votes; only four Republican Senators vote more consistently. While in the Senate, Portman has visited Afghanistan twice, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates; additionally, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Portman delivered the eulogy at the August 2012 funeral of Neil Armstrong. Portman delivered the commencement address at the University of Cincinnati's December 2012 graduation ceremony. In March 2013, Portman was one of several Republican senators invited to have dinner with President Obama at the Jefferson Hotel in an attempt by the administration to court perceived moderate members of the upper chamber for building consensual motivation in Congress; however, Portman did not attend and instead ate dinner with an unnamed Democratic senator.

Portman has provided statements across a variety of issues during his tenure and limits discussion of personal views that would obfuscate explicit legislative positions.

2012 presidential election

Portman yard sign from Ohio's 2010 United States Senate election

See also: United States presidential election, 2012

Portman was considered a possible pick for Vice President on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012.

Many national publications speculated on Portman becoming the vice presidential nominee soon after Romney became the presumptive nominee. In “Why Rob Portman Will Be Romney’s Vice Presidential Nominee,” an article in The Atlantic, acclaimed syndicated journalist Major Garrett authored “In the frenzied environment that will accompany the prelude to Romney's pick, the Portman choice may land with a thud on the charisma meter, but it won't set in motion a wave of "guess what" stories and will allow Romney to focus on the campaign, not thorny revelations that must be ritualistically turned into an us-against-them media meme. In fact, Portman might actually talk Boston out of its hypertensive and allergic reactions to reporters.”

Closer to the time of a selection, news agencies began highlighting Portman’s perceived strengths and weaknesses. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post wrote “[Portman]’s spent time in both the executive and legislative branches and everywhere he’s served he’s won kudos for his abilities. It’s hard to imagine that even his staunchest Democratic opponents would be able to argue that Portman wouldn’t be up to the task of being vice president or even president.”

After the selection of Paul Ryan, Portman spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention about trade and his family business. On trade agreements, Portman stated: "President Obama is the first president in 75 years-Democrat or Republican-who hasn't even sought the ability to negotiate export agreements and open markets overseas. Now why is this important? Because 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside our borders. And to create jobs, our workers and our farmers need to sell more of what we make to those people." On October 13, 2012 Mitt Romney spoke at and toured the Golden Lamb Inn.

Abortion

Portman supports making it more difficult for non-parental adults to help minors bypass state abortion laws. On January 24, 2013, Portman sponsored a bill that would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if it would circumvent a state law requiring parental involvement.

Budget and deficit

Portman is a leading advocate for a balanced budget amendment. Portman has proposed “a balanced approach to the deficit” by reforming entitlement programs, writing “[r]eforms should not merely squeeze health beneficiaries or providers but should rather reshape key aspects of these programs to make them more efficient, flexible and consumer-oriented.”

Fossil fuel production

In July 2012, Portman remarked in a speech delivered on the Senate floor:

We've got to produce more [oil], we've got to produce it here at home to get away from the OPEC cartel. […] I come from Ohio [and] we have a tradition of producing oil and gas. […] We kind of got away from it [but] we're back in the business thanks to the shale finds. It's the Marcellus Shale, it's the Utica Shale, it's natural gas, but it's also oil and what they call wet gas. […] People are really excited about this.

During a radio interview with Fox News Radio in 2012, Portman said: “The president [Obama] says, you know, 'we're doing more.' Well, on public lands, we're doing less. Last year, we produced 14 percent less oil on public lands than we did the year before. We should be doing more on public lands, and that's the outer continental shelf and what's going on in Alaska and so on.” Portman supports development of the Keystone XL pipeline, stating “The arguments when you line them up are too strong not to do this. I do think that at the end of the day the president [Obama] is going to go ahead with this.”

Human trafficking

Portman wrote about a proposed amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 which would seek to terminate human sex trafficking, writing:

Our idea is to bring Republicans and Democrats together in this fight to respect and protect human dignity. […] When it comes to human trafficking at home or abroad, our government's policy must be one of zero tolerance. It is an issue with special meaning for me. I grew up with my mom's stories about her great-grandparents, Quaker abolitionists who lived on a farm north of Dayton and helped slaves seek their freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. In fact, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, located on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, is home to a permanent exhibit on human trafficking. [...] A few years ago, the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission estimated that more than 1,000 Ohio youth are victims of sex trafficking every year, and that many more are at risk.

Law of the Sea

See also: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Portman opposes the Law of the Sea Treaty, a treaty ratified by a solid majority of countries, and released a joint statement with Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, stating:

Proponents of the Law of the Sea treaty aspire to admirable goals, including codifying the U.S. Navy’s navigational rights and defining American economic interests in valuable offshore resources. But the treaty’s terms reach well beyond those good intentions. [...] The terms of the treaty are not only expansive, but often ill-defined. [And as] Justice John Paul Stevens noted in a concurring opinion in Medellin v. Texas, the Law of the Sea treaty appears to “incorporate international judgments into domestic law” because it expressly provides that decisions of the tribunal “‘shall be enforceable in the territories of the States Parties in the same manner as judgments or orders of the highest court of the State Party in whose territory the enforcement is sought.’” [T]he treaty equates tribunal decisions with decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. This means that private litigants will likely be able to invoke tribunal judgments as enforceable in U.S. courts — against the government and possibly against U.S. businesses.

Same-sex marriage

On March 14, 2013, Portman announced that he had changed his stance on same-sex marriage in support of marriage equality. The change came after his son Will came out as gay in 2011. Before this Portman was considered to be openly hostile to gay rights based on his voting record. Portman co-sponsored the federal ban on same-sex marriage, and in 1999 he also voted for a measure prohibiting same-sex couples in Washington, D.C., from adopting children.

Committee assignments

• United States Senate Committee on the Budget
• United States Senate Committee on Finance
  • United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
  • United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy
  • United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth(Ranking Member)
• United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
• United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

Portman belongs to the following caucuses in the United States Senate:

• Congressional Serbian American Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Sportsmen's Caucus

Electoral history

Ohio's 2nd congressional district: Results 1994–2004

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1994		Les Mann	43,730	23%		Rob Portman	150,128	77%
1996		Thomas R. Chandler	58,715	23%		Rob Portman	186,853	72%		Kathleen M. McKnight	Natural Law	13,905	5%
1998		Charles W. Sanders	49,293	24%		Rob Portman	154,344	76%
2000		Charles W. Sanders	64,091	23%		Rob Portman	204,184	74%		Robert E. Bidwell	Libertarian	9,266	3%
2002		Charles W. Sanders	48,785	26%		Rob Portman	139,218	74%	*
2004		Charles W. Sanders	89,598	28%		Rob Portman **	227,102	72%	*

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2002, James Condit, Jr. received 13 votes. In 2004, James Condit, Jr. received 60 votes.

**Portman resigned his term early to serve as U.S. Trade Representative.

U.S. Senate (Class III) elections in Ohio: Results 2010

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
2010		Lee Fisher	1,448,092	39.00%		Rob Portman	2,125,810	57.25%

Notes

• Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1994. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 1993. ISBN 0-89234-058-4
• Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1998. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 1997. ISBN 0-89234-080-0
• Michael Barone, Richard E. Cohen, and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 2002. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 2001. ISBN 0-89234-099-1
• Congressional Quarterly. Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 49th edition, 103rd Congress, 1st Session, 1993. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1994. ISBN 1-56802-020-1.
• Congressional Quarterly. Politics in America, 1992: The 102nd Congress. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87187-599-3

• United States Congress. "Rob Portman (id: P000449)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

See also

• List of United States Representatives from Ohio
• Ohio's 2nd congressional district
• Golden Lamb Inn

External links

• Senator Rob Portman official U.S. Senate website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart