The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the US Federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936 and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I. It was intended to formulate a merchant shipbuilding program to design and build five hundred modern merchant cargo ships to replace the World War I vintage vessels that comprised the bulk of the U.S. Merchant Marine, and to administer a subsidy system authorized by the Act to offset the cost differential between building in the U.S. and operating ships under the American flag. It also formed the U.S. Maritime Service for the training of seagoing ship's officers to man the new fleet.

Purposes

The purpose of the Maritime Commission was multifold as described in the Merchant Marine Act's Declaration of Policy.The first role was to formulate a merchant shipbuilding program to design and then have built over a ten year period 500 modern fast merchant cargo ships which would replace the World War I-vintage vessels which made up the bulk of the U.S. Merchant Marine prior to the Act. Those ships were intended to be chartered (leased) to U.S. shipping companies for their use in the foreign seagoing trades for whom they would be able to offer better and more economical freight services to their clients. The ships were also intended to serve as a reserve naval auxiliary force in the event of armed conflict which was a duty the U.S. merchant fleet had often filled throughout the years since the Revolutionary War. The second role given to the Maritime Commission was to administer a subsidy system authorized by the Act which would offset the differential is cost between both building in the U.S. and operating ships under the American flag. Another function given to the Commission involved the formation of the U.S. Maritime Service for the training of seagoing ship's officers to man the new fleet. The actual licensing of officers and seamen still resided with the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation.

President Roosevelt nominated Joseph P. Kennedy first head of the Commission. Kennedy held that position until February 1938 when he left to become US Ambassador to Great Britain. After Kennedy's departure, the chairmanship was assumed by Rear Admiral Emory S. Land, USN (ret.), who had been the head of U.S. Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair prior to his appointment to the Commission on the behest of the President and where he had been a deputy commissioner since the founding of the body. The other four members of the Commission in the years before the beginning of World War II were a mix of retired naval officers and men from disciplines of law and business. The man most notable in the group Land brought to the Commission was Commander Howard L. Vickery, USN, who, like Land, was a naval officer closely involved in the construction of new Navy vessels. Vickery became responsible for overseeing the Commission's shipbuilding functions including the design and construction of the ships, developing shipyards to build them and companies to manufacture the complicated and highly specialized ship's machinery. As World War II drew closer Vickery was very much at the forefront of putting into place the Emergency Shipbuilding Program which man like Henry J. Kaiser were so instrumental in developing into an industry which would perform some of the greatest feats of wartime industrial production ever previously witnessed and never since matched.

As a symbol of the rebirth of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Merchant Shipbuilding under the Merchant Marine Act, the first vessel contracted for was SS ''America'', which was owned by the United States Line and operated in the passenger liner and cruise service during 1940-1. Upon the U.S. entry into World War II, ''America'' was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy and became USS ''West Point''. In the prewar years, several dozen other merchant ships were built for the Commission under its original 500 ship Long Range Shipbuilding Program but it wasn't until the late fall of 1940 the critical importance of the Commission to the defense of the lifeline to Great Britain and to the national mobilization for war became apparent when the beginnings of the Emergency Shipbuilding program were laid. Together, all the Maritime Commission's shipbuilding program became known as Ships for Victory and great pride was taken in it by the many thousands of ordinary citizens went to work in the shipyards and joined the ranks of the shipbuilding workforce.

From 1939 through the end of World War II, the Maritime Commission funded and administered the largest and most successful merchant shipbuilding effort in world history, producing thousands of ships, including Liberty ships, Victory ships, and others, notably Type C1, Type C2, Type C3 freighters and T2 tankers. Most of the C2s and C3s were converted to Navy auxiliaries, notably attack cargo ships, attack transports, and escort aircraft carriers and many of the tankers became fleet replenishment oilers. The Commission also was tasked with the construction of many hundred "military type" vessels such as Landing Ship, Tank (LST)s and ''Tacoma'''-class frigates and large troop transports. By the end of the war, U.S. shipyards working under Maritime Commission contracts had built a total of 5,777 oceangoing merchant and naval ships.

In early 1942 both the training and licensing was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard for administration, but then late in the fall of 1942, the Maritime Service was transferred to the newly created War Shipping Administration which itself was created for the purpose of overseeing the operation of the fleet of merchant ships being built by the Emergency Program for the needs of the U.S. Armed Services. The WSA was added to the list of wartime agencies created within the Roosevelt Administration and was intended to relieve the already full plate of responsibilities of the Commission, yet they shared the same Chairman in Admiral Land and so worked very closely together.

With the ending of World War II, both the Emergency and Long Range shipbuilding programs were terminated as there were far too many merchant vessels now for the Nation's peacetime needs. In 1946, the Merchant Ship Sales Act was passed to sell off a large portion of the ships previously built during the war to commercial buyers, both domestic and foreign. This facilitated the rebuilding of the fleets of both allied nations such as Great Britain, Norway and Greece which had lost a majority of their prewar vessels to the Battles of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Although not sold outright to the nations we had only so recently fought, U.S. merchant ship helped nations which had been our enemies recover their merchant shipping capacity such as Japan which had lost many hundreds of its merchant vessels to the US Navy's WWII submarine offensive in the western Pacific with the loan of vessels or to the carrying of relief cargoes to war ravaged Europe in both the rebuilding programs under the Marshall Plan and food aid send during the desperate winter of 1945-46 when famine loomed large over much of the continent. For the next 25 years, in ports all around the world one could find dozens of ships which had been built during the war but which now were used in peace. Many of those same ships continued to sail until the early 1980s but most had been sold for scrap in the 1960s and 1970s as more modern designs were developed and more efficient slow speed diesel engines introduced to replace the steamships which predominated those built by the Commission during the war years.

Ships not disposed of through the Ship Sales Act were placed into one of eight National Defense Reserve Fleet(NDRF) sites maintained on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. On several occasions in the postwar years ships in the reserve fleets were activated for both military and humanitarian aid missions. The last major mobilization of the NDRF came during the Vietnam War. Since then, a smaller fleet of ships called the Ready Reserve Force has been mobilized to support both humanitarian and military missions.

The last major shipbuilding project undertaken by the Commission was to oversee the design and construction of the super passenger liner SS United States which was intended to be both a symbol of American technological might and maritime predominance but also could be quickly converted into the world's fastest naval troop transport.

The Maritime Commission was abolished on 24 May 1950, and its functions were divided between the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission which was responsible for regulating shipping trades and trade routes and the United States Maritime Administration, which was responsible for administering the construction and operating subsidy programs, maintaining NDRF, and operating the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy which had been built and opened during World War II and which continues to be funded and operated today as one of the five Federal Military Service Academies.

Timeline

1936: Merchant Marine Act abolishes Shipping Board and establishes Maritime Commission.

1937: Joseph P. Kennedy appointed by President Roosevelt as the first head of the Maritime Commission

1938: Maritime Commission authorizes large merchant fleet

1940: Maritime Commission agrees to build 60 Ocean class merchant ships for the British Ministry of War Transportation.

1941 Beginning of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program

1942: The War Shipping Administration was established

1942: The United States Coast Guard takes over Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation

1942: United States Merchant Marine Academy opens at Kings Point, Long Island, New York

1942: Maine Merchant Marine Academy, later named Maine Maritime Academy, opens in Castine, Maine

1950: Functions of Maritime Commission transferred to Department of Commerce and ''MARAD'', United States Maritime Administration

See also

Responsibility for U.S. merchant shipping has been held by many agencies since 1917. For a history, see:

United States Shipping Board.

United States Merchant Marine

War Shipping Administration

United States Maritime Administration

References

Ships for Victory: A History of Shipbuilding under the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II, by Frederic C. Lane. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1950. ISBN 0-8018-6752-5

External links

History of the U.S. Merchant Marine since the Revolution

Shipbuilding Under the U.S. Maritime Commission 1936 to 1950

Construction Records of U.S. Shipbuilding in WWII

United States Government Manual, 1945 United States Maritime Commission section

1945 Fact Sheet concerning the Commission

Category:Defunct agencies of the United States government Category:Independent agencies of the United States government Category:Agencies of the United States government during World War II Category:History of the United States (1918–1945) Category:Maritime history of the United States

de:United States Maritime Commission nl:United States Maritime Commission

Name	Don Young
State	Alaska
District	At-large
Party	Republican
Term start	March 6, 1973
Preceded	Nick Begich
Office2	Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Term start2	2001
Term end2	2007
Predecessor2	Bud Shuster
Successor2	Jim Oberstar
Office3	Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee
Term start3	1995
Term end3	2001
Predecessor3	George Miller
Successor3	James V. Hansen
Office4	Member of the Alaska Senate from the I district
Term start4	January 11, 1971
Term end4	March 6, 1973
Predecessor4	Paul B. Haggland
Successor4	George C. Silides
Office5	Member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 16th district
Term start5	January 23, 1967
Term end5	January 10, 1971
Office6	Member of the Fort Yukon City Council
Term start6	1960
Term end6	1968
Birth date	June 09, 1933
Birth place	Meridian, California
Alma mater	California State University, Chico
Residence	Fort Yukon, Alaska
Spouse	Lula (Fredson) Young, deceased August 1, 2009
Religion	Episcopalian
Occupation	mariner, construction worker, miner, educator
Branch	United States Army
Serviceyears	1955-1957 }}

Donald Edwin "Don" Young (born June 9, 1933) is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1973. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Young is the 6th most senior U.S. Representative and the 2nd most senior Republican Representative, as well as the 2nd most senior Republican in Congress as a whole. Upon the defeat of Senator Ted Stevens, Young became the senior member of the Alaska congressional delegation.

Early life, education and career

Young was born in Meridian, Sutter County, California. He earned an associate's degree in education from Yuba College in 1952 and a bachelor's degree from Chico State College in 1958. He served in the Army from 1955 to 1957.

Young moved to Alaska in 1959, not long after it became a state. He eventually settled in Fort Yukon, a 700-person city on the Yukon River, seven miles (11 km) above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s central interior region. He made a living in construction, fishing, trapping and gold mining. He captained a tugboat and ran a barge operation to deliver products and supplies to villages along the Yukon River. He still holds his mariner's license today. During the winter, he taught fifth grade at the local Bureau of Indian Affairs elementary school.

Early political career

Young began his political career in 1964 when he was elected mayor of Fort Yukon. After only one term, he was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and served two terms before being elected to the Alaska Senate in 1970.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Committee on Natural Resources

*Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources

*Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife

*Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

*Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

*Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

*Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus Memberships

Arthritis Caucus

Congressional Caucus on Unmanned Systems

House Biomedical Research Caucus

House Diabetes Caucus

International Conservation Caucus

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

Sportsmen's Caucus

Young is the seventh longest-serving House member, and the second most senior Republican (behind Rep. Bill Young of Florida). Due to his long tenure in the House and that of former Senator Ted Stevens, Alaska is considered to have clout in national politics far beyond its small population (it has long been one of the smallest states in population and is currently 47th, ahead of only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming). He is often called "Alaska's third senator." Young chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2001 to 2007. He also chaired the Resources Committee from the 1995 Republican takeover of the House until 2001. However, since Young was stripped of his seniority shortly after the 2008 election due to his role in several controversies, he no longer holds the same influence.

Political positions

Young's voting record is relatively moderate by Republican standards. He has a lifetime rating of 77 from the American Conservative Union. He most often crosses lines on issues affecting labor. He was one of a small number of Republicans to vote against the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995, some free trade agreements, and was one of only 13 Republican congressmen to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act in 2007. His voting record is pro-life and pro-gun, but he was also among the Republicans to vote in favor of more federal funds for stem cell research and voted against the re-authorization of the Patriot Act. However, he is best known for his vigorous opposition to federal control of Alaska's land and resources. He is also a strong proponent of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

On November 4, 1999, Young voted in favor of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which some economists, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, believe helped create the 2007 financial crisis.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Young sponsored the Airport Security Federalization Act of 2001, which created the Transportation Security Administration.

In July 2007, fellow Republican Congressman Scott Garrett of New Jersey proposed an amendment to strike money in a spending bill for native Alaskan and Hawaiian educational programs. Young defended the funds on the floor of the House, stating that "You want my money, my money." Young also stated that "Those who bite me will be bitten back." Young went on to suggest that conservative Republicans such as Garrett lost the Republicans their majority in the 2006 election by challenging spending earmarks, and made several critical remarks about the state of New Jersey. While Garrett did not ask for an official reprimand, other conservative Republicans took exception to Young's remarks that the funds in question represented his money. Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee gave Garrett a standing ovation later in the day during the group's weekly meeting and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina compared Young's earmarks to "legal theft."

According to ''The New Republic'', Young is "well-known for his sharp elbows and generous appetite for legislative pork." His reputation for steering federal dollars to Alaska is almost as legendary as that of Ted Stevens. For example, in the 2005 Highway Bill, Young helped secure $941 million for 119 "special projects," including a $231 million bridge in Anchorage that a rider in the bill named for Young himself.

He was listed as the third-worst congressman by the popular magazine ''Rolling Stone'', and dubbed "Mr. Pork" due to his involvement in the Gravina Island "Bridge to Nowhere" incident. In the article, Young is quoted as saying that "Environmentalists are a self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots" who "are not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans." During a debate on native Alaskans right to sell sex organs of endangered animals for the purpose of aphrodisiacs, he pulled out an eighteen-inch penis bone of a walrus and brandished it like a sword on the House floor.

Controversies

Congressman Young has been included in the annual listing of the most corrupt members of Congress complied by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in 2007, 2008 and 2009 reports on Congressional corruption for abusing his position to benefit family and friends, and for steering millions of dollars in earmarks to corporations in exchange for contributions to his campaign committee and political action committee.

Hurricane Katrina

When John McCain asked Young to give up money earmarked for Alaska to help the rebuilding effort from Hurricane Katrina, Young replied that Katrina victims "can kiss my ear!"

"Bridge to Nowhere"

In 2005, Young and Stevens earmarked $223 million for building the enormous Gravina Island Bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island, which also contains Ketchikan's airport. The bridge would be used for access by emergency vehicles, as well as passengers. Currently there is a small car and passenger ferry that travels the 1/4 mile (400 m) crossing in 3 to 7 minutes and runs every half hour. Critics assailed this as pork barrel spending at taxpayers' expense and dubbed it the "Bridge to Nowhere." After criticism from citizens and others in Congress, lawmakers defunded the bridge and instead funneled the money to Alaska's Department of Transportation, allowing the Governor of Alaska to start road construction after the Alaska Legislature funded the project with the directed monies.

Another bridge earmarked in the bill connects Anchorage to Pt. Mackenzie, a lightly populated area in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough that is situated less than four miles (6 km) across Cook Inlet from downtown Anchorage. Currently, Anchorage is accessible from Point Mackenzie only by an route around Knik Arm, much of which is an unimproved road. It is currently unlikely that the bridge will be built; if it were, it would enhance the value of property in which Mr. Young's son-in-law owns an interest.

Abramoff scandal

Published reports have linked Young to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal, although no wrongdoing has been alleged. In September 2002 Young and fellow Republican Steve LaTourette of Ohio wrote to the General Services Administration urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals. In particular, the letter referred to a historic building, the Old Post Office Pavilion in downtown Washington, D.C.

BP Environment Controversy

In late 2010, Obama administration officials stated that the Deepwater Horizon blowout exceeded the Exxon Valdez spill, as they estimated that the gusher had spewed between 15 and 40 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Around the same time, however, Young declared that the oil pumping into the Gulf was not an "environmental disaster", stating instead that it was a "natural phenomena" as "oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries, will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilt from ships, and no natural catastrophe. We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sealife, but overall it will recover."

Coconut Road

In 2006, Young added a $10 million earmark to a transportation bill for the construction of an interstate interchange for a short stretch of road (known as "Coconut Road") near Fort Myers, Florida. Some puzzled why a congressman from Alaska would earmark for a little road in Florida that the local community opposed. A June 2007 article in the ''New York Times'' reported that a local real estate developer, Daniel J. Aronoff, who owns 4,000 acres (16 km²) along the road helped raise $40,000 for Young shortly before the earmark was inserted. Young's spokeswoman Meredith Kenny initially said that the local Republican congressman, Connie Mack, had requested the funding. In fact, both Mack and local Republican politicians opposed the funding.

In August 2007, the ''Naples Daily News'' reported that the words "Coconut Road interchange" were not in the federal transportation bill as it was approved by Congress. Instead, the words were added ''after'' the votes in the House and Senate, but ''before'' President Bush signed the bill. The original language for the $10 million earmark specified it was for widening of and improvements to Interstate 75. The language within the earmark was changed during a process called "bill enrollment", when technical corrections such as changes in punctuation are made to legislation before it is sent to the President.

In April 2008, top Senate Democrats and Republicans supported asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation of the $10 million earmark. Young's staff acknowledged that aides "corrected" the earmark just before it went to the White House for President Bush's signature, specifying that the money would go to the proposed highway interchange project. Young said that the project was entirely worthy of an earmark and that he welcomed any inquiry, a spokeswoman said. Young's office said that presentations made by Florida Gulf Coast University officials and the developers proved the case for the project.

Federal investigation

On July 24, 2007, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that Young was under federal investigation for possibly taking bribes, illegal gratuities or unreported gifts from VECO Corporation, an Anchorage-based company. The top two executives of that company had already pleaded guilty to bribing members of the Alaska legislature. The Journal said a VECO executive held fundraisers called "the Pig Roast" for Young every August for ten years. Between 1996 and 2006, Young received $157,000 from VECO employees and its political action committee. In the first half of 2007, Young spent more than $250,000 of his campaign contributions for legal fees.

A confession signed by Bill Allen, the former chief of VECO, was released in October 2009. Allen agreed that from 1993 to August 2006, both he and his deputy at VECO, Rick Smith, "provided things of value to United States Representative A," a reference to Young. For example, in June 2006, Smith obtained a set of golf clubs, costing approximately $1,000, that Smith gave to Young. Although Young was obligated in 2006 to report gifts with a value of more than $335, he didn't report receiving any gifts on the personal financial disclosure form he filed with the House of Representatives for that year.

Political campaigns

Alaska's at-large congressman, Democrat Nick Begich, disappeared in a plane crash on October 16, 1972. He was re-elected to the House that November, but was declared dead on December 29. Young, who had been the Republican candidate against Begich in November, ran in the special election in March 1973 and won, just barely defeating Democrat Emil Notti. He won a full term in 1974 in another close election, which he credits to his leadership of the fight for the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, and did not face another serious opponent until 1990. That year, John Devens, the mayor of Valdez, nearly defeated him. Devens ran another close race against Young in 1992, but Young was reelected in 1994 with 57 percent of the vote. He did not face another serious contest again until 2006, when he defeated Diane Benson 56%-42%. Though he was never expected to lose the election, his margin of victory came as a surprise. Two years earlier, Young had been reelected with 72% of the vote, the largest margin ever for a single candidate in a statewide election in Alaska.

2008

;Republican primary In light of many of the controversies, incumbent Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell announced he would run against Young in the August 26, 2008 Republican primary. Parnell was strongly supported by Gov. Sarah Palin, the Club for Growth, and many other organizations that opposed what they viewed to be corrupt behavior by Young. This was the first primary since he was first elected in which Young faced a strong challenge.

Young received the endorsement of Mike Huckabee's political action committee, Huck PAC, in June 2008. After a storm of negative reaction, Huckabee explained on the Huck PAC blog that the endorsement was due in part to Young's endorsement and steadfast support of Huckabee during the 2008 Republican presidential primaries.

Final results on September 18 showed Young winning by 304 votes (0.28%), and Parnell announced that he would not seek a recount. Prior to the announcement of the unofficial results, both candidates had said that they would request a recount if they lost. The state of Alaska pays the costs of recounts when the difference is within a half percent, as it was in this primary election.

;General election Young, plagued by questions about his ethics, faced a strong challenge from Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, the 46-year-old former minority leader in the Alaska House of Representatives.

The initial results from the general election on November 4, 2008, showed Young leading the race, but with many absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted, the race was not called. On November 12, 2008, the media declared that Young had retained his seat in the United States House of Representatives, for his 19th term. Young received roughly 50% of the vote compared to Berkowitz's 45% and 5% for Don Wright, the candidate of the Alaskan Independence Party.

Berkowitz himself conceded defeat on November 18, 2008, after counting of absentee and provisional ballots had mostly been completed and Young had a clearly insurmountable lead. Berkowitz received more votes in 2008 than any Democrat who had ever run against Young for Congress, and the 2008 race was the closest any Democrat had come to unseating Young since 1990, when John Devens of Valdez received 48% of the vote.

2010

Young announced in 2009 that he will be seeking his 20th term. He was challenged by Democratic nominee State Representative Harry Crawford.

Young won the Republican primary against Sheldon Fisher and John R. Cox. Young easily won re-election in 2010, beating the Democratic challenger by a wide margin.

Electoral history

+ Alaska's At-large congressional district: Results 1972–2010

Year

!

Republican

Votes

Pct

!

Democratic

Votes

Pct

!

Third Party

Votes

Pct

!

Third Party

Votes

Pct

!

Third Party

Votes

Pct

!

Write-in votes

Write-in %

!

1973

0.16%

0.39%

0.44%

0.14%

0.14%

0.25%

0.51%

0.13%

0.12%

0.10%

0.21%

0.30%

0.00%

0.24%

0.38%

0.49%

Personal life

Young was married to the former Lula Fredson, an indigenous Gwich'in. She volunteered her time serving as the manager of her husband's Washington, D.C. Congressional office. They had two daughters and were members of the Episcopal Church. Lula died on August 1, 2009 at the age of 67.

References

Further reading

Don Young caught lying about debate over emissions bill ''Alaska Report'', May 20, 2006

Don Young Gives Self Fictitious "Hero of the Taxpayer" Award from Watchdog Group July 25, 2008

External links

U.S. Congressman Don Young ''official U.S. House site''

Alaskans for Don Young ''official campaign site''

Profile at SourceWatch

Quotations at BrainyQuote

Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Alaska Category:Alaska State Senators Category:Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Category:Mayors of places in Alaska Category:Alaska city council members Category:United States Army soldiers Category:American sailors Category:American Episcopalians Category:People from Chico, California Category:California State University, Chico alumni Category:People from Sutter County, California Category:Alaska Republicans

de:Don Young la:Donaldus Young pl:Don Young pt:Don Young sv:Don Young

name	Frank LoBiondo
birth date	May 12, 1946
birth place	Bridgeton, New Jersey
occupation	small business owner
alma mater	St. Joseph's University
residence	Ventnor City, New Jersey
state	New Jersey
district	2nd
term start	January 3, 1995
preceded	Bill Hughes
succeeded	Incumbent
party	Republican
religion	Roman Catholic }}

Frank A. LoBiondo (born May 12, 1946) is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is at the southern end of New Jersey, and by far the biggest Congressional District in the state. It includes all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem Counties and parts of Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties.

Early life, education and career

Born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, LoBiondo attended Georgetown Preparatory School, and received a B.A. in Business Administration from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked for twenty-six years in a family-owned trucking company.

LoBiondo served on the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1985 to 1987 and was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly (the lower chamber of the New Jersey Legislature) from 1988 to 1994.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Committee on Armed Services

*Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces

*Subcommittee on Readiness

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

*Subcommittee on Aviation

*Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation (Chairman)

*Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Caucus Memberships

Congressional Arts Caucus

Tenure

He is a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership. He is viewed as conservative when compared to other members of the Republican Main Street Partnership. He has opposed federal funding for stem cell research and voted to limit abortion. He voted for the Flag Desecration Amendment, the Iraq War Resolution, banning gay adoption, banning gay marriage and banning affirmative action. The National Rifle Association has given him an "A" rating, and the ACLU has given him a 13% percent rating because of his strong stance against illegal drugs, support for the death penalty and other conservative positions.

LoBiondo's record on several issues, particularly the environment, fits a moderate Republican. In 2005 the National Journal ranked him as the most liberal Republican Representative in New Jersey and more liberal than most of New York's Republican Congressional representatives. The Americans for Democratic Action in 2005 did not go that far, but placed him in a higher liberal quotient than most of the Republican representatives in those two states.

Political campaigns

In 1992, LoBiondo ran for the House but was defeated by the incumbent William Hughes. When Hughes declined to run for reelection in 1994, LoBiondo ran again and was elected to the House. He was a member of the Republican "freshman class" elected in the 1994 midterm election and was part of Speaker Newt Gingrich's Contract with America.

Campaign embezzlement

On March 4, 2011, Andrew J. McCrosson Jr., who served as treasurer of LoBiondo's congressional campaign committee from 1995 until August 2010, pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges of embezzling more than $450,000 from campaign accounts over a fifteen year period. The charges included one count of wire fraud and one count of and converting funds contributed to a federal candidate. He faces up to twenty-five years imprisonment on his sentencing date of June 16.

Electoral history

!|Year ! !|Democrat !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! |- |1992 | | | | align="right" |132,465 | |56% | | | | align="right" |98,315 | |41% | | |Roger W. Bacon | |Libertarian | align="right" |2,575 | align="right" |1% | | |Joseph Ponczek | |Anti-Tax | align="right" |2,067 | align="right" |1% | | |Andrea Lippi | |Freedom, Equality, Prosperity | align="right" |1,605 | align="right" |1% | | | | | | |- |1994 | | | | align="right" |56,151 | |35% | | | | align="right" |102,566 | |65% | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |- |1996 | | |Ruth Katz | align="right" |83,890 | |38% | | | | align="right" |133,131 | |60% | | |David Rodger Headrick | |Independent | align="right" |1,439 | align="right" |1% | | |Judith Lee Azaren | |Independent | align="right" |1,174 | align="right" |1% | | |Andrea Lippi | |Independent | align="right" |1,084 | align="right" |<1% | | | | | | |- |1998 | | | | align="right" |43,563 | |31% | | | | align="right" |93,248 | |66% | | |Glenn Campbell | |Independent | align="right" |2,955 | align="right" |2% | | |Mary A. Whittam | |Independent | align="right" |1,748 | align="right" |1% | | | | | | | | | | | |- |2000 | | | | align="right" |74,632 | |32% | | | | align="right" |155,187 | |66% | | |Robert Gabrielsky | |Independent | align="right" |3,252 | align="right" |1% | | |Constantino Rozzo | |Independent | align="right" |788 | align="right" |<1% | | | | | | | | | | | |- |2002 | | | | align="right" |47,735 | |28% | | | | align="right" |116,834 | |69% | | |Roger Merle | |Green | align="right" |1,739 | align="right" |1% | | |Michael J. Matthews, Jr. | |Libertarian | align="right" |1,720 | align="right" |1% | | |Costantino Rozzo | |Socialist | align="right" |771 | align="right" |<1% | | | | | | |- |2004 | | | | align="right" |86,792 | |33% | | | | align="right" |172,779 | |65% | | |Willie Norwood | |Jobs Equality Business | align="right" |1,993 | align="right" |1% | | | | |Libertarian | align="right" |1,767 | align="right" |1% | | |Jose David Alcantara | |Green | align="right" |1,516 | align="right" |1% | | |Costantino Rozzo | |Socialist Party USA | align="right" |595 | align="right" |<1% | |- |2006 | | | | align="right" |62,364 | |35% | | | | align="right" |109,040 | |62% | | |Robert E. Mullock | |Preserve Green Space | align="right" |1,993 | align="right" |2% | | |Lynn Merle | |A New Direction | align="right" |957 | align="right" |1% | | |Thomas Fanslau | |We The People | align="right" |587 | align="right" |<1% | | |Willie Norwood | |Socialist Party USA | align="right" |368 | align="right" |<1% | |- |2008 | | | | align="right" |110,990 | |39% | | | | align="right" |167,701 | |59% | | |Jason M. Grover | |Green | align="right" |1,763 | align="right" |1% | | |Peter Frank Boyce | |Constitution | align="right" |1,551 | align="right" |1% | | |Gary Stein | |Rock the Boat | align="right" |1,312 | align="right" |<1% | | |Costantino Rozzo | |Socialist Party USA | align="right" |648 | align="right" |<1% | |- |2010 | | | | align="right" |51,690 | |31% | | | | align="right" |109,460 | |66% | | |Peter Frank Boyce | |Constitution | align="right" |4,120 | align="right" |2% | | |Mark Lovett | |Independent | align="right" |1,123 | align="right" |1% | | |Vitov Valdes-Munoz | |American Labor Party | align="right" |727 | align="right" |<1% |

References

External links

Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo ''official U.S. House site''

Frank LoBiondo for Congress ''official campaign site''

Profile at SourceWatch

Category:1946 births Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Living people Category:Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Category:New Jersey County Freeholders Category:New Jersey Republicans Category:People from Atlantic County, New Jersey Category:People from Bridgeton, New Jersey Category:Saint Joseph's University alumni

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