Tom Petri

Tom Petri
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  April 3, 1979
Preceded by	Bill Steiger
Born	May 28, 1940 (1940-05-28) (age 69) Marinette, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Anne Neal Petri
Residence	Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Harvard University Harvard Law School
Occupation	attorney
Religion	Lutheran

Thomas Evert Petri (born May 28, 1940), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1979, representing Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. The district includes most of the east-central part of the state.

Early life

Born as Thomas Evert in Marinette, Wisconsin, his father was killed during World War II and he adopted the name Petri after his mother remarried when he was still a young child. He graduated from Goodrich High School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Petri then attended Harvard University, where he received his bachelors of arts and law degrees. During 1966–67, he worked with the Peace Corps and the United States Agency for International Development in Somalia.

Political career

Petri served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1973 to 1979. He was the Republican candidate for Senate in 1974, losing to incumbent Gaylord Nelson. In 1979, he won a special election to finish the term of the late Congressman William A. Steiger, who had died shortly after being reelected in 1978. He won the seat in his own right in 1980 and has been reelected 13 times. He has only faced credible opposition once, in 1992, when he was barely reelected with 53% of the vote as Bill Clinton carried his district. He has run unopposed in 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2006 and faced no major-party opposition in 1986 and 1998.

In the 2008 election, he defeated challenger Roger Kittelson with 64% of the vote.

Petri serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. Petri is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership and supports stem-cell research, although he generally opposes abortion rights. Although he also has called for a moratorium on the death penalty, he has voted against other restrictions on it.^[1]

Petri is generally viewed as a political centrist and is well known in Congress for his willingness to work with Democrats to address major issues. "Maybe I'm missing something," he's said. "Sometimes I think you can be more effective by working with people."^[2]

Petri endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.^[3] Petri subsequently endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Petri was honored by U.S. English, Inc. in May 2008 for his votes and co-sponsorships of official English legislation in the 110th Congress.^[4] Petri had previously sponsored legislation declaring English as an official language in 1999.^[1]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Education Legislation

One of Petri's top priorities since arriving in Congress has been to improve education and student loan and grant programs. As a member of the Education Committee in Congress, he has introduced several bills to help students get access to low-cost loans.

In 2006, Petri introduced the Student Aid Reward (STAR) Act, which encourage colleges and universities to voluntarily participate in the more cost-effective student loan programs and retain $10 billion in savings for increased Pell Grant aid for their students.^[5] The legislation could boost Pell Grants by up to $800 per student while also devoting more than $3 billion of the savings toward deficit reduction — at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Petri plans to reintroduce his Income-Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Act in the 110th Congress. IDEA streamlines student loan repayment through an improved income-contingent loan repayment with direct IRS collection.

In 2005, Petri introduced the Direct Loan Reward Act to achieve savings of some $18 billion over the next 10 years in the federal student loan program. Petri says the present student loan program includes big subsidies for private banks that are unnecessary. “If we stop subsidizing banks and just provide the loans directly from the U.S. Treasury, we could free up billions of dollars to be used for Pell scholarships,” said Petri, vice-chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee.^[6]

According to The Reporter (the newspaper in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin), Petri has secured funds for the construction of the North Fond du Lac bridge overpassing the Canadian National Train Yard.

Election history

References

External links

• Congressman Tom Petri official U.S. House website
• Tom Petri for U.S. Congress campaign website
• 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
• Peace Corps biography of Thomas Petri
• Republican Main Street Partnership