Todd Tiahrt

Infobox_Congressman
name =Todd Tiahrt


width=130
date of birth=birth date and age|1951|06|15
place of birth =Vermillion, South Dakota
state = Kansas
district = 4th
term_start =January 3, 1995
preceded = Dan Glickman
succeeded = Incumbent
party =Republican
religion = Assembly of God
spouse = Vicki Tiahrt
residence= Goddard, Kansas
occupation= aerospace executive
alma_mater= Evangel University, Southwest Missouri State University

Todd Tiahrt (pronounced TEE-hart, born June 15, 1951), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing ushr|Kansas|4| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ks04_109.gifmap] ), which is based in Wichita.

Biography

Tiahrt was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. He attended and earned a bachelor's degree from Evangel College and received an M.B.A. from Southwest Missouri State University. He worked for Boeing, where he worked on numerous government contracts, from 1981 until his election to Congress.

He was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1992. After only one term, he won the Republican nomination for the 4th District and was elected to the House in an upset over 18-year Democratic incumbent Dan Glickman. A factor in the win was the 1990s reapportionment, in which Hutchinson and surrounding Reno County were shifted to the "Big 1st" District. Hutchinson was replaced with more reliably Republican Montgomery County. After a tough reelection bid in 1996, he has been reelected five more times with little difficulty, including 68% of the vote in 2004 and with over 63% of the vote in 2006.

Tiahrt is one of three Pentecostals in the 110th Congress. The others — all Republicans — are Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado and Tim Johnson of Illinois. [cite web |url= http://www.adherents.com/adh_congress.html#109|title= Religion of US Congress|accessdate= 2007-07-17|publisher= Adherents.com]

Committee Assignments

*Appropriations Committee
**Subcommittee on Defense
**Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
*Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
**Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management
*Founder and chairman of the House Economic Competitiveness Caucus

Environmental record

The organization Republicans for Environmental Protection gave Tiahrt the score of -4 on environmental issues in 2005; his score for the entire 109th Congress (2005-2007) was 6 on a scale of 100. The group specifically criticized Tiahrt for signing a “Dear Colleague” letter “in an effort to pressure House Conferees to include language authorizing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge….” [ [http://www.rep.org/2005_scorecard.pdf Republicans for Environmental Protection 2005 Scorecard] ] The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters assigned Tiahrt the lowest possible score for 2005 and 2006; his lifetime score is three out of 100. For the 109th Congress, the LCV cited a pattern of “anti-environment action” for Tiahrt: he cast what the group qualified as anti-environment votes on twelve out of twelve critical issues ranging from oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, salvage logging and logging roads, and the Clean Water Act, to the Toxics Release Inventory program and low-income energy assistance. [ [http://www.lcv.org/images/client/pdfs/LCV_2006_Scorecard_final.pdf League of Conservation Voters 2006 Scorecard] ]

In March 2008, the organization Teaming with Wildlife gave Tiahrt and award for his support for federal funding for state-based wildlife conservation under the State Wildlife Grants Program. [ [http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/kdwp_info/news/web_news/march_2008/rep_todd_tiahrt_awarded_for_efforts_to_help_conserve_wildlife "Rep. Todd Tiahrt Awarded For Efforts to Help Conserve Wildlife"] , press release, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, March 14, 2008]

Tiahrt Amendment

Tiahrt is the author of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) from releasing information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation. Additionally, any data so released is inadmissible in a civil lawsuit. [ [http://www.protectpolice.org/docs/tiahrt_amendment.pdf Full text of current Tiahrt Amendment] From ProtectPolice.org, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.] Some groups, including the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, believe that having further access to the BATFE database would help municipal police departments track down sellers of illegal guns and curb crime. These groups are trying to undo the Tiahrt Amendment. [Knight, Healther (June 19, 2007) [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/19/BAGHNQHIOB1.DTL "Mayors Fight Gun Measure."] "San Francisco Chronicle".]

Electoral History

*2006 race for Kansas 4th District
**Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 64%
**Garth McGinn (D), 34%

*2004 race for Kansas 4th District
**Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 66%
**Michael Kinard (D), 31%

*2002 race for Kansas 4th District
**Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 61%
**Carlos Nolla (D), 37%

*1996 race for Kansas 4th District
**Todd Tiahrt (R), (inc.) 50%
**Randy Rathbun (D), 47%

*1994 race for Kansas 4th District
**Todd Tiahrt (R) 53%
**Dan Glickman (D), (inc.) 47%

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/ U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt] official House site
* [http://toddtiahrt.com/ Todd Tiahrt for Congress] official campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Todd_Tiahrt Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* What's The Matter With Kansas? ISBN 0-8050-7774-X