Ric Keller

Infobox_Congressman
name =Ric Keller


date of birth=birth date and age|1964|09|5
place of birth =Johnson City, Tennessee
state = Florida
district = 8th
term_start=January 3, 2001
preceded = Bill McCollum
succeeded = Incumbent
party =Republican
religion = Methodist
spouse = Dee Dee Keller
children = Nick Keller
Kristy Keller
Kaylee Keller
Kate Keller
occupation=attorney
alma_mater=East Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University
residence=Orlando, Florida

Richard "Ric" Keller (born September 5 1964) is an American politician, and has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing ushr|Florida|8| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/fl08_109.gifmap] ), including Orlando, Ocala and Celebration.

Personal information

Keller was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. He received a bachelor's degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated first in his class in 1986, and a law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1992. He was a lawyer in Florida before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2000.

Congressman Keller has served as the chairman, and is now the ranking member, of the House higher education subcommittee. As the only Floridian in Congress to serve on the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Keller is the state's point man on education issues in Washington. Congressman Keller also sits on the House Judiciary Committee, where he has been a leading advocate of the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program to put more law enforcement officers on our streets.

In March 2003, Keller and his wife of 10 years, Cathleen divorced. He and his ex-wife split the custody of their two children, with his ex-wife being the primary residential parent.Jeffrey C. Billman and Jonathan Cunningham, [http://www.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=11098 "Ric Keller's Greatest Hits: Votes and quotes from Orlando's favorite congressman"] , "Orlando Weekly", November 2, 2006] He has since remarried; he and his wife Dee Dee live in Orlando. He has four children: Nick and Christy (from his 1st marriage),and Kaylee and Kate. [ [http://keller.house.gov/Biography/ House biography of Keller] , accessed June 23, 2007]

On October 18, 2005, Keller was hospitalized in Orlando, Florida, after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia. He was driving his car and blacked out and hit another car in a parking lot. He was told by his doctor not to drive for 6 months.Fact|date=June 2007

Committee Assignments

*Education and Labor Committee
**Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
**Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness (Ranking Member)
*Judiciary Committee
**Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
**Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
**Antitrust Task Force and Competition Policy

Congressional campaigns

2000

In Keller's first run for Congress, he finished in second place in the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, against fellow Republican Bill Sublette's, who had 43%, but defeated Sublette in the runoff election, getting 52% of that vote. During the primary campaign, Keller publicly signed a terms limits pledge while Sublette refused to do so, [http://www.ustl.org/Press/Press_Releases/20001003.html "Self-Limiter Ric Keller Wins FL-8 GOP Run-Off"] , Press release, U.S. Term Limits (organization), October 3, 2000] and Keller made his signing a major part of his campaign.

In the 2000 general election, Keller won with 51% of the vote against Democrat Linda Chapin.Rachel Kapochunas, [http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/12/05/cq_2009.html "Keller’s Early ‘08 Opponent Focusing on Broken Term Limit Pledge"] , "New York Times", December 5, 2006]

2002

After the 2001 Congressional re-apportionment, Florida's 8th District was redistricted from a near equal representation (Democrat-Republican) to one that included seven percent more Republicans than Democrats.

Keller readily won the 2002 Congressional election against Democrat Eddie Diaz, winning with 65% of the vote.

2004

In 2004 Keller won his third term with 60% of the vote against Democrat challenger Stephen Murray.

2006

In 2006, Keller won the Republican primary with 72% of the vote, defeating businesswoman Elizabeth Doran. In the general election, Keller defeated Democrat Charlie Stuart, 53% to 46%.

In October, during a debate with Stuart, Keller was asked whether or not, if elected, he would seek a fifth term in 2008. "When I make that decision, I’ll let you know", Keller responded.

2008

Keller is running for re-election in 2008 after deciding not to keep his term limits pledge. Keller said, "I don’t like making mistakes, but I admit that was a big one. As a rookie candidate, I underestimated the value of experience and seniority." He won against Todd Long, an Orlando attorney and radio talkshow host, in the Republican primary.

Keller is being challenged by Democrat Alan Grayson ( [http://www.graysonforcongress.com campaign website] ), an attorney who prosecutes war profiteers. Grayson had previously run in the 2006 Democratic primary, losing to Stuart. [Scott Maxwell [http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2007/06/more_keller_com.html "More Keller competition"] , "Orlando Sentinel", June 20, 2007]

Political positions and actions

Cheeseburger Bill

In 2003, Keller was sponsor of H.R. 339, the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. The bill would have shielded manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food and beverages from lawsuits blaming them for "weight gain, obesity, or a health condition related to weight gain or obesity." Keller, who said he was about 20 pounds over his ideal weight, said that he thought consumers should stop blaming "fast food" sellers and "junk food" manufacturers for their weight issues. [ [http://www.newcoalition.org/Article.cfm?artId=12570 "Keller, Kraft Weigh in on Obesity"] ,Conrad F. Meier, "Health Care News", August 1, 2003.]

In 2005, Keller reintroduced the bill as H.R. 554, the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2005. The bill passed the House but was never voted on by the Senate. [ [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-554 H.R. 554, 109th Congress] , GovTrack.us, accessed June 23, 2007]

Iraq War

In June 2006, Keller voted to affirm that the war in Iraq was part of the Global War on Terror, and against any exit date for the war.

In February 2007, Keller announced during a speech that he was in favor of the Democratic proposal at the time for withdrawing from Iraq. He stated "Let me give you an analogy. Imagine your next door neighbor refuses to mow his lawn and the weeds are all the way up to his waist. You decide you’re going to mow his lawn for him every single week. The neighbor never says thank you. He hates you and sometimes he takes out a gun and shoots at you. Under these circumstances, do you keep mowing his lawn forever? Do you send even more of your family members over to mow his lawn? Or do you say to that neighbor, ‘You better step it up and mow your own lawn or there’s going to be serious consequences for you’?" [ [http://keller.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=58237 "Congressman Ric Keller’s Speech on Iraq Resolution", February 14, 2007] ]

Other issues

Keller is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ]

Position on 2008 "Bailout"

On September 29, 2008, Keller voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008cite web|title= Bailout Roll Call | url= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/29/bailout.rollcall.0929.pdf| date= 2008-09-29 Retrieved on September 29, 2008]

References

External links

* [http://keller.house.gov/ Keller's official website]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ric_Keller Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia