Collin Peterson

Collin Peterson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Arlan Stangeland
Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee
In office January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Bob Goodlatte
Succeeded by	Frank Lucas
Minnesota State Senator from the 10th district
In office 1977–1986
Personal details
Born	June 29, 1944 (1944-06-29) (age 67) Fargo, North Dakota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Divorced
Residence	Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
Alma mater	Moorhead State University
Occupation	accountant
Religion	Lutheran
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army National Guard
Years of service	1963–1969

Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944), is the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 7th congressional district, serving since 1991, and the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and is the dean of the Minnesota congressional delegation.

The district, Minnesota's largest and most rural district, includes the entire northwestern area of the state. It includes Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, Thief River Falls, Willmar, Marshall, and Alexandria.

Early life and education

Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Minnesota Senate

Peterson was a member of the Minnesota Senate for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party) from 1977 to 1986, representing a district in northwestern Minnesota.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture (Ranking Member)
  • As ranking member of the full committee, Rep. Peterson may sit as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.
• Military Veterans Caucus, Co-chair

Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats in the House.

Political positions

Peterson is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the Minnesota delegation in the 109th Congress, scoring 50% conservative by a conservative group^[1] and 57% progressive by a liberal group.^[2] He is somewhat conservative on social issues; he strongly opposes abortion and has been one of the few Democrats to vote against even stem cell research and the vast majority of gun control measures. He has voted to ban physician assisted suicide and also to approve the flag desecration amendment. Peterson also supports the federal marriage amendment and the death penalty. His socially conservative views are not surprising given the makeup of his district. The 7th contains some of the most conservative counties in the state. As previously mentioned, it is also the state's most rural district; many DFLers outside the Twin Cities are hunters and trappers who oppose gun control.

On economic issues, however, he is somewhat closer to the liberal wing of his party: he has voted against most free trade agreements, the Freedom to Farm Act, and the Telecom Act of 1996. He also voted against both versions of the Patriot Act and he has been sharply critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, which he contends is unfair to rural students. Since becoming ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, Peterson has voted more often with liberal Democrats. However, political commentators often note that Peterson once dated former Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who, as the Republican Secretary of State of Florida during the 2000 presidential election, infuriated Democrats by certifying George W. Bush as the election winner.^[3]

Peterson was one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.^[4]

Peterson was a cosponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005<refr>H.R. 884: Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005, GovTrack.us</ref>^[5] which would provide job protection for three million illegal immigrant agricultural workers and their families, and extend the visas of legal immigrant agricultural workers.

In 1998, Peterson gained attention by proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the residents of Minnesota's Northwest Angle to vote on whether they wanted to secede from the United States and join the Canadian province of Manitoba.

In January 2005, he was selected by the House Democratic Caucus to succeed former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm as the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. He became the committee's chairman after the Democrats won control of the House two years later.

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Peterson brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.^[6] The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed.^[7]

In May 2007, Peterson was the lone Democrat to vote against the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act.^[8]

On January 28, 2009, Peterson was amongst the seven Democrats who voted in the House together with the unanimous Republican opposition against President Obama's stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).^[9][10]

On May 6, 2009, Peterson voiced his opposition to climate change legislation proposed by the Obama Administration saying, "I will not support any kind of climate change bill – even if you fix this – because I don't trust anybody anymore. I've had it." Peterson predicted that an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to assess indirect effects of ethanol production on greenhouse gas emissions, combined with the climate change legislation, could "kill off corn ethanol."^[11]

On March 21, 2010, Peterson voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[12]

From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Peterson is reported to have brought $874 million to his District.^[13] In Peterson's district, which includes sugar beets, wheat and poultry, 58% of the $2.8 billion paid out in crop subsidies from 1995 to 2005 went to 10% of recipients, according to the Environmental Working Group, which tracks farm spending. The chairman says he has no problem with that. "Ten percent of the farmers produce 90% of the food," he says.

On July 27, 2009, a controversy erupted after Peterson was quoted in a Politico.com article saying, "25 percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down. That's why I don't do town meetings." The state Republican Party denounced the remark as "outrageous and offensive". Peterson apologized for the comment, which he described as "off-hand".^[14]

In 2010, he was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee^[15] and the National Rifle Association^[16].

In 2011, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.^[17] The bill contained an exception for "forcible rape," which opponents criticized as potentially excluding drug-facilitated rape, date rape, and other forms of rape.^[18] The bill also allowed an exception for minors who are victims of incest.^[17]

Other activities

In December 2005, Peterson joined with several other Congressmen to form the Second Amendments, a bipartisan rock and country band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the Holiday season.^[19]

Political campaigns

He was elected to the Congress in 1990, defeating seven-term Republican Arlan Stangeland in 1990 on his fourth try after unsuccessful attempts in 1984, 1986 and 1988. In 1986, he lost to Strangeland by 121 votes. The 7th has always been a somewhat conservative district and Peterson initially struggled to hold onto his seat in close elections. In 1992 he narrowly won re-election by a 50–49% margin against former state representative Bernie Omann. In a 1994 re-match against Omann, Peterson won by a 51–49% margin. From 1996 on, he has been re-elected by a wide margin, with voters giving him between 65 and 72 percent of the vote. He has served in the 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th, 110th, and 111th congresses thus far (January 3, 1991–present).

Electoral history

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2010#District 7

2010 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson	133,086	55.2	-17
	Republican	Lee Byberg	90,682	37.6	-
	Independent	Gene Waldorf	9,310	3.9	-
	Independence	Glen Menze	7,904	3.3	-24.4

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2008#District 7

2008 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson	227,180	72.2	+2.2
	Republican	Glen Menze	87,057	27.7	-
	republican	others	428	0.1	-

2006

Main article: U.S. House elections, 2006

2006 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson	179,163	70	+4
	Republican	Michael Barrett	74,680	29	-
	Constitution	Ken Lucier	3,303	1	-

2004

Main article: U.S. House elections, 2004

2004 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson	207,254	66	+1
	Republican	David Sturrock	106,235	34	-

2002

Main article: U.S. House elections, 2002

2002 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson	170,191	65	-
	Republican	Dan Stevens	90,320	35	-

1990

Main article: United States House elections, 1990

1990 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Collin Peterson		53	-
	Republican	Arlan Stangeland		46	-

Personal life

Peterson lives in Detroit Lakes, just east of Moorhead.

References

• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present

1. ^ "Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005" (PDF). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. June, 2006. http://www.sbecouncil.org/uploads/Ratings2005Scorecard.pdf. Retrieved November 2, 2006. 
2. ^ "Leading with the Left". Progressive Punch. http://www.progressivepunch.org. Retrieved November 2, 2006. 
3. ^ "Article | The American Prospect". Prospect.org. July 16, 2010. http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=10306. Retrieved July 20, 2010. 
4. ^ "GovTrack: House Vote On Passage: H.R. 6166 [109th]: Military Commissions Act of 2006". Govtrack.us. September 27, 2006. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2006-491. Retrieved July 20, 2010. 
5. ^ Bill Text 109th Congress (2005–2006) S.359.IS, THOMAS
6. ^ "11 House Members to Sue Over Budget Bill". ABC News. Associated Press. April 27, 2006. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1898817. Retrieved February 20, 2007. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Judge Dismisses Budget Bill Lawsuit". ABC News. Associated Press. November 6, 2006. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2633701. Retrieved November 28, 2006. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 23, 2007). "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 404". House of Representatives Roll Call. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll404.xml. Retrieved May 24, 2007. 
9. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (January 28, 2009). "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 46 on "Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009"". House of Representatives Roll Call. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll046.xml. Retrieved January 31, 2009. 
10. ^ Kevin Díaz (January 30, 2009). "Rep. Peterson: Stimulus is flawed". Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/38731832.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhU6:_0c:QyDiiUiacyKUU. Retrieved January 31, 2009. 
11. ^ Sally Schuff (May 6, 2009). "Peterson cries foul on EPA ethanol proposal, vows not to support climate change bill". Feedstuffs. http://www.feedstuffs.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=F4D1A9DFCD974EAD8CD5205E15C1CB42&nm=Breaking+News&type=news&mod=News&mid=A3D60400B4204079A76C4B1B129CB433&tier=3&nid=2ED25D0552384C0396608AE0F548F8E9. Retrieved May 7, 2009. 
12. ^ "Peterson Statement on Health Care Vote" (Press release). Mar. 21, 2010. http://collinpeterson.house.gov/press/111th/Peterson%20Statement%20on%20Health%20Care%20Vote.html. Retrieved Mar. 25, 2010. 
13. ^ Dilanian, Ken, " Billions go to House panel members' districts", USA Today. July 26, 2007.
14. ^ Roper, Eric (July 29, 2009). "Peterson apologizes for slap at constituents". http://www.startribune.com/local/51861647.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUT. Retrieved July 28, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
15. ^ National Right to Life PAC Endorses Chip Cravaack for Congress in Minnesota 8th Congressional District
16. ^ National Rifle Association endorses Walz
17. ^ ^{a b} Full text of House Resolution 3: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
18. ^ "What is 'forcible rape' exactly?". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2011/02/what_is_forcible_rape_exactly.html. 
19. ^ 1

• Collin Peterson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• Congressman Collin Peterson official U.S. House site
• Peterson for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Campaign 2006: Collin Peterson profile from Minnesota Public Radio
• Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005

Political offices
Preceded by Roger L. Hanson Vergas	Minnesota Senate District 10 1977–1986	Succeeded by Cal Larson Fergus Falls
Preceded by Bob Goodlatte Virginia	Chairman of House Agriculture Committee 2007–2011	Succeeded by Frank Lucas Oklahoma
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Arlan Stangeland	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th congressional district 1991 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Jim Moran D-Virginia	United States Representatives by seniority 59th	Succeeded by Maxine Waters D-California

Persondata
Name	Peterson, Collin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1944-06-29
Place of birth	Fargo, North Dakota
Date of death
Place of death