Roy Blunt

Infobox Officeholder
name = Roy Blunt


imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 25^th Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives
term_start = January 3, 2003
term_end = January 3, 2007
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
president =
primeminister =
predecessor = Tom DeLay
successor = Jim Clyburn
order2 = 22^nd Minority Whip of the United States House of Representatives
term_start2 = January 4, 2007
term_end2 =
vicepresident2 =
viceprimeminister2 =
deputy2 =
president2 =
primeminister2 =
predecessor2 = Steny Hoyer
successor2 =
order3 = Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 7th District
term_start3 = January 3, 1997
term_end3 =
vicepresident3 =
viceprimeminister3 =
deputy3 =
president3 =
primeminister3 =
predecessor3 = Mel Hancock
successor3 =
birth_date = birth date and age|1950|01|10
birth_place = Niangua, Missouri
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party = Republican
spouse = Roseann Ray Blunt (div.)
Abigail Perlman Blunt
children = Matthew Roy Blunt
Amy Blunt Mosby
Andrew Blunt
Alexander Charles Blunt (adopted)
profession = college administrator
religion = Baptist
alma_mater = Southwest Baptist University, Southwest Missouri State University
residence = Strafford, Missouri

Roy D. Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is a Republican politician from Missouri, representing ushr|Missouri|7| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/mo07_109.gifmap] ). in the United States House of Representatives. He is currently the House Minority Whip for the 110th United States Congress.

After House Majority Leader Tom DeLay stepped down due to a criminal indictment in Texas, Blunt served as interim majority leader from September 29, 2005, to February 2, 2006, when John Boehner of Ohio was elected as DeLay's permanent replacement.

Blunt's son Matt Blunt is the Governor of Missouri.

Personal life

Blunt was born in Niangua, Missouri to Neva Dora Letterman and Leroy O. Blunt. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/reps/blunt.htm 1 ] ] He earned a B.A. in History from Southwest Baptist University in 1970. Two years later, he earned a M.A. in History from Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University).

Blunt has been married twice. He married Roseann Ray in May 1967, and with her had three children: Matt (the current governor of Missouri), Amy Blunt Mosby, and Andrew Blunt. Amy and Andrew are lawyers and lobbyists. They divorced after 35 years of marriage. Afterward, he married Abigail Perlman, a Philip Morris lobbyist, on October 18, 2003. In April 2006, he and his wife adopted an 18-month old boy from Russia, whom they named Alexander Charles "Charlie" Blunt. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=Alexander%20Charles%20Blunt&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=2006&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=("Alexander%20Charles%20Blunt")&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no St. Louis Post-Dispatch] ]

He has five grandchildren: Davis Mosby, Eva Mosby, Ben Blunt, William Branch Blunt, and Allyson Blunt. [ [http://www.blunt.house.gov/About.aspx?Section=5 About ] ]

Political career

Blunt entered politics in 1972, when he was elected county clerk and chief election official of Greene County, Missouri (where Springfield is located). Blunt was the Republican nominee for Missouri lieutenant governor in 1980, but lost to Democrat Ken Rothman. He served as Greene County clerk until 1984, when he was elected Missouri Secretary of State — the first Republican to hold that post in 50 years.

He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Missouri in 1992, losing the Republican primary to Missouri Attorney General William L. Webster.

From 1993 to 1996, Blunt was president of Southwest Baptist University, his "alma mater".

Blunt was first elected to Congress in 1996, when incumbent Congressman Mel Hancock honored his pledge to serve only four terms. Blunt's district, one of the most Republican districts in the country, is located in the Ozark Mountains of southwestern Missouri, a district that includes Springfield and Joplin.

Upon entering the House, Blunt served on the International Relations Committee, the House Committee on Agriculture and the Transportation Committee. In 1999, he gave up seats on the latter two committees and joined the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce. He has also served on the Republican Conference Steering Committee since his election to the Congress. That committee determines to which committees Republican Members are assigned and elevates Members to positions of Ranking Member or Chairman.

After only one term, Blunt was appointed as Chief Deputy Whip, the highest appointed position in the House Republican Caucus. In that capacity, he served as the Republicans' chief vote-counter. When Dick Armey retired and fellow Texan DeLay was elected to succeed him, Blunt was elected to succeed DeLay as majority whip.

On January 8, 2006, one day after DeLay announced that he would not seek to regain his position, Blunt announced he would run to permanently replace DeLay. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/08/house.majorityleader/index.html "Boehner, Blunt seek to replace DeLay: Lawmakers debate scandals' impact on mid-term elections"] , CNN.com, January 8, 2006] On January 14, 2006, he issued a release claiming that the majority of the Republican caucus had endorsed him as DeLay's successor. [ [http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/01/blunt_claims_vi.html "Blunt Claims Victory"] , "National Journal", January 14, 2006] However, when the election was held by secret ballot on February 2, 2006, Boehner won on the second ballot, with 122 votes to 109 for Blunt. In November 2006 he was elected by the House Republicans to their second highest position for the 110th Congress, the Minority Whip, defeating Congressman Shadegg of Arizona handily. [Carl Hulse and David Stout, [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/politics/02cnd-cong.html?hp&ex=1138942800&en=5b186f41a14ac954&ei=5094 "Ohio Congressman Wins Majority Leader Race, Replacing DeLay"] , "New York Times", February 2, 2006]

Since he was first elected in 1996, Blunt has been reelected five times without significant opposition. In the 2004 House election, he received 70.4 percent of the vote. [ [http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=131&oid=32757&arc=1 Official Election Returns, State of Missouri General Election, Tuesday, November 2, 2004] ]

Blunt is also the honorary chairman of the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund, his PAC.

Positions and interest group ratings

Blunt has a very conservative voting record. He is generally rated highly by conservative interest groups and receives correspondingly low ratings from liberal groups.

ocial issues

Although Missouri Right to Life endorsed Webster over Blunt in the 1992 Republican gubernatorial primary, Blunt has voted pro-life in Congress and has a conservative record on most other social issues. He has voted to ban partial-birth abortions, and to restrict or criminalize transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of getting an abortion. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Abortion.htm Roy Blunt on Abortion] , OnTheIssues] He also voted in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which bans same-sex marriage, and has voted against gay adoption. He received 94 percent lifetime and 96 percent 2004 ratings from the American Conservative Union, a 14 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union, [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Civil_Rights.htm#1998-133 Roy Blunt on Civil Rights] , OnTheIssues] and a 92 percent rating from the conservative Christian Coalition. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Families_+_Children.htm Roy Blunt on Families & Children] , OnTheIssues]

Environmental record

Blunt has received the lowest possible score from the nonpartisan environmental group League of Conservation Voters for seven out of the past eight congressional sessions. In 2006, Blunt voted to permit offshore drilling, [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll356.xml Office of the Clerk] ] to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll209.xml ibid.] ] and to deny funding for energy assistance, which would have helped low-income families weatherize and insulate their homes. [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll066.xml ibid] ] During previous congresses, Blunt drew criticism from environmental groups for voting to reduce habitat protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act and for voting to expedite the approval process for forest thinning projects. [ [http://www.issues2002.org/House/Roy_Blunt.htm#Environment issues2002.org] ]

Education

Blunt has voted in favor of school prayer and supported the No Child Left Behind Act. He has voted in favor of school vouchers within the District of Columbia but has voted against broader legislation allowing states to use federal money to issue vouchers for private or religious schools. He has received a 17 percent rating from the National Education Association. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Education.htm Roy Blunt on Education] , OntheIssues]

Guns

Blunt has voted to prohibit lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers if the guns they manufacture or sell are later used in a crime. He has also voted to reduce the waiting period for purchasing a gun from 72 hours to 24 hours. He has received an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Gun_Control.htm Roy Blunt on Gun Control] , OntheIssues]

Business

Blunt received a 97 percent rating from the United States Chamber of Commerce indicating a pro-business voting record. He supported banking industry-backed efforts to overhaul U.S. bankruptcy laws, requiring consumers who seek bankruptcy protection to repay more of their debts. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/House/Roy_Blunt_Corporations.htm Roy Blunt on Corporations] , OntheIssues]

Internet gambling ban

Blunt is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04411: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411] ] and 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] ]

Commuting of Libby

Blunt said that Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence was "the right thing to do... The prison sentence was overly harsh, and the punishment did not fit the crime." [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/02/libby.sentence/index.html CNN] ]

Controversies

Ties to the tobacco industry and lobbyists

In 2002, Blunt attempted to insert a provision, in support of tobacco corporations, into the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. The "rider" would have made tobacco sales over the Internet more difficult, allowing tobacco companies to control distribution. At the time, Blunt was dating Phillip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman, whom he later married. It was removed from the final bill by agreement between Blunt's staff and the Speaker's staff. The same basic provision was later adopted by the Senate and became law, restricting the ability of criminals and terrorists to use black market Internet sales of tobacco to underwrite illegal or nefarious activity. [ [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a64ZIkmVPv_w&refer=us "Blunt, Boehner Share Broad Network of Lobbyist Ties With DeLay"] , Bloomberg, January 10, 2006]

Citizens for Ethics released a report in June 2007 in which they pointed out that two of Blunt's children are lobbyists in addition to his wife. [http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/FINAL_FULL_REPORT.pdf "Family Affair"] , Citizens for Ethics, June 19, 2007] Altria Group has made a $180,000 contribution to Blunt's PACs and is the largest donor to Blunt's campaigns, giving Blunt a total of $270,000 as of late 2006. [http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/blunt.php "The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)"] , Citizens for Ethics, 2006] Son Andy Blunt is a lobbyist who has worked for Altria subsidiaries Kraft Foods, Miller Brewing, and Philip Morris, along with UPS. Blunt inserted a rider into an Iraq War appropriations bill in 2003 that benefited UPS. Daughter Amy Blunt is a registered lobbyist for Lathrop & Gage.

Citing the Homeland Security rider benefiting his largest donor Altria Group and the rider inserted to benefit UPS and FedEx after receiving campaign contributions from the companies totaling $58,000, Citizens for Ethics in September 2006 called Blunt "one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress."

Ties to Tom DeLay

On November 16, 2005, Travis County, Texas District Attorney Ronnie Earle subpoenaed documents that purportedly show communication between DeLay's political action committee and that of Roy Blunt, which would not have been impermissible. The subpoenaed documents were bank records of DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC, which gave $75,000 to start Texans for a Republican Majority. Federal Election Commission records show that Blunt's PAC also paid roughly $88,000 in fees since 2003 to a consultant facing indictment in Texas in the same case as DeLay. ["Rep. Blunt one of the most Unethical Members of Congress" Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. September 29, 2007]

In June 2003, since-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff persuaded DeLay to organize a letter, cosigned by Blunt, Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, that endorsed a view of gambling law benefitting Abramoff’s client, the Louisiana Coushatta, by blocking gambling competition by another tribe. Abramoff has donated $8,500 to Blunt’s leadership PAC, Rely on Your Beliefs Fund. However, Blunt had a long history of opposing gambling enterprises operated by Native Americans, due to the large presence of family-friendly tourism businesses in his Congressional district that includes Branson. [ "Big-Money Politics, New Public Citizen Report Shows" Public Citizen January 13, 2006]

DeLay said of Blunt: "Roy Blunt has done a tremendous job... His leadership is vital to our cause." [Thomas B. Edsall, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051601334_pf.html "House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of K Street"] , "The Washington Post", Tuesday, May 17, 2005]

Earmarking

In 2006 The Hill reported that "Blunt secured $80,000 to develop an industrial park, $1 million to improve waste-water treatment and $475,000 to renovate the Gillioz Theatre, as well as several defense-related earmarks. The Senate earmarked $250,000 for a natural-history museum in Springfield. [ Kaplan, Jonathan, "Hill leaders may be pressed to give up district projects", The Hill January 25, 2006.]

ee also

*United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri, 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.blunt.house.gov/ U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt] official site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Roy_Blunt Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.roybluntforcongress.com/ Roy Blunt for Congress] official campaign site
* [http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/blunt.php Beyond Delay — Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)] from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington