- Michael F. Doyle
-
Mike Doyle Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 14th districtIncumbent Assumed office
January 3, 2003Preceded by William Coyne Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 18th districtIn office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003Preceded by Rick Santorum Succeeded by Tim Murphy Personal details Born August 5, 1953
Swissvale, PennsylvaniaPolitical party Democratic Spouse(s) Susan Doyle Residence Forest Hills, Pennsylvania Alma mater Penn State University Occupation political assistant, insurance agent Religion Roman Catholic Signature Michael F. "Mike" Doyle (born August 5, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district, serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in Pittsburgh and includes most of Allegheny County.
A native of Swissvale and graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Doyle previously served as a member of the Swissvale Borough Council (1977–1981) and an aide to state Senator Frank Pecora (1979–1994). He was first elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution despite being a Democrat.
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Early life, education and career
Doyle was born in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, to Irish and Italian parents. He graduated from Swissvale Area High School in 1971, and then enrolled at Pennsylvania State University. He worked in steel mills during his summers in college, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Development in 1975.
After college, he worked as executive director of Turtle Creek Valley Citizens Union (1977–1979) and was elected to the Swissvale Borough Council in 1977. In 1979, he began work as chief of staff to Pennsylvania State Senator Frank Pecora. Like Pecora, Doyle was once a Republican who later switched parties to become a Democrat. In addition to his work for Pecora, he joined Eastgate Insurance Company as an insurance agent in 1982.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
- Subcommittee on Energy and Power
Caucus Memberships
- Congressional Arts Caucus
Political positions
Doyle voted against authorizing military force in Iraq and against the $87 billion emergency spending bill to fund US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doyle is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Coalition on Autism Research and Education [1], also known as the Congressional Autism Caucus, and he offered an amendment that was included in the health reform law that will ensure that insurance companies will cover treatments for people with autism [2]. He has also introduced legislation that will provide better services for adults with autism.
He has been praised for his stance on copyright issues, and is supportive of net neutrality. He is the lead sponsor of HR 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 which will expand low-power broadcasting to hundreds of new community radio stations. In 2010, he was given the Digital Patriot Award [3], along with Vint Cerf, one of the creators of the technology that runs the Internet.
He used his position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and lead the negotiations to find common ground on legislation addressing climate change and promoting energy independence while protecting clean domestic manufacturing [4].
Also, Doyle is an outspoken critic of the genocide in Sudan and Darfur. In a rally on April 28, 2007, he urged President Bush to uphold his promise of sending 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. He drew loud cheers when he said, "If we can have a surge in Iraq, there needs to be one in Sudan." He supports LGBT [5] issues.
During the debate over the debt ceiling in 2011, Doyle said about Tea Party Republicans, "We have negotiated with terrorists. This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money".[1]
Political campaigns
In 1994, Doyle was elected to Congress as a Democrat from the state's 18th District, which at the time was located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. The incumbent Republican, Rick Santorum, was elected to the United States Senate. Doyle won by almost 10 points, and one of the few bright spots in a bad year for Democrats. He was reelected three times with no substantive opposition.
In 2002 Doyle’s district was combined with the Pittsburgh-based district of fellow Democrat William J. Coyne. The state legislature allegedly reconfigured the district map in order to elect more Republicans from the state. In the process, they drew most of western Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas into just two districts—the reconfigured 14th District and the 12th District of John Murtha. The potentially explosive situation of having two Democratic incumbents face each other in the primary was defused when Coyne announced his retirement (even though the district contained more of Coyne's former territory than Doyle's) leaving Doyle as the sole incumbent. The new district is by far the most Democratic district in western Pennsylvania, and Doyle was completely unopposed in 2002 and 2004; in 2006 and 2008, his only opposition was Green Party candidate Titus North.[2][3]
2008
2010
Doyle is being challenged by Republican Melissa Haluszczak and Green Party Ed Bortz.
References
- ^ Allen, Jonathan; John Bresnahan (2 August 2011). "Sources: Joe Biden likened tea partiers to terrorists". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60421.html#ixzz1TuAIDnOZ. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ Gary Rotstein (2006-11-08). "Anti-GOP tide costs Rep. Hart a 4th term". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06312/736544-177.stm. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ^ "Veteran pair: Doyle and Murtha deserve new House terms". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2008-10-24. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08298/922391-192.stm. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
External links
Media related to Michael F. Doyle at Wikimedia Commons
- Congressman Mike Doyle official U.S. House site
- Doyle for Congress official campaign site
- 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
United States House of Representatives Preceded by
Rick SantorumMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district
1995–2003Succeeded by
Tim MurphyPreceded by
William J. CoyneMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district
2003–Succeeded by
IncumbentUnited States order of precedence Preceded by
Lloyd Doggett
D-TexasUnited States Representatives by seniority
99thSucceeded by
Chaka Fattah
D-PennsylvaniaCategories:- 1953 births
- American people of Irish descent
- American people of Italian descent
- Living people
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania State University alumni
- Pennsylvania Democrats
- Politicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Committee on Energy and Commerce
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