Your Representatives
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Congressman Charlie Wilson (OH-6)
Charlie Wilson was sworn in as a member of the historic 110th Congress on January 4, 2007. At the center of Congressman Wilson's public service is an unwavering commitment to Ohio's working families.
As a member of the powerful House Committee on Financial Services, Wilson is focused on the most pressing issue facing the Sixth District-the creation of good jobs that put Ohioans back on the right track.
Congressman Wilson believes strongly in the promise of home-grown energy solutions that help break our nation's dependence on foreign oil. With a seat on the Science and Technology Committee, Congressman Wilson is actively engaged in fostering the creation and development of responsible energy resources and technology.
Generations of steelworkers have called Ohio's Sixth District home. Congressman Wilson honors their hard work and stands up for the strength of the American steel industry as a leading member of the Congressional Steel Caucus. Through the Steel Caucus, Congressman Wilson is a strong voice for fair trade agreements that put Ohio workers first.
Before his election to Congress, Wilson served ten years in the Ohio House and Senate. His devotion to public service was evident through his work as a state lawmaker in Columbus, where he fought for Ohio workers and pushed to increase funding for public schools.
Congressman Wilson brings to Washington a much-needed common sense approach to problem solving that he developed through decades of experience as a successful small business owner in Eastern Ohio. Wilson, who makes his home in St. Clairsville, has four sons and eight grandchildren.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who represents Northern Ohio's Ninth Congressional District, is currently serving her thirteenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the senior-most woman in Congress and is one of only 90 women out of 535 members of the 110th Congress.
Training & Education
Congresswoman Kaptur, of Polish-American heritage with humble, working class roots, mirrors the boot-strap nature of her district. Her family operated a small grocery where her mother worked after serving on the original organizing committee of an auto trade union at Champion Spark Plug. Congresswoman Kaptur became the first family member to attend college, receiving a scholarship for her undergraduate work. Trained as a city and regional planner, she practiced 15 years in Toledo and throughout the United States before seeking office. Appointed as an urban advisor to the Carter White House, she helped maneuver 17 housing and neighborhood revitalization bills through the Congress during those years.
Subsequently, while pursuing a doctorate in urban planning and development finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her local Party recruited her to run for the House seat in 1982. Kaptur had been a well-known party activist and volunteer since age 13. Though outspent by 3 to 1 in the first campaign, her deep roots in the blue collar neighborhoods and rural areas of the district made her race the national upset of 1982.
Congress
Congresswoman Kaptur fought vigorously to win a seat on the House Appropriations Committee . Since elected, she has risen in seniority and is now the senior Democratic woman on Appropriations. She has secured subcommittees on Agriculture, the leading industry in her state, Transportation/Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Defense. Kaptur is the first Democratic women to serve on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In her legislative career, she has also served on the Budget; Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs; Veterans Affairs Committees, and on Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies (Environmental Protection, Veterans, and NASA and the National Science Foundation), Foreign Operations, and Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittees, which have allowed her to pursue her strong interests in economic growth and new technology, community rebuilding, and veterans. Congresswoman Kaptur was also appointed by Party Leadership to serve on the prestigious House Budget Committee for the 110th Congress.
Congresswoman Kaptur has focused strong efforts on rebuilding the economic might of her district such as improvements in bridge, road, rail and port facilities, including the New Maumee River Crossing - the largest bridge project in Ohio's history; expansion of Toledo's Farmers' Market; development of the Maumee River Heritage Corridor between Ohio and Indiana, which includes passage of legislation and funds to acquire Fallen Timbers as a national affiliate of the U.S. Park Service; clean-up of the waterways adjacent to Lake Erie; development of initiatives to enhance the earnings potential of Northwest Ohio crops; shipping of federal cargos on the Great Lakes; acquisition of wildlife refuges and shoreline recreation; and expansion of university-related research.
Kaptur directed federal support to acquire Quarry Pond as the centerpiece for a new conservation and lands legacy endowment for northwest Ohio. Lucas County-based 180th Tactical Fighter Squadron underwent a F-16 modernization attributable to her efforts. Current and former Defense Department and other private-sector workers who were exposed to and suffer from beryllium were the beneficiaries of a major piece of legislation Kaptur guided to passage. She was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Americanism Award, in part for introducing the legislation authorizing the National World War II Memorial in Washington in 1987, as well as for her longstanding commitment to America's veterans. She also received the Prisoner of War "Barbed Wire" Award for her commitment to veterans’ affairs.
The National World War II Memorial was dedicated on May 29, 2004 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., capping a 17-year legislative effort. Hundreds and thousands of veterans and their families have visited the memorial, the idea that came from the grassroots of Ohio. In 1986, Roger Durbin, a rural letter carrier from Berkey, Ohio, asked Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur at a fish fry at a township hall why there was no memorial to World War II in Washington, D.C. Kaptur helped make Roger Durbin's dream a reality by introducing legislation in Congress to create the memorial. There were stops and starts, but nothing could stop this powerful idea that sprang from the grassroots of America.
Dedicated to the principle that fiscal responsibility begins in "one's own backyard," Congresswoman Kaptur has consistently returned money to the federal Treasury. She refuses to accept Congressional pay raises and donates them to offset the federal deficit and charitable causes in her home community.
International Aid
Demonstrating international leadership through diplomatic contributions to the Middle East Peace process, Congresswoman Kaptur is responsible for directing the first surplus farm commodities in 1999 to support the peace process in the Middle East in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. As a result of the intifada, only the war torn region of Lebanon has progressed forward with over 200 villages undertaking community development. She also remains dedicated to democratic institution-building across the globe and has spearheaded private charitable efforts for peoples' of underdeveloped nations, including Ukraine and Vietnam. As Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, she has lead efforts to establish a Congressional-Rada exchange program. She is the key sponsor of regulatory changes that force accountability on Russian food aid relief, helping to insure one billion dollars of United States resources go to people in need, not into the black market or pockets of government bureaucrats. As leader on issues related to international trade and human and labor rights, Kaptur will continue to assess the impact of NAFTA and actively engage upcoming trade negotiations on the side of workers.
Awards
Marcy Kaptur is a life-long resident of Toledo, Ohio, a member of Little Flower Roman Catholic Church, and a graduate of St. Ursula Academy. In 1968, Kaptur earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from the University of Wisconsin. She received her Masters' Degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan. In 1993, Congresswoman Kaptur was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toledo in recognition of her "effective representation of the community," of the University and of Northwest Ohio. St. Ursula Academy named Kaptur Alumna of the Year in 1995. Last year, the University of Michigan honored Congresswoman Kaptur with the Taubman College Distinguished Alumna award. Kaptur is the first woman so recognized and the first graduate of the Urban and Regional Planning Program to receive this award.
Kaptur recently received the Director’s Award from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for her commitment to increased understanding and appreciation of the peoples and cultures of Eurasia, Russia and East Europe.
She was named the National Mental Health Association's "Legislator of the Year" for her championing mental health and received the 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Kaptur is also the author of a book, Women in Congress that was published by Congressional Quarterly.
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10)
Having been elected to Cleveland's City Council at age 23, Dennis J. Kucinich was well-known to Cleveland residents when they chose him as their mayor in 1977 at the age of 31. At the time, Kucinich was the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city.
In 1978, Cleveland's banks demanded that he sell the city's 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to city government.
When Mayor Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll over the city’s debt, as is customary. Instead, they pushed the city into default. It turned out the banks were thoroughly interlocked with the private utility, CEI, which would have acquired monopoly status by taking over Muny Light. Five of the six banks held almost 1.8 million shares of CEI stock; of the 11 directors of CEI, eight were also directors of four of the six banks involved.
By holding to his promise and putting principle above politics, Kucinich lost his re-election bid and his political career was temporarily derailed. But today, Kucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the Enron of his day, and for saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote Cleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI." He also preserved hundreds of union jobs.
In addition to being Mayor of Cleveland, Kucinich has served on the Cleveland City Council (1970-75, 1981-82); served as the Clerk of Courts for the Cleveland Municipal Court (1976-77); been an Ohio State Senator (1994-96); and in November 2004, was elected to his fifth term as a Member of the United States House of Representatives (1997-present).
Kucinich was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 8, 1946. He is the eldest of 7 children of Frank and Virginia Kucinich. He and his family lived in twenty-one places by the time Kucinich was 17 years old. Kucinich graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Speech Communications from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in 1974.
Kucinich has held many jobs outside of politics including being a hospital orderly, newspaper copy boy, teacher, consultant, television analyst and author.
Since being elected to Congress in 1996, Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for worker rights, civil rights and human rights.
In Congress, Kucinich has authored and co-sponsored legislation to create a national health care system, preserve Social Security, lower the costs of prescription drugs, provide economic development through infrastructure improvements, abolish the death penalty, provide universal prekindergarten to all 3, 4, and 5 year olds, create a Department of Peace, regulate genetically engineered foods, repeal the USA PATRIOT Act, and provide tax relief to working class families.
Kucinich has been honored by Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters as a champion of clean air, clean water and an unspoiled earth. Kucinich has twice been an official United States delegate to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (1998, 2004) and attend the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In his district, Kucinich has been recognized by the Greater Cleveland AFL-CIO as a tireless advocate for the social and economic interests of his community.
Kucinich led the effort to save Cleveland's 90 year-old steel industry and the thousands of jobs and retiree benefits it provides. While hundreds of community hospitals have been closed throughout the country, Kucinich led a community-based effort to reopened two Cleveland neighborhood hospitals.
Kucinich worked with the nation's largest railroads to create a merger agreement that improved rail safety while diverting a heavy volume of train traffic away from heavily populated residential areas of his district.
In Cleveland, Kucinich has been honored by the Cleveland AFL-CIO, the Ohio PTA, the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Salvation Army, the United States Post Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Ohio’s Boys Town, and the Human Rights Campaign.
Kucinich is a current member of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States (IATSE), an AFL-CIO affiliated union.
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11)
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones is the first African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. Congresswoman Jones is a lifelong resident of the 11th District, which encompasses most of the East Side of Cleveland and parts of the West Side of Cleveland and includes parts of 22 suburbs.
Currently in her fifth term in office, the Congresswoman, a strong advocate for many issues, has championed wealth building and economic development, access and delivery of health care, and quality education for all. The Congresswoman chairs the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics). Additionally, she serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee and is an active member of numerous Congressional Caucuses, including the Congressional Black Caucus.
Congresswoman Tubbs Jones has introduced several pieces of legislation including, the Uterine Fibroids Research and Education Act to increase funding for research on uterine fibroids and provide enhanced public education about this condition; the Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices Reduction Act, which would require certification of mortgage brokers and enhance penalties for predatory loans, and the Campus Fire Prevention Act, which would provide money to equip college dorms, fraternities, and sorority houses with fire suppression devices. Most recently, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones introduced the "Count Every Vote" Act of 2005 which seeks to provide an all-encompassing solution to a broad range of voting irregularities that occurred during the 2004 presidential election. She is an original co-sponsor of multiple significant pieces of legislation, including healthcare for low and middle-income families and community reentry for ex-felons.
Congresswoman Tubbs Jones has made a number of historic achievements in her distinguished career as a public servant. Prior to her election to the House, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones served as the first African-American and the first female Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor. She was the first African-American woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and was a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland.
Congresswoman Tubbs Jones has received numerous honors throughout her lifetime including the National Bible Association Capitol Hill Distinguished Leadership Award, Human Rights Campaign of Cleveland Equality Award, Backbone Campaign's Backbone Award, and the Carib News Multi-National Business Conference Marcus Garvey Award.
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones is a graduate of Cleveland Public Schools. She received her undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, graduating with a degree in Social Work from the Flora Mather College in 1971. She received her Juris Doctorate form Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1974. Additionally, she has received honorary doctorates from David N. Myers University, Notre Dame College and Central State University.
An active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, she serves on its national Social Action Committee. She is a lifelong member of Bethany Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio and is a member of their Board of Trustees.
The Congresswoman was married to Mervyn L. Jones, Sr., deceased (2003), for 27 years and is the proud mother of Mervyn Leroy Jones, II.
Congresswoman Betty Sutton (OH-13)
A Leader Who Makes a Difference for Northeast Ohio
Betty has spent her life fighting to make the lives of Ohioans better. Her work both as a labor lawyer and as a public servant has earned her a reputation as an independent leader and tenacious advocate for the people of Ohio. She has made a career putting the greater good of the many ahead of special interests of the few.
Betty never been afraid to take on tough fights and to do what is right, even in the face of unbeatable odds. In 1993, Sutton fought tirelessly from her post on the Commerce and Labor Committee, against attacks on workers compensation benefits. After the Republican-controlled legislature passed the harmful bill, Betty worked along side workers in Northeast Ohio and across the state to repeal the anti-worker law through a referendum.
While in the Ohio State House in 1996, Sutton was the only person to vote against a bill that contained a perk for a millionaire developer. The amendment -- what Sutton called "corporate welfare" was finally removed by the Senate despite the overwhelming House approval.
During her eight-year tenure in the Ohio State House, Sutton became a leader on a wide range of issues, including health care, education, pensions and retirement, and consumer protection to make government more accessible and effective for Northeast Ohioans.
Betty's passion and dedication to take on tough fights, stand up for what is right, and protect and increase Ohioans' standard of living earned her the respect of her colleagues and constituents as well as awards for Legislator of the Year by the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Friend of Education Award from the Barberton Education Association.
A Leader Who Fights for Her Constituents
Sutton worked to get to the U.S. House of Representatives so she could make the lives of Northeast Ohioans better. Betty brings Midwestern values and common sense to Washington that reflects the region's hard-working families, fighting spirit, and moral convictions.
In Washington, Sutton helped lead the effort on ethics reform so that Northeast Ohioans will see policies that benefit all Americans, not special interests and the privileged few. Sutton has dedicated herself to doing everything possible to revitalize Northeast Ohio's economy in order to protect the region's hard-working families and make their day to day lives better.
Sutton's positions on the following House committees provide her with important opportunities to serve Ohio and fight for the initiatives Northeast Ohioans need:
The House Rules Committee
The House Judiciary Committee
These Committees have helped her play a leading role in helping pass legislation that will help provide affordable healthcare for our children and seniors, make education more affordable and accessible, and protect Ohio's hard working families' right to unionize.
Betty has also been a leader in developing a new trade model that will work for Ohio's working families and businesses -- a key component of helping revitalize Northeast Ohio. She is focused on working with local, state, and national leaders to help develop new fair trade policies and foster investment in technology and innovation that will create high-quality, high-paying jobs for Northeast Ohioans.
Just as she has always done, Betty will stand up for what is right, no matter how great a fight and will devote herself to initiatives solutions that will make a positive difference for her constituents.
A Leader with 13th District Roots
Betty has long served the people of Northeast Ohio in the State Legislature, the Summit County Council, Barberton City Council, and currently, in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Betty brings common sense and a keen understanding of the needs of her constituents to Washington, DC. She was born and raised in Barberton, Ohio as the youngest of six children. Her mother was clerk-treasurer for the city library and her father worked in the local boiler maker factory. Betty attended public schools and graduated from Kent State University, where she studied political science.
She then enrolled in Law School at the University of Akron, where she received a Dean's Club Scholarship and earned both the American Jurisprudence Award and Federal Bar Association Award for Outstanding Performance in Constitutional Law. During her first year of law school, following the principles of public service instilled by her parents, Betty ran for and won an at-large seat on the Barberton City Council.
A year later, when a vacancy occurred on the Summit County Council, Betty was chosen to fill the vacancy in the at-large position, where she had the opportunity to serve all the residents of Summit County. In her second year on the County Council, Betty was elected by her peers to serve as the Vice President of the Council.
Betty later went on to serve eight years in the Ohio State House of Representatives before continuing her advocacy on behalf of Ohioans in the private sector as a labor lawyer with the firm of Faulkner, Muskovitz & Phillips LLP (FMP). Congresswoman Sutton's work representing first responders, teachers, nurses and other workers, fighting for fair wages, safe working conditions and family-sustaining benefits led her to run for the open Congressional seat in the 13th District in 2006.
Congresswoman Sutton resides in Copley Township with her husband Doug and their two dogs, Cody and Bear.
Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-17)
Tim Ryan was first sworn in as a member of Congress on January 7, 2003. Now in his third term, Ryan has proven himself to be strong advocate for the working families of Ohio's 17th District and a dynamic leader in the House of Representatives.
In 2006, Ryan was chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to join the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which is responsible for nominating Democratic Members to serve on House Committees and advising the Speaker on policy. That same year, the Steering and Policy Committee appointed Ryan to the powerful House Committee on Appropriations where he serves on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies ("Labor-HHS") and the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies ("Energy and Water"). Prior to serving on the Appropriations Committee, Ryan served on the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Ryan's primary focus remains on the economy and quality-of-life of his Northeast Ohio congressional district. He works closely with local officials and community leaders to advance local projects that enhance the economic competitiveness of Northeast Ohio and help attract high-quality, high-paying jobs.
In Congress, Ryan serves as co-chair of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus and remains a leader in the fight to strengthen America's manufacturing base and reform U.S. trade polices. Ryan is also a champion of efforts to make college more affordable, revitalize America's downtowns and improve the health and well-being of American families and children. His work on these and other issues has garnered the attention of the national media and earned Ryan appearances on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC Evening News, Fox News, National Public Radio, the Washington Post and other outlets.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Ryan served as an Ohio State Senator. In the Ohio Senate, Ryan served as the ranking minority member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. He was also a member of the Senate Committee on Highways and Transportation, the Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice, and the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee. Senator Ryan spearheaded efforts to establish a state-based earned income tax credit, to standardize community school data reporting, and bring college students into the debate over higher education funding.
Before his time in elected office, Ryan served as President of the Trumbull County Young Democrats, as well as Chairman of the Earning by Learning program in Warren, Ohio. He began his career in politics as a congressional aide with the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995 and later served as an intern for the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office. Ryan holds a law degree from the Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH, studied abroad as part of the Dickinson School of Law's International Law Program in Florence, Italy and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Born July 16, 1973 in Niles, Ohio, Tim Ryan is the younger of two sons, both raised by their mother, Rochelle Ryan with the help of grandparents, Anna and John Rizzi. He resides in Niles, Ohio.
Congressman Zack Space (OH-18)
Other than spending three years in law school at Ohio State University, Zack Space has lived his entire life in Ohio's 18th Congressional District. This experience of living among the people of southeastern Ohio has instilled in him the values and the importance of community that are at the heart of the district's sixteen counties.
Those lessons have been bolstered by his own family's ethic of hard work and loyalty. One of his heroes, his paternal grandfather, emigrated from Greece in the early 20th century and served his new country by fighting in World War I. His father, Socrates, continued the family's patriotic tradition by serving in the Marines during the Korean War. After the war, his father attended Ohio State's law school thanks to the GI Bill.
Zack himself learned from an early age the importance of teamwork and community. A high school football star at Dover High School, Zack went on to Kenyon College where he was named a Division III All-American. From both coaches and classmates, he was hailed not only for his athleticism, but also for his extraordinary leadership and teamwork.
Following college, Zack attended Ohio State where he earned his law degree. Returning home to Dover, he joined his father's practice -- and throughout the course of his career, he focused on representing the needs of individuals, many of whom had been wronged and had nowhere else to turn. Zack also served the Dover community as a Director for the Mental Retardation and Developments Disabilities Board.
Since 2000, Zack has served as Dover's Law Director. As the chief legal representative for the city, Zack has been involved in a host of matters of critical importance, ranging from negotiating contracts to mediating employment disputes to representing the City of Dover in court proceedings. As Law Director, he has also supervised the city prosecutor's office, provided legal counsel for all city departments, and written numerous city ordinances.
Believing that the federal government was failing to meet the basic needs of its citizens and communities, in 2005, he decided to run for Congress. Throughout the course of his campaign, Zack highlighted the importance of re-establishing an honest, transparent government in order to return Americans' sense of trust in government and in their elected officials. Zack pledged not to accept gifts from lobbyists, so that the interests of the people of southeastern Ohio - not those of the special interests - would be first and foremost.
Zack also vowed to fight for issues that are critical to the economic development of the 18th Congressional District, including a more aggressive national strategy on utilizing and implementing alternative fuels. With its abundance of agriculture and fossil fuels, southeastern Ohio stands ready to capitalize on a better marriage of natural resources and 21st century technologies.
Zack also pledged to fight for fairer trade policies to combat the injurious practices of the past decade, which have sent factories overseas and stolen jobs from Ohioans. Already, he has been named as a member of the influential Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a position that gives him an opportunity to make a difference in the day-to-day lives of his constituents.
Even as his begins his first term in Congress, his family continues to be of the utmost importance to him. He and his wife Mary, a Municipal Court Judge for the past 15 years, have been married for 19 years. Their two children, Gina and Nick, now go to the same Dover High School that Zack and Mary attended.
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