John Kline (politician)
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- For other people with the same name, see John Kline (disambiguation).
| John Kline | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 7, 2003– |
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| Preceded by | Mark Kennedy |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | September 06, 1947 (age 59) Allentown, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Vicky Kline |
| Religion | Methodist |
John Paul Kline (born September 6, 1947 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American politician. He has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota.
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[edit] Background and education
Kline is a graduate of W. B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, Texas (1965) and was educated at Rice University (1969) and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (1988).
Prior to his election to Congress, Kline was a 25-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, where he was a senior military adviser to Presidents Carter and Reagan and was responsible for carrying the President's package containing launch codes for a nuclear attack, known as the "nuclear football". Throughout his military career from which he retired at the rank of Colonel, Kline served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, commanded all Marine aviation forces in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, flew "Marine One," the Presidential helicopter, and served as Program Development Officer at Headquarters Marine Corps. During his military career, Kline received numerous medals and commendations including Four Legions of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal (awarded 3 times), the Vietnam Campaign Medal, a Presidential Service Badge, and the Navy Commendation Medal.[1]
[edit] Political career
In 2002, Kline defeated the Democratic incumbent, Bill Luther, in a rematch of their 2000 and 1998 races. In 2004, he defeated Democratic Burnsville City Councilwoman Teresa Daly to win a second term and in 2006, he defeated former FBI Special agent and whistleblower Coleen Rowley, one of Time magazine's "Persons of the Year".
In 2005, Kline introduced legislation to place Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill. While the bill has a dozen Congressional co-sponsors, it has not made any legislative progress.
In his campaigns, Kline received $30,000 in contributions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political action committee ARMPAC. Following DeLay's indictment on charges of money laundering, Democrats have criticized Kline for failing to return DeLay's contributions or to donate them to charity.[2]
He has also taken $11,000 in political contributions from the PAC of former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. After Cunningham’s indictment on fraud charges, Kline donated the $11,000 to charity “to remove questions of any impropriety" according to his chief of staff, Steve Sutton.[3]
Kline is considered to be the most conservative member of the Minnesota delegation in the 109th Congress, scoring 100% conservative by a conservative group[4] and 3% progressive by a liberal group.[5] Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.
[edit] 110th congress
Along with fellow Minnesota Republican, Michele Bachmann, Kline supported President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq in January, 2007,[6] and against most of the Democrat’s “100-Hour Plan” legislative agenda. [7]
[edit] Personal life
Kline and his wife, Vicky, live in Lakeville, Minnesota. They have one daughter and one son, Kathy and Dan, and four grandchildren.
[edit] Electoral History
- 2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
- John Kline (R) (inc.), 56%
- Coleen Rowley (DFL), 40%
- 2004 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
- John Kline (R) (inc.), 57%
- Teresa Daly (DFL), 40%
- 2002 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
- John Kline (R), 53%
- Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 42%
- 2000 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 6th District
- Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 50%
- John Kline (R), 48%
- 1998 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 6th District
- Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 50%
- John Kline (R), 46%
[edit] References
- ^ Congressman John Kline - Representative of Minnesota. John Kline's Biography. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved on 2006-12-22.
- ^ DeLay's Money, Part 9 Accessed August 12th, 2006
- ^ Some Republicans are dumping donations given by Cunningham Accessed August 12th, 2006
- ^ Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ Diaz, Kevin (2007-01-08). Minnesota delegation offers cool response. Star Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
- ^ Talev, Margaret (2007-01-10). House approves minimum wage increase. Star Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman John Kline official House site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Federal Election Commission - John P. Kline campaign finance reports and data
- MPR - Campaign 2006: John Kline profile from Minnesota Public Radio
- NNDB - John Kline profile
- On the Issues - John Kline issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org - John Kline campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart - Representative John P. Kline (MN) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia - John Kline profile
- Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: John Kline voting record
Articles
- Kline calls police, Ramstad serves coffee Lakeville Dad, February 7, 2007
- Nick Coleman: Democracy in Iraq? Maybe we should try it in Congress Nick Coleman, Star Tribune, February 6, 2007
| Preceded by Mark Kennedy |
United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Minnesota 2003 - present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress |
|---|
| Senators: Norm Coleman (R), Amy Klobuchar (DFL)
Representative(s): Tim Walz (DFL), John Kline (R), Jim Ramstad (R), Betty McCollum (DFL), Keith Ellison (DFL), Michele Bachmann (R), Collin Peterson (DFL), Jim Oberstar (DFL) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands |
Categories: 1947 births | Living people | American politicians | ARMPAC recipients | Current members of the United States House of Representatives | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota | Military personnel of the Vietnam War | Minnesota politicians | People from Corpus Christi, Texas | People from the Lehigh Valley | Recipients of the Legion of Merit | United States Marine Corps officers
