Biography of U.S. Representative Bart Stupak
Bart Stupak was elected in 1992 to represent Michigan's First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thirty one counties make up the sprawling Northern Michigan district. It contains the entire Upper Peninsula as well as the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, making it one of the largest Congressional Districts in the nation. Michigan's First Congressional District contains approximately half of the state’s land mass and has more shoreline - 1,613 miles - than any other Congressional District in the nation except Alaska. Stupak became the first Democrat in the 20th Century to serve successive terms in this Congressional District by winning re-election eight times in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Stupak is a member of the prestigious House Energy and Commerce Committee. Since the Energy and Commerce Committee is an exclusive committee, it is the only committee on which Stupak is allowed to serve. The Commerce Committee, the first U.S. House committee, was formed in 1795. It was formed to protect the commerce clause and regulate foreign commerce.
Within the Energy and Commerce Committee, Stupak serves as the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee (commonly referred to as “O&I”). Throughout 2006, as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee, Stupak helped spearhead investigations into high-profile issues like online child pornography, security breaches at U.S. nuclear labs, the 2006 Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandal and the BP pipeline rupture at Prudhoe Bay.
As chairman of the Subcommittee, a position Stupak has held since January 2007, Stupak held 36 hearings in the 110th Congress on security concerns at Department of Energy labs, scientific integrity at the EPA, long-term care insurance, excessive energy speculation, biosafety labs, nursing home regulations, nuclear proliferation, Medicare Advantage and health care in post-Katrina New Orleans. Sixteen of the Subcommittee’s 36 hearings during the 110th Congress focused on the FDA’s failure to protect the American people from contaminated food and drugs. Stupak continues to apply his background in law enforcement and as an attorney to hold government and corporations accountable through the Subcommittee’s oversight and investigative work.
In addition to his chairmanship of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Stupak also serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet as well as the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
The Energy and Commerce Committee has one of the broadest jurisdictions in Congress, including issues such as health care and public health programs, the FDA, consumer protection, energy and environmental policy, interstate commerce and telecommunications. It has been estimated that as much as 60 percent of all legislation that goes through the U.S. House of Representatives passes through the Committee. Congressman Stupak's committee assignment allows him to significantly influence legislation that affects all Americans, including northern Michigan residents, from Medicare and prescription drug bills to rural health care and telemedicine measures to legislation affecting energy availability and prices.
An Upper Peninsula native and the congressional representative of the longest shoreline within the continental United States, Stupak has been a leader on Great Lakes issues. He was the first elected official to raise the issue of combating bulk sales or diversions of Great Lakes water, which he raised during the 1993 NAFTA debate. He has been invited to speak to national forums on water diversion issues.
Stupak has made protecting the Great Lakes one of his signature priorities. He was the first elected official to oppose drilling for oil and gas in and under the Great Lakes, a position he began publicly advocating in 1997. He was also the first to author legislation to ban this procedure, initiating the effort that led to the U.S. Congress imposing a temporary ban on the practice. The Michigan House and Senate reversed themselves and followed Stupak's lead and voted to ban drilling at the state level. Stupak continues to press the state of Michigan for adoption of a comprehensive water use plan for the entire state that includes all surface and groundwater sources. In 2005, Stupak’s years of work on the issue paid off as he achieved a major victory when a permanent federal ban on new drilling for oil and gas in and under the Great Lakes was enacted into law.
Stupak achieved another major clean water victory in 2005 when the House overwhelmingly passed his legislation to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing its proposal to allow partially treated human waste to be dumped into our waterways.
Stupak is a recognized leader in Congress on energy issues. In the 109th Congress, he authored legislation that would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on gas price gouging. In the spring of 2006, when gas prices soared to record levels, the House Democratic Leadership called on Stupak to deliver the Democratic response to the President Bush’s weekly radio address. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stupak has led the congressional investigations into energy speculation and has proposed legislation, the Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act, to address the problem. Stupak is also a leader on energy price gouging legislation, which has passed the House on three occasions but consistently fails to advance through the Senate.
Stupak began his career in public service as an Escanaba police officer in 1972. Continuing his career in law enforcement, Stupak served as a Michigan State Trooper from 1973 to 1984. Stupak was injured in the line of duty and was medically retired from the state police in 1984. He has also served Northern Michigan residents as an attorney and as a State Representative from 1989-90, representing Menominee, Delta and Dickinson counties.
Stupak's 12 years of experience as a police officer have allowed him to take a lead role on law enforcement issues in Congress. He is a founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, a bipartisan organization of more than 100 House members, which provides our nation's law enforcement community with an avenue to participate in the legislative process. He has been an ardent supporter in the U.S. House of the COPS program and of the men and women who serve in our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Stupak has fervently sought to train and equip local law enforcement and other first responders to be better prepared for potential bioterrorism attacks and other terrorist incidents. Stupak has been a leading advocate for ensuring local law enforcement and first responders have “interoperable” communications, or radios that can communicate across different jurisdictions. The communications interoperability issue received widespread public attention after the 9/11 attacks when communications failures resulted in the deaths of hundreds of firemen in the World Trade Center.
Due to the First Congressional District’s position along America’s northern border to Canada and Stupak’s fervent work on northern border issues, Stupak remains the co-chairman of the Congressional Northern Border Caucus. His work toward promoting border security while working to preserve the vitality of cross-border trade and travel earned him the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance (Can/Am BTA) top honor for his “leadership and the positive difference it makes.”
A graduate of Gladstone High School, Congressman Stupak holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, in Lansing, Michigan. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Saginaw Valley State University in 1977, graduating magna cum laude, and he earned his Associate's Degree from Northwestern Michigan Community College in Traverse City in 1972.
Bart was born on February 29, 1952. He lives in Menominee, Michigan, with his wife, Laurie. Their son, Ken, graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2006 and resides in California. The Stupaks also had a son, Bart Jr., who died in May 2000.
Congressman Bart Stupak - Recent Honors and Awards
2007- National Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s Congressional Leadership Award “This award is not given routinely or lightly or very often. It is truly reserved for those who recognize rural communications needs and act accordingly to ensure they are met.” – Michael Brunner, Chief Executive Officer of National Telecommunications Cooperative Association
2007- National Rural Health Association’s “Rural Health Champion”
“In his 14 years serving the 1st District of Michigan, Representative Bart Stupak has been a tireless advocate for his rural constituents, rural health care providers and the patients they serve. It is fitting that the representative of the second largest district east of the Mississippi would be such a great friend to rural health.” - Alan Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rural Health Association.
2006- Michigan Sheriff’s Association’s first ever “Federal Legislator of the Year Award”
“He has led fights to provide additional funding for Byrne Grants; supported the COPS program; passed resolutions honoring National Night Out; spoken at National Law Enforcement Memorial services; fought for funding to make communications for local law enforcement and first responders interoperable; and more. This is the first time MSA has recognized a federal legislator for this award.” -Terrence Jungel, Executive Director of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association.
2005- American Rivers’ “Legislator of the Year Award.” Presented to the Congressman to honor his work preventing untreated sewage from being discharged into American waterways.
2005- Michigan Credit Union League Federal (MCUL) “Legislator of the Year”
“Congressman Stupak has been an incredible advocate on many of the issues important to credit unions in Michigan.” –Patrick LaPine, Government Affairs Vice President, Michigan Credit Union League
2003- The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force’s Great Lakes Legislator of the Year award
“Great Lakes deserve great legislators, and Congressman Stupak certainly fills that bill. From his first days in Congress, he has recognized the important contributions Lakes shipping makes to Michigan’s economy and the country’s national defense capabilities. Just as it takes skilled American mariners to ease a 1,000 foot freighter into the Poe Lock, it takes skilled legislators like Bart Stupak to promote Great Lakes shipping in Washington.” John Baker, the President of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, John Baker, said,
2003- American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) “Friend of the Forest and Paper Industry” “Bart Stupak has an excellent understanding of the environment and our industry, and has demonstrated strong support on our issues. Whether we are working together to improve forest health, enhance wildlife habitat, lower taxes, or keep jobs in Michigan, we know we can count on Bart to be a champion for us.”
-W. Henson Moore, President and CEO of AF&PA
