Paul F. McHale, Jr.

Infobox_Congressman
name = Paul F. McHale, Jr.


width = 200
date of birth = birth date and age|1950|7|26
place of birth = Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
state = Pennsylvania
district = 15th
term_start = January 3, 1993
term_end = January 3, 1999
preceded = Donald L. Ritter
succeeded = Patrick J. Toomey
party = Democratic
spouse =
religion =

Paul F. McHale, Jr. (born July 26, 1950 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. From 1993 to 1999, he represented the 15th district of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.

McHale was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Bethlehem's Liberty High School.

He received a B.A. from Lehigh University in 1972 and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1972 to 1974, and in the Marine Corps Reserve since 1974. He served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He remains a member of the reserves with the rank of Colonel.

McHale was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991, resigning in order to volunteer for active duty in the Gulf War. In 1992, he ran for Congress and defeated 14-year incumbent Don Ritter. He was reelected twice.

McHale gained prominence in 1998 when he called for Bill Clinton to resign. He voted for three of the four articles of impeachment against Clinton. He was one of the few Democrats to support impeachment, and had by far the most liberal voting record of those who supported impeachment. The other four Democrats who voted for at least one article--Virgil Goode, Ralph Hall, Charlie Stenholm and Gene Taylor--had very conservative voting records, and two (Goode and Hall) subsequently became Republicans.

He assumed his current position as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense on February 7, 2003.

In October 2006, McHale was recalled to active Marine Corps duty to deploy to Afghanistan. [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/13/military/11_00_5410_12_06.txt]

ee also

*List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines

References

*CongBio|M000466 Retrieved on 2008-04-02
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=77 Department of Defense biography]