Tom Petri

Infobox Congressman
name= Tom Petri


state= Wisconsin
district= 6th
party= Republican
term_start= April 3, 1979
preceded= Bill Steiger
succeeded= Incumbent
date of birth= birth date and age|1940|05|28
place of birth= Marinette, Wisconsin
occupation=attorney
alma_mater=Harvard University
residence= Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
religion= Lutheran
spouse= Anne Neal Petri

Thomas Evert Petri (born May 28 1940), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1979, representing ushr|Wisconsin|6|. The district includes most of the east-central part of the state.

Born as Thomas Evert in Marinette, Wisconsin, his father was killed during World War II and he adopted the name Petri after his mother remarried when he was still a young child. He graduated from Goodrich High School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Petri then attended Harvard University, where he received his bachelors of arts and law degrees. During 1966–67, he worked with the Peace Corps and the United States Agency for International Development in Somalia.

Petri served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1973 to 1979. He was the Republican candidate for Senate in 1974, losing to incumbent Gaylord Nelson. In 1979, he won a special election to finish the term of the late Congressman William A. Steiger, who had died shortly after being reelected in 1978. He won the seat in his own right in 1980 and has been reelected 13 times. He has only faced credible opposition once, in 1992, when he was barely reelected with 53% of the vote as Bill Clinton carried his district. He has run unopposed in 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2006 and faced no major-party opposition in 1986 and 1998.

Petri serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. Petri is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership and supports stem-cell research, although he generally opposes abortion rights. Although he also has called for a moratorium on the death penalty, he has voted against other restrictions on it. [cite web | url = http://ontheissues.org/House/Tom_Petri.htm | title = Tom Petri on the Issues | publisher = OnTheIssues.org | accessdate = 2008-07-05]

Petri is generally viewed as a political centrist and is well known in Congress for his willingness to work with Democrats to address major issues. "Maybe I'm missing something," he's said. "Sometimes I think you can be more effective by working with people." [cite web | url = http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2076289.html | accessdate = 2008-07-05 | title = Congressman Tom Petri ought to consider making a party switch from Republican to Democrat | accessdate = 2008-07-05 | last = Nichols | first = John | date = 2006-12-19]

Petri endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2008 GOP presidential primary. [ cite press release | url = http://www.newsbull.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51040 | publisher = Mitt Romney Campaign | date = 2007-08-27 | title = U.S. Representative Tom Petri Endorses Governor Mitt Romney | accessdate = 2008-07-05] Petri has subsequently endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Petri was honored by U.S. English, Inc. in May 2008 for his votes and co-sponsorships of official English legislation in the 110th Congress. [cite news | url = http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/FON0101/805160430/-1/archive | title = Rep. Tom Petri recognized for dedication to English language | publisher = Fon Du Lac Reporter | date = 2008-05-16 | accessdate = 2008-07-05] Petri had previously sponsored legislation declaring English as an official language in 1999. [cite web | url = http://ontheissues.org/House/Tom_Petri.htm | title = Tom Petri on the Issues | publisher = OnTheIssues.org | accessdate = 2008-07-05]

Education Legislation

One of Petri's top priorities since arriving in Congress has been to improve education and student loan and grant programs. As a member of the Education Committee in Congress, he has introduced several bills to help students get access to low-cost loans.

In 2006, Petri introduced the Student Aid Reward (STAR) Act, which encourage colleges and universities to voluntarily participate in the more cost-effective student loan programs and retain $10 billion in savings for increased Pell Grant aid for their students. [cite web | url = http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2093057.html | title = Petri receives education honor | date = 2007-03-13] The legislation could boost Pell Grants by up to $800 per student while also devoting more than $3 billion of the savings toward deficit reduction — at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Petri plans to reintroduce his Income-Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Act in the 110th Congress. IDEA streamlines student loan repayment through an improved income-contingent loan repayment with direct IRS collection.

In 2005, Petri introduced the Direct Loan Reward Act to achieve savings of some $18 billion over the next 10 years in the federal student loan program. Petri says the present student loan program includes big subsidies for private banks that are unnecessary. “If we stop subsidizing banks and just provide the loans directly from the U.S. Treasury, we could free up billions of dollars to be used for Pell scholarships,” said Petri, vice-chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee. [cite news | url = http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2028192.html | last = Mathews | first = Charlie | publisher = Herald Times | title = Tom Petri Touted his Direct Loan Reward Act | accessdate = 2008-07-05 | date = 2005-02-07]

According to "The Reporter" (the newspaper in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin), Petri has secured funds for the construction of the North Fond du Lac bridge overpassing the Canadian National Train Yard.

Election history

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/petri/ Congressman Tom Petri] official U.S. House website
* [http://www.petripeople.org Tom Petri for U.S. Congress] campaign website
*CongLinks | congbio=p000265 | fec=H0WI06061 | opensecrets=N00004426 | votesmart=H4310103 | ontheissuespath=House/Tom_Petri.htm | legistorm = | surge = | govtrack = | findagrave =
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_Petri Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2021027.html Peace Corps biography of Thomas Petri]
* [http://www.mainstreet.org/ Republican Main Street Partnership]