Steve Chabot



Steve Chabot, a Republican, represented the First Congressional District of Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1992-2009. He was defeated in the November 2008 general election by Steven Driehaus (D). On November 2, 2010, Driehaus lost his bid for a second term, when the 1st Congressional District of Ohio re-elected Chabot to serve an eighth term in Congress.

Iraq War
Chabot voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Partial-birth abortion ban
Chabot sponsored the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 which outlaws a specific late-term abortion procedure. On November 5, 2003, President George W. Bush signed it into law.

Earmarks
In 2006, Chabot earmarked $1.6 million to be distributed among several institutions in his district whose board of directors' members had made contributions to his campaign fund. The funding of several of the organizations-the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Center-appeared incongruous with Chabot's previous stance regarding federal funding of the humanities. In the past, he sharply criticized pork-barrel spending and co-sponsored legislation that would have elimated both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Bio
Chabot was born January 22, 1953 in Cincinnati. He was educated at the College of William and Mary where he earned a B.A. in 1975. He went on to obtain a Juris Doctor degree from Northern Kentucky University's Salmon P. Chase College of Law (in Highland Heights, KY) in 1978. He worked as a school teacher (1975-1976), was a member of the Cincinnati city council (1985-1990), and the Hamilton County, Ohio, commission (1990-94).

Congressional career
According to his House biography, "Chabot is one of Congress's leading advocates for fiscal responsibility -- voting consistently to eliminate wasteful spending and reduce the excessive tax burden on hard-working Americans. Nonpartisan taxpayer advocacy groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste, the Concord Coalition, and the National Taxpayers Union consistently rate Chabot as one of the most pro-taxpayer members of Congress.

Congressman Chabot, also served as a House Manager during the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton. Chabot received praise for his even-handed and thoughtful approach to the trial.

Chabot has helped lead efforts to block taxation of the Internet, pass product liability reform measures, and toughen anti-drug laws. He is an outspoken defender of individual privacy rights."

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated John Cranley to face Chabot in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Chabot retained his seat.

2008 elections
In the 2008 race for Ohio's First Congressional District, the MAF Freedom PAC endorsed Chabot over his Democratic challenger, State Representative Steven Driehaus. The PAC is affiliated with the conservative pro-war group Move America Forward. (MAF describes itself as created to merely support the troops and the global "War on Terror," but its leaders have made an array of extreme statements supporting war and the Bush Administration's terror policies. For example, in 2006, MAF's chair Melanie Morgan suggested that New York Times editor Bill Keller should be murdered in a "gas chamber" for alleged "treason" for allowing the Times' to publish a story on the extensive spying on American by the Bush Administration in violation of US law--spying that was so controversial the Acting Attorney General and the Director of the FBI almost resigned from the administration over some of the program's legal problems.) He was defeated in the general election by Driehaus.

Committees and Affiliations

 * Congressional Advisory Board, Humpty Dumpty Institute

Committees

 * House Committee on Foreign Affairs
 * Subcommitee on Asia and the Pacific
 * Subcommitee on Middle East and Central Asia
 * House Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
 * Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
 * House Committee on Small Business, Ranking Member

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on International Relations
 * Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
 * Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
 * House Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Task Force on Antirust
 * Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
 * Subcommittee on the Constitution - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Crime Terrorism and Homeland Security
 * House Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Tax Finance and Exports
 * Congressional Representative to the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, appointed by George W. Bush

Contact
DC Office: 129 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-3501 Phone: 202-225-2216 Fax: 202-225-3012 Web Email Website

District Office - Cincinnati: 3003 Carew Tower 441 Vine Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513-684-2723 Fax: 513-421-8722

Resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Articles

 * Jonathan Allen, "Chabot aims earmarks at places linked to donors," The Hill, September 19, 2005.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * As Ohio Goes
 * Writes Like She Talks