:: wikimiki.org ::

USTR

USTR

The Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, is an arm of the executive branch of the United States government that falls within the Executive Office of the President. It is responsible for the United States' international trade policy at bilateral and multilateral levels. The head of the office holds the title of United States Trade Representative, which is a Cabinet-level position (though not technically within the Cabinet). The current USTR is Representative Rob Portman (R-OH), who took over from acting USTR Peter F. Allgeier. On March 17, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Congressman Portman as trade representative, and he was confirmed by the Senate April 29, 2005.

The Special 301 Report

Since the early 1980s, the USTR has played a key role in the expansion of intellectual property laws worldwide, and monitored efforts by other governments to protect IP rights. To this end the USTR issues an annual Special 301 Report which "examines in detail the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights" in many countries around the world. Countries may be designated in the categories of Priority Foreign Country, Section 306 Monitoring, Priority Watch List, or Watch List.

List of United States Trade Representatives

External links

- [http://www.ustr.gov/ USTR website]
- [http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2005/2005_Special_301/asset_upload_file195_7636.pdf 2005 Special 301 Report (pdf)] Trade Representative Category:United States trade law ja:米国通商代表部

Executive Branch

Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law and running the day-to-day affairs of the government or state. The de facto most senior figure in an executive is referred to as the head of government. The executive may be referred to as the administration, in presidential systems, or simply as the government, in parliamentary systems. In some constitutional monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, the monarch, who is the Head of State, is the de jure and theoretical head of the executive, and the Prime Minister, who he or she technically appoints, is the head of the monarch's government (i.e. "Her Majesty's Government"). In practice, however, a symbolic or figurehead Head of State does not actively exercise executive power, though decisions may be formally made in his or her name. Along with the Prime Minister or executive President, the executive branch consists of the cabinet and the executive departments or ministries of the government.

Executives under different systems

Executive authority within a presidential system is exercised by a president who is also head of state. The president will not usually be designated by the legislature, and may instead be elected directly, or in the case of the President of the United States, indirectly, by an electoral college. Under presidential systems the legislature and the executive are formally distinct, and it is usually expressly forbidden for the president and other executive officers to be members of the legislature. In parliamentary systems, the executive branch is generally comprised of a prime minister and a cabinet, who must directly or indirectly secure the support of the legislature. In a semi-presidential system (such as France, for example) executive powers are shared between the president and a prime minister.

Role of the executive

It is usually the role of the executive to:
- Enforce the law. To achieve this the executive administers the prisons and the police force, and prosecutes criminals in the name of the state.
- Conduct the foreign relations of the state.
- Command the armed forces.
- Appoint state officials, including judges and diplomats.
- Administer government departments and public services.
- Issue executive orders (also known as secondary legislation, ordinances, edicts or decrees). Most constitutions require that certain executive powers may only be exercised in conjunction with the legislature. For example, often the consent of the legislature is required to ratify treaties, appoint important officials, or to declare war. In the United Kingdom, however, the executive is exempt from most such limitations under the royal prerogative.

Executive Office of the President

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP was established by the United States Congress in 1939 after the Brownlow Committee recommended that such a support staff for the President be created. Since its inception under Franklin Roosevelt, the size and influence of the EOP has increased. A CNN article notes that there are about 3,000 EOP staff members as of November 2005.

Organization

Senior staff within the Executive Office of the President have the title "Assistant to the President". Second-level staff have the title "Deputy Assistant to the President", and third-level staff have the title "Special Assistant to the President".

Entities in the Executive Office

- White House Chief of Staff
- White House Press Secretary
- United States Office of Management and Budget
- United States National Security Council
- United States Trade Representative
- Office of National Drug Control Policy
- Council of Economic Advisers
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Domestic Policy Council
- National Economic Council
- Office of Administration
- Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
- Office of National AIDS Policy
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
- President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board
- President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
- USA Freedom Corps
- White House Military Office

Senior staff

Senior staff within the Office of the President as of 2005 include:

Assistants to the President

- Dan Bartlett - Assistant to the President for Communications
- Andy Card - Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
- Stephen Friedman - Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director, National Economic Council
- Mike Gerson - Assistant to the President for Speechwriting and Policy Advisor
- Stephen Hadley - Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
- Joe Hagin - Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff
- Brett Kavanaugh - Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary
- Scott McClellan - Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary
- Harriet Miers - Assistant to the President and White House Counsel
- Liza Wright - Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel
- Karl Rove - Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President
- Frances Townsend - Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
- Candi Wolff - Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Deputy Assistants to the President

- Andrea Ball - Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady
- Ruben Barrales - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Claire Buchan - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary
- Suzy DeFrancis - Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications
- Linda Gambatesa - Deputy Assistant to the President for Management, Administration and Oval Office Operations
- Keith Hennessey - Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director, National Economic Council
- (vacant) - Deputy Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Senior Advisor
- Barry Jackson - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy to the Senior Advisor
- Greg Jenkins - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance
- Daniel Keniry - Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (House)
- David Leitch - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel
- John McConnell - Deputy Assistant to the President, Deputy Director of Presidential Speechwriting and Assistant to the Vice President
- Michael Miller - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office
- Brian Montgomery - Deputy Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary
- Eric Pelletier - Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs
- Matt Schlapp - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs
- Faryar Shirzad - Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy National Security Advisor
- (vacant) - Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
- James Towey - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
- Peter Wehner - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives
- Lezlee Westine - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison

Other

- Richard Tubb - Physician to the President

References

- [http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/05/bush.ethics/index.html Bush sends staff back to ethics class], a November 5, 2005 article from CNN

External links

- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/leadership/dept_WH.html White House Senior Staff directory] from the official White House website
-

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. Each state is represented in the House proportional to its population, but each state is entitled to at least one Representative. The total number of Representatives is currently fixed at 435, each of whom serve two-year terms. Congress has the power to alter the total membership. The presiding officer of the House is known as the Speaker. The bicameral Congress arose from the desire of the Founding Fathers to create a "house of the people" that would closely resemble and follow public opinion, and a more deliberative, learned and reserved Senate which would be less susceptible to the frenzies of mass sentiment. It is conventional to consider the House as the "lower house", and the Senate as the "upper house", although the U.S. Constitution, does not use such language. The Constitution provides that the approval of both houses is necessary for the passage of legislation. The House is generally considered a more partisan chamber than the Senate. Many of the Founding Fathers intended the Senate (originally elected by the state legislatures) to be a check on the popularly elected House, just as the House was to be a check on the Senate. The "advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approve treaties) were therefore granted to the Senate alone. The House was granted its own exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach officials, and elect the President in electoral college deadlocks. However, the Senate can propose amendments to spending bills, tries impeached officials, and chooses the Vice President in an electoral college deadlock. The Senate and its members generally have greater prestige than the House and its members. Senators serve longer terms, are less numerous, and (in most cases) represent larger constituencies than members of the House. Senate.]]

History

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a unicameral body in which each state held one vote. The ineffectiveness of the federal government under the Articles led Congress to summon a Constitutional Convention in 1787; all states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates. The issue of how Congress was to be structured was one of the most divisive during the Convention. James Madison's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress; the lower house would be elected directly by the people, and the upper house would be elected by the lower house. The plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide proportional representation, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation. The Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (nine out of the 13) in 1788, but its full implementation was set for March 4, 1789. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over sectionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives. However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Sectional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican-American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War (1861–1865), which began soon after several southern states declared secession from the Union. The war culminated in the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery. The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War. Reconstruction ended in about 1877; the ensuing era, known as the Gilded Age, was marked by sharp political divisions in the electorate. Both the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a dramatic increase in the power of the Speaker of the House. The rise of the Speaker's influence began in the 1890s, during tenure of Republican Thomas Brackett Reed. "Czar Reed," as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into effect his view that "The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch." The leadership structure of the House also developed during approximately the same period, with the positions of Majority Leader and Minority Leader being created in 1899. While the Minority Leader was the head of the minority party, the Majority Leader remained subordinate to the Speaker. The Speakership reached its zenith during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon, 1903 to 1911. The powers of the Speaker included chairmanship of the influential Rules Committee and the ability to appoint members of other House committees. These powers, however, were curtailed in the "Revolution of 1910" due to the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who opposed Cannon's arguably heavy-handed tactics. The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945), often winning over two-thirds of the seats. Both Democrats and Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade. However, after winning the elections of 1954, the Democratic Party would maintain control of the House for the next forty years. In the mid-1970s, there were major reforms of the House, strengthening the power of sub-commmittees at the expense of committee chairman and allowing party leaders to nominate committee chairs. These actions were taken to undermine the "seniority" system, and to reduce the ability of a small number of senior members to obstruct legislation they did not favor. There was also a shift from the 1970s to greater control of the legislative program by the majority party; in particular, the power of party leaders (especially the Speaker) grew considerably. The Republicans swept back into power only in 1995, under the leadership of Speaker Newt Gingrich (see Republican Revolution). Gingrich attempted to pass a major legislative program, the Contract With America on which the House Republicans had been elected, and made major reforms of the House, notably reducing the tenure of committee chairs to three two-year terms.

Membership

Contract With America Under article one, section two of the constitution, seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of population, as determined by a census conducted every ten years. Each state, however, is entitled to at least one representative. The only constitutional rule relating to the size of the House is that it may consist of no more than one member for every thirty thousand people. As the US population increased, this minumum proved untenable (adhering to this mimumum would today fill the House with over 9800 members), and Congress fixed the size of the House at 435 seats in 1911 (see Public Law 62-5). The figure was temporarily increased to 437 in 1959 to reflect the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states, but returned to 435 four years later. The Constitution does not provide for the representation of the District of Columbia or of territories. However, Congress has passed legislation permitting them to elect delegates or Resident Commissioners. Delegates and Resident Commissioners are permitted to participate in debates and to vote in committees, but they may not vote on the floor of the House. The District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented by a delegate each. Only Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner. States that are entitled to more than one representative must be divided into single-member districts. Typically, states conduct redistricting after each census, though states are allowed to redraw the boundaries at other times as well (see Redistricting warrant). Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through legislation or by a non-partisan panel. "Malapportionment" is unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in population (see Wesberry v. Sanders). The Voting Rights Act prohibits states from gerrymandering districts to reduce ethnic minorities' voting power. Using gerrymandering for political gain is not prohibited, even when political gerrymandering incidentally involves the creation of racially concentrated districts. Due to gerrymandering, fewer than 10% of all House seats are seriously contested in each election cycle. The fact that over 90% of House members are nearly guaranteed reelection every two years due to lack of electoral competition, has been criticized because it can be seen as against one of the main principles of democracy (fair competition). The legal gerrymandering of the House, combined with the institutionalized gerrymandering of the Senate and the Electoral College, have been criticized as being antithetical to democracy and representative government. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets forth three qualifications for representatives: each representative must be at least twenty-five years old, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past seven years, and must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state he or she represents. It is not, however, requisite for the representative to live in his or her district. The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less stringent than those for senators. Furthermore, under the Fourteenth Amendment, any federal or state officer who takes the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is disqualified from becoming a representative. This provision, which came into force soon after the end of the American Civil War, was intended to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. The Amendment, however, provides that a disqualified individual may still serve if two-thirds of both Houses of Congress vote to remove the disability. Elections are held in every even-numbered year, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (Election Day (United States)). Generally, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates in primary elections, which are typically held several months before the general elections. Ballot access rules for independent and third-party candidates vary from state to state. For the general election, almost all states use the first-past-the-post system, under which the candidate with a plurality of votes (not necessarily an absolute majority) wins. The sole exception is Louisiana, which uses runoff voting. All vacancies that arise during a term must be filled by special elections, conducted in the same manner. Representatives and delegates serve for two-year terms, whereas the Resident Commissioner serves for four years. Once elected, a representative continues to serve until the expiry of his or her term, death, or resignation. Furthermore, the Constitution permits the House to expel any member with a two-thirds majority. In the history of the United States, only five members have been expelled from the House; three of them were removed in 1861 for supporting the Confederate secession, which led to the American Civil War. In 1980, Michael Myers was expelled for accepting bribes and James Traficant was expelled in 2002 following his conviction for corruption. The House also has the power to censure its members; censure requires only a simple majority, but does not remove a member from office. Representatives are entitled to prefix "The Honorable" to their names. A member of the House is commonly referred to as a "Congressman" or "Congresswoman". Although the Senate also forms a part of Congress, these terms are generally not applied to Senators. The term "Representative" is also used to refer to a member of the House, although this term is less frequently used. Among academics and journalists, the term "Member of Congress" (MC) is gaining popularity in reference to members of both houses, with "Representative" replacing "Congressman/woman". The annual salary of each Representative is $162,100. The Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders earn higher salaries. By comparison, Senators earn the same as Representatives, cabinet members $180,100, and the President of the United States $400,000.

Officers

The party with a majority of seats in the House is known as the majority party; the next-largest party is the minority party. The Speaker, committee chairmen, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party. The Constitution provides that the House may choose its own Speaker. Although not explicitly required by the Constitution, every Speaker has been a member of the House. The Constitution does not specify the duties and powers of the Speaker, which are instead regulated by the rules and customs of the House. The Speaker has a role both as a leader of the House and the leader of his or her party (always the majority party). Under the Presidential Succession Act (1947), the Speaker is second in line behind the Vice President to succeed the President. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House, but does not preside over every debate. Instead, he or she delegates the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless he or she has first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on any "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached), but the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House. The Speaker is the chair of his or her party's steering committee, which chooses the chairmen of standing committees. The Speaker determines which committees consider bills, appoints most of the members of the Rules Committee, and appoints all members of conference committees. When the Presidency and Congress are controlled by different parties, the Speaker can become the de facto "leader of the opposition." Since the Speaker is a partisan officer with substantial power to control the business of the House, the position is often used for partisan advantage. Each party elects a floor leader, who is known as the Majority Leader or Minority Leader. While the Minority Leader is the full leader of his or her party, the same is not true of the Majority Leader. Instead, the Speaker is the head of the majority party; the Majority Leader is only the second-highest official. Each party also elects a whip, who works to ensure that his or her party's members vote as the party leadership desires. Representatives are generally less independent of party leaders than senators, and usually vote as the leadership directs. Incentives to cooperate include the leadership's power to select committee chairmen. As a result, the leadership plays a much greater role in the House than in the Senate, and the atmosphere of the House is regarded by many as more partisan. The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief officer is the Clerk, who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials. The Clerk also presides over the House at the beginning of each new Congress pending the election of a Speaker. Another officer is the Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for the day-to-day administrative support to the House of Representatives. This includes everything from payroll to food service. The last House official is the Sergeant-at-Arms, who, as the House's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on House premises. Routine police work is actually handled by the Capitol Police, which is supervised by the Capitol Police Board, a body to which the Sergeant-at-Arms belongs. The position of Chief Administrative Officer was created following the 1994 takeover of the House by Republicans replacing the positions of Doorkeeper and Postmaster.

Procedure

Like the Senate, the House of Representatives meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of the chamber of the House is a rostrum from which the Speaker presides. The lower tier of the rostrum is used by clerks and other officials. Members' desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern; the desks are divided by a wide central aisle. By tradition, Democrats sit on the right of the center aisle, while Republicans sit on the left, as viewed from the presiding officer's chair. Sittings are normally held on weekdays; meetings on Saturdays and Sundays are rare. Sittings of the House are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on television by C-SPAN. The procedure of the House depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety of customs, precedents, and traditions. In many cases, the House waives some of its stricter rules (including time limits on debates) by unanimous consent. Any member may block a unanimous consent agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer enforces the rules of the House, and may warn members who deviate from them. The presiding officer uses a gavel to maintain order. The Constitution provides that a majority of the House constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the House, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. Any member may make a point of order that a quorum is not present; if the presiding officer accepts the point of order, a quorum call may be held. Although a majority of members are not normally present during debates, objections that a quorum is not present are rarely made. During debates, a member may only speak if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer may determine which members to recognize, and may therefore control the course of debate. All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker." Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, members do not refer to each other by name, but by state, using forms such as "the gentleman from Virginia" or "the gentlewoman from California." Before legislation reaches the floor of the House, the Rules Committee normally passes a rule to govern debate on that measure. For instance, the committee determines if amendments to the bill are permitted. An "open rule" permits all germane amendments, but a "closed rule" restricts or even prohibits amendment. Debate on a bill is generally restricted to one hour, equally divided between the majority and minority parties. Each side is led during the debate by a "floor manager," who allocates debate time to members who wish to speak. On contentious matters, many members may wish to speak; thus, a member may receive as little as one minute, or even thirty seconds, to make his or her point. When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. In many cases, the House votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye" (in favor of the motion) or "No" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. Any member, however, may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and "request the yeas and nays" or "request a recorded vote." The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the members present. In practice, however, congressmen second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. Recorded votes are automatically held in some cases, such as votes on the annual budget. The House may vote in three manners. Firstly, the House may vote by electronic device; each member uses a personal identification card to record his or her vote at one of 44 voting stations in the chamber. Votes are almost always held by electronic device. Secondly, the House may conduct a teller vote. Members hand in colored cards to indicate their votes: green for "Yea," red for "Nay," and orange for "Present" (i.e., to abstain). Teller votes are normally held only when the computer system breaks down. Finally, the House may conduct a roll call vote. The clerk reads the list of members of the House, each of whom announces his or her vote when his or her name is called. This procedure is reserved for very formal votes (such as the election of a Speaker) due to the time consumed by calling over four hundred names. Voting traditionally lasts for fifteen minutes, but it may be extended if the leadership needs to "whip" more Congressmen into alignment. The 2003 vote on the Prescription Drug Benefit was open for three hours, from 3:00 to 6:00 AM. The 2005 vote on CAFTA was open for one hour, from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM. An October 2005 vote on facilitating refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes. The presiding officer may vote, like any other member. If a vote is tied, the presiding officer does not have a casting vote (unless he or she has not yet cast his or her vote). Instead, motions are decided in the negative when ties arise.

Committees

The Houses uses committees (as well as their subcommittees) for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch. The appointment of committee members is formally made by the whole House, but the choice of members is actually made by the political parties. Generally, each party honors the preferences of individual congressmen and congresswomen, giving priority on the basis of seniority. Each party is allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength. The largest committee of the House is the Committee of the Whole, which, as its name suggests, consists of all members of the House. The Committee meets in the House chamber; it may consider and amend bills, but may not grant them final passage. Generally, the debate procedures of the Committee of the Whole are more flexible than those of the House itself. Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific field such as Agriculture or International Relations. Each standing committee considers, amends, and reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Committees have extensive powers with regard to bills; they may block legislation from reaching the floor of the House. Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their duties, standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and evidence. The House also has one permanent committee that is not a standing committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Furthermore, the Congress includes joint committees, which include members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Some joint committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the Joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists a Joint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not referred to joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is considerably lower than those of standing committees. Each House committee and subcommittee is led by a chairman (always a member of the majority party). Prior to the reforms of the 1970s, committee chairmen were very powerful. Woodrow Wilson suggested: :Power is nowhere concentrated; it is rather deliberately and of set policy scattered amongst many small chiefs. It is divided up, as it were, into forty-seven seigniories, in each of which a Standing Committee is the court-baron and its chairman lord-proprietor. These petty barons, some of them not a little powerful, but none of them within the reach of the full powers of rule, may at will exercise almost despotic sway within their own shires, and may sometimes threaten to convulse even the realm itself. Formerly, committee chairmanship was determined purely by seniority; however, the rules were changed in 1975 to permit party caucuses to elect chairmen. In 1995, Republicans under Newt Gingrich set a limit of three two-year terms for committee chairmen. The chairman's powers are extensive; he or she controls the committee's agenda, and may prevent the committee from approving a bill. Modern committee chairmen are typically not forceful in exerting their influence, although there have been some exceptions. The second-highest member, the spokesperson on the committee for the minority party, is known in most cases the Ranking Member.

Legislative functions

Most bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. However, the Constitution provides that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. However, whenever the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House simply refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. The constitutional provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of the British Parliament, in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures. Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them. As Woodrow Wilson wrote: :[T]he Senate's right to amend [revenue bills] has been allowed the widest possible scope. The upper house may add to them what it pleases; may go altogether outside of their original provisions and tack to them entirely new features of legislation, altering not only the amounts but even the objects of expenditure, and making out of the materials sent them by the popular chamber measures of an almost totally new character. The approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for any bill, including a revenue bill, to become law. Both Houses must pass the exact same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies. For the stages through which bills pass in the Senate, see Act of Congress.

Checks and balances

The Constitution provides that the Senate's "advice and consent" is necessary for the President to make certain appointments and to ratify treaties. The House has no constitutional role in either process. Thus, the powers of the Senate are more extensive than those of the House. The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. The House may approve "articles of impeachment" by a simple majority vote; however, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction in the Senate. A convicted official is automatically removed from office; in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from holding office in the future. No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law. In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (Another resigned before the Senate could complete the trial.) Only two Presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House has the power to elect the President if no presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the electoral college. The Twelfth Amendment requires the House to choose from the three candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. The Constitution provides that "the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote." Electoral college deadlocks are very rare; in the history of the United States, the House has only had to break a deadlock twice. In 1800, it elected Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr; in 1824, it elected John Q. Adams over Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford. The power to elect the Vice President in the case of an electoral college deadlock belongs to the Senate.

Current composition

:
- Bernie Sanders of Vermont :
- California's 50th District, vacated by Randy Cunningham on November 28, 2005 :
- Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico

References

- Berman, Daniel M. (1964). In Congress Assembled: The Legislative Process in the National Government. London: The Macmillan Company.
- Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress, 5th ed. (2000). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press.
- [http://www.c-span.org/questions/ C-SPAN. (2003). "Capitol Questions."]
- Story, Joseph. (1891). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. (2 vols). Boston: Brown & Little.
- Wilson, Woodrow. (1885). Congressional Government. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
- [http://www.house.gov/hastert/speaker/speaker.shtml "The Speaker of the House House Officer, Party Leader, and Representative"]

External links

- [http://www.house.gov The United States House of Representatives. Official Website.]
- [http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present.]
- [http://www.washingtonian.com/inwashington/bwcongress.html Best & Worst of Congress, as chosen by their aides.] Category:National lower houses ja:アメリカ合衆国下院

Rob Portman

at the White House ceremony at which President George W. Bush nominated him to be the next U.S. Trade Representative.]] Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American lawyer and the current United States Trade Representative, a post carrying the rank of Ambassador. From 1993 to 2005, he was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, representing that state's second congressional district ([http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/congdist/OH02_109.pdf map]), which stretches along the Ohio River from the Hamilton County suburbs of Cincinnati east to Scioto County. He was confirmed by the Senate as Trade Representative on April 29, 2005, and privately sworn into his new office that day. Later, a public, ceremonial swearing in was performed by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card on May 17, 2005 with his friend President Bush in attendance.[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050517-3.html]

Background

Portman, a Methodist, was born in Cincinnati and graduated in 1974 from Cincinnati Country Day School. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1979 and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Michigan in 1984. Upon his graduation, he worked for the Washington law firm of Patton, Boggs, and Blow from 1984 to 1986, when he returned to Cincinnati. In Cincinnati, he worked for Graydon, Head, and Ritchey until going to work for President George H. W. Bush as associate White House counsel in 1989. Portman later served as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs until 1991. He returned to Cincinnati to Graydon, Head, until his election to Congress. Portman and his wife, Jane, are residents of Terrace Park in Hamilton County. They have three children: Jed, Will and Sally.

Enters Congress

Never having been a candidate for any elective office, Portman was elected to the House in his first race, which came in a special election in 1993 to complete the term of Willis D. Gradison Jr., who, three months after his re-election, resigned on January 31, 1993, to become a lobbyist for the insurance industry as president of the Health Insurance Association of America. In the Republican primary on March 16, Portman faced six-term Congressman Bob McEwen, who had lost his Sixth District seat to Ted Strickland in November 1992; real estate developer Jay Buchert, president of the National Association of Home Builders; and several lesser known candidates: real estate appraiser Garland Eugene Crawford of Loveland; pro-life activist Ken Callis of the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming; Robert W. Dorsey, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and township trustee in Hamilton County's Anderson Township; and Ku Klux Klan leader Van Darrell Loman of Cheviot. (Three other candidates filed and qualified but withdrew from the primary, former Madeira mayor Mary Anne Christie; Lebanon attorney Bruce Gudenkauf, a member of the Warren County Republican Party's central committee; and Donnie Jones, city auditor in Norwood.) In February the press reported that, according to campaign finance filings, McEwen trailed both Buchert and Portman in funds, Buchert having three times the treasury McEwen did. McEwen was endorsed by Oliver North, whose convictions from the Iran contra scandal McEwen had protested when he was in Congress. McEwen also crticized Portman for lobbying Congress to pass the tax increase President George H. W. Bush supported when Portman was a White House aide. He also critized Portman for being a lobbyist for Oman. McEwen brought his former House colleage Jack Kemp to Ohio to campaign for him. Portman was criticized in the campaign for his law firm's work for Haitian dictator Baby Doc Duvalier, while McEwen faced questions about the bounced checks he had written on the House bank. Buchert ran campaign commercials citing McEwen's checks, the expenses of his Congressional office, and his campaign finance disclosures, while noting Portman was "the handpicked choice of the downtown money crowd" and was "a registered foreign agent for the biggest Democrat lobbying firm in Washington," labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob". Questions were also raised about whether McEwen had been illegally using his House office in his re-election campaign in 1992 when McEwen's successor, Ted Strickland, found campaign material on his office computers. In the primary, McEwen won four of the five counties in the district, Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Warren, all of these counties save Brown having been at least in part in his old district. (In Adams, he received 77% of the vote, sixty-seven points ahead of the second-place finisher.) However, McEwen finished third in the largest county in the district, Hamilton, one he had never represented and which contained 57% of the Second District's registered voters. Portman won only Hamilton County, taking 17,531 votes (35.61%) overall, while McEwen received 14,542 (29.54%), Buchert 12,488 (25.37%), Dorsey 2,947 (5.99%), the rest scattering. The race in the Second District, one of the most Republican in the country, was determined in the primary and Portman won all five counties in the general election. Portman spent $650,000 in his primary campaign but only $81,000 in the general election held May 4, 1993, in which he easily defeated attorney Lee Hornberger, Gradison's opponent in 1992, by 53,020 (70.1%) to 22,652 (29.1%). Portman was sworn in as a member of the 103rd Congress on May 5, 1993, less than eighteen hours after the polls closed. Portman was easily re-elected in every election. In 1994, he defeated Democrat Les Mann, a security guard at the General Electric Company's factory in Evendale, 150,128 to 43,730 to return to the 104th Congress. In 1996, he defeated Democrat Thomas R. Chandler, a hospital technician who had lost the Democratic primary to Hornberger in 1993, and independent Kathleen M. McKnight. Portman won with 186,853 votes to Chandler's 58,715 and McKnight's 13,905, for a seat in the 105th Congress. In 1998, his Democratic challenger was Waynesville mayor Charles W. Sanders. Portman was re-elected to the 106th Congress by a vote of 154,344 to 49,293. Portman faced Sanders again in the succeeding three elections, Sanders never getting as much as one-third of the vote. In 2000, Portman won election to the 107th Congress by 204,184 to 64,091, with Libertarian Robert E. Bidwell getting 9,266 votes. In 2002, Sanders was again nominated by the Democrats (although due to redistricting he no longer lived in the Second District). Portman won a term in the 108th Congress 139,218 to 48,785, and in 2004, Portman defeated Sanders 221,785 to 87,156. He served in the 109th Congress until April 29, 2005.

Respected House member

Portman was a member of the Budget and Ways and Means Committees. Very close to President George W. Bush, he acted as the liaison between Congressional Republicans and the White House during the first four years of the Bush administration. In nominating him for the trade post, President Bush called Portman "a good friend, a decent man, and a skilled negotiator." Portman worked on reforming the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS Restructuring Act of 1998), Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, unfunded mandates (the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995), and pensions offered by small businesses. Portman's hometown paper described him as having "two personas: the well-connected Congressman who would surface on cable news channels as a 'talking head' for the Bush led agenda and another as the politician who drove himself from one small town pancake breakfast or Kiwanis luncheon to another in a district stretching 100 miles plus."

Leaves House to become USTR

On March 17, 2005, President George W. Bush [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-2.html nominated] Portman to be United States Trade Representative. Portman was confirmed by the Senate on April 29. He resigned his Congressional seat at noon that day and the House took notice of his resignation on May 2, 2005 [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2005_record&page=H2741&position=all] [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2005_record&page=H2742&position=all].

Published author

In December 2004, Portman and Cheryl Bauer published a book on the Nineteenth Century Shaker community at Union Village in Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio, entitled Wisdom's Paradise: The Forgotten Shakers of Union Village. (Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 2004. ISBN 1882203402). Portman was interested in the topic because his maternal grandparents, Robert and Virginia Jones, in the 1930's had purchased the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, about four miles east of the former Shaker settlement, and decorated it with Shaker furniture and artifacts.

External links

- [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000449 Bioguide entry on Ambassador Portman]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-2.html President Bush's remarks on nominating Portman]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050517-3.html President Bush and Ambassador Portman's remarks on his swearing-in]
- [http://www.ustr.gov/ United States Trade Representative Official site]
- [http://www.ustr.gov/Who_We_Are/Bios/Ambassador_Rob_Portman.html Biography on USTR site]

References

- Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1994. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 1993. ISBN 0892340584
- Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1998. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 1997. ISBN 0892340800
- Michael Barone, Richard E. Cohen, and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 2002. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 2001. ISBN 0892340991
- Elizabeth Becker. "Congressman From Ohio Is Chosen for Trade Post". The New York Times. March 18, 2005. C1.
- Congressional Quarterly. Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 49th edition, 103rd Congress, 1st Session, 1993. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1994. ISBN 1568020201.
- Congressional Quarterly. Politics in America, 1992: The 102nd Congress. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 1991. ISBN 0871875993
- "The Portman File". Cincinnati Enquirer. March 18, 2005. A13.
- "Portman to be sworn in with a party." The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 17, 2005. B2.
- Howard Wilkinson. "Portman will join Bush's cabinet." Cincinnati Enquirer. March 18, 2005. A1, A12. Portman, Rob Portman, Rob Portman, Rob Portman, Rob Portman, Rob

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the northeast of the United States. It was the first and eastern-most state in the Midwest admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is OH; its old-style abbreviation is O. Ohio is an Iroquois word meaning "great water." The name refers to the Ohio River that forms its southern border. The U.S. Navy has named several ships USS Ohio in honor of this state.

History

USS Ohio in lower Manhattan]] Ohio, the region north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes, was originally controlled by various native tribes. At the time of European colonization, the Iroquois federation of the New York area claimed the region including the modern territory of Ohio as a hunting ground. However, locally, the region was populated by several other peoples, principally the Miamis, Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, and Eries. During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region. In 1754, France and Great Britain fought a war known in the United States as the French and Indian War. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the old Northwest to Great Britain. Britain soon passed the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited the American colonists from settling in Ohio Country. British control of the region ended with the American victory in the American Revolution, after which the British ceded claims to Ohio and the territory in the West to the Mississippi River to the United States. The United States created the Northwest Territory in 1787 under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, also known as the Freedom Ordinance because for the first time slavery would be prohibited from an entire American region. The states of the Midwest would be known as free states, in contradistinction to those states south of the Ohio River known as slave states, and later, as Northeastern states abolished slavery in the coming two generations, the free states would be known as Northern States. The Northwest Territory originally included areas that had previously been known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. Under the Northwest Ordinance, any of the states to be formed out of the Northwest Territory would be admitted as a state once the population exceeded 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood with the assumption that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it would become a state. On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of U.S. Congress that recognized Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission. So, on August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union. In 1835, Ohio fought a mostly bloodless boundary war with Michigan over the Toledo Strip known as the Toledo War. Congress intervened and, as a condition for admittance as a state of the Union, Michigan was forced to accept the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula in exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip. See also: Articles on Ohio history

Law and Government

Ohio's capital is Columbus, located close to the center of the state. See: Government of Ohio

Geography

Government of Ohio See: List of Ohio counties, List of cities in Ohio, List of villages in Ohio, List of Ohio townships, Ohio public lands Ohio public lands Being centrally located in the northeastern corner of the United States' Midwest region, Ohio is located on Lake Erie, is connected by major highways and borders several states. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. It borders Pennsylvania on the east, Michigan in the northwest near Toledo, Ontario, Canada across Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast. Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests. The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Known somewhat erroneously as Ohio's "Appalachian Counties" (they are actually in the Allegheny Plateau), this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and even distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state and, unfortunately, create a limited opportunity to participate in the generally high economic standards of Ohio. Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and then the Mississippi. Grand Lake St. Mary's in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over 20 square miles, was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.

Economy

Ohio is a major producer of machines, tires and rubber products, steel, processed foods, tools, and other manufactured goods. This is not immediately obvious because Ohio specializes in producers goods (goods used to make other goods, such as machine tools, industrial chemicals, and plastic moldings). Nevertheless, there are well known Ohio consumer items including some Procter & Gamble products, Smuckers jams and jellies, and DayGlo. Ohio is the site of the invention of the airplane, resulting from the experiments of the Wright brothers in Dayton. Production of aircraft in the USA is now centered elsewhere, but a large experimental and design facility, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has been located near Dayton and serves in the co-ordination of production of US military aircraft. On the base are located Wright Hill and Huffman Prairie, where many of the earliest aerodynamic experiments of the Wright brothers were performed. Ohio today also has many aerospace, defense, and NASA parts and systems suppliers scattered throughout the state. As part of the Corn Belt, agriculture also plays an important role in the state's economy. There is also a small commercial fishing sector on Lake Erie, and the principal catch is yellow perch. In addition, Ohio's historical attractions, varying landscapes, and recreational opportunities are the basis for a thriving tourist industry. Over 2,500 lakes and 70,000 kilometers of river landscapes are a paradise for boaters, fishermen, and swimmers. Of special historical interest are the Native American archaeological sites—including grave mounds and other sites. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Ohio's total state product in 2003 was $403 billion. Per capital personal income in 2003 was $30,129, 25th in the nation. Ohio's agricultural outputs are soybeans, dairy products, corn, tomatoes, hogs, cattle, poultry and eggs. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, food processing, and electric equipment.

Demographics

As of 2004, Ohio's population was estimated to be 11,459,011 people. This includes about 390,000 foreign-born (3.4%). The racial makeup of the state is:
- 85.0% White
- 11.5% Black
- 1.9% Hispanic
- 1.2% Asian
- 0.2% Native American
- 1.4% Mixed race The 5 largest ancestry groups in Ohio are German (25.2%), Irish (12.7%), African (11.5%), English (9.2%), American (8.5%). German is the largest reported ancestry in most of the counties in Ohio, especially in the northwest. Ohioans of American and British ancestry are present throughout the state as well, particularly in the south-central part of the state. The cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati are heavily black. 6.6% of Ohio's population were reported as under 5, 25.4% under 18, and 13.3% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.

Religion

Ohio is mostly Protestant. There are large numbers of Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Pentecostals. Other notable Protestant groups include the nation's largest Amish population, and the headquarters of the United Church of Christ, which is in Cleveland. There are sizeable Jewish communities in the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas. The religious affiliations of the people of Ohio are:
- Christianity – 82%
- Protestant – 62%
- Baptist – 15%
- Methodist – 11%
- Lutheran – 5%
- Presbyterian – 4%
- Pentecostal – 4%
- United Church of Christ – 2%
- Amish/Pietist – 1%
- Other Protestant – 20%
- Roman Catholic – 19%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Judaism – 1.3%
- Other Religions – less than 1%
- Non-Religious – 16%

Political demographics and history

Politically, Ohio is considered a swing state, although state politics are dominated by Republicans. The mixture of urban and rural areas, and the presence of both large blue-collar industries and significant white-collar commercial districts leads to a balance of conservative and liberal population that (together with the state's 20 electoral votes, more than most swing states) makes the state very important to the outcome of national elections. Ohio was the deciding state in the 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Bush narrowly won the state's 20 electoral votes by a margin of 2 percentage points and 50.8% of the vote. The state supported Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, some argue because of a defection of Republican voters to Ross Perot, but supported Republican George Bush in 2000 and 2004. Ohio was also a deciding factor in the 1948 presidential election when Democrat Harry S. Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey (who had won the state four years earlier) and in the 1976 presidential election when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford by a slim margin in Ohio and took the election. Ohio's demographics cause many to consider the state as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. Interestingly, a Republican presidential candidate has never won the White House without winning Ohio, and Ohio has gone to the winner of the election in all but two contests since 1892, backing only losers Thomas E. Dewey in 1944 (Ohio's John Bricker was his running mate) and Richard M. Nixon in 1960. Consequently, the state is very important to the campaigns of both major parties. Ohio had 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College in 2004. (See also U.S. Electoral College.) The most solidly Democratic areas of the state are in the northeast, including Cleveland, Youngstown, and other industrial areas. Specifically, the core of this region includes eight counties stretching east along Lake Erie from Erie County to the Pennsylvania border and south to Mahoning County. Southwestern Ohio, especially the suburbs of Cincinnati, Warren County, Butler County, and Clermont County is particularly Republican. Ohio is known as the "Modern Mother of Presidents," having sent eight of its native sons to the White House. Seven of them were Republicans, and the other was a member of the Whig Party. See also:
- Ohio Democratic Party
- Ohio Republican Party

Important cities and towns

See: List of cities in Ohio

Education

Colleges and universities

- 13 state universities
- Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
- Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio
- Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
- Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
- Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
- Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio
- University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
- Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (Fairborn, Ohio)
- Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio :(note: the University of Dayton is not one of Ohio's state universities; it is a private, Roman Catholic university run by the Society of Mary)
- 24 state university branch and regional campuses
- 46 liberal arts colleges and universities
- 6 free-standing state-assisted medical schools
- Medical University of Ohio (formerly Medical College of Ohio)
- Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
- Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health
- Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
- Wright State University School of Medicine
- 1 private medical school
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- 15 community colleges
- 8 technical colleges
- over 24 independent non-profit colleges See List of Ohio colleges

Professional sports teams

Ohio is home to many professional sports teams, including six major professional sports league franchises. Ohio is currently the only state to have teams in each of the major leagues where no one city or metro area could lay claim to the "Grand Slam."

Transportation

Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 1900's as "Ohio Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historical Lincoln Highway which was America's first transcontinental road, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1928, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Highway 30. Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway) a bit further south through Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (Ohio 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati. Major north-south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland down into West Virginia. The north-south routes except for I-75 are less important to non-local traffic than the east-west routes because, due to the presence of Lake Erie, they do not go through.

State symbols

- State animal: White-tailed Deer
- State bird: Cardinal
- State capital: Columbus
- State flower: Scarlet Carnation
- State wildflower: Large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
- State insect: Ladybird Beetle
- State song: "Beautiful Ohio"
- State rock song: "Hang On Sloopy"
- State tree: Ohio Buckeye
- State fossil: Trilobite genus Isotelus
- State drink: Tomato juice
- State reptile: Black racer snake
- State gemstone: Ohio Flint
- State motto: "With God all things are possible"
- Unofficial Motto: "So much to discover" adopted as part of state bicentennial campaign

External links

- [http://www.ohio.gov/ State of Ohio Official Website]
- [http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/ Supreme Court of Ohio Official Website]
- [http://www.house.state.oh.us/ Ohio House of Representatives Official Website]
- [http://www.senate.state.oh.us/ Ohio Senate Official Website]
- [http://www.ohiodems.org/ Ohio Democratic Party]
- [http://www.ohiogop.org/ Ohio Republican Party]
- [http://www.ohionewsnow.com/ Ohio News Network]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://obit.obitlinkspage.com/oh.htm Ohio Obituary Links Page]
- [http://www.genealogybuff.com/oh/ GenealogyBuff.com - Ohio Library of Files]
- Category:States of the United States ko:오하이오 주 ja:オハイオ州 simple:Ohio th:มลรัฐโอไฮโอ

Peter F. Allgeier

Peter F. Allgeier was the Acting United States Trade Representative from February 18 to April 29, 2005. As Deputy Trade Representative, he assumed that post on February 18, 2005 following the resignation of Robert Zoellick. He served as Acting Trade Representative until Rob Portman was confirmed for the permanent post and has resumed his duties as Deputy Trade Representative. He was born in Orange, New Jersey and is married to Marsha Uehara of Honolulu, Hawaii. They have two sons and currently live in Falls Church, Virginia. He graduated cum laude from Brown University with an A.B in international relations and earned a Masters Degree in international relations from the School of Advanced International Relations at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the U.S. Trade Representative in June, 1980, as an international economist dealing with Asia, serving in 1981 as Director for Japanese Affairs. Between 1981 and 1985 he was Deputy Assistant Trade Representative for Asia and the Pacific . In 1985 he became Assistant Trade Representative for Asia and the Pacific. In 1989 he became Deputy Assistant Trade Representative for Europe and the Mediterrenean. In 1995 he was appointed Asociate U.S Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere by USTR Mickey Kantor. He has conducted major multilateral negotiations like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. He was nominated by President George W. Bush as Deputy Trade Representative and confirmed by the Senate on May 26, 2001. Allgeier, Peter F

March 17

March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). There are 289 days remaining.

Events

- 45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
- 1577 - The Cathay Company is formed to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold.
- 1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet begin their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
- 1756 - St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).
- 1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
- 1805 - The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
- 1821 - Mani declared war on the Ottoman Empire starting the Greek War of Independence.
- 1845 - The rubber band is invented
- 1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
- 1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 African Americans are killed in Mississippi.
- 1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sinks off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574.
- 1901 - A showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
- 1910 - Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls (now Camp Fire USA) (formally announced in 1912).
- 1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
- 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
- 1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese break out.
- 1941 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
- 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
- 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
- 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet and travels to India.
- 1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1969 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
- 1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- 1985 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California murder spree.
- 1988 - A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
- 1992 - A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq.
- 2004 - Massive Unrest in Kosovo. Over 22 killed, 200 wounded, 35 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.

Births

- 1231 - Emperor Shijo of Japan (d. 1252)
- 1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
- 1628 - François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)