Bob Schaffer
Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOB : Bob Schaffer
Robert W. (Bob) Schaffer (b. July 24, 1962) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Colorado; born in Cincinnati Hamilton County, Ohio, July 24, 1962; attended Archbishop Moeller High School, Cincinnati, Ohio; B.A., University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio, 1984; member of the Colorado State Senate from 1987 to 1996; small business owner, 1990 to 1994; elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 105th Congress and to the two succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1997 to January 3, 2003); was not a candidate for re-election in 2002 to the House of Representatives of the 108th Congress.
Schaffer lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife, Maureen, and their five children, Emily and Jenny (twins), Justin, Sarah, and Mary. The Schaffers are Roman Catholic and attend St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.
The son of retired public school educators, Schaffer worked his way through college as a farm hand, receiving his B.A. from the University of Dayton and an honorary doctorate in management from Colorado Technical University.
Prior to entering politics, Schaffer held a variety of jobs, including carpet layer, salmon cannery worker, legislative researcher, speechwriter, and small business owner. As a businessman, he owned and operated a marketing business serving Colorado's tourism industry for six years.
Schaffer is currently vice-president for business development at Aspect Energy, Inc., where he is involved in a variety of energy, mining and education projects. He is president of the Parental Alliance for Choice in Education, a non-profit corporation promoting reform in Colorado’s public education system and leading the state’s transformation to a market-driven education system. He is also Chairman of the Leadership Program of the Rockies, a corporation providing economic and political leadership training in Colorado. He is an opinion columnist for The Northern Colorado Courier.
Politics
In March 2005, Schaffer was elected Republican National Committeeman for Colorado. He is one of eight members of the Colorado State Board of Education. Schaffer’s Board constituency is the state’s Fourth Congressional District. He is also the Colorado Chairman of the Judicial Confirmation Network.
From 1989 to 1995, he owned and operated Northern Front Range Marketing and Distribution, a small marketing business serving Colorado’s tourism industry.
From 1997 until early 2003, Schaffer represented Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Upon his retirement from Congress, he was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope John Paul II.
Prior to serving in Congress, Schaffer served nine years as a Colorado State Senator. He was 25 years old when first sworn in -- the youngest to serve in Colorado's Senate. As a Colorado Senator, he was Chairman of the Finance Committee, the State Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, and the Local Government Committee. Schaffer also was the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Education Committee. His distinguished service in the Colorado Legislature earned him the prestigious national title "National Republican Legislator of the Year for 1995" designated by his peers from throughout the country.
Having served three two-year terms in the United States House of Representatives, Schaffer was first elected to Congress in November 1996. He represented Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, succeeding Senators Wayne Allard and Hank Brown. During his first campaign, Schaffer signed a pledge to only serve three terms, thus retiring at the end of the 107th Congress in 2003.
Working to re-establish a limited, responsible federal government and a balanced federal budget, Schaffer introduced the Balanced Budget Amendment Resolution, House Joint Resolution 1, to require a balanced federal budget. He also worked for such policies as broad-based tax relief and protecting Social Security and Medicare.
Schaffer was president of the 1996 Republican class, a post to which he was elected by his colleagues. He served on three House Committees: Agriculture, Resources and the Eduction and the Workforce. He is an advocate for the Ukraine and was a co-chair of the Ukraine Caucus. He was a member of the GOP Theme Team, the "one-minute conservative debate squad", which can be seen nearly every morning on C-Span from the House floor. He was an active member of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group of approximately 60 House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives.
While in Congress, Schaffer gained a reputation as Colorado's most aggressive tax cutter and champion of education reform. He received numerous awards for his fiscally conservative voting record favoring farmers, taxpayers, seniors, veterans, child care providers and property owners. Some of these awards include the Champion of Free Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Guardian of Seniors' Rights from 60 Plus Association, Friend of Farm Bureau Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation, Friend of the Taxpayers from Americans for Tax Reform and the Guardian of Small Business award from the National Federation of Independent Business. He also received the Golden Bulldog Award from the Watchdogs of the Treasury.
Schaffer was recognized by the National Taxpayers Union as the most frugal member of Congress after he returned more than $360,000 of his allotted office budget back to taxpayers.
Schaffer currently serves as Commissioner of the Eighth Judicial District Nominating Commission by appointment of Governor Bill Owens.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.