John Kline (politician)

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For other people with the same name, see John Kline (disambiguation).

Rep. John Kline

John Paul Kline (born September 6, 1947 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American politician. He has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 2nd District of Minnesota ([map]).

Contents

1 Background and education
2 Political career
3 Personal life
4 Electoral History
5 References
6 External links

Background and education

Kline is a graduate of W. B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi (1965) and was educated at Rice University (1969) and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (1988).

Prior to his election to Congress, Kline was a 25-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, where he was a senior military advisor to Presidents Carter and Reagan and was responsible for carrying the President's package containing launch codes for a nuclear attack, known as the "nuclear football". Throughout his military career from which he retired at the rank of Colonel, Kline served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, commanded all Marine aviation forces in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, flew "Marine One," the Presidential helicopter, and served as Program Development Officer at Headquarters Marine Corps. During his military career, Kline received numerous medals and commendations including Four Legions of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal (awarded 3 times), the Vietnam Campaign Medal, a Presidential Service Badge, and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Political career

In 2002, Kline defeated the Democratic incumbent, Bill Luther, in a rematch of their 2000 and 1998 races. In 2004, he defeated Burnsville City Councilwoman Teresa Daly, a Democrat, to win a second term.

In 2005, Kline introduced legislation to place Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill. While the bill has a dozen Congressional co-sponsors, it has not made any legislative progress.

In his campaigns, Kline received $30,000 in contributions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political action committee ARMPAC. Following DeLay's indictment on charges of money laundering, Democrats have criticized Kiline for failing to return DeLay's contributions or to donate them to charity. [link].

Kline is being opposed in 2006 by 9-11 whistleblower Coleen Rowley, the former FBI agent who risked her career to expose the FBI's mishandling of information related to the September 11, 2001 attacks. She jointly held the Time "Person of the Year" award in 2002 with two other women credited as whisteblowers: Sherron Watkins from Enron and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom. Rowely has made ethics the central message of her campaign.

Kline has 98 percent voting record with the Republican caucus and has taken huge contributions from the House Republican leadership. In addition to the $30,000 he has taken from Tom DeLay's PAC, he has taken $35,000 from current House Majority Leader John Boehner's Freedom PAC and $22,000 from GOP Whip Roy Blunt's "Rely on Your Beliefs" PAC.

Personal life

Kline and his wife, Vicky, live in Lakeville, Minnesota. They have one daughter and one son, Kathy and Dan, and four grandchildren.

Electoral History

2004 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
*John Kline (R) (inc.), 57%
*Teresa Daly (DFL), 40%

2002 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
*John Kline (R), 53%
*Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 42%

2000 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 6th District
*Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 50%
*John Kline (R), 48%

1998 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 6th District
*Bill Luther (DFL) (inc.), 50%
*John Kline (R), 46%

References

["Daly hoping for an upset: GOP believes Kline safe after first term"], Pioneer Press (October 19, 2004).

External links

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