JASON ALTMIRE

'Jason Altmire' (born March 7, 1968), is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing Pennsylvania's Fourth Congressional district. He defeated incumbent Republican Melissa Hart in the 2006 midterm elections, and took office in January 2007.
Altmire is part of the Iraq War opposition in the House and speaks on the subject often and, like many new Democrats, he played a large role in discussions on the war.

Contents

Early years and education

Career prior to election to the House

Legislative assistant

Legislative relations

2006 election to the U.S. House of Representatives

Personal

References

External links

Early years and education

Altmire was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, where he was a record-breaking two-sport letterman at Burrell High School. He attended Florida State University, where he was a member of the school's first Sugar Bowl championship football team. He graduated with a B.S. in Political Science.

Career prior to election to the House

Legislative assistant

After college, Altmire worked as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill in the office of former U.S. House Rep. Pete Peterson (D-FL). During his eight years in Washington, D.C. Altmire attended graduate school part-time, and received his Master's in Health Administration from George Washington University.
In 1993, he was appointed to a working group for President Clinton’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform. He helped to draft several major health care legislative initiatives during his time there, initially in a Democratic-controlled House and then in a Republican-controlled one. Voted to approve FISA reauthorization August 2007.
In 1995, Altmire drafted and helped negotiate to the House floor the first Constitutional amendment regarding congressional term limits ever to receive a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Legislative relations

After leaving Peterson's office, Altmire joined the Federation of American Hospitals, where he specialized on legislation regarding hospital changes of ownership and spoke about the issue before audiences around the country.
In 1998, Altmire returned to Western Pennsylvania to work for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). By 2005, he was the acting Vice President for Government Relations and Community Health Service. His duties at UPMC included oversight of UPMC’s Office of Charitable Giving, which has primary discretion over UPMC’s $6 million in annual charitable donations. He also represented UPMC in discussions with government officials and local community organizations.

2006 election to the U.S. House of Representatives

Altmire left UPMC on June 30 2005, to run for Congress, saying, "I can no longer stand on the sidelines while Congress leads this country down the wrong path. National security, healthcare, jobs and the economy are not partisan issues. We need a Congress that represents all of America and not just one side of the partisan aisle."
Altmire made health care a top priority for his campaign. Altmire said that the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act was a step in the wrong direction, saying it imposed more costs on seniors while giving insurance companies powers they shouldn't have over doctor's decisions and giving huge bonuses to the pharmaceutical industry. Opposing outsourcing, Altmire said that NAFTA, passed in 1993, had cost Pennsylvania thousands of jobs. Altmire opposes CAFTA, which extended the policies of NAFTA to other Latin American nations.
In November 2006, Altmire defeated incumbent Republican Melissa Hart in a surprise victory for the Democrats in the suburban Pittsburgh district, with 52% of the vote to Hart's 48%. Hart had seemed untouchable only a few months before the election, and was still generally expected to win on Election Day. Hart blamed her defeat on Altmire's negative campaign ads,^[1], saying after her defeat that "I was not going to play the games. Unfortunately I think that took a toll. In retrospect, I had everyone in Washington, D.C., significant number of my colleagues, call me and say you need to cut his legs off, was the term they used", Hart said, "[A]nd you know what, you don’t need to cut his legs off. He clearly did that his entire campaign, he’s new at this, I hope he doesn’t do it the next time."^[2]
Altmire immediately set his eyes on committee appointments, and stated his desire to get on the powerful Ways and Means Committee (TheHill.com).

Personal

Altmire is married, and the father of two young daughters.
He appeared on Comedy Central's ''The Colbert Report'' on January 24, 2007.

References

1. KDKA.com
2. Talking Points memo

External links

★

★ U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire's official website

★ Federal Election Commission — Jason Altmire campaign finance reports and data

★ On the Issues — Jason Altmire issue positions and quotes

★ OpenSecrets.org — Jason Altmire campaign contributions

★ Project Vote Smart — Jason Altmire profile

★ SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jason Altmire profile

★ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Jason Altmire voting record

★ Altmire for Congress official campaign site