Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something, the noun's second meaning).

In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to include a variety of senior officials, often sitting on a specific commission. In particular, commissioner frequently refers to senior police or government officials. A High Commissioner is equivalent to an ambassador, originally between the United Kingdom and the Dominions sharing the British Monarch as head of state and now between all Commonwealth states whether Commonwealth Realms, Commonwealth Republics or Commonwealth states having their own monarchs. The title is also sometimes given to senior officials in the private sector, for instance many North American sports leagues.

Domestic public official[link]

A Commissioner within a modern state generally holds his office by virtue of a commission from the head of state or a council of elected representatives (or appointed by non-elected officials in the case of dictatorships).

Imperial China[link]

Senior Public Servants, Commissioners and other high ranking bureaucrats referred to collectively as Mandarins.

Canadian territories[link]

Commissioners are the formal head of the territories in Canada (i.e. those areas under the formal jurisdiction of the federal government and without separate constitutional status of a province). Unlike the Governor General or a Lieutenant Governor, who are representative of the Queen of Canada, Commissioners are not vice-regal representatives, although they perform similar duties including; reading the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the territorial Legislature. They are appointed by the federal government as delegates of cabinet. Under federal statutes^[1][2][3] governing the territories, Commissioners act in accordance with written instructions from cabinet or the minister responsible (currently the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development). While commissioners formerly had direct day-to-day role in administration and government and chaired the Executive Council, today they are under instruction to act more like provincial Lieutenant-Governors, as territorial assemblies have taken on more responsibility.

Commissioners are eligible to present a Vice-Regal Commendation to any Canadian Forces Members as any Lieutenant-Governors for long-term or outstanding service to the Office of a Lieutenant-Governor or Commissioner.^[4]

Current Canadian commissioners[link]

Symbol of Office	Territory	Current commissioner	Commissioner since	Website
	Northwest Territories	The Honourable George Tuccaro	May 28, 2010	Website
	Nunavut	The Honourable Edna Elias	May 21, 2010	Website
	Yukon	The Honourable Doug Phillips	December 1, 2010	Website

Police[link]

In police services in the Commonwealth and USA, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force (e.g., Australian Federal Police, the New South Wales Police Force, New York City Police Department, St. Louis Police Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, the London Metropolitan Police or the California Highway Patrol). In some countries, such as in many Latin American countries and in France and in Italy, the title of commissioner refers to the head of a single police station.

Scotland[link]

Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, an elected member of the Estates (parliament) of Scotland held the office of Commissioner, representing a constituency (the equivalent of a Member of Parliament in the contemporaneous Parliament of England). There were Burgh Commissioners and Shire or Stewartry Commissioners.

Isle of Man[link]

In the local government system of the Isle of Man, a Commissioner is an elected representative equivalent to a Councillor. All town, village, district and parish local government bodies consist of commissioners, with the exception of Douglas, which has a council and councillors.

Malawi[link]

Malawi's position of District Commissioner refers to the person that in appointed by the President of Malawi to oversea the administration of any of its 28 districts. One commissioner is appointed per district. The position was created during the colonial era, sustained during the Kamuzu Banda era and continues as a prominent position in democratic era in Malawi.

Soviet Union[link]

From the October Revolution in 1917 until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, the Soviet government as well as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its predecessors used commissioner (in Russian комиссар or commissar) as a term for multiple positions. From 1917 until 1946 ministers of government were called people's commissars (and ministries were called "people's commissariats"). In workplaces a commissar was appointed to assure that communist political doctrine was observed. In military units such commissars were also called the политрук (politruk, meaning "political director") or замполит (zampolit, or deputy commander for political affairs). By contrast, a военный комиссар (voyennyy komissar), or military commissar, was merely a local military official in charge of supervising the induction of military draftees.

Iמ English-language usage, "commissar" has a connotation vastly different from "commissioner", being specifically identified with Communism and the Soviet Union, and as such often carrying a pejorative meaning (especially during the Cold War).

United States[link]

In many U.S. states, the legislative and executive decision-making bodies of counties are called the board of commissioners or county commission.

In Minnesota, Alaska, New York and Tennessee, the heads of statewide cabinet-level departments are called "commissioners".

In California, commissioners are subordinate judicial officers.

Historically, the U.S. government appointed special commissioners for a variety of tasks. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1862 to 1889 was a commissioner, not a Cabinet secretary.^[5]

International public and colonial context[link]

British and Commonwealth overseas possessions[link]

The title of Commissioner, as such, was used by the (gubernatorial) chief British official in:

• British India, now composed of four independent countries (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), where the Divisional Commissioner was the head of one of the few Divisions of a province, and was higher than a Deputy Commissioner and lower than a Secretary (now Principal Secretary) in the provincial capital.
• British Central Africa
• Territories of Zambesia and Rhodesia, administered under charter by the British South Africa Company
• the Oil Rivers Protectorate (from 5 June 1885 under a consul-general; soon renamed Niger Coast Protectorate), from 3 August 1891 till 1 January 1900 when it became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, hence under a High Commissioner
• the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, 1874 - 4 July 1959, as a dependency under the Governor of Jamaica colony
• the Weihaiwei concession territory (held from China) from 1902 to 1938
• Kamaran Island, in June 1915 taken from the Ottoman Empire and subordinated to the Aden Settlement, but not incorporated, till on 30 November 1967 it became part of the newly independent People's Republic of South Yemen.
• the UN trust territory of British Cameroons, only two incumbents, from 1 October 1954 (the only Special Resident succeeding himself till 1956) to 1 October 1961 when Southern British Cameroons is incorporated into the independent Republic of Cameroon (former French mandate of Cameroun), after the northern part united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.

Canada[link]

Canada calls its government officials in charge of export promotion "trade commissioners". There are 150 offices of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Canada and abroad, and they "assist with export advice and guidance to help [Canadians] achieve [their] international business goals." The website devoted to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service uses the Internet domain www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.^[6]

European Union[link]

The European Commissioners are the members of the European Commission, the highest executive organ of the European Union, which is the closest EU equivalent to a government. Each Commissioner is assigned a portfolio, but they make most important decisions collegially, often subject to approval by the European Parliament and/or the Council of the European Union.

French colonies[link]

The French equivalent, Commissaire, was used for various officials employed at different levels of the colonial administration in several French-ruled countries.

Russian Empire[link]

After on 17 April 1914 Tannu Tuva (ethnically Mongolian) was declared a Russian 'protected' area (Uryanhay [Urjanhaj] kray), two subsequent Russian Commissioners for the Affairs of Urjanhai Kray (1914 - 1915 A.P. Cererin (Tsererin) and 1915 - 1917 Yu.V. Grigoryev) were appointed, alongside the last native tribal Paramount chief (title Ambyn-noyon), followed by a single Commissar of the Provisional Government (October 1917 - 16 March 1918 Aleksey Aleksandrovich Turchaninov) until czarist rule collapsed for good, giving way to the Soviet regime

United Nations administration[link]

A UN Commissioner appointed in 1949 supervised the transition of the UN Trust territory of Libya (a former Italian colony; actually Tripolitania and Cyrenaica each were under a British Administrator, in 1949 restyled Resident, Fezzan under a French Military Governor, in 1950 also restyled Résident) to independence as a united monarchy in 1951.

United States[link]

From the mid-19th century until 1939, two U.S. Government cabinet departments used the title "commissioner" for officials posted abroad who did not enjoy diplomatic status. U.S. federal agencies have not titled officials posted abroad as commissioners since 1939.

U.S. Department of Agriculture[link]

During the 19th century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began sending employees, called "agricultural commissioners", abroad to investigate foreign agriculture. These appointments were of a roving nature, as the officials were not assigned to a particular country or city. In 1919 USDA posted to London an agricultural commissioner without diplomatic status, Edward Foley, to report on British agriculture. Additional commissioners were posted through the 1920s to Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Shanghai. The title began to be phased out in 1930 with passage of the Foreign Agricultural Service Act, which granted USDA authority to use the diplomatic title "attaché". The last USDA employee to bear the title "agricultural commissioner" was Owen Dawson, agricultural commissioner at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, who received diplomatic status and the title agricultural attaché in 1939 when USDA's overseas officers were transferred to the Department of State.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Noted American author Mark Twain recounted meeting one of the 19th-century roving agricultural commissioners in Innocents Abroad:

I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of "Professors" of various kinds, and a gentleman who had "COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA" thundering after his name in one awful blast! I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it maybe; but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher.

I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing. I said that if that potentate must go over in our ship, why, I supposed he must -- but that to my thinking, when the United States considered it necessary to send a dignitary of that tonnage across the ocean, it would be in better taste, and safer, to take him apart and cart him over in sections in several ships.

Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute, I would have felt so much relieved.^[11]

U.S. Department of Commerce[link]

Following unification of the U.S. Foreign Service under the Rogers Act in 1924, overseas trade promotion shifted from consuls of the United States to "trade commissioners" employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Most but not all trade commissioners were retitled commercial attachés upon creation of the Foreign Commerce Service (viz.) in 1927. The title "trade commissioner" went out of use in the United States when Commerce's overseas officials were transferred to the Department of State and all three U.S. foreign services (of the Departments of State, Agriculture and Commerce) were merged in 1939 under Reorganization Plan No. II.^[5][12]

Non-public entities[link]

The Salvation Army[link]

In The Salvation Army the rank of Commissioner is the second-highest attainable rank and the highest rank by appointment,^[13] as the rank of General is by election. It is one of the original ranks of the Army and has been in use since 1880, the first Commissioner was George Scott Railton.

Scouting[link]

Within the Scout Movement, a Commissioner is a senior adult leader who is responsible for the management of an aspect of Scouting and/or the leadership of other adults, as opposed to adult leaders who lead youth members.

Sports[link]

In many North American sports leagues, including nearly all professional leagues, the commissioner is the highest executive position. The exact powers of the commissioner depend on the constitution and/or rules of the league. Commissioners are elected by the owners of the league's clubs, and handle matters such as discipline, arbitration of disputes between the clubs, etc.

The title was first used in 1920, when Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in the aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal. Landis was titled "Commissioner" partly to distinguish his office from that of the "President" of the American and National Leagues. Landis' title derived from the National Commission, the ruling body for baseball established in 1903, which were largely autonomous organizations at the time. Eager to restore public confidence in their sport's integrity, baseball owners gave Landis absolute power and a lifetime contract,^{[dubious – discuss]} which permitted the former judge to assume more power over the sport than a commissioner in any sport has held since.^{[citation needed]}

The other major professional sports leagues of North America followed suit, replacing their positions of league president with that of commissioner. The National Football League appointed its first commissioner in 1941, the National Basketball Association in 1967, and the National Hockey League in 1993. However, the commissioners' powers and responsibilities in these leagues are not substantially different from those of the presidents that preceded them. Although baseball's subsequent commissioners have not had the absolute power that Landis did, current Commissioner Bud Selig has succeeded in centralizing authority over Major League Baseball in the commissioner's office, relegating the position of league president to an honorary title and giving baseball's commissioner competencies similar to those of his colleagues in the other major sports.^{[citation needed]}

Many minor professional and amateur leagues throughout the United States and Canada have also appointed commissioners. The title has not caught on outside North America. In addition to Selig, the other current commissioners of the North American major professional leagues are Roger Goodell in the NFL, David Stern in the NBA, Gary Bettman in the NHL, and Don Garber in MLS.

Compound titles[link]

In many cases the term Commissioner is part of a more specific title, including English renditions of such titles in other languages. Examples (in some cases there are further compounds) include:

• Assistant Commissioner
• Chief Commissioner
• Civil Commissioner
• Commissioner of Business Services
• Commissioner of Finance
• Commissioner of Legal Services
• Commissioner of Public Lands
• Commissioner of Public Works
• Commissioner-General
• Deputy Commissioner
• District Commissioner
• Divisional Commissioner
• Extraordinary Commissioner
• Federal Commissioner
• Fire Commissioner
• Government Commissioner
• High Commissioner
• Imperial Commissioner
• Insurance Commissioner
• Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
• Lord High Commissioner and its further compounds, notably Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
• Military and Civil Commissioner
• Police Commissioner
• Provincial Commissioner
• Resident Commissioner
• Royal commissioner
• Scout Commissioner
• Special Commissioner
• State Commissioner and Commissioner of State
• Trade Commissioner
• Traveling Commissioner

See also[link]

• Ombudsman
• List of Commissioners of New South Wales Police
• List of Northwest Territories commissioners
• List of Nunavut commissioners
• List of Yukon commissioners

External links[link]

• Official Handbook for Commissioners of the Territories (Canada)
• WorldStatesmen

References[link]

Suresh Gopi
Born	Suresh Gopinathan Nair (1959-06-26) June 26, 1959 (age 53)[1] Kollam, Kerala, India
Other names	Suresh
Occupation	Film actor, playback singer[2]
Years active	1965, 1986 - present
Spouse	Radhika
Children	Lekshmi (deceased), Gokul, Bhagya, Bhavna, and Madhav
Parents	K Gopinatha Pillai, V Gyanalaxmi[3]
Website
http://www.bharatsureshgopi.com

Suresh Gopinathan Nair (born 26 June 1959),^[1] often credited as Suresh Gopi (Malayalam: സുരേഷ് ഗോപി), is a national award winning Indian film actor who works mainly in Malayalam cinema; he is famous for his roles in police dramas. He is noted for his leading roles as much as his character roles. He is also famous for his philanthropic efforts.^[4]

Personal life[link]

He was born in Kollam into a Hindu family to Gnanalekshmi and Gopinathan Pillai. Suresh Gopi did his schooling at the Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian High School at Thangasseri. He graduated with a BSc in Zoology and M.A in English literature from Fatima Mata National College in Kollam. He is married to Radhika, the granddaughter of late actress Aranmula Ponnamma, and has five children: Lekshmi (deceased in a traffic accident at the age of two in 1992), Gokul, Bhagya, Bhaavni, and Madhav. He is settled at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) and is currently living in Sasthamangalam

Career[link]

1965: Child artist[link]

Suresh Gopi first appeared onscreen as a child in K. S. Sethumadhavan's Odeyil Ninnu (1965). It was a popular film that had Sathyan in the lead role along with Prem Nazir.

1980s: Early career[link]

He returned to acting in the mid-80s with Sathyan Anthikkad's T.P. Balagopalan M.A. (1986), where he played a prospective groom in a small scene. He went on to play supporting and villain roles. Some other roles of his include Balan in Nandi Veendum Varika (1986), Kumar in Rajavinte Makan (1986), Vinod in January Oru Orma (1987), Shekaran Kutty in Irupatham Noottandu (1987), Suresh in New Delhi (1987), Harry in Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), Unni in 1921 (1988), and Aromal Chekavar in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989). He played the comic role of Inspector "Minnal" Prathapan in Manu Uncle (1988) and of Dr. Narendran in Padmarajan's Innale (1989).

He played Sethumadhavan in Siddique-Lal's blockbuster In Harihar Nagar (1990). Another role was of Christopher Luke in Viji Thampy's Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam (1990). The film that helped him get noticed as a serious police officer was the satirical comedy Aanaval Mothiram (1990), where he played Sub-Inspector Nandakumar and co-starred with Sreenivasan.

1990s: Peak[link]

The films that made Suresh Gopi a bankable lead actor were Thalastaanam (1992), Ekalavyan (1993), Mafia (1993) and Commissioner (1994), all by Shaji Kailas and scripted by Ranji Panicker. All of them were police dramas and had, more or less, similar themes. He became immensely popular with his role as Bharathchandran IPS in the block-buster movie Commissioner. Renji Panicker's dialogues employed by Suresh Gopi in English became quite popular with the masses.

During this period, most of his films were dubbed and simultaneously released in Telugu, which made him a sensation in Andhra Pradesh.

During the early to mid 90s, he also played characters of substance in films such as Jayaraj's Paithrukam (1993), Fazil's Manichithrathazhu (1993), Sathyan Anthikkad's Samooham (1993) and Sibi Malayil's Sindoora Rekha (1995).

The success of his cop roles led to more films of such nature, where he either played police officers or other tough characters in films such as City Police (1993), The City (1994), Rudraksham (1994), Kashmeeram (1994), and Mahatma (1996), with most of them failing to get noticed.

In 1997, with Jayaraj's Kaliyattam (1997), an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, Suresh Gopi won the National Film Award for Best Actor for playing Kannan Perumalayan. He proved he was more than just another mainstream actor. This was a turning point in his career.

In the late 90s, Suresh Gopi was noted for playing in Joshi's films such as Lelam (1998) and Pathram (1999), again, scripted by Ranji Panicker. He played Nasrani character Chackochi in Lelam and journalist Nandagopal in Pathram where he co-starred with Manju Warrier. Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, and Manju Warrier teamed up in Sibi Malayil's Summer in Bethlahem (1998) which was a commercial success.

2000 - Present[link]

He started off 2000 with Millennium Stars directed by Jayaraj. The movie was a colossal flop and severely affected the careers of all the stars involved. But he had a success later the same year in Thenkasipattanam. After 2000, when his films were doing fairly well, he decided to stop acting in movies depicting violence, a decision he would later regret. It was also rumored that he was giving up his acting career for pursuing a political career. He acted in off-beat movies and accepted only soft roles from 2001 to 2005. With his movies failing to make an impact, he had just one release each in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he decided to return to action movies. Ranji Panicker, scriptwriter of his most successful movie, Commissioner, directed the sequel Bharathchandran I.P.S. portraying him as the police commissioner. The movie was a super hit and was followed by a number of movies in the same genre, in which he played the typical police officer or detective. Some of them were successful, like The Tiger, Chinthamani Kolacase directed by Shaji Kailas, Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri directed by K. Madhu and Detective. All the others, such as Time, Aayudham, Thavalam, Rashtram, Pathaka, Bullet and Smart City, were flops. In between he attempted to do a different role with negative shades in Lanka which, flopped at the box office and ignited a controversy for an unaesthetic kissing scene with his female co-star, Mamta Mohandas. In 2006 he reunited with his favorite director Shaji Kailas for the movie Time, which had huge expectations but bombed at the box office. It was dubbed into Telugu as Police Ante Veedera and Hindi as On Duty, but failed to fetch better results.

Before coming to the film world, he had displayed great interest in the field of literature; his favourite authors are Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare. He is famous for his philanthropic efforts.

In 2008, Suresh Gopi appeared in multi-starrer Twenty: 20 produced by AMMA. Again, he acted with Mohanlal in Pakal Nakshatrangal, an off-beat movie directed by Rajiv Nath.

In 2010, he appeared with Mohanlal, Dileep and Sarath Kumar for another multi-starrer Christian Brothers.

In 2011, Suresh Gopi acted in the film Melvilasom, which though did not succeed that well commercially was critically lauded. Melvilasom, with nuances in theme and story was another novelty that Malayalam cinema saw in 2011.

In 2012, the making of yet another sequel of Commissioner, The King & the Commissioner with Mammootty has released on 23 March 2012. Suresh Gopi is also the anchor of Asianet's Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran program, which is the Malayalam edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ^[5] and Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Awards[link]

National Film Awards:

• Best Actor - 1998 - Kaliyattam

Kerala State Film Awards:

• Best Actor - 1998 - Kaliyattam

Film Critics Awards:

• Film Critics Best Actor Award (three times)

• Best Supporting Actor Award (four times)

• In July 2005, he was considered for the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a mentally distressed person in Ullam and as a doctor in Makalkku, but lost out

Trivia[link]

• Suresh Gopi's father was a friend of producer Balaji and they both named their sons Suresh. Suresh Balaji is also a well known producer in South Indian industry. Balaji is superstar Mohanlal's father-in-law.
• Suresh Gopi films of 1990's were criticized for excessive violence and after 2000 Suresh Gopi pledged not to use a gun in any of his movies. This led to a five year downfall to his career. He revoked his pledge in 2005 to appear in Bharathchandran I.P.S. in which he appears with a revolver in the first scene.
• He is a strong supporter of Indian National Congress and was close to former Kerala Chief Minister K. Karunakaran.

See also[link]

• Cinema of Kerala

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Suresh Gopi biography and filmography
• Suresh Gopi at the Internet Movie Database

Trey Gowdy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Bob Inglis
Solicitor for South Carolina's 7th Judicial Circuit
In office 2000–2011
Succeeded by	Holman Gossett
Personal details
Born	Harold Watson Gowdy III (1964-08-22) August 22, 1964 (age 47) Greenville, South Carolina
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Terri Dillard Gowdy
Children	Watson and Abigail
Residence	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Alma mater	Baylor University University of South Carolina School of Law
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Baptist
Website	treygowdy.com

Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 4th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Before his election to Congress, he was the solicitor (district attorney) for the state's Seventh Judicial Circuit, comprising Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.

Early life and education[link]

He was born in 1964 in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of Novalene (née Evans) and Dr. Harold Watson "Hal" Gowdy, Jr.^[1][2] Trey graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1982. He earned a B.A. in history from Baylor University in 1986 and a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1989.

Judicial career[link]

Following law school, he clerked for the late John P. Gardner on the South Carolina Court of Appeals and United States District Court Judge Ross Anderson. He then went into private practice before becoming a federal prosecutor in April 1994. He was awarded the Postal Inspector’s Award for the successful prosecution of J. Mark Allen, one of “America’s Most Wanted” suspects.

In February 2000, he left the United States Attorney’s Office to run for 7th Circuit Solicitor. He defeated incumbent Solicitor Holman Gossett^[3] in the Republican primary. No other party even put up a candidate, ensuring his election in November. He was reelected in 2004 and 2008, both times completely unopposed. During his tenure, he appeared on “Forensic Files” twice, as well as Dateline NBC and SCETV.^[4]

When the state faced a budget crunch that forced many employees to go on unpaid furloughs, Gowdy funneled part of his campaign account into the solicitor's budget so his staff could keep working.^[5]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

2010

In the summer of 2009, Gowdy announced that he would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis in the Republican primary for South Carolina's 4th congressional district. Inglis, who got a 93% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, angered the conservative wing of the Republican party by supporting cap and trade as a result of his belief that global warming is man made.^[6] He drew five Republican challengers, and Gowdy was one of them. In the June 2010 primary, Gowdy ranked first getting 39% of the vote, short of the 50% majority threshold to win outright and avoid a run-off. Inglis obtained just 27% of the vote. Jim Lee got 14%, State Senator David Thomas got 13% of the vote, and Christina Fawcett ranked last with 7% of the vote.^[7][8]

In the run-off election, Gowdy defeated Inglis 70%-30%.^[9] The 4th is so heavily Republican that it was widely presumed Gowdy had assured himself of a seat in Congress.^[10] Gowdy defeated Democratic nominee Paul Corden 63%-29%.^[11]

2012

Gowdy is running for re-election to a second term in the newly redrawn South Carolina's 4th congressional district. No one has filed to run against him so far. Gowdy was slightly disappointed because a large part of Spartanburg County, his home county, was eliminated out of his district. But he was overall satisfied because more Republicans were put into the district. Roll Call rated his district as Safe Republican in 2012.^[12]

Tenure[link]

Gowdy considers himself to be a staunch conservative. During his short tenure in congress, Gowdy has been in a feud with Republican U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner and in early 2012 he stopped going to House Republican Conference meetings. Gowdy commented on Boehner's leadership, saying "there's no use to having the majority if you are going to be hamstrung by your perception of political vicissitudes."^[13]

In December 2011, he told Congressional Quarterly that “I just think when you’re dealing with the Constitution you should have as much clarity as you can."^[5][14] In August 2011 during the 2011 United States debt ceiling crisis, Gowdy said Boehner "has done the best job he can negotiating with himself, which is what he's been doing for the past six months. But you've got to vote the conscience of your constituents."^[15] In March 2012, Gowdy said “It’s a numbers thing. I don’t criticize Boehner for it. He can move to the right and try to pass it out of the House, or you can move to the center and try to pass it (in the U.S. Senate).”^[16] In 2012, he was awarded by the conservative Club for Growth as a Defender of Economic Freedom. It's awarded to the members of congress who have the year's highest ranking. Gowdy scored 97 out of 100. He was one of only 34 congressmen given the award.^[17]

Gowdy considers himself "pro-life plus", meaning that he believes "in the sanctity of life" and that "the strategy should be broader than waiting for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade."^[18]

Trey Gowdy signed the Contract From America, which aims to "Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care".^[19][20]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs

Personal life[link]

Gowdy and his wife Terri have two children: Watson and Abigail. Terri Dillard Gowdy is a teacher's aide in Spartanburg School District 7. Gowdy has three sisters, 4 nieces, and 4 nephews.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Congressman Trey Gowdy official U.S. House site
• Trey Gowdy for Congress official campaign site
• Profile at Spartanburg County Government site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

Paul Ryan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Mark Neumann
Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John Spratt
Personal details
Born	Paul Davis Ryan (1970-01-29) January 29, 1970 (age 42) Janesville, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Janna Ryan
Children	Elizabeth, Charles, and Samuel
Residence	Janesville, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Miami University (B.A.)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan

Paul Davis Ryan^[1] (born January 29, 1970) is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party, and has been ranked among the party's most influential voices on economic policy.^[2][3][4]

Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan graduated from Miami University in Ohio and later worked as a marketing consultant for Ryan Incorporated Central, run by a branch of his family. In the mid to late 1990s, he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten, as legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and as a speechwriter for former U.S. Representative and 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp of New York. In 1998, Ryan won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding the two-term incumbent, fellow Republican Mark Neumann.

Ryan currently chairs the House Budget Committee, where he has played a prominent public role in drafting and promoting the Republican Party's long-term budget proposal. He introduced a plan, The Path to Prosperity, in April 2011 as an alternative to the budget proposal of President Barack Obama, and helped introduce The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal in March 2012, in response to Obama's 2013 budget.^[5] Ryan is one of the three co-founders of the Young Guns Program, an electoral recruitment and campaign effort by House Republicans. He endorsed Republican presidential candidate and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney for the 2012 United States presidential election.^[6] Ryan has been considered as a possible running mate for Romney.^[7]

Early life, education, and career[link]

Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest child of Elizabeth A. "Betty" (née Hutter) and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer.^[8][9][10] He is of Irish and German ancestry,^[11] and is a fifth-generation Janesville native. Ryan's great-grandfather is Patrick William Ryan, who founded the Ryan Incorporated Central construction business in 1884.^[12] Ryan's mother is an outdoors enthusiast who led her husband and four children (Ryan's sister Janet and two brothers, Tobin and Stan) on regular hiking and skiing trips in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.^[9][13] As a boy, Ryan attended Camp Manito-wish YMCA, a wilderness canoe tripping camp located in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin; while in college, he returned there to work as a staff member and counselor during summer vacation.

Ryan attended Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville. In college, he briefly worked for Oscar Mayer as a Wienermobile driver.^[14] Ryan went on to graduate from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a BA in economics and political science in 1992. He also studied at the Washington Semester program at American University and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity. Following his studies, Ryan returned to Wisconsin and worked as a marketing consultant for an earth-moving company run by a branch of his family.^[13][15]

Ryan was 16 years old when he found his father in bed, dead from a heart attack at age 55. As a result, he received Social Security survivor's benefits until he turned 18. Ryan's grandfather and great-grandfather had also died from heart attacks, at ages 57 and 59 respectively.^[16]

Early political career[link]

In 2005, Ryan said, "The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand".^[17] New York magazine has claimed that Ryan requires his staff to read Atlas Shrugged.^[18] In 2012, however, he said that while as a young man he became interested in economics because of her novels, "It’s a big stretch to suggest that a person is therefore an Objectivist... I reject her philosophy. It's an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person's view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas. Don't give me Ayn Rand."^[19]

During his junior year at Miami University, Ryan worked as an intern opening mail for the foreign affairs advisor assigned to Senator Bob Kasten of Wisconsin.^[20] Concerned that her son "...was destined to become a ski bum", Betty Ryan reportedly nudged him to accept another congressional position as a staff economist attached to Kasten's office.^[20][21] In his early years working in D.C., Ryan moonlighted on Capitol Hill as a waiter at the Tortilla Coast restaurant and as a fitness trainer at Washington Sport and Health Club, among various other side jobs.^[22]

After Kasten was defeated by Democrat Russ Feingold in 1992, Ryan became a speechwriter and a volunteer economic analyst with Empower America, an advocacy group formed by Jack Kemp, former education secretary Bill Bennett, the late diplomat Jeane Kirkpatrick, and former Representative Vin Weber of Minnesota.^[16][23]

Ryan worked as a speechwriter for Kemp, the Republican vice presidential candidate in the 1996 United States presidential election, and later worked as legislative director for US Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. Ryan then returned to Wisconsin, where he worked as a consultant to an earth-moving company.^{[citation needed]} In 1998, he ran for Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Following his first election to the US House of Representatives in 1998, one of Ryan's priorities as a new congressman was to convert a truck into a rolling district office. This allowed him to keep regular congressional office hours with his constituents at various locations across Wisconsin's 1st congressional district.^[24][1]

In 2002, Ryan voted in favor of the Iraq War resolution, authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq.^[25] In 2003 he voted in favor of the Medicare Part D prescription drug expansion.^[26]

In 2005, Ryan spoke at a Celebration of Ayn Rand event hosted by The Atlas Society. During the event, Ryan spoke about the influence of Atlas Shrugged on his life.^[27]

He is one of the three founding members of the House GOP Young Guns Program.

In 2008, Ryan voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Wall Street bailout that precipitated the Tea Party movement, and the bailout of GM and Chrysler.^[28]

In 2010, The Daily Telegraph ranked Ryan the ninth most influential US conservative.^[2] In 2011, he was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address.^[29]

In 2012, Ryan accused the nation's top military leaders of using "smoke and mirrors" to remain under budget limits passed by Congress.^[30] Ryan later said that he misspoke on the issue and called General Martin Dempsey to apologize for his comments.^[31]

Ryan's Second Budget Plan[link]

At the end of March 2012, the House of Representatives passed a newer version of Ryan's budget plan along partisan lines 228 yeas to 191 nays; ten Republicans voted against bill, along with all the House Democrats.^[32] Ryan's budget would reduce all discretionary spending in the budget from 12.5% of GDP in 2011 to 3.75% of GDP in 2050. This goal has been criticized as unrealistic since it includes spending on defense, which has never fallen below 3% of GDP.^[33] Congressman Justin Amash, a Republican from Michigan criticized Ryan's budget for insufficient cuts, its continuation of deficit spending through 2022 and beyond, and its exemption of military spending from reductions. ^[34] His budget has also been criticized because it would not balance the budget until 2035. Marc Goldwein, the policy directory for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget stated "We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again, And you know what? We don't have to." Ryan saw this as evidence of the severity of the deficit crisis.^[35]

The 2012 Ryan budget also received criticism from elements of the Catholic Church, specifically from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and from faculty and administrators of Georgetown University. In its letter to Rep. Ryan, the group of Georgetown faculty and administrators criticized the Ryan budget as trying to "to dismantle government programs and abandon the poor to their own devices," going on to say that Catholic teaching "demands that higher levels of government provide help—"subsidium"—when communities and local governments face problems beyond their means to address such as economic crises, high unemployment, endemic poverty and hunger." The letter also criticizes Ryan for his attempts at "gutting government programs" and states that Ryan is "profoundly misreading Church teaching."^[36] A statement issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized the Ryan budget in similar terms.^[37] Ryan rejects the bishops' criticism that his budget plans would disproportionately cut programs that "serve poor and vulnerable people."^[38] Ryan's difficulties with the Catholic Church worsened when videos of Ryan praising and endorsing the "morality" of Ayn Rand's hyper-individualist philosophy were published on Youtube in 2012. ^[39]

In May of 2012, Ryan voted for H.R. 4310 which would increase spending on defense, Afghanistan and various weapon systems to the level of $642 billion - $8 billion more than what was agreed to by President Obama and the Congress in the summer of 2011. ^[40]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on the Budget (Chairman)
• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Sportsmen's Caucus (Co-Chair)

Roadmap for America's Future[link]

Ryan speaking at CPAC in February 2011.

On May 21, 2008, Ryan introduced H.R. 6110, titled "Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2008."^[41] This proposed legislation outlined a plan to deal with entitlement spending.^[42] Its stated objectives were: to ensure universal access to health insurance; to strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security; to lift debt from future generations; and to promote economic growth and job creation in America.^[43] Despite significant press coverage, it did not move past committee.^[44]

On April 1, 2009, Ryan introduced his alternative to the 2010 United States federal budget. This alternative budget would have eliminated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, lowered the top tax rate to 25%, introduced an 8.5% value-added consumption tax, and imposed a five-year spending freeze on all discretionary spending.^[45] It would also have replaced Medicare.^[46] Instead, it proposed that starting in 2021, the federal government would pay part of the cost of private medical insurance for individuals turning 65.^[46] Ryan's proposed budget would also have allowed taxpayers to opt out of the federal income taxation system with itemized deductions, and instead pay a flat 10 percent of adjusted gross income up to $100,000 and 25 percent on any remaining income.^[47] Ryan's proposed budget was heavily criticized by opponents for the lack of concrete numbers.^[48] It was ultimately rejected in the house by a vote of 293-137, with 38 Republicans in opposition.^[49]

In late January 2010, Ryan released a new version of his Roadmap.^[50] The modified plan would: give across the board tax cuts by reducing income tax rates; eliminate income taxes on capital gains, dividends, and interest; and abolish the corporate income tax, estate tax, and alternative minimum tax. The plan would privatize a portion of Social Security,^[51][52] eliminate the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance,^[52] and privatize Medicare.^[51][52]

On April 15, 2011, the House passed the Ryan Plan by a vote of 235-193. Four Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting against it.^[53] A month later, the bill died in the Senate by a vote of 57-40, with five Republicans and most Democrats in opposition.^[54]

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman criticized the contention that Ryan's plan would reduce the deficit, alleging that it only considered proposed spending cuts and failed to take into account tax changes. According to Krugman, Ryan's plan "would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population" and produce a $4 trillion revenue loss over ten years from tax cuts for the rich. Krugman went on to label the proposed spending cuts a "sham" because they depended on making a severe cut in domestic discretionary spending without specifying the programs to be cut, and on "dismantling Medicare as we know it," which is politically unrealistic.^[55]

In response to Krugman, economist and former American Enterprise Institute scholar Ted Gayer wrote a more positive assessment of the Ryan plan. Gayer agreed that, as written, the plan would cause a $4 trillion revenue shortfall over 10 years. He noted, however, that Ryan had expressed a willingness to consider raising rates in his tax plan.^{[clarification needed]} Gayer concluded that "Ryan’s vision of broad-based tax reform, which essentially would shift us toward a consumption tax... makes a useful contribution to this debate."^[56]

Journalist Ramesh Ponnuru, writing in National Review, argued that the revenue loss to which Krugman refers is based on a comparison between Ryan's plan and current law, which "includes middle-class tax increases... cuts in payment to Medicare providers... [and] the expansion of the Alternative Minimum Tax."^[57] He added that "current law automatically raises the tax rates to pre-Bush levels in 2013... so if you're comparing the tax level with current law, Ryan's plan represents a tax cut" and "the CBO's actual projections for the Ryan plan show a debt level in 2021 that is $4.7 trillion lower than its projections for Obama's budgets."^[57]

Rick Foster, the chief actuary of Medicare, endorsed Ryan's plan for reducing Medicare costs: "If you can put that pressure on the research and development community, you might have a fighting chance of changing the nature of new medical technology in a way that makes lower costs like this possible and more sustainable. I would say that the Roadmap has that potential. There is some potential for the Affordable Care Act price reductions, although I’m a little less confident about that."^[58]

In December 2011, it was revealed that Ryan would begin a new push for changes in Medicare in 2012 by working with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to modify Ryan's previous Medicare proposal. His most recent approach for semi-privatization of Medicare would keep traditional Medicare as an option for senior citizens, but would also introduce private insurance into an exchange market to compete with traditional Medicare. Seniors would still be given a voucher to purchase care if they so desired, as in his previous proposal. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has supported a similar plan in his campaign.^[59]

Opposition to SOPA[link]

On January 9, 2012, four months after the introduction of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Ryan pledged his opposition to the bill, saying, "The internet is one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history. It should stay that way. While H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, attempts to address legitimate problems, I believe it creates the precedent and possibility for undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse. I do not support H.R. 3261 in its current form and will oppose the legislation should it come before the full House."^[60]

Political campaigns[link]

Ryan was first elected to the House in 1998, when two-term incumbent Mark Neumann retired from his seat in order to make an unsuccessful bid for the Senate. Ryan won both a Republican primary over 29-year-old pianist Michael J. Logan of Twin Lakes and the general election against Democratic opponent Lydia Spottswood.^[61] Ryan successfully defended his seat against Democratic challenger Jeffrey C. Thomas in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.^[62] In 2002, Ryan had also faced Libertarian candidate George Meyers.

2008[link]

Ryan defeated Democratic nominee Marge Krupp by a wide margin in the 2008 general election.^[62]

2010[link]

Ryan defeated both Democratic nominee John Heckenlively and Libertarian nominee Joseph Kexel by a wide margin in the 2010 general election.

Electoral history[link]

Personal life[link]

Ryan married Janna Little, a tax attorney,^[1] in December 2000.^[8] The Ryans live in Janesville with their three children Elizabeth Anne, Charles Wilson, and Samuel Lowery.^[63]

Ryan is a Catholic and is a member of St. John Vianney's Church.^[64]

Ryan is a fitness enthusiast and promotes fitness as a daily routine for young people. In 2009, his exercise program was based on the P90x fitness program.^[22]

References[link]

External links[link]

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