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Marty Meehan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 1993–
Preceded by	Chester Atkins
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Ellen Meehan

Martin Thomas "Marty" Meehan (born December 30, 1956) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Massachusetts. A Democrat, Meehan has served in the United States House of Representatives since 1993 as the representative of Massachusetts's fifth congressional district. In July 2007, he will leave Congress to become Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Personal life and education

Meehan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the oldest son in a family of seven children. He attended public schools in Lowell, graduating from Lowell High School in 1974. Meehan went on to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education/political science. Later Meehan attended Suffolk University, graduating with a Master of Public Administration degree in 1981, and Suffolk University Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor law degree in 1986. Meehan is a Roman Catholic. He has been married to Ellen T. Murphy, the former vice president at Lawrence General Hospital, since 1996, and they have two children together: Daniel Martin and Robert Francis.

Political career

Interspersed with his post-college studies, Meehan held a number of political positions. From 1978 to 1979 Meehan served on the staff to the mayor of Lowell. He was the press assistant to Representative James Shannon from 1979 to 1981 and the head research analyst for the Massachusetts Senate's joint committee on election laws from 1981 to 1984.

After completing his law degree, Meehan served as director of public affairs to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and Deputy Secretary of State for Securities and Corporations from 1986 to 1990. From 1987 to 1988, Meehan was a member of the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and Harvard Law School. From 1991 to 1992, Meehan was the First Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County.

Meehan ran for the U.S. House in the 1992 election and was elected on November 3 1992. He took office in January 1993. Meehan is generally considered to be a political liberal. Meehan is a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform and was one of the major sponsors of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (called the "Shays-Meehan Bill" in the House and the "McCain-Feingold Bill" in the Senate). He has also been noted for his activism on gay rights issues; for example, Meehan is the chief sponsor of the measure repealing the don't ask, don't tell policy.

Meehan's campaign fund is among the largest campaign accounts of any House member, with $4,829,540 cash on hand reported in October 15, 2005. This is the result of raising more money than he spent in several campaigns since his first in 1992.

In the 2004 Congressional race, Meehan raised $3,170,733 and spent $459,977 of that, thus adding $2,710,756 to his cash on hand. His opponent, Tom Tierney raised $30,943 and spent $30,406. Overall, in the 2004 race, incumbents in the House of Representatives on average raised $1,122,505 compared to $192,964 for their challengers.

Meehan was mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004, if Massachusetts' junior senator, John Kerry, had been elected to the presidency.

Currently he is working with former Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva and a bipartisan group of representatives to Capitol Hill to reintroduce the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, legislation that would repeal the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay service members.

Controversies

Term limits

Meehan successfully ran for the House in 1992 on a platform of reform, including a commitment to pushing through term limits for members of the House. As part of that platform, Meehan made a pledge not to serve more than four terms. On the House floor in 1995 he scolded members who might go back on their promise to limit their tenure in office (see George Nethercutt). "The best test of any politicians' credibility on term limits," he said, "is whether they are willing to put their careers where their mouths are and limit their own service." Despite his pledge, Meehan again ran for Congress in the year 2000, exceeding four terms.

Post 9/11 criticism of President Bush

Meehan came under intense criticism in the days following the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 when the Boston Herald reported that he criticized President Bush for not returning to Washington, D.C. sooner then he did after the attacks. Meehan was quoted as saying "I don't buy the notion Air Force One was a target ... That's just PR. That's just spin.". Lowell police posted a guard outside his congressional district after receiving reports of threatening phone calls. He later said his views were misrepresented, and that he believed Bush had done "an excellent job."

Misplaced Pages editing

An unidentified individual operating through the U.S. House of Representatives' internet connection made several favorable edits as well as removing statements declaring Meehan's original campaign platform that included a promise not to run for more than four terms. Meehan's own chief of staff at the time, Matt Vogel, admitted to the press that he oversaw the edits and removal of the section that pointed out Meehan's decision not to step down from office after four terms.

Committee assignments and caucus memberships

Committee assignments

• House Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Military Personnel
  • Oversight and Investigations (Chairman)
• House Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
  • Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims

Congressional caucuses

• Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
• Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
• Congressional Fire Services Caucus
• Congressional Human Rights Caucus
• Congressional Manufacturing Task Force (founder)
• Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health (co-chair)
• Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
• Minor League Baseball Caucus
• National Guard & Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization
• Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition (co-chair)
• Sustainable Development Caucus (co-chair)

Retirement from Congress

On March 14, 2007, Meehan was named Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Meehan will leave his congressional post around July. His departure will set off the first competitive congressional race in Massachusetts in more than five years. James Ogonowski is the first Republican to announce his intention to run for the seat while several Democrats have announced their candidacy, including Jamie Eldridge, Niki Tsongas, Jim Miceli, Eileen M. Donoghue and Barry Finegold. This special election will be the election that will determine Meehan's successor. Please see the special election page for more complete information on the candidates.

References

1. 2004 ELECTION OVERVIEW: Incumbent Advantage on http://www.opensecrets.org. Accessed 7 February 2006.
2. progressiveu.org
3. Catherine Edwards, The Promise of Term Limits, June 28, 1999. Accessed on 7 February 2006.
4. cnn.com
5. wired.com
6. Associated Press, Meehan staff are said to admit rewriting data

External links

• U.S. Congressman Marty Meehan official House site
• United States Congress. "Marty Meehan (id: m000627)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Federal Election Commission - Martin T Meehan campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues - Marty Meehan issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org - Marty Meehan campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Martin T. 'Marty' Meehan (MA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia - Marty Meehan profile
• Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Marty Meehan voting record
• Marty Meehan for Congress official campaign site
• Congress 'made Misplaced Pages changes' Matthew Davis, BBC News, February 9, 2006

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• 1956 births
• Current members of the United States House of Representatives
• Irish-American politicians
• Living people
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
• Roman Catholic politicians
• Suffolk University alumni
• Misplaced Pages as a media topic