Norm Coleman



Norman Bertram "Norm" Coleman Jr., a Republican, was a Senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. (map) In January, 2009, he went to work for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

2008 elections controversy
On January 7, 2009, Norm Coleman announced he will challenge the results of a recount for the Senate seat in Minnesota. After a review of contentious ballots, the state canvassing board gave the vote count lead to Al Franken, his Democratic challenger by 225 votes. Coleman must convince a panel of judges that certain ballots were either unfairly excluded or included by the canvassing board. Al Franken requested that Coleman's lawsuit be dismissed, but on January 22, 2009, a three-judge panel rejected that motion. The trial will begin January 26, 2009, at the Minnesota Justice Center in St. Paul.

Iraq War
Statements made by Norm Coleman on the Iraq War:
 * January 24, 2007: "Probably six months to a year, for everything. And I talked to some of my colleagues tonight, the military knows, I think they know, that they have to produce big-time over the next six months."

On February 5, 2007, Coleman was one of two Republican Senators who crossed party lines and voted to open debate on a bill opposing President Bush's troop "surge" in Iraq. The measure failed 49-47. Later on February 17, 2007, Coleman was one of seven Republicans to cross party lines and vote in favor of cloture on another non-binding resolution opposing the troop "surge." That measure failed 56-34.

Iran
On September 20, 2007, Sens. Joe Lieberman, Jon Kyl, Norman Coleman, and Lindsey Graham filed a "Sense of the Senate" resolution as Amendment No. 3017 to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill "that the U.S. should 'combat, contain, and roll back' Iran’s 'violent activities and destabilizing influence inside Iraq.' It counsels doing so 'through the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of [U.S. power], including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments.' It also urges the administration to designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization."

Opposition to proposed Armenian ambassador
On August 2, 2006, Norman said in a telephone interview that he would not support Bush's nominee as ambassador to Armenia. He stated that Richard E. Hoagland would not refer to the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. Though the Bush administration does acknowlege the killings, they do not label them genocide. Norman stated the following:

"As someone of the Jewish faith, I bring a heightened sensitivity to the reality of genocide and mass murder, and the importance of recognizing it for what it is. I was brought up believing you never forget the Holocaust, never forget what happened. And I could not imagine how our ambassador to Israel could have any effectiveness if he couldn't recognize the Holocaust."

He also stated that "I continue to be troubled by our policy that refuses to recognize what was a historical reality," referring to the United States action of not labeling the murders genicide. 

Energy and environment
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Oil
Norm Coleman has voted in favor of big oil companies on 67% of important oil-related bills from 2005-2007, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq war funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and emissions. See below for oil money in politics.

Drilling in ANWR
On December 21, 2005, Senator Coleman voted to end debate on a defense appropriations bill that included oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) after having pledged in 2002 to oppose such drilling. He stated that he did so because although he planned to vote against the bill, he didn't believe that a filibuster was warranted. The filibuster held, however, and Coleman voted to strip the ANWR provision from the bill in a subsequent vote. 

Abortion and stem-cell research
Coleman identifies himself as being pro-life – he universally opposes abortion. He supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 100% of the time in 2005. 

Coleman does support stem cell research, but only using adult stem cells and stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. 

On January 23, 2007, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) introduced a bill (S.363) aimed at providing $5 billion over 10 years for stem cell research that does not involve "crossing the ethical line of using taxpayer dollars for the destruction of human embryos." The president for the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical, Sean Tipton, said "It's not clear that this bill would allow the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to do anything it can't already do.

Gay rights/marriage
Coleman opposes the legal recognition of same-sex marriages or civil unions by either the federal or state governments:


 * As mayor of St. Paul, Coleman voted against an effort to repeal a city law which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.
 * Coleman later refused to sign a city proclamation celebrating the annual gay pride festival.
 * While running for Governor of Minnesota in 1998, Coleman's campaign ran radio ads that attacked his DFL opponent Skip Humphrey for his support of same-sex marriage.
 * In 2004, Coleman issued a press release pledging his support for a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would ban any state from recognizing same-sex marriage.
 * In 2004, Coleman voted to end a bi-partisan filibuster on that proposed amendment to the Constitution barring same sex marriage or "the legal incidents thereof" (Senate vote 155, July 14, 2004). The vote failed 48-50.

However, in 1998, Coleman hired a transgendered person, Susan Kimberly, to be his deputy mayor. (pdf)

CAFTA free trade agreement
Senator Coleman expressed reservations about supporting CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) unless the interests of the domestic U.S. sugar industry (including Minnesota's sugar beet industry) were accommodated. He voted in favor of CAFTA after obtaining quotas imposed on foreign sugar until 2008. He stood behind President Bush on August 2, 2005, as the trade agreement was signed into law. 

Protecting the sugar industry
In December 2005, Coleman voted for a budget bill that cut funding from a number of programs, but kept funding for sugar beet farmers in Minnesota after Karl Rove advocated the change. Coleman told Congress Daily that he wouldn't vote for a bill that cut sugarbeet funding but "Karl Rove called me and asked what I wanted. A few hours later it was out of the bill." 

Karl Rove and the Valerie Plame investigation
Coleman was critical of a Democratic amendment to an appropriations bill that would have denied security clearances to government officials who disclosed the identity of an undercover agent. The amendment, which was aimed at White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove amid allegations that he illegally leaked the name of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, failed 44-53. Coleman criticized Democrats for the proposal, saying, "What we're seeing today is the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sucking the oxygen out of the spirit of collegiality [in the Senate] ... making something partisan that is being handled by a special counsel ... let the counsel do his work." 

Investigations Subcommittee, Galloway testimony, and UN structural changes
Coleman has been one of the loudest voices in Congress championing major structural changes in the United Nations.

In December 2004, in connection with his position of Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Coleman called for United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan to resign because of the "UN's utter failure to detect or stop Saddam's abuses" in the UN's Oil-for-Food program and because of fraud allegations against Annan's son relating to the same program.

In May 2005, Coleman's subcommittee held hearings on their investigation of abuses of the UN Oil-for-Food program, including oil smuggling, illegal kickbacks and use of surcharges, and Saddam Hussein's use of oil vouchers for the purpose of buying influence abroad. These hearings covered the activities of several corporations and well-known political figures, but are much remembered for the appearance of British Member of Parliament George Galloway in which the MP responded forcefully to allegations against him.

"We have your name on Iraqi documents, some prepared before the fall of Saddam, some after, that identify you as one of the allocation holders," Coleman accused. "I am not now nor have I ever been an oil trader" retorted Galloway, stating that the charges were false and part of a diversionary "smoke screen" by pro-Iraq war U.S. politicians to deflect attention from the "theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth... on your watch" that had occurred not during the Oil-for-Food program but under the post-invasion Coalition Provisional Authority by "Haliburton and other American corporations... with the connivance of your own government." Galloway claimed that the subcommittee's dossier was full of distortions and rudimentary mistakes, citing, for example, the charge that he had met with Saddam Hussein "many times" when the number was two. This unusual appearance of a British MP before a US Senate committee drew much media attention in both America and Britain. 

The majority staff of the subcomittee prepared a subsequent report pertaining to Galloway which was released in October, 2005. It elaborates on the allegations and evidence of the committee and includes disputed testimony from former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz. It also alleges that another officer of Mariam Appeal, Galloway's then-wife, received $150,000 in oil kickbacks, which she denies. 

In 2004 and then again in early 2006, reports emerged linking the Australian Wheat Board to the Oil-for-Food scandal. Coleman expressed his desire to speak with Australian officials and put forth the possibility of launching an investigation into possible sanctions busting and bribery as a continuation of his earlier work on similar matters. After meeting with the Australian ambassador, however, he decided to focus his efforts elsewhere and took no direct action (see below May 28, 2006 Star Tribune citation).

Hurricane Katrina
On February 10, 2006, in a meeting of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs of which he is a member, during testimony of former FEMA director Michael D. Brown, Coleman attacked Brown for poor leadership during Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts, "you didn't provide the leadership, even with structural infirmities." Coleman went on, "you're not prepared to kind of put a mirror in front of your face and recognize your own inadequacies" and "the record reflects that you didn't get it or you didn't in writing or in some way make commands that would move people to do what has to be done until way after it should have been done." Brown responded combatively, "Well, Senator, that's very easy for you to say sitting behind that dais and not being there in the middle of that disaster, watching that human suffering and watching those people dying and trying to deal with those structural dysfunctionalities" and implored Coleman to stick to questions. He later likened Coleman's charges to a "drive-by shooting." Brown had recently stated that he notified Department of Homeland Security and the White House of the tremendous scale of Katrina flooding earlier than had been previously reported. 

Editing Wikipedia entry
On January 30, 2006, it was reported that Norm Coleman's staff had been actively editing his entry on Wikipedia, removing critical references to his voting record and revising the description of his former political leanings. Similar instances of edits to several senators' pages originating from Congressional IP addresses have occurred. Coleman's chief of staff said the editing was done to correct inaccuracies, but Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said "it appears to be a major rewrite of the article to make it more favorable." 

Immigration
In May 2007, Sen. Coleman voted against an amendment to the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have stripped it of any paths to citizenship or permanent residency for undocumented immigrants, leaving it largely an immigration-enforcement bill. The amendment was defeated, 29-66. The amendment was opposed by the groups like the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the AFL-CIO and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.

Background
Coleman was born August 17, 1949 in Brooklyn, New York. Coleman received his Bachelor of Arts from Hofstra University and Juris Doctor with high honors from the University of Iowa.

He was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1994 to 2002. Previously a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Coleman switched to the Republican Party of Minnesota in 1996. In college, Coleman was a liberal Democrat and was actively involved in the anti-war movement of the early 1970s. He was once suspended from Hofstra College for participating in a sit-in protest against the 1970 shootings at Kent State. When first elected mayor of St. Paul, MN in 1993, Coleman was a DFLer and considered left-of-center politically, but gradually shifted to much more conservative positions on many issues during his tenure and in December 1996 announced that he was switching parties.

In 1998, he unsuccessfully ran for governor of Minnesota against the DFL candidate Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III and the victorious Independence Party (then known as the Reform Party of Minnesota) candidate, Jesse Ventura.

Senate Career
Coleman campaigned in 2002 for the U.S. Senate, after being persuaded by Karl Rove not to run again for governor. He was elected in 2002, narrowly defeating former Vice President Walter Mondale, who only entered the race within days of the election after Sen. Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash. Coleman succeeded Dean Barkley, who was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura to serve the remainder of Wellstone's term.

In 2004 Coleman campaigned for the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (N.R.S.C.), but was narrowly defeated for the post by Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) in a close 28-27 vote. Coleman's Northstar Leadership PAC made over $200,000 worth of contributions to other Republican senators that were up for reelection during his unsuccessful bid for the NRSC chair. 

On January 31, 2007, Coleman declined to comment after he received news that comedian Al Franken decided to enter the 2008 U.S. Senate race from Minnesota.

Franken's PAC raised nearly $1 million in 2006. Although Franken cannot use that money for his Senate campaign, many believed it indicated his ability to raise money for the race. 

His senate term expired on January 3, 2009, and less than three weeks later he accepted a job as a consultant and strategic adviser for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Money in politics
cid=N00013870&cycle=2008

Oil Money in Politics
Norm Coleman has received $139,750 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $60,000 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, he has accepted $287,100 from oil companies from 2000 to 2008, which makes him a top recipient of oil money. See above for oil and energy voting record.

Committees and Affiliations

 * Director of the National Endowment for Democracy

Committees

 * Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
 * Subcommittee on Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic Agriculture, and General Legislation - Ranking Member
 * Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
 * Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
 * Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
 * Subcommittee on African Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs
 * Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Investigations
 * Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
 * Subcommittee on Forestry Conservation and Rural Revitalization
 * Subcommittee on Production and Price Competitiveness
 * Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
 * Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism
 * Subcommittee on African Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs - Chair
 * Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs
 * Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia
 * Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Member, Republican Main Street Partnership.

More Background Data

 * Compare your opinions to Norm Coleman

Contact
DC Office: 320 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510-2304 Phone: 202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-1152 Web Email Website: http://coleman.senate.gov/ Campaign website: http://www.colemanforsenate.com/

District Office- St. Paul: 2550 University Ave. West, Suite 100N St. Paul, MN 55114 Phone: 651-645-0323 Fax: 651-645-3110

District Office- Mankato: 12 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 2167 Mankato, MN 56001 Phone: 507-625-6800 Fax: 507-625-9427

Resources

 * A satirical site critical of Coleman's ties to the Bush Administration
 * Norm Coleman's Congressional Record from ReadCongress.org
 * Sean Towle, Norm Coleman's Flip-Flops, Minnesota Checks and Balances.com, accessed July 2006.
 * Campaign 2002: U.S. Senate: Norm Coleman, Minnesota Public Radio, accessed July 2006.
 * FEC disclosure report for Northstar Leadership PAC.
 * Paul Demko, "Fear of a Liberal Planet", Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages, February 11, 2004. Profile of Feather Larson & Synhorst DCI.
 * "Privately-Sponsored Travel by Senator Coleman. Republican Jewish Coalition – various," Office of Sen. Norman Coleman, undated.
 * Steve Henn, "Power Trips," American Radio Works/PublicRadio.org.
 * Follow the Oil Money-Senate
 * Vote Tracker, Oil Change International.
 * Follow the Coal Money- Senate
 * Appalachian Voices

News links

 * Norm Coleman (R-MN)'s current news items, US Politics Today.com.

By Norm Coleman

 * Speeches and Public Statements by Norm Coleman at Vote Smart.org, 2002-current.
 * "If We Don't Lead, Someone Else Will," American Experiment Quarterly, Summer 2003.
 * Statement on Abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison, Coleman's Senate website, May 4, 2004. Coleman blamed the torture at Abu Ghraib on a "small group of soldiers." Includes links to radio and television clips.
 * Statement on Rumsfeld Testimony, Coleman's Senate website, May 7, 2004: "The Secretary's testimony was contrite, candid and thorough." Includes links to radio and television clips.
 * "Kofi Annan Must Go. It's time for the secretary-general to resign," Opinion Journal, December 1, 2004.

2001

 * William Wilcoxen, "Norm Coleman's legacy," Minnesota Public Radio, December 24, 2001.

2002

 * Paul Demko, "Magical Misery Tour. Norm Coleman's 'St. Paul miracle' gets a withering report card," City Pages.com, October 9, 2002.
 * David Rubenstein, "Who is Norm Coleman?", Pulse of the Twin Cities, October 29, 2002.
 * David Rubenstein, "What would Coleman do? Coleman and the ANWR Shuffle", Pulse of the Twin Cities, October 29, 2002.
 * John J. Miller, "Who Is Norm Coleman? Meet the Republican in the Minnesota race," National Review Online, October 31, 2002.
 * "U.S. Senate: Coleman prepared to provide energetic leadership," TwinCities.com, November 3, 2002.
 * Garrison Keiler, "Empty victory for a hollow man. How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a Senate seat," Salon, November 7, 2002.
 * "New Senate Members: Norm Coleman," ''The Hill', November 13, 2002.
 * "Keillor sees state's new senator as more than a little below average," TwinCities.com, November 20, 2002.

2003

 * David Rubenstein, "He's No Wellstone", The Nation, Jan. 27, 2003.
 * Editorial: "Minnesota Should Hang Its Head in Shame for Electing Norm Coleman, A True Grand Hypocrisy Party Creep," BuzzFlash, February 28, 2003.
 * "Norm Coleman: another 'classy' Republican," Daily Kos, April 8, 2003.
 * Al Franken, "Norm and the Other 1 Percent," Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 13, 2003.
 * Morons in the News: Norm Coleman: "I'm A 99% Improvement Over My Dead Predecessor," morons.org, April 14, 2003.
 * Frederic J. Frommer, "GOP senator works to rally Jewish support for Bush," AP, June 14, 2003.
 * James Glaser, "Senator Norm Coleman, Out of Touch With Reality And Serving In The Senate," JamesGlaser.org, October 15, 2003.
 * E.J. Kessler, "Senator: Saddam Nab, Dean's Rise Make GOP An Easy Sell," Forward, December 26, 2003.

2004

 * Action Alert: Norm Coleman has recently voted against the jobless despite claiming he would support the initiative, Local 517.com, May 24, 2004.
 * Richard Leiby, "Senator's Wife Reveals Almost All!" Washington Post, August 26, 2004.
 * David Finnigan, "Republican Jews Walk Fine Line With Evangelical Allies," Religion News Service (BeliefNet.com), September 2004.
 * "Coleman on the Case" and "New Disclosures on U.N. Fraud Due Monday," Power Line Blog, November 15, 2004.
 * Joy Gordon, "UN Oil for Food 'Scandal'," The Nation, November 18, 2004.
 * E.J. Kessler, "Norm: Still the Man," AP (posted on Forward), November 22, 2004.
 * Eli Lake, "Cuts To U.N. Funding Are Weighed by Senate In Sanctions Scandal," New York Sun, November 30, 2004. Requires subscription. Commented The Daily Outrage: "Paul Volcker--the respected former chairman of the Federal Reserve--recently asked Coleman to lay low while he conducts his own investigation for Annan. Coleman quickly refused. The newest conservative demagogue apparently can't stay away from the spotlight."
 * "U.S. senator wants Annan to resign as U.N. leader. Coleman looking into alleged fraud in oil-for-food program run by U.N.," CNN, December 1, 2004.
 * "Norm Coleman's Shame," The Daily Outrage, December 6, 2004.

2005

 * Terence Samuel, "Ambitious crusader," U.S. News & World Report, January 22, 2005.
 * John Byrne, "Cosmetic surgeon brags about his work on Sen. Norm Coleman," The Raw Story, January 24, 2005: "There's now an update on this story—that Coleman may not have paid the dentist until this story first broke in Minnesota on Friday—and is likely in violation of Senate ethics rules."
 * "Norm Coleman, Big Smile!" Wonkette, January 24, 2005.
 * "Norm Coleman's Beautiful Smile Is Fake," DirtyFlower, January 25, 2005.
 * Frederic J. Frommer, "Coleman's PAC led senators in last election", Associated Press, April 8, 2005; (registration-free alternative).
 * Kevin Diaz and Rob Hotakainen, "Coleman compared to Sen. McCarthy by British legislator," Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 13, 2005: "A day after Sen. Norm Coleman implicated a member of Parliament in a U.N. oil-for-food scheme, the British legislator shot back Thursday in a cross-Atlantic exchange of words. ... The legislator, George Galloway, likened Coleman to the late U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a characterization that sets the scene for a televised confrontation on Capitol Hill Tuesday, one that could further raise the Minnesota Republican's profile."
 * "US Senator Coleman becomes bete noire of UN," AFP, May 16, 2005: "Senator Norm Coleman has taken the lead in UN-bashing in the United States and the Iraq oil-for-food scandal has given him the chance to demand the resignation of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and skewer European politicians."
 * Julian Borger and Jamie Wilson, US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals', The Guardian, May 17, 2005.
 * John Nichols, "Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington," The Nation, May 17, 2005: "Norm Coleman is a fool. ... Not an ideological nutcase, not a partisan whack, not even a useful idiot -- just a plain old-fashioned, drool-on-his-tie fool."
 * Julian Borger and Jamie Wilson, "US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals'. Report claims blind eye was turned to sanctions busting by American firms," Guardian/UK, May 17, 2005. Attaturk at Atrios Blogspot commented May 17, 2005: "Norman Coleman -- not quite a genius."
 * "Galloway: I won Senate showdown", CNN.com, May 18, 2005.
 * Kevin Diaz, "Coleman may lead defense of Rove," Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 14, 2005. Re Karl Rove: Outing Valerie Plame.

2006

 * "Coleman Staff Makes Changes To Wikipedia Bio," Associated Press, January 30, 2006.
 * Frederic J. Frommer,"GOP Senator Opposes Ambassador Nominee," AP News, August 2, 2006.
 * Rob Hotakainen, "Coleman criticized for wheat-scandal silence," Star Tribune, May 28, 2006, pp. 12A. (Not available online, verified by CMD staff September 27, 2006)

2007

 * Brady Averill, "Coleman offers $5 billion variation on stem cell studies" Star Tribune January 23, 2007.
 * Frederic J. Frommer, "Al Franken to run for U.S. Senate from Minnesota," Associated Press, (delivered by the Houston Chronicle), February 1, 2007.
 * John Aravosis, "Ask Susan Collins, Norm Coleman and John Sununu just how well the Democratic message on Iraq is selling," AMERICAblog, April 23, 2007.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Norm Coleman Supports Bush At His Own Peril," Firedoglake Blog, July 9, 2007.
 * Kevin Diaz, "Vets group ad thanks Coleman for war support," Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 1, 2007. re Vets for Freedom (VFF)
 * "Press Release: Vets for Freedom to Unveil Ad Thanking Senator Coleman for Support of Iraq Mission, Will Preview Ad, Introduce Minnesota Chairman in Thursday Teleconference," Blogs for Norm!, August 1, 2007.
 * "Vets Support Norm Coleman," Power Line Blog, August 2, 2007. Includes link to video of ad.
 * Mark Zdechlik, "Vets group runs ads in support of Coleman," Minnesota Public Radio, August 2, 2007.
 * "Coleman gets ad support for veterans' group," Associated Press (West Central Tribune), August 2, 2007.
 * "KTSP discusses the Vets for Freedom ad in support of Sen. Norm Coleman," August 2, 2007; posted on VFF website.
 * Coleen Rowley, "You're Wrong, Senator Coleman, Iraq IS a Major Issue!" The Huffington Post, September 25, 2007.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Centrisity
 * MN Publius.com