Dennis Rehberg

Dennis R. Rehberg has been a  Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Montana at large.

Iraq War
Rehberg voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Rehberg currently serves on the Military Quality of Life and Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations. In 2007, he voted against the Mandatory Troop Rest Periods between Deployments to Iraq bill (creates a mandatory rest period between deployments to Iraq for members of the Armed Forces, passed) and against the Redeployment from Iraq Act (reduces the presence of the U.S. armed forces in Iraq by April 1, 2008, passed). In 2002, he voted for the Joint Resolution on the Use of Military Force Against Iraq (adopted). 

Environmental record
Rehberg describes himself as “a lifelong steward of the land”, but he supported the interests of the League of Conservation Voters and those of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund 0 percent in 2006. He voted against the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (establish regulations and economic incentives to increase renewable energy technology and production in the United States, passed) and against the Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) Act of 2001 (would offer incentives for alternative fuel vehicles, failed). 

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

Schedule posting
Since June 2007, Rehberg began posting his daily schedule online, available here.

Abortion
Rehberg does not support legal abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's life is in danger. Rehberg is against public funding of abortions, as well as funding to organizations supporting or performing abortions. 

He states, “I believe that abortion is the unjustified taking of a human life. I feel the entire abortion debate is a very sensitive issue that hinges on the question of when life begins. Unfortunately, some people in our country today doubt the full humanity of an unborn child. I am against abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother. I support efforts in Congress to prohibit federal funding of abortions and family planning, experimentation on aborted fetuses, partial-birth abortions, and federal funding for so-called family planning groups that promote abortion.”

As of 2006, Rehberg has recieved no support (zero) from Planned Parenthood and their interests, while as of 2005-2006, the National Right to Life Committee has supported his stance on abortion one hundred (100) percent. 

Rehberg has voted for Partial Birth abortion bills (to prohibit partial birth abortions), the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (preventing minors from crossing state lines to get an abortion without parental consent, 2005, passed), and the Abortion Pain Bill (to ensure women seeking abortions are aware of the pain their unborn child will suffer, 2006, failed), and against the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (allowing overseas service women to seek an abortion with their own money in military hospitals, 2005, rejected)

Gay Marriage and Sexual Orientation
Rehberg opposes gay marriage, and supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, a bill that amends the Federal definition of a hate crime to include gender identity and sexual orientation. The bill passed, 237 to 180. 

The Human Rights Campaign gave Rehberg a rating of 0% in regards to their interests in 2001-2002. In the same year, Rehberg supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 8 percent. 

Crime
Rehberg is an advocate for the death penalty and administering harsher penalties to those who have committed a corporate crime. Rehberg pushes for support programs to help inmates with drug and alcohol problems, as well as programs focusing on vocational and job-related skills as to help inmates' transition from prison to the work force. He is against reducing prison sentences to those prosecuted for non-violent crime, and feels that minors charged with violent crimes should not be prosecuted as adults. Rehberg has pushed for Mexican-U.S. border security to stop illegal drug flow. 

Guns
Rehberg quote: "I support the second amendment. Period." 

The National Rifle Association gave Rehberg an "A" based on his past voting stance on gun issues and based off the results of a questionaire sent to all Congressional Candidates in 2006. (grading scale: A+ to F). Gun owners of America back him with 50%, while the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence gives him no support (0 percent).  

Children's Health Insurance
In 2007, Congress took up the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health care for about 6 million children and 670,000 adults from families who earn too much money qualify for Medicare but not enough to afford health insurance. Congressional Democrats and many Republicans tried to use the opportunity to dramatically expand the program but were opposed by President George W. Bush and other Republicans. In 2006, 5.4 million children were eligible but not enrolled in SCHIP or Medicaid and 9.4 million total children were uninsured.

Denny Rehberg voted against the first House bill, which passed along party lines. It would have added $47 billion over five years to the $25 billion cost of the program and added about 5 million people to the program, including children, some legal immigrants, pregnant women and adults aged 18 and 19. The bill was financed mainly by an increase in cigarette taxes.

House Democrats, with 45 Republicans, later compromised and passed a bill which expanded the plan by $35 billion and would have insured about 3.5 million more children from families generally making between 250% and 300% of the federal poverty line (about $51,000 to $62,000 for a family of four). Most non-pregnant, childless adults were excluded, as were most legal immigrants and all illegal immigrants. Rehberg voted for the bill.

After President Bush vetoed the bill, Democratic leaders attempted to override the veto with the same bill but failed. Rehberg voted for the bill.

House Democrats then attempted to override it with another bill, which gave into Republican demands for increased checks for citizenship, the quick phasing-out of adult coverage, a hard limit of 300% of the federal poverty level and funding for families that covered their children through private insurance instead. Republicans, angry that the vote was scheduled during massive fires in California, blocked the veto override. Rehberg voted for the bill. For details on the bills and the debate, see the main State Children's Health Insurance Program page.

Criticizes Bush administration over education funding for Montana
In early 2007, Rehberg criticized the Bush administration, pointing out Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling, about cuts in Montana's education funding. He argued that Montana's Indian and rural schools continued to struggle test-wise, and that the cuts would negatively affect them. He stated "Moving inadequate funds between various budgets is only rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In Montana, testing has shown many of our rural communities and Indian schools are the areas most in need. We don't need more reorganization from the department; we need more money directed to the tried and true programs where we know problems exist." 

Background
Born October 5, 1955 in Billings, Montana, Denny Rehberg served as a member of the Montana State House of Representatives| from 1984-1991. In the legislature, he considered himself to be a fiscal conservative, and he advocated balancing the state budget without any tax increases. He was the only freshman member to serve on the House Appropriations Committee.

After 1991, Rehberg was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Governor Stan Stephens. Following his appointed term, Rehberg joined the statewide ticket with Attorney General and candidate for Governor Marc Racicot and was elected to his first full term as Montana's Lieutenant Governor in 1992. As Lieutenant Governor, he chaired the Drought Advisory Committee and the Task Force credited with reforming Worker’s Compensation, the Montana Rural Development Council, and several health care initiatives. In 1996, he ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate but lost to incumbent Democrat Max Baucus. He has served as Montana’s only U.S. Representative since 2001.

A graduate of Washington State University, Rehberg attended Billings West High School and Montana State University. While at Montana State University he joined The Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Since 1996, Rehberg has been managing the Rehberg Ranch near Billings. He oversees a herd of 500 cattle and 600 cashmere goats. He is married to Jan Rehberg, an attorney who represents farmers and ranchers.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated Monica J. Lindeen, and the Libertarian Party nominated Mike Fellows to face Rehberg in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Rehberg retained his seat.

Campaign contributions
Since 2000, Rehberg has received $6,915,915 in campaign funding. Thirty-six percent of these funds have been PAC contributions. Among PAC contributions, 1.6 million dollars (71.7%) have been donated by business-focused PACS. However, primary PAC organizations contributing to Rehberg’s campaign are the League of Rural Voters Action Fund, the National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund, and the National Right to Life Political Action Committee. cid=N00004645&cycle=2008

Rehberg states, "I support meaningful campaign finance reform, such as full and open disclosure laws, a mandate limiting out-of-state funding for campaigns, and reforms guaranteeing that corporations and unions respect the wishes of their employees and members when using financial resources for political purposes." 

Personal finances
With a net worth of 10.7 to 51.5 million dollars, Rehberg is the twelfth-richest U.S. Representative in the House.

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on House Committee on House Committee on Financial Services and General Government
 * Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

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

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies -
 * Subcommittee on Foreign Operations Export Financing and Related Programs
 * Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Congressional Rural Caucus
 * Former Chair, Drought Advisory Committee
 * Firefighter Caucus
 * Forest Caucus
 * House Vice Chair, Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Congressional Caucus
 * Northwest Energy Caucus
 * Republican Study Committee
 * Sportsmen's Caucus
 * Western Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

 * Member, Billings Chamber of Commerce
 * Member, Billings Downtown Rotary Club
 * Former Chair, Montana Rural Development Council
 * Member, Montana Stockgrowers Association
 * State Chair, Muscular Dystrophy Association
 * National Guard and Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization.

More Background Data

 * 2006 Montana CD 0 Candidate List from VIS

Twitter
 Dennis Rehberg posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dennyrehberg

Latest posts: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/15740204.rss|title=none| max=3| short See all the members of Congress who Twitter

Resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Last Best Place
 * Left in the West
 * Touchstone 033
 * Billings Blog
 * NewWest.net -- A Refreshing, new kind of journalism.

Articles

 * Paul McNamara, ""Congressional aide admits trying to hire hackers -- to boost his college GPA," NetworkWorld, December 21, 2006.
 * Copy of the aide's emails, Attrition.org.