W. Todd Akin

William Todd Akin has served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the Second Congressional District of Missouri, since 2001.

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

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

Same sex marriage
Akin opposes same-sex marriage and called the 2004 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court an act of "judicial activism [that is] undermining the sanctity of marriage " and argued that a state-based law "seeks to usurp the legislative authority of elected representatives" and called for a U.S. constitutional amendment. A month later, apparently rethinking his position on federalism, he supported a state-level ban on same-sex marriage in Missouri. 

National security and foreign policy
During the debate in mid-February 2007 of a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's troop "surge" in Iraq, Rep. Akin, who opposed the measure, discussed Davy Crockett during the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. He brought up a hypothetical scenario by which Crockett was struggling in battle and received a message on his Blackberry from Congress saying "we support you", but would not be sending any reinforcements. He continued, "I'm sure that would be really impressive to Davy Crockett."

Background
Todd Akin was born July 5, 1947, in New York City. He is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he earned a B.S. in Management Engineering. After graduation, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army with the Army Combat Engineers at Fort Belvoir in Alexandria, Virginia. He received an honorable discharge from the Army Reserves in 1980. Upon completing his active duty in the Army, Todd spent four years with IBM and later moved into corporate management at Laclede Steel.

Akin was appointed by Governor Ashcroft to the Bicentennial Commission of the U.S. Constitution in 1987. In 1988, Akin ran and won a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. He served twelve years as a Republican State Representative and the ranking Republican on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. While serving in the Missouri House, Todd drafted legislation on Roth IRAs and a tax limitation amendment currently in the Missouri Constitution. He also took a leading role in opposing gambling, resulting in more rigorous enforcement of gambling laws and regulations.

Congressional Career
According to an USA TODAY.com profile, "Akin strongly opposes abortion, same-sex marriage and gun control. He has urged the Bush administration not to tighten ozone standards for the St. Louis area and urged the Navy not to cut back its production of Super Hornet aircraft at Boeing's local plant." The profile reports that "The American Conservative Union gave his 2003 legislative record an 88 out of 100 points. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him 5 percent." 

In the 107th Congress, Akin was joined by U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL) in offering the Clean Coal Initiative amendment to the Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) Act. The Amendment authorized an extensive program for clean coal research and development at the Department of Energy and included provisions for public-private partnerships to upgrade existing coal-fired power plants in accordance with current clean coal technology.

In 2004, Akin sponsored leglislation to prevent judicial review in cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated George D. Weber to face Akin in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006)  Akin retained his seat.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommitee on Oversight and Investigations, Ranking Member
 * Subcommitee on Air and Land Forces
 * House Committee on Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Environment and Energy
 * House Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology

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

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism Unconventional Threats and Capabilities
 * House Committee on Science
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Research
 * House Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight - Chair

Boards and other Affiliations

 * Akin is active in the Boy Scouts for America
 * A former board member of Missouri Right to Life
 * Board member of the Mission Gate Prison Ministry

More Background Data

 * 2006 Missouri CD 2 Candidate List from VIS

External resources

 * Official website
 * Issues 2000 profile, "Todd Akin on the Issues."
 * USA Today Profile, 2004 election
 * Technorati Search: Todd Akin
 * Google News Search: Todd Akin
 * Yahoo! News Search: Todd Akin
 * Power Trips: How much does Todd Akin travel?
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Chatter