Louise McIntosh Slaughter

Louise McIntosh Slaughter is a Democrat politician in the United States House of Representatives. She has represented New York's 28th Congressional District, which is based in Rochester and Buffalo and includes parts of Erie, Monroe, Niagara and Orleans Counties, since 1987.

Iraq War
Slaughter voted against 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

Support for gun control
Slaughter cosponsored H.R. 1022 (Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization) on March 13, 2007.

Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act
Slaughter sponsored the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, which would make it illegal for health insurers to deny coverage or charge a higher rate or premium to an otherwise healthy individual found to have a potential genetic condition or genetic predisposition towards a disease or disorder. GINA also makes it illegal for employers to use an employee's genetic information when making hiring, firing, placement, or promotion decisions.

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
In 2006, when Republicans brought their ethics reform bill, the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to the floor, Rep. Slaughter offered a motion to recommit with instructions to strike the text of the bill and replace it with the text of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, the Democrat's own ethics package. The motion to recommit failed by three votes after four Democrats defected to the Republican side.

Background
A true-life coal miner's daughter and descendant of Daniel Boone, Louise McIntosh was born on August 14, 1929 in Lynch, Kentucky.

After graduating from high school, Slaughter enrolled at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where she studied microbiology and eventually earned a Masters Degree in public health. After graduate school, Louise went to work for a major chemicals manufacturer doing market research.

One and half terms into her service on the Monroe County Legislature, she accepted an offer from then-New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo to serve as his regional coordinator in the Rochester area. When Cuomo was elected lieutenant governor, Slaughter stayed on as his Rochester regional coordinator.

Congressional Career
In 1982, local Democrats approached Louise with a desire to see her run for the State Assembly. She won the election. Criminal justice, women's health and environmental legislation dominated Louise's work in the State Legislature and in 1986 she set her eyes on representing Western New York in Congress.

At the time, the 30th district included downtown and eastern Rochester. Moderate Republican Barber Conable had represented the district for 20 years before giving way in 1985 to a considerably more conservative Republican, Fred J. Eckert. Slaughter was able to peel off enough moderate Republican support to win a one-point victory in the 1986 midterm election. Slaughter was the first Democrat to represent the 30th District since 1910, as well as the first Democrat ever elected to a full term from the 30th since its creation in 1893 (it had been renumbered several times in the previous century) and the first woman elected to Congress in her own right from Western New York. She has never faced another election nearly that close, always winning with at least 55 percent of the vote as the Republicans drifted too far to the right for the tastes of many Rochester residents. Redistricting after the 1990 census made her district (which was renumbered the 28th) much more Democratic, as it now included all of Rochester. After the 2000 census, much of her district was merged with the Buffalo-based 29th District of fellow Democrat John LaFalce. While the district contained more of LaFalce's territory, he opted to retire, all but assuring Slaughter of reelection in 2002. She won a 10th term in 2004 with 72 percent of the vote.

Positions and Views
She is a frequent poster at the [| Daily Kos], a Democratic-oriented blog--one of several Democratic congressmen and senators who post there.

In early March of 2005, she unveiled a Congressional report detailing the unprecedented erosion of the legislative process in the last decade. This report is just one component of Slaughter's ongoing effort to combat what she and many Democrats see as an erosion of integrity during a decade of Republican control.

For more than a decade Slaughter has been a vocal advocate of accountability in the media, working to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to provide balanced, truthful coverage on important local and political issues. In early 2005, she authored the Fairness and Accountability in Broadcasting Act, or FAB Act, which would reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in an attempt to restore integrity and balance to the media.

In Congress, she has introduced legislation to study the effects of international trade agreements like NAFTA on American jobs. To help local employers, she regularly holds conferences to help businesses access capital and federal contracting opportunities.

She has authored cutting-edge legislation to protect Americans from discrimination by health insurance providers and employers based on genetic makeup.

Slaughter co-authored the historic Violence Against Women Act in 1994 and wrote legislation to make permanent the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women Office. She is leading the fight against sexual assault in the military, and organized a hearing on the issue in March 2004 that garnered national attention.

Slaughter has won historic increases in funding for women's health. As a member of the House Budget Committee in the early 1990s, she secured the first $500 million earmarked by Congress for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She fought for legislation guaranteeing that women and minorities are included in all federal health trials and establishing an Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) at NIH.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Republicans nominated John E. Donnelly to face Slaughter in her November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Slaughter retained his seat.

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

 * House Committee on Rules - Chairman

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

 * House Committee on Rules - Ranking Member
 * Subcommittee on the Legislative and Budget Process
 * Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * At-Large Democratic Whip
 * Congressional Ad Hoc Steering Committee on Telehealth
 * Congressional Advisory Committee on Lyme Disease
 * Congressional Afterschool Caucus
 * Congressional Air Force Caucus
 * Co-Chair, Congressional Arts Caucus
 * Congressional Automotive Caucus
 * Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
 * Co-Chair, Congressional Bi-Partisan Pro-Choice Caucus
 * Congressional Cancer Awareness Working Group
 * Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
 * Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
 * Congressional Economic Competitiveness Caucus
 * Congressional Financial Literacy Caucus
 * Congressional Fire Services Caucus
 * Co-Chair, Congressional Future of American Media Caucus
 * Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition
 * Congressional Hellenic Caucus
 * Congressional Human Rights Caucus
 * Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus
 * Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus
 * Congressional Medical Technology Caucus
 * Congressional Minor League Baseball Caucus
 * Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus
 * Congressional Northeast Agricultural Caucus
 * Congressional Older Americans Caucus
 * Congressional Prevention Coalition
 * Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus
 * Congressional Research and Development Caucus
 * Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS
 * Congressional Task Force on Organ and Tissue Donation
 * Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health
 * Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
 * Congressional Ukrainian Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

 * Board Member, Einstein Institute

Resources

 * Official website
 * Louise Slaughter, "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption". [Link inactive September 6, 2006.]
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Articles

 * Josephine Hearn, "House GOP Calls Corruption Report Corrupt", The Hill, February 28, 2006.
 * Gur, "O Congress Person, Where Art Thou?", Room Eight, May 9, 2006.
 * Gur, "The Phattest Bubble You've Ever Seen?", Room Eight, May 12, 2006.
 * Gur, "What Part Of 'You Will Pimp My Pay to $168K' Did You Not Understand?", Room Eight, June 30, 2006.
 * Congressional Wire, "Earth to Congress - Come In!", Room Eight, July 11, 2006.
 * Gur, "Why Bother?", Room Eight, July 12, 2006.
 * Angela Burton, "NY Control In a Democratic House," Room Eight, November 6, 2006.

Articles by Louise M. Slaughter

 * Press Release: "Slaughter Calls for ABC to Come Clean on New 9-11 Docudrama. Divisive and Politicized Accounts of September 11th Attacks and National Security Issues Endanger Nation," Official House website, September 5, 2006. re "The Path to 9/11" (2006 Docudrama)
 * "House Democrats Demand Accuracy in ABC 9/11 Film," HouseDemocrats.gov, September 6, 2006. re Reps. John Conyers, Jr., John Dingell, Jane Harman, and Louise Slaughter
 * News Release: "Slaughter Condemns Military Equipment Shortages as Waste Persists. New Pentagon Audit Confirms Troops Sent into Iraq and Afghanistan Without Adequate Equipment, Armored Vehicles, while Reconstruction Funds Squandered by Perpetual Waste, Fraud, and Abuse," Office of Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, January 31, 2007.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Simply Left Behind
 * Buffalo Geek
 * RochesterTurning

Related SourceWatch/Congresspedia Resources

 * Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal