Betty McCollum

Betty C. McCollum is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. She has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 4th Congressional District, since 2001.

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

Environmental record
Betty McCollum supports the strengthening of the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. On July 17, 2007, McCollum voted to pass the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, which would set money aside for energy and water development. It prohibited the use of appropriated funds in creating or eliminating or altering funding for new or existing programs, activities, or projects- unless they were specifically directed by this Act. On June 29, she voted against the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006, which would permanently ban drilling within 50 miles of the shores of the United States while opening for oil and natural gas exploration, the "outer continental shelf".

She promotes the use of alternative fuel technology, and wants to strengthen the emission controls on all gasoline or diesel-powered engines, which include all cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles; she also supports the controls on electrical usage as well, including commercial and private usage. On August 4, 2007, McCollum voted to pass an amendment that would require all retail electric suppliers to supply 15% of their electricity through renewable resources by 2020, and also voted to pass an amendment that would make changes in the United States' tax code that would change the usage of renewable resources and fossil fuels. In 2002, she voted to provide more flexibility to states and local communities to be able to address their respective environmental problems in the hopes of improving the environment both locally and nationally.

In supporting tax credits for state and local bonds, she hopes to preserve open spaces, build parks, improve water quality, and redevelop brownfields, all of which would help create a cleaner environment. She also supported the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, which would proscribe commercial logging in the United States' national forests, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Everglades, for examples. In protecting these national forests, global warming could also be battled with the production of new, cleaner air.

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

Support for gun control
Minnesota, known in many parts of the country for its hunting, has some conflict in support of gun control laws. McCollum took a stance in supporting a ban on selling or transferring semi-automatic guns, with the exception of those used for hunting. On January 16, 2006, she voted against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Act, which tried to make changes in the existing law, now allowing the Attorney General to immediately revoke firearm licenses if gun laws have been violated. She also supports the maintaining and/or strengthening of the enforcement of federal restrictions in existence on the purchasing, use, and possession of guns overall. She also supports the current laws that require background checks on those buying guns privately at gun shows, and that require people to have licenses to possess a gun. She supports the improvement in gun safety as well, requiring manufacturers to provide child-safety locks on all guns, and supporting the age raise from 18 to 21 in the ability to own a gun.

McCollum cosponsored H.R. 1312 (Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005) on July 28, 2005.

Bio
McCollum was born July 12, 1954 in South St. Paul, Minnesota. She first got involved in politics in 1986, when her daughter got hurt on a slide in a North St. Paul city park. The city council wouldn't do anything to fix the slide, so McCollum's neighbors encouraged her to run for a spot on the council herself. She won that November and served three terms. She then won an upset victory over longtime state representative Rick O'Conner, and served four terms in the state house.

In 2000, after 4th District Congressman Bruce Vento decided not to seek a 13th term due to illness (he died before the election), McCollum won the DFL nomination to succeed him. McCollum's main concern was Independence Party candidate Tom Foley. Foley had previously been county attorney for Ramsey County (almost all of which is in the 4th District) as a Democrat. Many thought that Foley could siphon off enough votes from McCollum to allow Republican nomineee, Runbeck, to sneak by and end the long run of Democratic dominance in the district. However, McCollum defeated Runbeck by a solid 17-point margin, with Foley in a distant third place. McCollum was reelected in 2002 and 2004 without serious opposition.

2006 elections
In 2006, Republicans nominated Obi Sium to face McCollum in her November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) McCollum retained her seat.

Money in politics
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Committees and Affiliations

 * Congressional Advisory Board, Humpty Dumpty Institute

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services
 * Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
 * Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations
 * House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
 * Subcommittee on National Security and International Relations

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

 * House Committee on Education and the Workforce
 * Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness
 * Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations
 * House Committee on International Relations
 * Subcommittee on Africa Global Human Rights and International Operations
 * Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
 * Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation

More Background Data

 * 2006 Minnesota CD 4 Candidate List from VIS

Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Minnesota Campaign Report
 * Centrisity
 * MN Publius.com