Debbie Stabenow (D-Mi)
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LEGISLATOR US Senator DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI) IN OFFICE CONTACT Up for re-election in 2018 Email Contact Form http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/?p=contact 3rd Term Re-elected in 2012 Web www.stabenow.senate.gov http://www.stabenow.senate.gov SENIORITY RANK 25 Twitter @SenStabenow http://twitter.com/SenStabenow Out of 100 Facebook View on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/share.php? u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Estabenow%2Esenate%2Egov%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Fp%3Dabout%5Fsenator%26c=1&title=About%20Debbie DC Office 731 Hart Senate Office Building BGOV BIOGRAPHY By Brian Nutting, Bloomberg News Debbie Stabenow devoted a lot of the 113th Congress -- her third stint as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee -- to trying to push a multi-year farm bill across the finish line. Success came in February 2014, with Stabenow expressing satisfaction that the bill eliminated direct subsidies to farms and took steps to reduce spending on nutrition programs for the poor by targeting fraud and misuse, such as no longer permitting lottery winners to continue to receive benefits. Aside from farm policy, Stabenow's top priority has been dealing with Michigan's economic difficulties, including unemployment, the bankruptcy of Detroit and continuing woes in the manufacturing sector notwithstanding the automobile industry's comeback from the financial brink in 2008 and 2009. Under normal circumstances, Congress passes a farm bill every five years or so. In Stabenow's case, however, the farm bill that her committee began working on in 2011 and drafted in 2012 got caught up in the broad congressional debate over federal spending and Congress was unable to clear the measure, requiring a short-term patch and forcing Stabenow to develop another bill in the early months of the 113th Congress. Most of the hurdles were in the House, while Stabenow, both in her committee and on the Senate floor, was able to hold together the bipartisan, urban-rural coalition that had been essential in getting farm bills enacted. She warned that the House action in 2013 to split food stamps and other nutrition programs out of the bill was a mistake that would cost the measure much support from urban lawmakers whose interests in the bill are much more aligned with those programs than with support for farmers and rural development programs. Stabenow personally has interest in both elements of the bill, given that she represents both the Detroit metropolitan area and the diverse range of crops that Michigan farmers produce, including sugar beets, fruit, vegetables, nuts, herbs and nursery plants. Stabenow also is co-chairman of the Senate Manufacturing Caucus, which focuses on what members regard as unfair global trade practices, tax and regulatory policies affecting manufacturers and worker training matters. She said she hopes to create what she calls a manufacturing strategy for the 21st century that includes modernizing plants, training workers for jobs in emerging technologies, changing the tax code to encourage job creation and investment, breaking down barriers to trade, enforcing trade agreements and fighting against unfair currency exchange rates. She has proposed tax credits for companies that move jobs back to the U.S. from overseas locations. In July 2013, shortly after the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, Stabenow took to the Senate floor to defend her state's largest city. While acknowledging the city's many difficulties, she also cited some little known successes, saying, ``If a person is going to say anything about Detroit, a person has to say: Times may be tough, but so are the people of Detroit.'' She blames much of her state's economic difficulties on free-trade agreements, which she says failed to protect American workers adequately. Stabenow voted against the Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2005 and against agreements with Panama and Columbia in 2011. She supports at least one aspect of foreign trade, advocating the import of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. In her 2000 Senate campaign she chartered a bus to take senior citizens across the border into Canada to fill their prescriptions for about half the cost. Closer to home, Stabenow and Senate colleague Carl Levin were instrumental in greatly reducing the amount of trash brought from Canada and dumped in Michigan landfills. The lawmakers pursued legislation, negotiation and executive branch actions to halt the shipments. Finally, they were able to reach agreements in 2006 with Toronto and other municipalities in Ontario to phase out the shipments. However, private trash still comes to the state, and Stabenow has continued her efforts to reduce or eliminate that practice. Stabenow has cast dependable votes for the Democratic Party's positions during her years in the Senate, and received 95 percent-plus ratings from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action and the AFL-CIO for her votes on key issues. Groups that endorsed her 2012 re-election include the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association and Equality Michigan, which advocates same-sex marriage and employment and other legal protections for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals. She supports gun control. Early Years Stabenow grew up in central Michigan. Her father owned the local Oldsmobile and Cadillac dealership in Clare and her mother was director of nursing at the local hospital. Stabenow got involved in politics as a graduate student at Michigan State University. She was elected in 1974 at the age of 24 to the Ingham County Commission while still in school, and served there four years, while making a living as social worker. In 1978, she won election to the Michigan House, serving 12 years and then won election to the state Senate in 1990. In 1994, seeking to move up to statewide office, she lost two elections -- first a Democratic primary battle for the nomination for governor and then, when Howard Wolpe, the victor of the primary battle, chose her as his running mate, the November election for lieutenant governor. She was back two years later for another run, this time for the House. She unseated one-term Republican Representative Dick Chrysler in Michigan's 8th District by more than 10 percentage points. In 2000, she challenged one-term Republican Senator Spencer Abraham. She prevailed by less than 2 percentage points, becoming the first woman elected to represent Michigan in the Senate. When she arrived in Washington she joined a small band of about a dozen senators in the Senate New Democrat Coalition. In 2006, seeking re-election in a good year nationwide for Democrats, Stabenow won by 16 percentage points. Earlier in her Senate tenure, she held party leadership posts, including Democratic Conference secretary and chairman of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee. © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved In 2012, Stabenow defeated Republican Peter Hoekstra, a former House member, by more than 20 percentage points. Updated Nov. 28, 2014 BIO FROM REPRESENTATIVE'S WEBSITE From the Senator's Website Growing up in Clare, Debbie Stabenow learned the value of a hard-day's work from her parents. She graduated at the top of her class from Clare High School and went on to receive her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Michigan State University. She worked with youth in the public schools before running for public office. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1996 representing Michigan's Eighth Congressional District, she made history in 2000 when she became the first woman from the State of Michigan elected to the United States Senate. Creating jobs in Michigan is Senator Stabenow's top priority. Her committee choices reflect her commitment to the success of Michigan's businesses and workers. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Agriculture Committee, she has a unique and powerful role to play in shaping our nation's manufacturing, health care, and energy policies, which are so critical to our future. As Co-Chair of the Senate Manufacturing Caucus, Senator Stabenow has been a successful advocate for Michigan's manufacturing. Motor Trend Magazine recognized her in their Power List for standing up for Michigan's automakers and saving jobs during the global credit crisis. She has passed new tax cuts, grants, and loan programs, such as the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, the Advanced Battery Manufacturing Grants, and retooling loans for automakers that have brought jobs back to Michigan from Mexico. Senator Stabenow is a leader in the effort to level the playing field in trade, and she has authored legislation to hold countries accountable when they violate trade rules when competing with American firms. She is often heard saying, "We want to export our products, not our jobs." She also authored tough legislation after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to crack down on international money laundering by terrorist organizations. Throughout her career, Senator Stabenow has made access to quality, affordable health care a top priority. She made sure that the landmark Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, protected comprehensive health coverage for women including maternity care. Through her efforts, Michigan hospitals were recognized as a national model of quality and safety, and she authored an amendment immediately cutting taxes for small businesses that provide health insurance coverage to their employees. Stabenow has long been recognized for her efforts to make prescription drugs more affordable, including provisions in the new law that lower the cost of medicine, and she has written legislation to allow the reimportation of safe prescription medicines from Canada. As Co-Chair of the Senate Health Information Technology Caucus, she has been instrumental in getting hospitals and providers to adopt electronic medical records to reduce medical errors and save money in our health care system.