Congressman Philip R. Sharp Papers, 1970-1994
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Congressman Philip R. Sharp Papers, 1970-1994 Finding Aid Compiled By John Straw, Joan Dutour, Kirk Overstreet, Jr., Sean Reilly, Jeffery Rhoades Archives and Special Collections Ball State University 2002 Sharp Papers MSS 156, p. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................................. 3-4 Biographical Note ................................................................................................... 4-5 Scope and Content .................................................................................................. 5-7 Container List.......................................................................................................... 8-119 Administrative Records.............................................................................. 8-87 Political Campaign Records........................................................................ 87-91 House Subcommittee on Energy and Power Records................................. 92-114 Audiotapes .................................................................................................. 114-115 Videotapes................................................................................................... 116-117 Photographic Prints and Negatives ............................................................. 117-118 Memorabilia................................................................................................ 118 Sharp Papers MSS 156, p. 3 Congressman Philip R. Sharp Papers, 1970-1994 Mss 156; R 43; V 35; P 60; PN 60 107.5 cu. ft.; 118 Boxes INTRODUCTION In 1994, Congressman Philip R. Sharp (D-Indiana) decided not to run for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. He had served the 2nd district (formerly the 10th district prior to redistricting in 1982) of Indiana for 20 years, arriving in Washington as part of the Watergate Democratic landslide of 1974. Upon his decision to not seek another term, Sharp made arrangements to donate his congressional papers to Ball State University where he had been an assistant and associate professor of political science from 1969 to 1974. He also provided funds for students from political science to assist with organizing his papers in Archives and Special Collections at the Alexander M. Bracken Library. The Head of Archives and Special Collections made a trip to Sharp’s Washington office in October 1994 to review the files that would come to Ball State’s Archives and Special Collections. She worked with Sharp’s staff members identify and prepare the records for shipment. One hundred and forty boxes arrived at Ball State’s Bracken Library in 1995. Work began immediately to prepare the papers for use. By agreement with Sharp, the papers were to be officially opened for research in 2002. Between 1995 and 2002, Ball State undergraduate and graduate students worked in Archives and Special Collections to arrange and describe the papers and transfer them to acid-free folders and boxes. From his involvement in helping guide energy proposals by Presidents Ford and Carter through the House in the 1970s to his leadership as Chair of the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the 1980s and 1990s, Sharp played a key role in energy and environmental issues during his 20-year tenure in Congress. He was instrumental in obtaining decontrol of natural gas and was a leading proponent of energy efficiency and renewable fuels. He helped stop a $1.75 billion bailout of the uranium industry and sponsored the law to provide better data on foreign investments. For the 1990 Clean Air Act, he co-authored a key provision that created an allowance trading system where utilities that exceeded standards for clean air could sell their extra “credits” to other utilities, a compromise that made passage of the law possible. Sharp effectively shepherded through the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which opened the wholesale electric market to competition. His congressional papers reflect the work Sharp did with energy legislation and provide a wealth of research documentation in this area. In addition, the Philip R. Sharp Papers contain information on his political campaigns, issues relative to his congressional constituency in Indiana, legislation, appropriations, civil rights, crime, education, health care, labor, urban development, employment, and foreign relations. The collection reflects regional, national, and international concerns from the beginning of the post-Watergate era through the first part of the Clinton presidency. The papers are rich in research materials on the U. S. Congress from 1974 to 1994 and on Indiana politics from 1970 to 1995. Sharp Papers MSS 156, p. 4 In addition to this finding aid, a published guide and a Web page for the collection is available. Consult Archives staff for more information. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Philip Riley Sharp was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 15, 1942. He was raised in Elwood, Indiana, and attended Washington Elementary School and Wendell Willkie High School, where he graduated as valedictorian in 1960. After a year at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, Sharp transferred to Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and graduated cum laude in 1964. He spent the summer of 1966 studying at Oxford University in England. In 1974, he earned a Ph.D. in government from Georgetown. He received honorary degrees from DePauw University in 1986 and Ball State University in 1997. Phil Sharp taught political science as an assistant professor, and later associate professor, at Ball State University from 1969 to 1974. In 1972, he married Marilyn K. Augburn of Muncie, Indiana. She is a novelist whose works have been honored as Literary Guild selections and translated into several languages. The couple has two sons, Jeremy, born in 1975, and Justin, born in 1981. Sharp’s political career began when he served as a Legislative Aide to Senator Vance Hartke (D-Indiana) from 1964 to 1969. In 1970 and 1972, he was the Democratic candidate for Congress from Indiana’s Tenth District. He was elected to his first congressional term in 1974. Sharp was re-elected to the next nine Congresses before deciding not to run for re-election in 1994. The district that Sharp served was made up primarily of the small rural and industrial towns of East Central Indiana. In 1982, redistricting created the Second District from the Tenth District that Sharp was originally elected to serve. The Second District included Randolph, Wayne, Decatur, Shelby, and Johnson counties, and portions of Delaware, Henry, Rush, Fayette, Bartholomew, and Marion counties. During his ten terms in office, Congressman Sharp took a leadership role in development of energy legislation, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. He served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Transportation, and Tourism, Energy and Environment Subcommittee, and the Water and Power Resources Subcommittee. In 1977-78, Sharp chaired an energy task force appointed by Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill and was instrumental in fashioning a compromise plan that phased out price controls on oil and natural gas over several years. He chaired the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Fossil and Synthetic Fuels, one of the most important subcommittees in the House, from 1982 to 1986, and the Energy and Power Subcommittee from 1987 to 1995. In addition, he was a member of the Democratic Study Group, Environmental and Energy Study Conference, Human Rights Caucus, Sharp Papers MSS 156, p. 5 Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future, and the Automotive Caucus. Sharp was selected as a Democratic Whip At-Large for the 99th Congress. He also served as a member of the Organizing Committee for the 10th Annual Pan American Games, the Executive Board of the Institute for Resource Management, and the Government Advisory Committee on Americans for Energy Independence. Politics in America 1982 stated that Sharp “entered Congress in 1975 as a political veteran but a legislative novice, quietly determined to overhaul what seemed an unresponsive process.” The publication went on to say that “he emerged six years later as chairman of the crucial Commerce subcommittee on oil and gas, close to the center on most energy issues and carrying a reputation for exceptional skill at negotiations and compromise.” In February 1995, Sharp became a Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. From July 1995 to February 1998, he served as Director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics. He continued his interest and involvement in energy policy as chair of the Electric System Reliability Task Force for the Secretary of Energy, member of the Secretary’s Advisory Board, Vice Chair of the Energy Board of the Keystone Center, and member of the board of directors of the Energy Foundation and the Cinergy Corporation. He was appointed as an advisor on consumer choice and energy deregulation for the Columbia Energy Group in 1999. In 2001, he became a Senior Policy Advisor to Van Ness Feldman, a Washington, D. C., based firm that provides legal and government policy counsel on energy, environmental, natural resources, technology development, and tax issues. As of this writing, Sharp is a Senior Research Fellow with the Environment and Natural Resources Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. SCOPE AND CONTENT The papers of Philip R.