Bill Johnson

William Leslie Johnson (born November 10, 1954) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 6th congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Born in Roseboro, North Carolina in 1954, he grew up on family farms.He entered the United States Air Force in 1973, and married Wanda Florence Porter on April 30, 1975. They had 3 children. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after a military career of more than 26 years. He graduated summa cum laude from Troy University in Troy, Alabama in 1979, and he earned his master's degree from Georgia Tech in 1984. During his tenure in the U.S. Air Force, Johnson was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Squadron Officers School, and Air Command & Staff College.

He is a recipient of the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. As Director of the Air Force's Chief Information Officer Staff at U.S. Special Operations Command, he worked directly with senior congressional and Secretary of Defense representatives, as well as top leaders within the various U.S. intelligence communities, to ensure America's Special Operations forces were adequately equipped to carry out critical national security missions.

He co-founded Johnson-Schley Management Group, an information technology (IT) consulting company that increased revenues by more than 200% in just three years under his leadership. In 2003, he left the company to form J2 Business Solutions, where he provided executive level IT support as a defense contractor to the U.S. military. From 2006 to 2010, he served as Chief Information Officer of a global manufacturer of electronic components for the transportation industry.

Elections

2010

In May 2010, Johnson defeated two primary opponents to earn the Republican nomination. In the general election, Johnson won his bid by a 50–45% margin against incumbent Charlie Wilson. He began his term in the 112th United States Congress on January 3, 2011.

2012

In November 2011, Wilson filed a rematch in the newly redrawn 6th District, which had been made slightly friendlier to Republicans in redistricting. Johnson defeated Wilson again in a heavily contested race 53% to 47%, and began his second term in January 2013.

2014

In 2014, Johnson faced off against heavily-recruited Democrat Jennifer Garrison, a former State Representative and lawyer from Marietta, Ohio. Johnson defeated Garrison handily 58% to 39% with Green Party candidate Dennis Lambert taking 3%. He began his third term in January 2015.

2016

Johnson was re-elected to a fourth term in the 2016 general election, defeating Democrat Michael Lorentz, the mayor of Belpre, Ohio by a margin of 71%-29%.

2018

Johnson was re-elected to a fifth term, defeating Democrat Shawna Roberts, of Barnesville, Ohio, by a margin of 69%-30%.

Tenure

Bill Johnson is a member of both the Conservative Republican Study Committee and the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership. During the 112th Congress, Johnson's "Veteran's Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act" was passed into law.

Additionally, the House passed Johnson's "World War II Memorial Prayer Act" which would require the prayer President Franklin Roosevelt gave on D-Day to be placed on the World War II memorial.

The House also passed Johnson's "Stop the War on Coal Act" which would stop the creation of any new rules that threaten mining jobs. Both pieces of legislation have been sent to the Senate for consideration. Johnson sponsored of H.R. 4036, the "Pass a Budget Now Act" which would cut the pay of legislators if a budget is not passed by April 15 of each year.

Race Relations and National Black Lives Matter Protests

On August 12, 2017 Johnson made the following comment on Facebook after violent demonstrations, led by white nationalist groups, occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia: "Today's violence in Charlottesville VA is disgraceful and tragic. America is better than this. The members of these fringe groups who broke laws and caused injury and death should be punished to the fullest extent of the law." The white power demonstration left one counter-protester killed when Ohio resident and avowed neo-Nazi, James Alex Fields Jr., rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.

Johnson has taken a hard line against nationwide protests on police brutality that swept the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police on May 25, 2020, posting on Facebook "The rioters aren’t seeking positive change;they don’t want to make our nation better. They want destruction, anarchy, and a breakdown of our society, and we cannot allow these acts of sedition to continue. Local, state, and national leaders across America must unite with a single focus to stop this senseless violence."

As protesters call for the removal of statues across the country deemed racist, Johnson authored an opinion piece for the Washington Examiner, titled "Our History Can Safeguard our Future." In his piece, Johnson defends such statues, stating "To really unify our country, we must pause and consider our history to provide context for our current national dialogue. We need to step out from behind our keyboards and learn more of the nuance of our shared heritage."

Support for President Trump

According to FiveThirtyEight, an opinion poll analysis website, Johnson voted in line with President Trump on average 97.7% of the time during his tenure.

On December 18, 2019 Johnson held a moment of silence for Trump voters during House debates on articles of impeachment, stating “This is a sad day for America, this partisan impeachment sham seeks to disenfranchise 63 million American voters... So I want to use my time to call on this chamber, for members to rise and observe a moment of silent reflection. To give every member here the chance to pause for a moment and remember the voices of the 63 million American voters the Democrats today are wanting to silence."

Abortion

In a candidates' questionnaire in 2010, Johnson wrote, "I am pro-life, and I oppose abortion except in the case of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Additionally, I support parental notification and a ban on partial birth abortions." During his 2010 and 2012 general elections, Johnson received the endorsement of the Ohio Right to Life PAC.

Gun issues

A lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, Johnson opposes restrictions on gun ownership. He was endorsed by the NRA in 2012.

Health care

Johnson opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and supports repealing it.

Environmental issues

At a 2016 House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Environmental Protection Agency regulations, Johnson called the agency "un-American" and accused it of "draining the lifeblood out of our businesses." Johnson's statement prompted criticism from Democratic members on the committee.

Same-sex marriage

Johnson opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage, stating that it "undermines the integrity of the American family."

Immigration and refugees

From the beginning, Johnson supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, characterizing it as necessary to prevent terrorist attacks. After the federal courts struck down the initial executive order, Johnson supported a replacement executive order imposing a revised travel ban.

Scott Pruitt

In April 2018, Johnson defended EPA head Scott Pruitt who at the time was embroiled in a number of investigations over ethics violations. While Pruitt was being grilled, largely along party lines, during an April 2018 hearing about the ethics concerns, Johnson said, "I think it's shameful today that this hearing has turned into a personal attack hearing and a shameful attempt to denigrate the work that's being done at the EPA and with this administration". Public officials should have ethical standards "beyond reproach ... but so should members of Congress", he added.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • United States House Science Subcommittee on Space

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Western Caucus

Legislation sponsored

• Community Fire Safety Act of 2013 (H.R. 3588; 113th Congress) – Johnson introduced this bill into the House on November 21, 2013. The bill would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring that all new fire hydrants in the United States be lead-free beginning in 2014.

Johnson referred to the EPA's ruling as "absurd" and said that "it is unconscionable that the EPA has put our public safety at risk because during the hot summer months sometimes, somewhere kids may play in fire hydrant water."

• Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America (H.R. 2824; 113th Congress) – Johnson introduced this bill into the House on July 25, 2013. If passed, the bill would have amended the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to require state programs for regulation of surface coal mining to incorporate the necessary rule concerning excess spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 12, 2008. Supporters of the bill argue that it will be good for jobs, save the government money, and improve U.S. energy production bypreventing the Obama Administration from introducing more coal regulations.

Opponents of the bill described it as a bill that would require "OSM to implement the flawed 2008 Stream Buffer Zone rule and prevent the agency from improving that rule for a minimum of seven years."

• Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014 (H.R. 3548; 113th Congress) – Johnson introduced this bill into the House on November 20, 2013. It is a bill that would amend the Public Health Service Act, with respect to trauma care and research programs, to include in the definition of "trauma" an injury resulting from extrinsic agents other than mechanical force, including those that are thermal, electrical, chemical, or radioactive.