Pete Visclosky

Peter John "Pete" Visclosky (born August 13, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 1st congressional district, serving since 1985. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the dean of the Indiana congressional delegation. The District lies in Northwest Indiana. Redistricting passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2011 changed the district's boundaries, effective January 2013, to include all of Lake and Porter counties as well as the western and northwestern townships of LaPorte County, while shifting Benton, Newton, and Jasper counties out of the district. Much of the population is based in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

Visclosky was born in Gary, Indiana, the son of John and the late Helen (née Kauzlaric) Visclosky. He is of Croatian-Slovak descent. He was educated at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana and went on to earn his juris doctor from Notre Dame Law School. At Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Visclosky earned a Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law. He worked as a lawyer and staff member of United States Representative Adam Benjamin before entering the House.

Elections

In 1984, Visclosky ran for Congress in Indiana's 1st congressional district. In the Democratic primary, he defeated incumbent U.S. Congresswoman Katie Hall, Jack Crawford, and Sandra Smith 34%-33%-31%-1%. In the general election, he defeated Republican Joseph Grenchik 71%-29%. In 1986, he won the Democratic primary again with 57%, defeating Hall and three other candidates. He won the general election with 73% of the vote. In 1988, he won the Democratic primary 84%-16% against Sandra Smith. He went on to win the general election with 77% of the vote.

In 1990, Hall challenged Visclosky for the third time and was defeated 51%-30%. He won the general election with 66% of the vote. In 1992, he won the Democratic primary with 72% and the general election with 69%. In 1994, he won the Democratic primary with 77% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican John Larson 56%-44%.

For the rest of his career, he has never won a primary with less than 71% and he has only once won a general election with less than 60% of the vote - in 2010, when Republicans re-took control of the House of Representatives.

Tenure

Visclosky is pro-union and anti-free trade. Reinstating the steel tariff and fighting to save American manufacturing jobs have long been priorities of Visclosky. He served as Chair of the Congressional Steel Caucus when the Democrats had control of the House, and currently serves as the Vice Chair. He is also a former Chair of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee and the current Ranking Member.

Visclosky is one of the 126 Democrats who voted against the Iraq War Resolution. He also is a supporter of high tech solutions as a way to revive the American blue collar work force, and as a way to decrease crime.

PMA Group investigation

The Washington Times reported in March 2009 that Visclosky had received, over ten years, $1.36 million in campaign donations from clients of the PMA Group. In 2007 and 2008, the United States House Committee on Appropriations, of which Visclosky is a member, directed $137 million in government purchasing to PMA's clients. In May 2009, Visclosky received subpoenas in the grand jury investigation into PMA Group, the first member of Congress to be subpoenaed in the investigation. The Congressman was later cleared of all charges by the House Ethics Committee, who detailed in a 305-page report that "Simply because a member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor does not, on these two facts alone, support a claim that a member's actions are being influenced by campaign contributions".

In 2011, the House Ethics Committee ended its investigation, clearing Visclosky and Republican former Representative Todd Tiarht of Kansas. While “PMA’s lobbyists pushed or directed company executives to maximize personal or Political Action Committee (PAC) campaign contributions and to attend specific fundraisers while pursuing earmarks,” the report notes, “the evidence did not show that Members or their official staff were included in discussions or correspondence about, coordinated with PMA on, or knew of these strategies.”

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Defense (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Steel Caucus (Vice Chair)
• Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
• Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus
• Congressional Fire Services Caucus
• Congressional Hellenic Caucus
• Congressional Serbian Caucus
• Great Lakes Task Force
• Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Caucus
• Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition
• Buy America Caucus
• Dairy Farmers Caucus
• French Caucus
• Macedonian Caucus
• National Parks Caucus
• Slovak Caucus
• Friends of Switzerland
• Wine Caucus
• Wire and Wire Products Caucus
• Law Enforcement Caucus

• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 08, 1984
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1984
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 06, 1986
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 04, 1986
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 03, 1988
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 08, 1988
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 08, 1990
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1990
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 05, 1992
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 03, 1992
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 - D Primary Race - May 03, 1994
• Our Campaigns - IN District 1 Race - Nov 08, 1994
• Indiana District 1: Rep. Peter Visclosky (D) National Journal
• Visclosky Statement in Opposition to Free Trade Agreements October 11, 2011
• Bendavid, Naftali and Davis, Susan, "Indiana Congressman Receives Subpoena in Lobbying Probe", Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2009.
• Salant, Jonathan (February 27, 2010). "Ethics panel clears Murtha on donations". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 13, 2010. 
• House ethics panel clears 'Murtha Method' representatives | The Center for Public Integrity
• ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Peter J. 'Pete' Visclosky - Biography". Votesmart.org. 1949-08-13. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 

Visclosky is married to Joanne Royce, and has two sons, John and Tim.