U.S. Representative Vernon J. Ehlers of Grand Rapids, Mich., was sworn in on January 4, 2007, to serve his seventh full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected to the 103rd Congress in a special election on December 7, 1993.
Ehlers joined Congress following a distinguished tenure of service in teaching, scientific research and public service. He has served on numerous boards and commissions and was elected to the Kent County (Mich.) Board of Commissioners, and the Michigan House and Senate. The first research physicist to serve in Congress, Ehlers has been recognized for his strong work ethic and proven leadership skills in his duties on Capitol Hill.
As a member of the 110th Congress, Ehlers serves on four standing House committees. He is the Ranking Republican of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives, as well as the Smithsonian Institution, the National Zoo and the U.S. Botanical Gardens. It also plays a role in federal election legislation, among other issues. He has been a member of the committee since 1995 and was instrumental in the effort to connect the House of Representatives with the Internet and the creation of the Library of Congress? Thomas website, which allows anyone to look up legislation being considered by Congress, laws that have been passed and other information about Congress. Ehlers served as chairman of this committee throughout 2006.
Ehlers also serves on the Science and Technology Committee (previously known as the House Science Committee), on which he serves as Ranking Republican of the Subcommittee on Research & Science Education. During his tenure on the committee, he oversaw in 1998 the writing of the nation?s first major statement on science policy since 1945. He also co-chairs the STEM Ed Caucus, which is dedicated to improving the nation's K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. On the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Ehlers has led efforts to secure a fair funding formula and more dollars for Michigan's roads, highways, and transit systems. In the 107th Congress, Ehlers led the development of the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which authorized spending $270 million over five years to clean up sediments in the Great Lakes. Ehlers also is a member of the Education and Labor (previously the Education and the Workforce) Committee, where he blends his efforts with the Science Committee on improving math and science education. Ehlers has served on the Science Committee and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since his arrival in Washington and joined the Education and Labor Committee in 1999.
Prior to Congress, Ehlers served a total of 11 years in the Michigan Legislature - with just over two years in the House and nine years in the Senate, where he finished his tenure as President Pro-Tem. He also served eight years on the Kent County Board of Commissioners, including three years as chairman.
After three years of studying at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Ehlers transferred and received his undergraduate degree in physics and his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1960. After six years teaching and research at Berkeley, he moved back to Grand Rapids to Calvin College in 1966 where he taught physics for 16 years and later served as chairman of the Physics Department. During his tenure at Calvin, Ehlers also served as a volunteer science advisor to then-Congressman Gerald R. Ford.
He is married to Johanna (Jo) Meulink and is the father of four adult children and the grandfather of four. He and his wife reside in Grand Rapids.
(Ehlers House
web site).
Friends, I am announcing today my run for Michigan's Third District Congressional seat as a Democrat. Please see my campaign website, patmilesforcongress.com for more information and an announcement video. I need and appreciate your prayers, support, and help. Thank you!
This is Vern Ehler's current seat. Make no mistake, it's a long shot in 2010, but Pat is a very impressive individual and with funding and the proper climate, he can win. There are three Republicans currently battling it out -- Teapublican State Representative Justin Amash, State Senator Bill Hardiman, and former County Commission chair Steve Heacock. Amash (Tea) and Heacock (Establishment) are the front-runners, with Terri Lynn Land still able to dump Bouchard and run for the seat she's always wanted. With a crowded primary, Amash is more likely to win and he is the most beatable of any Republican, either in 2010 or 2012. Go get em Pat!
The Grand Rapids Activist Calendar is a new website and email list that aims to make it easier both for progressive and left groups to promote their events and for people interested in social change to find out what is happening in Grand Rapids.
The calendar--which launched on Sunday, March 8, 2010--is an effort aimed at filling the void that currently exists in Grand Rapids. There are many event calendars in the city, but few that focus exclusively on progressive/left events. The Grand Rapids Activist Calendar aims enhance organizing efforts by creating new and strengthening existing ties in the Grand Rapids community through mutual solidarity in our struggles.
At the core of the calendar is a weekly email list that will be sent out to subscribers. Each week the Grand Rapids Activist Calendar will send out a list of upcoming lectures, protests, documentaries, rallies, and meetings with the goal of building the progressive movement in Grand Rapids.
In addition to the weekly emails, people can also stay up-to-date on activist events in Grand Rapids by following the Grand Rapids Activist Calendar on Facebook and Twitter:
Finally, we encourage individuals and groups to add their own events to the calendar as it can only be as good as the community makes it. To add your event, go to:
Iraq War Protest: 6th Anniversary Of The Occupation
03/21/09 - 12:00pm
Heartside Park Cherry Street SW & Ionia Ave SW Grand Rapids, MI
For six years, the war in Iraq has raged. It has cost nearly a million Iraqi lives and millions more have been forced from their homes. Meanwhile the war has cost billions of dollars while the U.S. economy crumbles. With all the talk of "stimulus" and "bailouts", it doesn't take much imagination to think of other ways this money could be used. Look around: schools are closing, people are sleeping on the streets, and unemployment rates are skyrocketing...
In 2006 and 2008, many of us voted for the Democrats because they promised to "end the war". Many people hoped their vote would make the difference, but so far it hasn't.
Recently, President Obama announced his plan to "end the war". He says "combat brigades" will be removed from Iraq by August 2010. However, 30,000 to 55,000 U.S. troops will remain in the country indefinitely to "protect" U.S. interests and "advise" Iraqi forces. Many military representatives are suggesting that they could stay there years from that date.
It's up to us to get them out sooner.
We cannot let another anniversary of this occupation pass quietly.
Bring friends, signs, banners, musical instruments, megaphones, etc.
Iraq War Protest Saturday, March 14 12pm - 3pm Corner of Fulton and Division in Downtown Grand Rapids
There doesn't seem to be any big organizing going on this year for the anniversary of the illegal U.S. occupation of Iraq, so it's down to us to do something.
If you want to have your voice heard and let our leaders and fellow citizens know you're against this heinous crime we call the "War On Terror" get out to the corner of Fulton and Division on Saturday, March 14 at noon. Bring signs, flags, noisemaking equipment, drums, ANYTHING (anything) that gets attention. Don't let another year pass by quietly, stand up and exercise your rights.
This is OUR protest; everybody should have an equal part in creating it. So invite everybody you know, it doesn't just have to be on Facebook. Put up flyers, call people, write letters, send secret messages in invisible ink, do anything you can to get as many people as possible out.
Over the past two weeks, Mediamouse.org--Grand Rapids' first and largest independent news and media website--has been redesigned. While we are continuing to work on the site and make small tweaks here and there, this work is for the most part completed. Over the past eight years, we believe that Mediamouse.org has served an important role in providing news, analysis, and networking for those interested in social change, those looking for an anecdote to the local corporate media, and for progressive and left groups organizing in Grand Rapids and West Michigan.
Some of the recent changes that will help us grow and continue to serve in this capacity include:
Improved Searching - With several years of articles covering a wide variety of events and issues that have happened in Grand Rapids, we have made some changes to make it easier to find old articles.
Improved Interaction - We have added the capacity to rate articles and make comments. We hope that this will help us solicit feedback and become more responsive to the movements that we support. Additionally, we hope that it invites further discussion and interaction between readers.
Email Subscriptions - We are starting a bi-weekly email newsletter and have also implemented a service that allows folks to subscribe to daily email summaries containing all of the articles that have been posted on any given day.
We will be making additional changes in the coming weeks and continuing to refine some of the functionality. However, our primary goal over the next several months is going to be increasing the readership and relevancy of Mediamouse.org. While a lot of folks know about Mediamouse.org--primarily in the context of being a place to find out about protests--we have generally not done any advertising or outreach over the past several years. We're going to work on this--consider this email a start.
That said, we continue to invite participation from those visiting Mediamouse.org. Submit events, submit articles, suggest stories, or let us know your thoughts on the work we are doing. We appreciate comments, suggestions, criticism, and the opportunity to dialog. While Mediamouse.org is only a website, we believe it is a tool--one of many--that can be used effectively to promote radical social change.
PS - As we move forward, we appreciate any help that folks can offer us in advertising. For some ideas--including posters and links to our profiles on various social networking websites--visit:
"Rep. Ehlers makes policy decisions based on facts, not protests or advertisements, so I doubt these advertisements will have any impact on his decision-making," added Kevan Chapman, communications director to Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), whose constituents in Grand Rapids will see a series of ads from Freedom's Watch.
A new group of prominent conservatives [Freedom's Watch] plans to begin a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign Wednesday to urge members of Congress who may be wavering in their support for the war in Iraq not to "cut and run."
The article doesn't mention the targets, but my sources say that one of them is Congressman Ehlers. Can the folks in Grand Rapids confirm whether the ads have started showing up on TV yet?
My first response to Vern Ehler's call for Alberto Gonzales' resignation was that it must have something to do with Margaret Chiara. After all, when Chiara received word she was fired, she said she was being fired for politics. It's much more likely that Ehlers knows the politics behind the firing than we do. Then Pol Watcher suggested that Ehlers' call might be an attempt to protect his own behind:
Or is it that Vern knows his fingerprints are all over Chiara's firing? Chances are decent that Ehlers was doing some leg work on behalf of Pete Secchia or some other West Michigan Mafioso player and made some calls to quash an investigation, which is the underlying reason in every case of a fired U.S. Attorney so far. We already know Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson were guilty of the same thing. Chiara's been one of the last remaining mysteries but given Ehler's recent willingness to throw his party's Attorney General overboard, I think we should be asking ourselves why such a consistent party line Republican has found to will to buck the system. Is it because he's finding independence in his pending retirement, is he merely playing to the hometown crowd and backing a fellow Grand Rapids Republican to win some votes for his next run or is trying to stop an investigation before it finds his fingerprints on the knife in Margaret Chiara's back?
It's a great point, and one that invites us to check out what Pete Secchia has been proposing, just two weeks after Chiara's official departure (and three after Granholm signed a compact with the Gun Lake Tribe):
(Walberg is also on the endangered list - promoted by lpackard)
Check out page 10 of this PowerPoint document (from the White House Office of Political Affairs) that was discussed during an oversight hearing chaired by Henry Waxman in DC today.
While many Republicans distance themselves from President Bush, Congrwessman Vern Ehlers is choosing not to.
"President Bush gave a good speech tonight that focused on issues and answers and stayed away from partisanship and divisions. It is my hope that the members of Congress who listened to the speech can take that spirit of cooperation, set aside partisan differences and work to move our nation forward.
"I was especially heartened by the President's call to strengthen the math and science skills of our children. Since joining Congress, one of my top priorities has been to improve the math and science standards in our nation's schools. I agree with the President about the importance of ensuring that our children receive the best education and training possible to equip them for the jobs of the future. This will allow our nation to remain competitive in the world economy. I also look forward to working with the President on his pledge to review and improve the No Child Left Behind Act, as I serve on the Education & Labor Committee, which has jurisdiction on this important legislation.
"I agree with President Bush about the necessity for our nation to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Although I may not agree with all of his solutions, we certainly agree on the need to develop alternatives to fossil fuels. His proposal to reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent over the next 10 years is a laudable goal - and one that we can achieve if we truly dedicate ourselves to it. I personally look forward to the opportunity to work to make this goal a reality."
"Finally, I appreciate the President's call to seek ways to provide health care insurance to the 47 million Americans who don't have it. There are promising initiatives in the states, particularly Gov. Mitt Romney's plan in Massachusetts and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal in California. I hope President Bush and Congress pursue this goal and that, together, we can reach a solution."
For what it's worth: Romney is a likely contender for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
(Many thanks to Scotty Urb for taking up his share of the work in MI-03. For those of you also in the 3rd, consider helping out!
This brings our great state to a total of 5 Congressional District Watch Blogs. Let's keep up the great work! - promoted by LiberalLucy)
... a comprehensive look at Michigan's Third District Congressman, designed to keep residents of Kent, Ionia, and Barry counties updated on the goings-on of their US Representative.
Why would Congressman Vern Ehlers hide this photo?
The photo from his website, shows the Congressman receiving the Rough Riders Award from the Ripon Society, on July 12th of this year. Presenting him with the award was the House Deputy Majority Whip, the now-disgraced Rep. Mark Foley, and Kevin Kraushaar, Vice President of Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
The Rough Riders Award honored Ehlers for his work on the environment and on use of computers in the House. It is a distinguished award, meant to uphold the “common sense Republican principles.â€
This undoubtedly explains why the Congressman hid the picture. The picture available on Vern Ehlers website as late as 11:15 a.m., Wednesday, October 2, 2006 was removed from the site by noon of the same day (but not, as you can see from the link, from the picture gallery).
In one picture we have the Ehlers' political philosophy in action: simultaneously being honored for real work on the environment (yes, there is a reason why he has been endorsed in the past by the Sierra Club), and at the same time mixing it up with some of the most notorious aspects of this Republican House.
There's a scandal here, alright, but it is not standing next to a gay man, or even standing next to a lobbyist.
I don't suppose this is long for the web site, but once again a reminder for those in Grand Rapids, that our friend Vern is up to his.... uh, eyeballs... in the House leadership debacle that is Foley.
Vern Ehlers is the author of the latest Rethug suppress the vote effort. His proposal passed the House yesterday. He wants to require all voters to present a photo ID and proof of citizenship when they vote. This would keep the poor inner city people who don't drive, often have long lost their birth certificates and don't have passports from voting.
However, there is a bigger issue for those of us who are over 60 or are disabled (such as my wife, who cannot be in crowds) and who vote using absentee ballots. To present a photo ID and proof of citizenship would require that we send our ID and birth certificates through the mail to get our absentee ballots?
Well, well, well, our old friend Jim Haveman showed up in The Washington Post this weekend. The man who did to Iraq what he did to Michigan's poor, meantime, leaving the work of basic reconstruction undone.
Why does this matter, now? Because Haveman is the face of the so-called moderate wing of the State GOP. He's their boy; and boy oh boy, what a boy....
Jim Rinck began to outline his campaign themes at the Third Caucus meeting today at the Dem Convention.
Some controversy arose when he provided strong support for AG candidate Scott Bowen. That part was not pretty including shout-back from the audience.
Things calmed down at the end as Jim closed with a promise to take the campaign to Vern.
"I'm tired of our party not pulling its weight. I'm not just a name."
It's about time. The sheer weight of Ehlers has muffled a good many campaigns. It will take money and effort, but most importantly, as became clear this afternoon, it will take an active campaign voice.
This election marks the 7th time our Republican Congressman Vern Ehlers is running for Congress. Newspapers, news stations, public access television and hopefully the voters in the 3rd district are all hoping Vern will appear in a public debate this year. So far, the requests have gone ignored. If he is not feeling up to a debate, maybe one of his staffers could fill in for him.
With so many questionable votes in a past few years, I hope the voters will start to demand some accountability. He voted Yes on the War, Yes on the repeal of the Esate Tax, Yes on tax breaks for Big Oil, and No on Stem Cell research.
This election, Ehlers is facing real competition. Jim Rinck, a local attorney and Grand Rapids School Board member is prepared to publicize Ehlers ineptitude as well as put forth a solid plan on the issues we face.
Check out www.jimrinck.com. Sign up to help or send a contribution. Ehlers has the money on his side. Rinck has the issues on his.
2008 Status: Unknown
The Grand Rapids Activist Calendar
Iraq War Protest: 6th Anniversary Of The Occupation
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