John E. Sweeney

John E. Sweeney (born August 9, 1955) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of New York, currently representing the state's 20th Congressional district (map) in the United States House of Representatives.

Sweeney was born in Troy, New York and he graduated from the Sage College of Albany in 1981 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice and his J.D. from Western New England College School of Law in 1991. Sweeney was the New York State Commissioner of Labor under Governor George Pataki from 1995 to 1997, and served as Executive Director & Chief Counsel of the New York Republican Party from 1992 to 1995.

Sweeney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 while living outside the district in the Albany area. However, he did relocate to the district shortly after he won.

Sweeney has three children from his first marriage. He lives in Clifton Park, New York with his second wife. He has been suffering significant health issues been for some time, and is trying to quit smoking.

Congressional career

John Sweeney is classified as a Libertarian Conservative by the non-partisan group On The Issues.

In recent months he has attempted to distance himself from his record of supporting the Bush Administration. He votes in support of the positions of the Christian Coalition 69% of the time.

He opposes gun control. He has voted for prayer in public schools on numerous occasions and the National Education Association gives him only an 18% approval rating.

Sweeney supported human embryonic stem cell research. He voted for allowing federal funding for international abortion groups, but has also voted against similar funding.

He voted for making it a federal crime to transport minors across state lines for an abortion. His record is 90% pro-life.

He opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment, but supported a ban on adoptions by gays or other individuals who are not related by blood or marriage (HR 2587).

On economic matters, he supports free trade and tax cuts, as well as social security privatization.

Sweeney also opposes environmental protections and was given a "D" grade by EANY for opposing GE dredging of PCB aka Polychlorinated biphenyl from the Hudson River.

In 2001, Sweeney voted against a bill that would require increasing average fuel efficiency standards and offer incentives for alternative fuel vehicles. (Bill HR 4).

Sweeney received an "F" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle class issues.

According to EMILY's List, Sweeney has taken more campaign contributions from special interests than any other of New York's 29 Representatives.

Sweeney is also the seventh largest recipient of contributions from lobbyists out of all 435 House representatives. [1]

2006 Congressional Race

Main article: New York 20th congressional district election, 2006

The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 13, 2006. As of mid-July, Sweeney will face three candidates in the general election on November 7, 2006: Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, Libertarian Eric Sundwall, and Liberal Morris Guller.

Controversies

Role in Florida recount in 2000

During the 2000 election, Sweeney helped to stop the third recount in Miami, [2] possibly leading to his nickname from President Bush, "Congressman Kickass." He led the charge in November 2000 on the Miami-Dade elections commissioners by urging the Bush supporters to "shut it down!"; they then banged on the election commission's doors and the commissioners stopped the third recount. [3] Sweeney used the words "thugs" to describe the Florida officials involved in the recount. He said his intent was only to stop the canvassing board's withdrawal from public view., and that his actions were "completely and absolutely legitimate."[4]

January 2001 automobile accident

On the night of January 23, 2001, around 10:00 p.m., Sweeney lost control of his 2001 Jeep Laredo and hit a utility pole on a rural upstate road, shutting down power to the homes of several residents and to the nearby Willard Mountain ski resort, stranding skiers aloft on the chairlifts. Sweeney was not charged or ticketed, and the state trooper on the scene refused the offer by a volunteer-fire-department chief to send a crew to the site to direct traffic (instead, a local resident did this, for an hour and a half, with downed and live electrical wires about). In early February, a local newspaper reported that Sweeney had been in a bar before the crash. Witnesses came forward to insist that Sweeney had only one or two glasses of wine. The newspaper noted that Sweeney was not given a sobriety test by the state trooper on the scene. [5]

Wife as fundraiser

On April 11, 2003, Sweeney began paying a company called Creative Consulting for fund-raising. The company had been founded a day earlier by Gayle Ford. Between April 2003 and January 2004, Sweeney's campaign paid $42,570 to the firm. Sweeney proposed to Ford in September 2003 [6] and married her in 2004.

Sweeney spokeswoman Melissa Carlson said the congressman considers his wife "his best representative in the district when he's fund-raising." She said Ford, who had no previous fund-raising experience, receives a 10 percent commission on whatever she raises.

Ford also works for Powers & Company, the lobbying firm of former state GOP Chairman William Powers, Sweeney's longtime political ally and onetime boss.[7]

Congressional Winter Challenge

The Winter Challenge was started in 1998 by Sweeney's House predecessor, Gerald Solomon, with the declared purpose of showcasing the Olympic facilities at Lake Placid, New York to congressmen and their staffers in hopes of getting federal funds; Sweeney has hosted the annual event since 1999.

In January 2006, Sweeney, his wife, and about 60 other people spent a four-day weekend at the facilities, competing against each other in skating, downhill skiing and bobsledding events. The group included Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) and his wife, and aides to U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Representative Randy Kuhl (R-NY), and Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI). The weekend cost the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) $27,500 plus in-kind services it provided plus the costs of operating the Olympic venues for the competition (exact figures for the latter two were unavailable). ORDA is a part of the New York State government.

Issue of who decided who would be invited

In the fall of 2005, the House ethics panel told Sweeney in a letter that he should be careful to let the Olympics groups invite guests to avoid the appearance of an endorsement by the House.. "Once the ORDA and the [U.S. Olympic Committee] — without your involvement — have issued an initial invitation to House members and staff to take part in the trip, you may send a follow-up to that invitation," the ethics panel, known formally as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, wrote to Sweeney.

Invitations to the event officially come from ORDA and the U.S. Olympic Committee, a nonprofit group chartered by Congress. ORDA says the impetus for the event comes from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The U.S. Olympic Committee said it's really Sweeney's event. Three committees of the NY State Assembly have launched investigations of the Challenge, focusing on whether public money was put to good use. ORDA President Ted Blazer, speaking at one such hearing, said Sweeney’s office helped assemble lists of possible invitees to the event.

Documents show that at least eight members of Congress, all Republicans, were also invited to attend the 2006 event but declined.

Issue of official business

The official invitation for the event read: "While this trip has proven itself to be an enjoyable one for delegation members in the past, it is, nevertheless, an official trip authorized by the House and Senate Ethics Committees . . . intended to provide an opportunity for Members of Congress and Congressional staff to inspect and evaluate the manner in which federal funds have been used to strengthen the area's tourism industry."

Despite the House ethics rule requiring all travel paid by others to relate to members' official duties, and the ethic panel's letter that said that recreational activities must be "merely incidental to the trip," Sweeney has said that the panel said "it's perfectly appropriate for me to promote the event."

Issue of lobbyists

The group attending the event included at least 15 registered lobbyists, including Pete Card, a former staffer of Sweeney's and the brother of former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Lisi Kaufman, a lobbyist for United Technologies Corporation, the sister of Andrew and Pete. In his request to the House ethics committee, Sweeney did not ask about lobbyists. A spokesman for ORDA said he does not know why the lobbyists were invited.

Seven of the lobbyists had contributed a total of $12,400 to Sweeney's campaign in 2005.

April 2006 fraternity party

On April 22, 2006, Sweeney reportedly appeared at a registered party at Alpha Delta Phi. Witnesses reported that, after leaving a bar, he appeared to be intoxicated. Photographs and videos captured some of the events. Sweeney denied being drunk and denied drinking at the party. His spokeswoman pointed out that Sweeney had been advised not to drink alcohol because of medication for vasculitis. A friend of Sweeney who accompanied him to the party denied that Sweeney was drunk or slurring his words and that he drank only half of a glass of wine prior to the party.