Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5)i

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Kurt Schrader Congressman District 5

House links: Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5)i

Campaign links: Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5)i

Kurt Schrader Congressional Candidate Oregon District 5

Biography of Kurt Schrader from House.gov

Congressman Kurt Schrader is currently serving his second term in the United States House of Representatives. He represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District which includes all of Marion, Polk, Lincoln and Tillamook Counties as well as the bulk of Clackamas and small portions of Multnomah and Benton Counties. Before being elected to Congress Schrader, a farmer and veterinarian for over thirty years, established and managed the Clackamas County Veterinary Clinic in Oregon City and operated his farm where he grew and sold organic fruit and vegetables.

In 1996, Congressman Schrader was elected to the Oregon State House of Representatives. There he served as a member of the Joint Ways & Means Committee. Schrader was one of 5 legislators asked by their peers to guide Oregon through the budget crisis of 2001-2002. Schrader was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 2003 and was immediately appointed to chair the Joint Ways & Means Committee. He continued to serve in that capacity until he was elected to U.S. Congress in 2008.

Congressman Schrader attended Cornell University where he received his BA in Government in 1973. He received his veterinary degree from the University of Illinois in 1977.

Congressman Schrader currently serves as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Small Business and serves as ranking member of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Finance and Tax.

Schrader also chairs the Blue Dog’s Taskforce on Fiscal Responsibility and the New Democrat Coalition’s Health Care Reform Taskforce.

Biography of Kurt Schrader from Kurt Schrader for Congress

For more than 20 years, Kurt Schrader has been a respected leader in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. His background represents many of the elements of this diverse district. He understands its agricultural heritage: he raised organic crops on Canby’s historic Three Rivers Farm, where Kurt raised five children. Kurt is also a small businessman and veterinarian, who built his veterinary clinic in Oregon City from scratch.

Kurt Schrader, however, is best known for his record of public service. After serving on Canby’s local planning board he entered the Oregon House of Representatives in 1997, moving to the State Senate in 2003 where he served as the co-chair of Oregon’s budget committee until his election to Congress in 2008.

In Congress Schrader has put his experience to work by serving on the House Agriculture Committee, House Small Business Committee and House Budget Committee. Schrader also chairs the Finance and Lending Subcommittee on small business, a rare accomplishment for a first–term member.

Accomplishments

• As chairman of the Finance and Lending Subcommittee on Small Business, Schrader wrote, introduced and passed a bill to create $44 billion in new lending for small businesses and cut through much of the bureaucratic red tape that hampers small businesses growth.
• Schrader fought hard to make sure Newport became the new home of NOAA’s Pacific Fleet and the hundreds of jobs and economic opportunities that base brings to the community.
• Schrader has fought and won support for regional projects that provide jobs for Oregonians in these tough times. Kurt fought for a new armory in hard-hit Polk County for the Oregon National Guard, and for critical improvements to the Mill Creek Employment Center in Salem bringing thousands of jobs to the region.
• Schrader has cut through red tape for his constituents, helping Oregon families win back over $1 million in stalled Social Security payments, denied veterans benefits and delayed IRS refunds.
• Schrader fought and won concessions from Congressional leaders in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) to protect Oregon agricultural interests and promote more jobs in Oregon forests through renewable biomass.
• Schrader fought and won concessions from the Administration to correct the disparity in Medicare funding that has significantly hurt Oregon patients and their doctors.
• Schrader joined with Oregon Republican Greg Walden to form the Congressional Healthy Forests Caucus. The Caucus advocates for forest policies that stress renewable use of our forestland while looking for opportunities to bring jobs back to our rural forests.
• And much more.