Dan Rostenkowski
Daniel David Rostenkowski ( born January 2, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, † August 11 2010 in Powers Lake, Wisconsin ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, the 36-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois and 1981-1995 Chairman of the influential Committee on Ways and Means was.
Biography
The son of a long-standing member of the Council of Cook County graduated in 1946 from St. John's Military Academy and then strip until 1948 his military service in the infantry of the U.S. Army in Korea. After his return to the U.S. he began studying at Loyola University Chicago.
While still a student he began his political career in the Democratic Party and in 1952 was not only a delegate to the Illinois Democratic Convention, but was also elected as an MP in the House of Representatives from Illinois. In the next state elections, he was in 1954 elected to the State Senate, where he served for one term until 1956.
In 1958 he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and represented there by 17 subsequent re- elections of January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1995, the interests of the 8th and last from 1993 to 1995 of the 5th Congressional District of Illinois. He was also in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 each delegate of the Democratic National Convention for the nomination of the presidential candidate of the Democrats.
On January 3, 1981, he became chairman of the influential Committee on Ways and Means (U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means ') and remained in this position until his retirement from the House of Representatives on January 3, 1995. Thus Danny Rostenkowski was known as "Mr. Chairman " significantly involved in numerous legislative procedures in the budgetary, financial and fiscal policies, but also in the social security systems and some family policy topics. One of the main legislative procedure of his term of office was about the Tax Reform Act of 1986 ( Tax Reform Act of 1986), one of the most thorough and most complex tax reforms in the United States. He was also at the same time from 1981 to 1991 Chairman of the Joint Tax Committee of the House of Representatives and Senate ( Congress Joint Committee on Taxation ).
His political career ended suddenly and unexpectedly when in 1994 allegations of corruption and taking advantage collected in the so-called " Congressional Post Office Scandal ," which he initially denied, however. However, after his defeat in the congressional elections of 1994 he admitted these allegations one, known in subsequent court proceedings guilty and was sentenced to 17 months in prison in Wisconsin federal prison, where he served the last two months than outdoor cats.
After 2000 he was fully pardoned by U.S. President Bill Clinton, he worked as an outsider with politics and was also commentator for the television station WFLD last.