From OpenCongress Wiki

Charles J. (Charlie) Melancon (pronounced Meh-lahn-son) has been a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana's Third Congressional District since 2005.

Contents 1 Record and controversies 1.1 Iraq War 1.2 Environmental record 1.3 Oil Voting Record 2 Bio 2.1 2006 elections 3 Money in politics 3.1 Oil and Coal Contributions 4 Committees and Affiliations 4.1 Committees 4.1.1 Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) 4.1.2 Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006) 5 More Background Data 6 Contact 7 Articles and Resources 7.1 References 7.2 External resources 7.2.1 Local blogs and discussion sites

Record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes. Want to see someone else's scorecard added to the list? You can do it! Organization 2007 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio 2008 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail. American Conservative Union 36 - 9/25 not avail. AFSCME not avail. not avail. Americans for Democratic Action 85 - 17/20 80 - 16/20 Club for Growth not avail. not avail. Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail. Family Research Council not avail. not avail. Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail. League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail. U.S. Chamber of Commerce 75 - 15/20 not avail.

Iraq War

Environmental record

For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Oil Voting Record

Charlie Melancon has voted in favor of big oil companies on 64% of important oil-related bills. These include Iraq War Funding, Climate Change Studies, Clean Energy, and Ending Oil Subsidies. See below for oil money in politics.^{[citation needed]}

Bio

Melancon was born October 3, 1947 in Napoleonville, Louisiana. Melancon owned and operated several small businesses (including two Baskin Robbins) before winning a 1987 special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives. After serving 2 more terms, he headed the American Sugar Cane League from 1993 to 2004.

Melancon decided to run for the U.S. House when Billy Tauzin announced his retirement. Considered an underdog for much of the race, he managed to squeak into a runoff due to an especially ugly intraparty battle between Republican candidates Billy Tauzin III (the incumbent's son) and Craig Romero. In the runoff campaign, Melancon repeatedly hammered away at Tauzin III's youth, inexperience, criminal record, and family ties (many members of both major parties resented Tauzin's status as frontrunner for the seat solely because his father was the incumbent). Due to the attacks, makeup of the district, and Romero's refusal to endorse Tauzin, Melancon eked out a victory of about 600 votes.

Very soon after being sworn in in January of 2005, Melancon joined the Blue Dog Democrats. He is a fairly conservative Democrat by national standards--in fact, a section of his campaign site, "Louisiana Values," detailed his opposition to gun control, abortion and same-sex marriage. He later said that the 2004 election campaign was the first time in his life that he was called a liberal.

Melancon has been a harsh critic of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated much of his district. However, some post-Katrina analyses indicate that the political fallout from Katrina may lead to an unseating of incumbents generally, and for demographic reasons, Democratic incumbents in particular.

2006 elections

Melancon won reelection by a margin of 55%-40% over his closest rival, Republican Craig Romero. [1]

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
Edison Chouest Offshore	$ 18,400
American Sugar Cane League	$ 15,000
Caillou Island Towing	$ 13,800
American Academy of Ophthalmology	$ 10,000
American Assn for Justice	$ 10,000
American Federation of Teachers	$ 10,000
Blue Dog PAC	$ 10,000
Chevron Corp	$ 10,000
Laborers Union	$ 10,000
National Beer Wholesalers Assn	$ 10,000
Operating Engineers Union	$ 10,000
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union	$ 10,000
United Steelworkers	$ 10,000
Valero Energy	$ 10,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site. Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Charles Melancon from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by industry:	2008 election cycle	Career totals

• Revolving door profile for Charles Melancon from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• 2006 privately funded travel profile for Charles Melancon from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• Personal finance profile for Charles Melancon from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

Oil and Coal Contributions

Charlie Melancon has received $117,100 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $101,750 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, he has received $235,200 since 2000. In terms of coal companies, Melancon has received $43,500 in coal contributions during the 110th congress, and all of those have been from industry PACs.^{[citation needed]}

Committees and Affiliations

Committees

• House Committee on Budget
• House Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

• House Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• House Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

• House Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Programs
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
• House Committee on Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks Recreation and Public Lands
• House Committee on Science
  • Subcommittee on Research
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

More Background Data

• Background information on Charles Melancon from Project Vote Smart

• Interest group scorecard ratings for Charles Melancon from Project Vote Smart

• Voting record for Charles Melancon from the Washington Post database

• Information on Charles Melancon from Congress Merge

Wikipedia also has an article on Charles Melancon. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Contact

DC office
404 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ph: 202-225-4031 Fax: 202-226-3944 Webform email
District offices
8201 West Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, LA 70043 Ph: 504-271-1702 Fax: (none entered) 828 South Irma Boulevard, Suite 107, Gonzales, LA 70737 Ph: 225-621-8490 Fax: (none entered) 423 Lafayette Street, Suite 107, Houma, LA 70360 Ph: 985-876-3033 Fax: (none entered) 210 East Main Street, New Iberia, LA 70560 Ph: 337-367-8231 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Official website This member of Congress does not use Twitter. YouTube channel
Campaign office
No campaign website entered. No campaign webform email entered. No campaign office information entered.

Articles and Resources

References

External resources

• Official website
• Campaign website
• Follow the Oil Money
• Vote Tracker
• Follow the Coal Money
• Appalachian Voices

Local blogs and discussion sites

• Your Right Hand Thief: Laughing off hard truths in New Orleans

Semantic data

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Rep	First name: Charles	Middle name: J.	Last name: Melancon
Suffix: Sr.		Nickname: Charlie
Party: D	State: LA	District: 03 District short: 3	Currently in office? True
Gender: M
Phone: 202-225-4031	Fax: 202-226-3944	Website: http://www.melancon.house.gov/	Webform email: http://www.melancon.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content Email address:
DC office: 404 Cannon House Office Building
Bioguide ID: M001161	Votesmart ID: 35601	FEC ID: H4LA03028	Govtrack ID: 400635
CRP ID: N00026840	Eventful ID: P0-001-000016503-2	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID:
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Charles_Melancon		YouTubeID: RepCharlieMelancon	Senate class:

Entered manually within the Template:Politician
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
110th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee on Energy and Commerce/Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection, House Committee on Energy and Commerce/Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, House Committee on Energy and Commerce/Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Science and Technology, House Committee on Science and Technology/Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, House Committee on Science and Technology/Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: December 4, 2004	First Took Current Office: January 3, 2005	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? No	Previous Political Work? Louisiana House of Representatives	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
8201 West Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, LA 70043 Phone: 504-271-1702 / Fax: 504-271-1756 828 South Irma Boulevard, Suite 107, Gonzales, LA 70737 Phone: 225-621-8490 / Fax: 225-621-8493 423 Lafayette Street, Suite 107, Houma, LA 70360 Phone: 985-876-3033 / Fax: 985-872-4449 210 East Main Street, New Iberia, LA 70560 Phone: 337-367-8231 / Fax: 337-369-7084
Campaign Contact:
Website: Webform Email: / Email: Campaign Offices: Phone: / Fax:
Zip Code Affiliations:
Misc:
Date of Birth:

Latitude: 29°57′19.447″N
Longitude: 89°59′0.666″W Latitude: 30°13′54.76″N
Longitude: 90°54′49.384″W Latitude: 29°35′43.464″N
Longitude: 90°43′28.015″W Latitude: 30°0′16.769″N
Longitude: 91°49′0.832″W