From OpenCongress Wiki

Tom Cole has represented Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican since 2003 . As of 2005, Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the only registered Native American in the U.S. House. He was the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 110th Congress, but relinquished that role in the 111th Congress.

Contents 1 Records and controversies 1.1 Iraq War 1.2 Environmental record 1.3 Oil 2 Bio 2.1 Congressional career 2.1.1 2006 elections 2.2 National Republican Campaign Committee 3 Money in politics 3.1 Oil Money in Politics 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 Articles and Resources 6.1 References 6.2 External resources 6.2.1 Local blogs and discussion sites 6.3 Articles 7 Contact

Records 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 American Conservative Union 100 - 1 AFSCME - Americans for Democratic Action 10 - 2/20 U.S. Chamber of Commerce -

Iraq War

Environmental record

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

Oil

Tom Cole has voted in favor of big oil companies on 90% of important oil-related bills from 2005-2007, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq war funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and emissions.^[1] See below for oil money in politics.

Bio

Although born in Shreveport, Louisiana on April 28, 1949, Cole is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, raised in Moore, Oklahoma. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1971 with a BA in History. His postgraduate degrees include an MA from Yale University (1974) and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma (1984), both in British History. Cole did research abroad as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and was a Fulbright Fellow (1977-78) at the University of London. He was a college professor in history and politics before becoming a politician.

Cole is a major figure in contemporary Oklahoma politics. Following his mother Helen, who served as a state representative and senator, Cole served in the Oklahoma State Senate from 1988 to 1991, resigning mid-term to accept a job in Washington. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Oklahoma Secretary of State under Frank Keating, and assisted with the recovery efforts following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He has also served as Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party.

Cole has been heavily involved in national politics as well, having served both as Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee and as Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee. He also spent two years working as a paid consultant for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But Cole's primary involvement in politics has been as a political consultant. His firm Cole, Hargrave, Snodgrass and Associates played a large part in the reconstruction of Oklahoma's political landscape, and backed a number of candidates that took office during the Republican Revolution of 1994. Among their clients have been Frank Keating, J.C. Watts, Tom Coburn, Frank Lucas, Mary Fallin, Wes Watkins, Steve Largent, Mississippi congressman Chip Pickering, and Hawaii governor Linda Lingle.

Congressional career

During his initial campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, Cole received the endorsement of Watts, the popular outgoing incumbent. This helped him win a hard-fought general election over Democratic nominee Darryl Roberts with 54% of the vote. Cole subsequently won an easy re-election campaign in 2004, gaining 78% of the vote against independent candidate Charlene Bradshaw.

2006 elections

In 2006, the Democrats nominated Hal Spake to face Cole in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) [1] Cole retained his seat. Following the elections, Cole was named chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee for the 110th Congress.

National Republican Campaign Committee

Cole has withdrawn his name from race to be the chairman of the NRCC due to large amount of Republican losses in the November elections. ^[1]

Money in politics

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
Chickasaw Nation	$ 19,796
Prepaid Legal Services	$ 13,800
Chesapeake Energy	$ 10,600
American Bankers Assn	$ 10,000
American Crystal Sugar	$ 10,000
Associated Builders & Contractors	$ 10,000
AT&T Inc	$ 10,000
International Assn of Fire Fighters	$ 10,000
Koch Industries	$ 10,000
National Beer Wholesalers Assn	$ 10,000
National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn	$ 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 Tom Cole 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

Oil Money in Politics

Tom Cole has received $80,100 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $50,500 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, Cole has accepted $305,050 from oil companies between 2000 and 2008, which makes him one of the top recipients of oil money.^[1] See above for oil voting record.

Committees and Affiliations

Committees

• House Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

• House Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
• House Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommitee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans
  • Subcommitee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands

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

• House Committee on Rules
  • Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House
• House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

More Background Data

• Background information on Tom Cole from Project Vote Smart

• Interest group scorecard ratings for Tom Cole from Project Vote Smart

• Voting record for Tom Cole from the Washington Post database

• Information on Tom Cole from Congress Merge
• 2006 Oklahoma CD 4 Candidate List from VIS

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

Articles and Resources

References

External resources

• Official Website
• Congressional biography
• Technorati Search: Tom Cole
• Google News: Tom Cole
• Yahoo! News Search: Tom Cole
• Power Trips: How much did Tom Cole travel?
• Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
• Follow the Oil Money
• Vote Tracker
• Follow the Coal Money
• Appalachian Voices

Local blogs and discussion sites

• Okie Funk

Articles

• Cole Denies Comparing Vote Against Bush to support for Hitler; Restates that "if George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election" Associated Press, 3/4/04.
• Cole speaks about President's Social Security Plan, "He cannot afford to fail. It would have repercussions for the rest of his program, including foreign policy. We can't hand the president a defeat on his major domestic initiative at a time of war" by Jackie Calmes, Wall street Journal, 1/6/05.
• DeLay's Legal Defense Fund Received Contributions from Two New Ethics Committee Members by Mike Allen, Washington Post, 3/14/05.

Contact

DC Office:
236 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3604
Phone: 202-225-6165
Fax: 202-225-3512
Web Email
Website

District Office- Ada:
104 East Twelfth
Ada, OK 74820
Phone: 580-436-5375
Fax: 580-436-5451

District Office- Lawton:
711 Southwest D Avenue, Suite 201
Lawton, OK 73501
Phone: 580-357-2131
Fax: 580-357-7477

District Office- Norman:
2420 Springer Drive, Suite 120
Norman, OK 73069
Phone: 405-329-6500
Fax: 405-321-7369

Semantic data

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Rep	First name: Tom	Middle name:	Last name: Cole
Suffix:		Nickname:
Party: R	State: OK	District: 04 District short: 4	Currently in office? True
Gender: M
Phone: 202-225-6165	Fax: 202-225-3512	Website: http://www.cole.house.gov/	Webform email: http://www.cole.house.gov/contact-tom.html Email address:
DC office: 236 Cannon House Office Building
Bioguide ID: C001053	Votesmart ID: 46034	FEC ID: H2OK04055	Govtrack ID: 400077
CRP ID: N00025726	Eventful ID: P0-001-000016208-0	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID:
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Tom_Cole		YouTubeID: RepTomCole	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 Armed Services, House Committee on Armed Services/Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, House Committee on Armed Services/Subcommittee on Readiness, House Committee on Natural Resources, House Committee on Natural Resources/Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife and Oceans, House Committee on Natural Resources/Subcommittee on National Parks Forests and Public Lands
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: November 5, 2002	First Took Current Office: January 3, 2003	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? No	Previous Political Work? Oklahoma Secretary of State; Oklahoma Senate	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
104 East Twelfth, Ada, OK 74820 Phone: 580-436-5375 / Fax: 580-436-5451 711 Southwest D Avenue, Suite 201, Lawton, OK 73501 Phone: 580-357-2131 / Fax: 580-357-7477 2420 Springer Drive, Suite 120, Norman, OK 73069 Phone: 405-329-6500 / Fax: 405-321-7369
Campaign Contact:
Website: Webform Email: / Email: Campaign Offices: Phone: / Fax:
Zip Code Affiliations:
Misc:
Date of Birth:

Latitude: 34°46′24.342″N
Longitude: 96°40′45.049″W Latitude: 34°36′14.607″N
Longitude: 98°23′54.897″W Latitude: 35°12′17.039″N
Longitude: 97°28′42.888″W