Reply #32: Marty Meehan

[MrBenchley]

"In nine years in Congress, Congressman Marty Meehan has emerged as a national leader on a variety of issues and a steadfast advocate for the people of his district. He has led the fight to reform our nation's campaign finance laws and the battle to protect our children from tobacco. Moreover, he has been a tireless advocate for economic development and smart growth strategies across the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts.

A resident of Lowell, Marty has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993. He is a member of both the House Armed Services and Judiciary Committees. In addition to reforming our campaign finance laws and protecting kids from tobacco, Marty's top priorities include maintaining a balanced federal budget, preserving Medicare and Social Security, supporting and strengthening our Armed Forces, working to make our communities clean and crime-free for families, and providing people -- both young and old -- the education they need to compete in a global workplace.

As the lead Democratic sponsor of the "Shays-Meehan-McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002," Marty is spearheading the effort to clean up our election system and reduce the influence of special interests on Capitol Hill. The Shays-Meehan-McCain-Feingold reform bill received the endorsement of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, the American Association of Retired Persons, and other public interest organizations, as well as newspaper editorial boards across the country.

Marty is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health and widely recognized as one of the tobacco industry's harshest critics. In December of 1994, he authored a 111-page prosecution memorandum outlining, for the first time, criminal violations by tobacco companies and their executives. Marty's detailed memo has served as the foundation for many of the U.S. Justice Department's investigations into and litigation against Big Tobacco. In the 105th Congress, Marty introduced the bipartisan "No Tobacco for Kids Act," which would establish a comprehensive national tobacco control policy aimed at protecting children, reducingtobacco use, and improving public health. In 1999, Marty was the co-author of the leading bipartisan legislation to allocate funds from the multi-state tobacco settlement towards programs to protect children from tobacco use.

Marty earned his reputation as a tough law enforcer as the Massachusetts Deputy Secretary of State for Securities and Corporations from 1986 to 1990. The Boston Globe reported, "During Meehan's four years as Deputy Secretary, the Securities Division from being a frequent embarrassment to gaining a national reputation as hard-hitting and activist." The Boston Herald credited him with "changing the state securities and corporations division from what some called a nest of political influence into one of the nation's leading state securities investigators." "

And he's for gun control.