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Bud Cramer
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's5th district
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Ronnie Flippo
Succeeded by	Parker Griffith
District Attorney ofMadison County
In office 1981–1991
Preceded by	Fred Simpson[1]
Succeeded by	Mo Brooks
Personal details
Born	Robert Edward Cramer Jr. (1947-08-22)August 22, 1947 (age 78) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Children	1
Education	University of Alabama (BA,JD)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1972–1978
Unit	United States Army Reserve

Robert Edward "Bud"Cramer Jr.^[2] (born August 22, 1947) is an American politician who was aDemocratic member of theUnited States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009, representingAlabama's 5th congressional district.^[3] On March 13, 2008, Cramer announced he would not seek re-election to a 10th term.^[4]

Cramer was born and raised inHuntsville, Alabama. Known as Bud by his classmates, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and aJuris Doctor degree from theUniversity of Alabama School of Law in 1972. After graduating, he joined the Army as a tank officer. He served at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and remained a member of the Army Reserve from 1976 to 1978.

In 1973, Cramer was appointed assistant district attorney in Madison County, a position he held until going into private practice in 1975. He remained in private practice until 1980, when he challenged the incumbent Madison County District Attorney and won at age 33.

In 1985, he founded the National Children's Advocacy Center, a child-friendly environment for abused children, an effort for which he was honored at the White House by PresidentRonald Reagan in 1987.^[5]

Cramer was district attorney from 1981 to 1990, until Rep.Ronnie Flippo ran unsuccessfully for governor. Cramer ran for the vacant Congressional seat in 1990, defeating Republican Al McDonald with 67% of the vote. He was handily reelected in 1992. However, he was nearly defeated in 1994 byRepublican businessman Wayne Parker—the closest that a Republican had come to winning one of the few remaining districts (prior to 2010) in the formerConfederacy to have never elected a Republican sinceReconstruction. Cramer only held onto his seat by 1,770 votes. Cramer managed to defeat Parker with less difficulty in 1996 and never faced serious opposition again, winning five more terms by over 70 percent of the vote before running unopposed in 2006.

In the House, Cramer was a supporter of theInternational Space Station and an advocate for spending increases in missile defense, as Huntsville has long been a center for research and development of these two projects, asRedstone Arsenal—located in the district—is home of theUnited States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) andNASA'sMarshall Space Flight Center.

A liberal in his early days, he largely supported the Democratic line for his first three terms. The 1994 near-defeat, however, led Cramer to move more to the right in his voting. He often broke with his party on issues such asabortion, gay rights, gun control, taxes, regulation of business, and the environment. Cramer was one of only four Democrats in the House to vote for the tax cut bill of 2003. However, unlike a few other conservative Democrats, he did not vote in favor of any of the articles of impeachment against PresidentBill Clinton.

Cramer's voting record placed him near the center of the House; however, he was often cited as unpredictable in his votes. Child protection was a longtime legislative project of Cramer's pursuant to his work with the area prior to his ascent to the House.

Cramer was a long-time member of theBlue Dog Democrats, a coalition of conservative and moderate House Democrats.^[6] Because of his largely conservative positions, he was encouraged by fellow Alabama politician Sen.Richard Shelby to make the same switch that he did and register as a Republican. Cramer resisted these efforts, and won reelection easily in his increasingly conservative district despite his party affiliation.

On October 10, 2002, Cramer was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing theinvasion of Iraq. He also voted in favor of some measures favored by the Republican majority, including the continued occupation of Iraq and re-authorization of thePatriot Act. However, Cramer joined fellow Democrats in opposing President Bush's plan to send 21,000 additional troops to Iraq.

• House Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
  • The Select Intelligence Oversight Panel
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Technical & Tactical Intelligence
• The Blue Dog Coalition, Co-Founder
• The Congressional Missing & Exploited Children's Caucus, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder
• The End the Death Tax Caucus, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder
• The House Anti-Terrorism Caucus, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder
• The Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus, Co-Chairman

On March 13, 2008, Cramer surprised colleagues by announcing that he would not seek re-election in 2008 and would retire at the end of his term. Alabama’s Democratic State SenatorParker Griffith defeated Republican Wayne Parker in the race to succeed Cramer.

Since leaving Congress, Cramer has worked as a lobbyist and government affairs consultant, representing clients in the defense and aerospace industries.^[7]

• National Journal
  • Economic: 50% Liberal, 49% Conservative
  • Social: 48% Liberal, 51% Conservative
  • Foreign: 54% Liberal, 45% Conservative
• Americans for Democratic Action: 75
• American Civil Liberties Union: 25
• Chamber of Commerce of the United States: 86
• Christian Coalition: 58
• American Conservative Union: 50
• National Taxpayers Union: 26
• League of Conservation Voters: 36

• Media related toBud Cramer at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or aboutRobert E. Cramer atWikisource
• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Robert E. (Bud) Cramer Congressional Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections

• 1947 births
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 20th-century Methodists
• 21st-century United States representatives
• 21st-century Methodists
• American United Methodists
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Alabama
• District attorneys in Alabama
• Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama
• Living people
• Members of the United States Congress who became lobbyists
• Military personnel from Huntsville, Alabama
• Politicians from Huntsville, Alabama
• United States Army officers
• University of Alabama School of Law alumni

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from March 2013
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• People appearing on C-SPAN