Harold L. Volkmer | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's9th district | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | William L. Hungate |
| Succeeded by | Kenny Hulshof |
| Member of theMissouri House of Representatives | |
| In office 1967–1977 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1931-04-04)April 4, 1931 Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | April 16, 2011(2011-04-16) (aged 80) Hannibal, Missouri, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, including John Paul and Elizabeth Ann |
| Alma mater | Saint Louis University University of Missouri School of Law |
Harold Lee Volkmer (April 4, 1931 – April 16, 2011) was an American politician fromMissouri.[1] He was aDemocrat who served 20 years in theUnited States House of Representatives.
Volkmer grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, where he "got his start in politics helping his mother campaign in Jefferson City, Missouri, for the re-election of PresidentFranklin Roosevelt."[2] He attended Jefferson City Junior College andSaint Louis University. He later received his law degree from theUniversity of Missouri, and passed the bar exam even before graduating.[2] He married the former Shirley Ruth Braskett (died in 1995) in 1955, and they became the parents of two sons and a daughter. Volkmer served in theUnited States Army from 1955 to 1957.
Prior to entering politics, Volkmer operated a private law practice inHannibal, Missouri.
After graduating from law school, "Volkmer quickly entered public service, first as an Assistant Attorney General for the State, and then in theUnited States Army. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney forMarion County in 1960, and then State Representative in 1966."[2] Volkmer was re-elected to theMissouri House of Representatives four times. "During his ten years in the Missouri legislature, he earned the same reputation that he would have had in Congress. An 'energetic blunt-talking lawyer' and 'a maverick,' in the words of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch. Volkmer led the way on a major reorganization of the executive branch of state government. As the Republican minority leader later recalled, 'Volkmer was the brains for all of us. He understood the issue of reorganization better than anybody in the Legislature. We all looked to him for leadership, including me. I don’t like to say that, darn it, because he’s a Democrat. But it’s true.'"[2]
As Chairman of the Missouri House Judiciary Committee, Volkmer sought and obtained approval of theEqual Rights Amendment by the Missouri House of Representatives. In 1976, he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives and was re-elected nine times.
In Congress, Volkmer represented a mostly rural 21-county area in northeastern Missouri. He served on theHouse Agriculture Committee and helped shape five major farm bills. Volkmer also served for several of his early terms on theHouse Judiciary Committee. He had a reputation as aconservative Democrat due to his opposition togun control legislation, his opposition toabortion, and his opposition togay rights. However, these highly salient political issues overshadowed Volkmer's more progressive stances on many issues involving civil rights, environmental laws, and education policy. For instance, he supported the extension of theVoting Rights Act in 1982, the extension and expansion of theFair Housing Act in 1988, expansion and strengthening of various environmental laws includingSuperfund, theClean Water Act, and theClean Air Act, and opposed certainPentagon weapons programs considered by him to be wasteful and unnecessary. Volkmer also supported thePanama Canal Treaty Enabling Legislation in 1978, and the modernization of the United States Bankruptcy laws in 1978. Volkmer also supported the creation of theU.S. Department of Education.
He was one of the primary sponsors of the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Act that came to be known as theFirearm Owners Protection Act. This act amended theGun Control Act by creating an expanded system of rules and procedures with respect to compliance inspections ofgun shops. According to legal scholarDave Kopel, "Line by line, FOPA significantly strengthened statutory protections of theSecond,Fourth,Fifth,Ninth, andTenth Amendments. FOPA remains one of the most far-reaching laws ever enacted by Congress to safeguard constitutional rights."[2]
For most of his tenure, Volkmer usually skated to reelection. From 1978 to 1990, he only faced one close race, in 1984.[3] In 1992, however, he was nearly defeated by Republican Rick Hardy, a political science professor at MU, surviving by only 5,800 votes.[4] He faced an equally close race in 1994, when Republican assistant attorney generalKenny Hulshof held him to 50.4 percent of the vote.[5] He lost a rematch to Hulshof in 1996 by just under 5,900 votes.[6] Since then, the Democrats have only once cracked the 40 percent barrier in the district, now numbered as the3rd.
After leaving Congress, Volkmer served as chairman of the National Commission on Small Farms, and "the members of theNational Rifle Association overwhelmingly elected him to their Board of Directors, on which he served for the next 12 years."[2] Volkmer resided inHannibal, Missouri until his death at age 80 frompneumonia on April 16, 2011.[2]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 9th congressional district 1977–1997 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
