Rob Bishop | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Natural Resources Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Raúl Grijalva |
| Succeeded by | Bruce Westerman |
| Chair of theHouse Natural Resources Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Doc Hastings |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Grijalva |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromUtah's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Hansen |
| Succeeded by | Blake Moore |
| Chair of theUtah Republican Party | |
| In office May 10, 1997 – August 25, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Suitter |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Cannon |
| Speaker of theUtah House of Representatives | |
| In office 1992–1994 | |
| Preceded by | Craig Moody |
| Succeeded by | Melvin R. Brown |
| Member of theUtah House of Representatives | |
| In office 1978–1994 | |
| Preceded by | Willis Hansen (61st) Stephen Holbrook (2nd) |
| Succeeded by | Richard Ellertson (61st) Peter C. Knudson (2nd) |
| Constituency | 61st district (1978–1982) 2nd district (1982–1994) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert William Bishop (1951-07-13)July 13, 1951 (age 74) Kaysville, Utah, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Jeralynn Hansen |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | University of Utah (BA) |
Bishop criticizing failures of theBureau of Land Management to properly survey theRed River in Texas. Recorded December 9, 2015 | |
Robert William Bishop (born July 13, 1951) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forUtah's 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2021. A member of theRepublican Party, he became the dean ofUtah's congressional delegation after the retirement ofOrrin Hatch from theU.S. Senate in 2019.
Prior to his congressional tenure, Bishop was aUtah State Representative (1978–1994), including two final years as Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, as well as Chair of theUtah Republican Party (1997–2001). He was a candidate forLieutenant Governor of Utah asThomas Wright's running mate in the2020 election.
Bishop was born inKaysville, Utah, and graduated from Davis High School.[1] He served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints inGermany from 1970 until 1972. Bishop received abachelor's degree inpolitical science from theUniversity of Utah inSalt Lake City in 1974.
He taught civics classes atBrigham City'sBox Elder High School from 1974 to 1980; he next taughtGerman inOgden, Utah atBen Lomond High School; then he returned to teachinggovernment andhistory classes at Box Elder High School until his retirement from teaching in 2002.[2] While a teacher at Box Elder, Bishop partnered with theClose Up Foundation to help students participate in Close Up'sWashington, D.C.–based civic education programs.[3][4]
Bishop was a member of theUtah House of Representatives from 1978 to 1994. He was House Majority Leader and later served as Speaker of the House from 1992 until 1994.[5][6]
In 1997, he was elected chairman of theUtah Republican Party, and served for two terms in this position.[7][8] He has also worked as a legislative lobbyist in Washington.
In 2002, Bishop returned to politics when he ran for the Republican nomination in the 1st District. 22-year incumbentJim Hansen had recently announced his retirement. At the state Republican convention, he finished first in the seven-candidate field and went on to face State RepresentativeKevin Garn in a primary.[9] He defeated Garn in that primary with 59.8 percent of the vote, all but assuring him of being the next congressman from this heavily Republican district.[10] As expected, he won the general election with 61% of the vote. He has won re-election in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 with even larger margins. In 2014, he was reelected with 64% of the vote.[11]
In the 2016 election cycle, 92.6% of contributions to Bishop's political campaign came from outside Utah, the highest out-of-state percentage of any member of the House, with much of the contributions coming from the energy andagribusiness sectors, according to an analysis byOpenSecrets.[12][13]
In 2010 Bishop introduced to the House an amendment to theUnited States Constitution, known as the "repeal amendment," which would allow a majority vote of the states to overturn any act of theUnited States Congress.[14]
Bishop supports repeal of theEndangered Species Act of 1973, saying it has been "hijacked" to control land and block economic development, and that he "would love to invalidate" the law.[15][16] Bishop is among those most critical of theAntiquities Act.[12] Bishop opposed the designation of theBears Ears National Monument and supports repealing or shrinking the designation.[12][17] Bishop supports transferring federal public lands to the states.[18] Despite this, Bishop sponsored a successful amendment to the 2006National Defense Authorization Act to create theCedar Mountain Wilderness, specifically to block transportation access to thePrivate Fuel Storage nuclear storage facility onGoshute'sSkull Valley Indian Reservation land inTooele County.[19][20]
In February 2011, Bishop introduced a budget amendment[21] that would have defunded theNational Landscape Conservation System, which manages 27 million acres ofBureau of Land Management land, including theNational Monument,National Conservation Area,National Wilderness Preservation,National Wild and Scenic Rivers,National Scenic Trail,National Historic Trail systems and other systems. After coming under fire for introducing this amendment,[22] Bishop withdrew it.
On April 10, 2013, Bishop introduced theEnsuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act. The bill would amend theAntiquities Act of 1906 to subjectnational monument declarations by the President to theNational Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).[23] At present, thePresident of the United States can unilaterally designate areas of federally-owned land as a national monument, whereas national parks and other areas are required to be enacted into law by theUnited States Congress.[24] Bishop argued that "the American people deserve the opportunity to participate in land-use decisions regardless of whether they are made in Congress or by the President". He claims his new bill would ensure "that new national monuments are created openly with consideration of public input".[24]
In March 2019, Bishop said that "the ideas behind the Green New Deal are tantamount togenocide".[25] Asked to elaborate how this was similar to genocide, Bishop answered, "I’m an ethnic. I’m a westerner."[26] Asked whether he believed that the Green New Deal would kill him, Bishop said, "If you actually implement everything they want to. Killing would be positive if you implement everything the Green New Deal actually wants to. That’s why the Green New Deal is not ready for prime time."[26]
Bishop was chairman of the Utah Republican Party when the decision was made to close primaries to nonparty members in the late 1990s. The Utah Democratic party holds open primaries. When asked about Democrats changing their party affiliation to vote in the 2020 Republican primary, he replied "instead of piddling around with the Republican primary. Doing it this way ... the best you can call it is dishonorable. It really is a slimy way of doing things." He said the only reason Democrats are attempting to "pervert the process" is to help advance a candidate. "That's inherently wrong," Bishop said.[27] In an editorial, Bishop restated his view: "A leading Democrat wants to create havoc in the system. For what aim? Maybe to elect the 'correct' candidates? Maybe to help Democrats have a bigger voice in the elections?"[28]
| Year | Democratic | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dave Thomas | 66,104 | 37% | Rob Bishop | 109,265 | 61% | Craig Axford | Green | 4,027 | 2% | * | ||||||||
| 2004 | Steven Thompson | 85,630 | 29% | Rob Bishop | 199,615 | 68% | Charles Johnston | Constitution | 4,510 | 2% | Richard W. Soderberg | Personal Choice | 4,206 | 1% | |||||
| 2006 | Steven Olsen | 57,922 | 32% | Rob Bishop | 112,546 | 63% | Mark Hudson | Constitution | 5,539 | 3% | Lynn Badler | Libertarian | 2,467 | 1% | |||||
| 2008 | Morgan Bowen | 87,139 | 30.4% | Rob Bishop | 186,031 | 65.0% | Kirk D. Pearson | Constitution | 6,861 | 2.4% | Joseph G. Buchman | Libertarian | 6,287 | 2.2% |
Bishop announced in July 2019 that he would not seek reelection to the House in 2020.[35] He mentioned the same year that he was considering running for governor, but considered himself a "horrible" candidate.[36]
He joinedThomas Wright's ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor in the2020 Utah gubernatorial election but later lost the primary.[37][38]
Bishop is married to Jeralynn Hansen, a former Miss Peach Queen forBrigham City, Utah. He and his family reside in Brigham City.[39] The Bishops have four sons and one daughter.
Well known for his three-piece suits, Bishop was named the third-best-dressed congressmen in 2012 according to the Washingtonian.[40]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker of theUtah House of Representatives 1992–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Frank Suitter | Chair of theUtah Republican Party 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromUtah's 1st congressional district 2003–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Natural Resources Committee 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Natural Resources Committee 2019–2021 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| Territorial (1851–1895) |
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| Oneat-large seat (1895–1913) |
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| Two at-large seats (1913–1915) |
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| Districts (1915–present) (3rd district established in 1983) (4th district established in 2013) |
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