Steve Kagen
Official portrait, 2007
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's8th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Mark Green
Succeeded by	Reid Ribble
Personal details
Born	Steven Leslie Kagen (1949-12-12)December 12, 1949 (age 75) Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Amy Kagen
Education	University of Wisconsin, Madison (BS,MD)

Steven Leslie Kagen^[1] (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician andphysician who was theU.S. representative forWisconsin's 8th congressional district from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of theDemocratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 byReid Ribble, who succeeded him on January 3, 2011. The district is located in the northeastern part of the state and includesGreen Bay andAppleton.

Kagen was born on December 12, 1949, inAppleton, Wisconsin. After graduating fromAppleton East High School, Kagen attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a degree inmolecular biology, with honors. Kagen then entered medical school, and later trained at bothNorthwestern University inChicago, Illinois, and theMedical College of Wisconsin inMilwaukee. He is board certified in internal medicine; allergy, asthma and immunology; and diagnostic laboratory immunology.

Kagen's father, Marv, also a doctor, was an unsuccessful Democratic Congressional candidate in 1966. The younger Kagen performed volunteer work for his father's campaign and cited his father's campaign as a major factor in his interest in politics.

Kagen founded four medical clinics in Appleton, Green Bay,Fond du Lac, andOshkosh.

Before his election, he also served as an assistant clinical professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He served for seven years as the allergy consultant to CNN.^[2]

• Committee on Agriculture^[3]
  • Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Kagen supported and voted for the 911 Commission Recommendations Act, the Minimum Wage increase, the SCHIP Children's Health Bill, the "Pay As You Go" Bill, campaign and lobbying reforms, oversight of FISA warrants and terror surveillance. He is a cosponsor of the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act (H.R.380). This legislation would allow the importation of drugs from Canada for personal use and from an importer registered by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kagen is also a cosponsor of the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 (H.R. 4) and voted in favor of its passage in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2007. The U.S. Senate has yet to consider this measure. Kagen has voted for all military appropriations bills, and authored a bill, the Rural Veterans Mental Health Improvement Act (H.R. 4231), which would expand mental health coverage for veterans.

The predominant legislative issue Kagen stressed during his 2006 campaign was an initiative he called "No Patient Left Behind." This proposal provides for open disclosure of all health care-related prices, unitary pricing where every citizen pays the same amount for the same product or service, a single insurance risk pool to leverage down insurance and prescription drug prices, set deductibles at 3% of a household's federal taxable income, and provide coverage to all children and working adults.^[4]

Kagen declined to participate in the Congressional health care plan until all Americans had access to affordable health care. In a post on theDaily Kos, Kagen said, "I did not run for this office to get health care benefits."^[5]

On May 15, 2008, legislation sponsored by Kagen titled "To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal and for other purposes" (H.R.6074) was introduced before the House. On May 19, 2008, the House overwhelmingly decided in a 324–84 vote to approve this legislation, which allows the Justice Department to sue any foreign state that limits the production/distribution of oil or engages in price fixing.^[6]

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On September 12, 2006, Kagen, a first time candidate, won theDemocratic Party nomination for Wisconsin's 8th District. The seat had been left open by the four-term incumbentRepublican,Mark Green, who unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Wisconsin. On November 7, Kagen narrowly defeated Wisconsin Assembly SpeakerJohn Gard of Peshtigo in the most expensive Congressional race in Wisconsin history,^{[citation needed]} a race dominated by attack ads, mainly created by third-party 527 issue ad groups, outside the control of the candidate or parties. Some of the issues where Kagen and Gard disagreed were PresidentGeorge W. Bush's direction in the Iraq War, stem-cell research, and tax policy.

Kagen's campaign advertised that Wisconsin doctors voted him one of the "best doctors in America". He promised to fight to ensure that every American could get affordable health care.

Kagen won the 2006 election 51-49% against Gard and again defeated Gard inBrown County, home toGreen Bay, in 2008. Kagen narrowly lost Gard's home county ofMarinette.^[7] Kagen is the third Democrat to represent the 8th District sinceWorld War II.

Kagen faced a rematch against Gard in 2008. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Leans Democratic'.^[8] Kagen won reelection, defeating Gard with 54% of the vote, becoming only the third Democrat to win a second term in this district in 92 years (it was known as the 9th district before 1933).

Kagen was defeated by Republican nomineeReid Ribble on November 2, 2010.

According to notes taken during a series of union endorsement interviews in January 2012 that were obtained by a local news reporter, Kagen strongly considered a run for the Democratic nomination to face Gov.Scott Walker in a recall election.^[10]

Kagen received a letter from the FDA regarding a compliance issue with one of his allergy formulas. News reports stated Kagen was accused of "selling allergy shots without a valid license."^[11] The formulation was registered with the FDA during manufacture and distribution, but was re-classified under a new regulation and required a new application.^[12] The FDA accepted the allergy clinic's decision to no longer offer that particular formulation and the FDA ended its license question.

After attending a campaign event on theOneida reservation, and then inGreen Bay, Wisconsin, on 20 October 2006, Kagen commented, in part:

Appreciate getting here almost on time. Our excuse in Oneida was, well, we're on Injun time. They don't tell time by the clock. Our excuse here is that I am a doctor and that we're never on time.^[13]

Kagen later apologized.^[14] The apology was accepted by the Oneida and other state tribes within two days.^[15]

Kagen came under fire for a rumored comment at a November 13, 2006, White House function, after Appleton-area newspapers picked up on a story printed in an alternative paper,The Scene. According to the paper, Congressman-elect Kagen met presidential adviserKarl Rove in a bathroom and told him : "You recognize me? My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." The term "Dr. Multimillionaire" refers to the name "Dr. Millionaire" the Republican campaign used to refer to Kagen during the 2006 campaign.The Scene also said that the Congressman-elect thanked Vice President Cheney and President Bush for campaigning in Wisconsin for his opponent, telling them, "I couldn't have won without your help." It is reported that he then addressed First Lady Laura Bush as Barbara, saying "I learned on the campaign trail that the biggest insult you could do to another man is to call his wife by another name."^[16]

The White House officially denied the conversation took place, calling the story "ridiculous."^[11] Kagen talked to constituents about the reported verbal insults he delivered to the President and Mrs. Bush six days after the November election.^[17][18]

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress

• Steve Kagen for Congressofficial campaign site
• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Profile atVote Smart
• ProfileArchived 2008-08-14 at theLibrary of Congress Web Archives atSourceWatch
• Kagen Allergy Clinic
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1949 births
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• Appleton East High School alumni
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
• Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives
• Living people
• Physicians from Wisconsin
• Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin
• University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni

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