Vern Ehlers | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's3rd district | |
| In office December 7, 1993 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Henry |
| Succeeded by | Justin Amash |
| Member of theMichigan Senate from the32nd district | |
| In office 1985–1993 | |
| Preceded by | Paul B. Henry |
| Succeeded by | Glenn Steil Sr. |
| Member of theMichigan House of Representatives from the93rd district | |
| In office 1983–1985 | |
| Preceded by | John Otterbacher |
| Succeeded by | Richard Bandstra |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Vernon James Ehlers (1934-02-06)February 6, 1934 Pipestone, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | August 15, 2017(2017-08-15) (aged 83) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Johanna Ehlers |
| Alma mater | Calvin College University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | College Professor |
Vern Ehlers eulogizesRonald Reagan for his contributions as President Recorded June 9, 2004 | |
Vernon James Ehlers (February 6, 1934 – August 15, 2017) was an American physicist and politician who representedMichigan in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until his retirementin 2011. ARepublican, he also served eight years in theMichigan Senate and two in theMichigan House of Representatives.
Ehlers was the firstresearch physicist to be elected to Congress;[1] he was later joined byRush Holt, Jr. (D-NJ) andBill Foster (D-IL).
Born inPipestone, Minnesota, Ehlers attendedCalvin College in Grand Rapids for three years before transferring to theUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he earned an undergraduate degree in physics and, in 1960, aPh.D. innuclear physics. His doctoral dissertation, "The nuclear spins and moments of several radioactive gallium isotopes", is available from University Microfilms International as document number 0227304. After six years of teaching and research at Berkeley, he moved back to Michigan and took employment at Calvin College in 1966, where he taught physics for 16 years and later served aschairman of the Physics Department.
Ehlers died on August 15, 2017, at the age of 83.[2]
Ehlers served on theKent County Board of Commissioners from 1975 to 1982. Ehlers served from 1983 to 1985 in theMichigan House of Representatives and then served from 1985 to 1993 in theMichigan Senate.[3]
Ehlers served as chairman of theHouse Administration Committee in the109th Congress afterBob Ney resigned from the position.
A portrait of Ehlers during his service as chairman of the Administration Committee is in the House collection.[6]
Ehlers was a moderate Republican. According to theNational Journal, in 2006 his votes split 50-50 between "liberal" and "conservative." While strongly anti-abortion and supportive of lowering taxes, he was willing to break with his party on environmental and government spending issues. He was a member of theRepublican Main Street Partnership andRepublicans for Environmental Protection. He was the only member of theMichigan Congressional delegation of either party to vote to raise fuel economy standards for automobiles in 2001[7] and 2005.[8]
Ehlers was a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of onlinepoker. In 2006 he cosponsored H.R. 4411, theGoodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act[9] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[10]
Owing to his votes in favor of theFederal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006, as well as his votes against hate crimes legislation andprohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Ehlers was given a 0% rating by theHuman Rights Campaign, indicating a voting record generally opposed togay rights. However, in December 2010, Ehlers was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing theUnited States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban onopenly gay service members,[11][12][13] and one of eight Republicans to vote for theDREAM Act.[14]
In 1993 Ehlers won a special election for the 3rd District, which had been vacant since CongressmanPaul B. Henry died six months into his fifth term. He won a full term in 1994 and was re-elected six times with little significantDemocratic opposition. Ehlers retired from Congress in 2010.[15]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Michigan House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by John Otterbacher | Member of theMichigan House of Representatives from the93rd district 1983–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Michigan Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theMichigan Senate from the32nd district 1985–1993 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 3rd congressional district 1993–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theHouse Administration Committee 2006–2007 | Succeeded by |
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