Michael F. Doyle
Encyclopedia
Michael F. "Mike" Doyle is the U.S. Representative
for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party
. The district is based in Pittsburgh
and includes most of Allegheny County
.
A native of Swissvale
and graduate of the Pennsylvania State University
, Doyle previously served as a member of the Swissvale Borough Council (1977–1981) and an aide to state Senator Frank Pecora
(1979–1994). He was first elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution
despite being a Democrat.
, Pennsylvania
, to Irish
and Italian
parents. He graduated from Swissvale Area High School in 1971, and then enrolled at Pennsylvania State University
. He worked in steel mill
s during his summers in college, and earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in Community Development in 1975.
After college, he worked as executive director of Turtle Creek Valley Citizens Union (1977–1979) and was elected to the Swissvale Borough Council in 1977. In 1979, he began work as chief of staff
to Pennsylvania State Senator
Frank Pecora
. Like Pecora, Doyle was once a Republican
who later switched parties to become a Democrat
. In addition to his work for Pecora, he joined Eastgate Insurance Company as an insurance agent in 1982.
and against the $87 billion emergency spending bill to fund US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doyle is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Coalition on Autism Research and Education http://doyle.house.gov/autism.shtml, also known as the Congressional Autism Caucus, and he offered an amendment that was included in the health reform law
that will ensure that insurance companies will cover treatments for people with autism
http://whatifpost.com/health-reform-and-autism.htm. He has also introduced legislation that will provide better services for adults with autism.
He has been praised for his stance on copyright
issues, and is supportive of net neutrality. He is the lead sponsor of HR 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 which will expand low-power broadcasting
to hundreds of new community radio
stations. In 2010, he was given the Digital Patriot Award http://www.twice.com/article/452105-CEA_Gives_Vinton_Cerf_Reps_Doyle_Upton_Digital_Patriot_Awards.php, along with Vint Cerf
, one of the creators of the technology that runs the Internet
.
He used his position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee
and lead the negotiations to find common ground on legislation addressing climate change
and promoting energy independence while protecting clean domestic manufacturing http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-25-pelosi-climate-bill-votes.
Also, Doyle is an outspoken critic of the genocide in Sudan
and Darfur
. In a rally on April 28, 2007, he urged President Bush to uphold his promise of sending 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. He drew loud cheers when he said, "If we can have a surge in Iraq, there needs to be one in Sudan." He supports LGBT
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/steel-city/node/1032 issues.
During the debate over the debt ceiling in 2011, Doyle said about Tea Party
Republicans, "We have negotiated with terrorists. This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money".
, was elected to the United States Senate
. Doyle won by almost 10 points, and one of the few bright spots in a bad year for Democrats. He was reelected three times with no substantive opposition.
In 2002 Doyle’s district was combined with the Pittsburgh-based district of fellow Democrat William J. Coyne
. The state legislature allegedly reconfigured the district map in order to elect more Republicans from the state. In the process, they drew most of western Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas into just two districts—the reconfigured 14th District and the 12th District of John Murtha
. The potentially explosive situation of having two Democratic incumbent
s face each other in the primary was defused when Coyne announced his retirement (even though the district contained more of Coyne's former territory than Doyle's) leaving Doyle as the sole incumbent. The new district is by far the most Democratic district in western Pennsylvania, and Doyle was completely unopposed in 2002 and 2004; in 2006 and 2008, his only opposition was Green Party
candidate Titus North.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. The district is based in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
and includes most of Allegheny County
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
.
A native of Swissvale
Swissvale, Pennsylvania
Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by abolitionist and early feminist Jane Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch and Signal Company of George Westinghouse. The population was 8,983 at...
and graduate of the Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
, Doyle previously served as a member of the Swissvale Borough Council (1977–1981) and an aide to state Senator Frank Pecora
Frank Pecora
Frank Pecora is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who represented the 44th District from 1979 to 1995.-Political career:Pecora was first elected to the Senate in 1978....
(1979–1994). He was first elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution
Republican Revolution
The Republican Revolution or Revolution of '94 is what the media dubbed Republican Party success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate...
despite being a Democrat.
Early life, education and career
Doyle was born in SwissvaleSwissvale, Pennsylvania
Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by abolitionist and early feminist Jane Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch and Signal Company of George Westinghouse. The population was 8,983 at...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, to Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
parents. He graduated from Swissvale Area High School in 1971, and then enrolled at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
. He worked in steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
s during his summers in college, and earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Community Development in 1975.
After college, he worked as executive director of Turtle Creek Valley Citizens Union (1977–1979) and was elected to the Swissvale Borough Council in 1977. In 1979, he began work as chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
to Pennsylvania State Senator
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...
Frank Pecora
Frank Pecora
Frank Pecora is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who represented the 44th District from 1979 to 1995.-Political career:Pecora was first elected to the Senate in 1978....
. Like Pecora, Doyle was once a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
who later switched parties to become a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. In addition to his work for Pecora, he joined Eastgate Insurance Company as an insurance agent in 1982.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and CommerceUnited States House Committee on Energy and CommerceThe Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
- Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
- Subcommittee on Energy and Power
Political positions
Doyle voted against authorizing military force in Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and against the $87 billion emergency spending bill to fund US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doyle is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Coalition on Autism Research and Education http://doyle.house.gov/autism.shtml, also known as the Congressional Autism Caucus, and he offered an amendment that was included in the health reform law
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
that will ensure that insurance companies will cover treatments for people with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
http://whatifpost.com/health-reform-and-autism.htm. He has also introduced legislation that will provide better services for adults with autism.
He has been praised for his stance on copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues, and is supportive of net neutrality. He is the lead sponsor of HR 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 which will expand low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
to hundreds of new community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
stations. In 2010, he was given the Digital Patriot Award http://www.twice.com/article/452105-CEA_Gives_Vinton_Cerf_Reps_Doyle_Upton_Digital_Patriot_Awards.php, along with Vint Cerf
Vint Cerf
Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf is an American computer scientist, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn...
, one of the creators of the technology that runs the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
He used his position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee
United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
and lead the negotiations to find common ground on legislation addressing climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and promoting energy independence while protecting clean domestic manufacturing http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-25-pelosi-climate-bill-votes.
Also, Doyle is an outspoken critic of the genocide in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
. In a rally on April 28, 2007, he urged President Bush to uphold his promise of sending 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. He drew loud cheers when he said, "If we can have a surge in Iraq, there needs to be one in Sudan." He supports LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/steel-city/node/1032 issues.
During the debate over the debt ceiling in 2011, Doyle said about Tea Party
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
Republicans, "We have negotiated with terrorists. This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money".
Political campaigns
In 1994, Doyle was elected to Congress as a Democrat from the state's 18th District, which at the time was located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. The incumbent Republican, Rick SantorumRick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
, was elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. Doyle won by almost 10 points, and one of the few bright spots in a bad year for Democrats. He was reelected three times with no substantive opposition.
In 2002 Doyle’s district was combined with the Pittsburgh-based district of fellow Democrat William J. Coyne
William J. Coyne
William Joseph Coyne was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Coyne was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1954, and received a B.S. in accounting from Robert Morris College. He served for two years in...
. The state legislature allegedly reconfigured the district map in order to elect more Republicans from the state. In the process, they drew most of western Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas into just two districts—the reconfigured 14th District and the 12th District of John Murtha
John Murtha
John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010....
. The potentially explosive situation of having two Democratic incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
s face each other in the primary was defused when Coyne announced his retirement (even though the district contained more of Coyne's former territory than Doyle's) leaving Doyle as the sole incumbent. The new district is by far the most Democratic district in western Pennsylvania, and Doyle was completely unopposed in 2002 and 2004; in 2006 and 2008, his only opposition was Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
candidate Titus North.
2008
2010
Doyle is being challenged by Republican Melissa Haluszczak and Green Party Ed Bortz.External links
- Congressman Mike Doyle official U.S. House site
- Doyle for Congress official campaign site