Mike Simpson
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- This article is about politician Michael Simpson. For the record producer, see The Dust Brothers.
Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8 1950), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the 2nd District of Idaho.
Simpson was born in Burley, Idaho, and was educated at Utah State University and the Washington University School of Dental Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a dentist practicing in Blackfoot, Idaho before entering politics, being elected to the Blackfoot City Council in 1980. In 1984, he was elected to the Idaho Legislature, where he served in the Idaho House of Representatives until 1998, the last six years as Speaker of the House.
Career in the United States House of Representatives
Simpson is on the House Appropriations Committee, and serves on the subcommittees for Energy and Water Development; Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs; and the Interior and the Environment (where he serves as Vice Chairman). He also serves on the House Budget Committee.
On October 7, 2005 Simpson served as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the US House of Representatives and presided over the vote on a Gasoline Security bill. Opponents of the bill charge that the legislation did little to help gas prices and merely provided tax breaks to oil companies. Simpson was presiding over the chamber during a vote that was scheduled to last 5 minutes, but stretched to 44 minutes. Simpson did not close the vote until a sufficient number of Republicans had been convinved to switch their votes. In the end, the majority voted in the affirmative to pass the bill by a 2-vote margin: 212-210, with 13 representatives not voting. The nay votes were from 196 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and 1 Independent.
External link
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