James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.)

U.S. Senator (since January 1995)

(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Why He Matters

In his three terms serving Oklahoma in the Senate, Inhofe has established a reputation as one of the Senate's most conservative members. More recently, he has gained national prominence as the self-dubbed "most outspoken critic of man-made global warming alarmism in the United States Senate."

Inhofe has become known as a champion for conservative social causes and fierce critic of what he calls excessive government spending. Despite his staunchly conservative stances, he has sometimes staked out lone positions on hot-button issues, such as when he opposed the Bush administration's 2008 financial bailout legislation.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: U.S. House (1986 to 1994); Tulsa mayor (1978 to 1984); Oklahoma Senate (1969 to 1977); Oklahoma House (1966 to 1969)
Birthday: Nov. 7, 1934
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
Alma Mater: University of Tulsa, B.A., 1973
Spouse: Kay
Religion: Presbyterian
Committees: Armed Services , Environment and Public Works
DC Office: 453 Russell House Office Building, 202-224-4721

State Offices: Tulsa, 918-748-5111
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Path to Power

Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in Tulsa, Okla. He served in the Army in the late 1950s and returned to school to earn a bachelor's degree in economics from University of Tulsa in 1973. He worked in real estate, insurance and aviation before entering public office.

At age 31, he was elected to the Oklahoma House. Three years later, in 1969, he won a seat in the Oklahoma Senate.

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Inhofe's first attempt at being elected to statewide office came in 1974, when he lost a bid for governor to David Boren, a conservative Democrat. Two years later, he ran for U.S. House in the heavily Republican 1st District but lost to Democrat Jim Jones.

Inhofe served as mayor of Tulsa from 1979 to 1984. In 1986, he defeated Democrat Gary Allison, a University of Tulsa law professor, by 12 points to win the 1st district House seat after Jones retired to run unsuccessfully for the Senate.

Discharge Petitions

While serving in the U.S. House in 1993, Inhofe led a fight to dissolve a procedural rule that ensured anonymity for members who signed petitions to block legislation stuck in committees. Supporters of keeping the discharge petition rule argued that the publication of lawmakers' names would make members susceptible to pressure from lobbyists and "flavor-of-the-week" legislation.

But Inhofe's effort to lift the 80-year-old provision succeeded with the support of Ross Perot and conservative talk-radio hosts, who said that the procedural rule allowed lawmakers to say publicly they supported legislation that they actually worked privately to kill. "Without this reform, a handful of elite leadership makes the determination as to what legislation we can debate or vote on. The bottom line is, as long as secrecy is in effect, members can go back and tell their constituents whatever they want and still oppose their wishes in secret," Inhofe said at the time.

U.S. Senate Contests

Inhofe ran for Senate in 1994, when another former opponent, David Boren (D), departed to become president of the University of Oklahoma. Inhofe beat then- Democratic Rep. David McCurdy 55 percent to 40 percent. McCurdy was initially favored to win the race because of high Democratic voter registration numbers in Oklahoma, but 1994 was a great year for Republicans nationally. Inhofe won by linking the Democrat to President Clinton, whom McCurdy had endorsed in 1992. Inhofe launched attacks on McCurdy's votes for gun- control legislation, the 1994 assault-weapons ban and for Clinton's energy tax proposal in the 1993 budget bill.

Reelection Contests

Inhofe has carried the Oklahoma by close to 20-point margins in his three re-election bids. In 1996, he held off humorist and businessman Jim Boren (D), 57 percent to 40 percent. In 2002, he defeated former Democratic Gov. David Walters, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of violating campaign finance laws in the 1990s, 57 percent to 36 percent.

In 2008, Inhofe defeated State Sen. Andrew Rice, a moderate Democrat who represents Oklahoma City, by 18 points, 57 percent to 39 percent. Inhofe says he plans to run again in 2014 providing he remains in good health.

Inhofe has been married to Kay Kirkpatrick for nearly 50 years. They have four children and 12 great grandchildren.

The Issues

Inhofe's voting record is consistently conservative. He voted with his party 85.4 percent of the time in the 110th Congress. The American Conservative Union gave the senator a 100 percent score in its 2007 congressional ratings of Congress. ACU and Human Events, a conservative publication, also named Inhofe the "Most Outstanding Conservative Senator" for 2005 and the top conservative senator in 2007. National Journal ranked Inhofe the 8th most conservative senator in its 2008 scorecard.

Inhofe backed the Bush administration's policies on taxes and the war in Iraq, but split from the Bush White House in 2008 over how to address the financial crisis.

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But the Republican is notably conservative on social issues. He opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights largely on religious grounds and has been known to cite passages from the Bible to defend his political positions. During the national 2006 debate on immigration reform, Inhofe authored legislation that declared English the country's official language. The bill, which instructed the government to "preserve and enhance" the role of the English language in America, passed 63 to 34.

Global Warming

Inhofe was chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee from 2003 to 2006. He is currently the ranking member on the committee, which has jurisdiction over such things as climate change.

As the issue of climate change has become entered the spotlight, Inhofe has fashioned a reputation as a crusader against the climate change "alarmists" who he says have reached a false consensus. He called President Obama's plan to allow states like California to set their own greenhouse gas emission restrictions the equivalent of "environmental thuggery."

In 2006, Inhofe delivered a speech claiming that members of Congress, the media, Hollywood elites and pop culture - particularly former Vice President Al Gore's 2006 documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth"- are responsible for spreading false hysteria over climate change.

Inhofe backs expanding domestic oil and gas drilling, including opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He opposes the Endangered Species Act.

Highway and Transportation Funding

During his chairmanship of the EPW Committee, Inhofe fought to substantially increase federal highway funding when negotiating the reauthorization of the 2004 highway bill, which passed as the 2005 highway bill.

Inhofe gathered bipartisan support to pass a $318 billion transportation bill in the Senate. His success was overshadowed by a veto threat from the Bush White House, which insisted on capping spending at $256 billion. The House eventually passed a much smaller spending package. Inhofe, the chairman of the legislation's conference committee, continued to try to get his version enacted. After a year of negotiations, Inhofe eventually agreed to a $286 billion package, but expressed concerns that the programs would be underfunded at the current levels. Under Inhofe's proposal, Oklahoma would have seen a 46 percent increase in funding.

As of 2005, Inhofe's efforts resulted in Oklahoma shedding its status as a "donor state" - it now receives more money in federal highway funding than it sends to Washington.

Defense

Inhofe backs increased military spending and was a strong supporter of the Bush administration's policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Inhofe was a strong supporter of military intervention in Iraq. He claims that enough weapons of mass destruction to kill 47 million people were found in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

Inhofe is the second-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee behind ranking Republican and GOP 2008 presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). In July 2009, he was also added to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accepting the seat once held by former Sen. Norm Coleman.

Taxes and Spending

Inhofe's economic policies are centered on lowering taxes and curbing government spending. He supports making George W. Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent and eliminating the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax.

However, Inhofe voted against the Bush administration's 2008 financial bailout package. He called the plan an irresponsible "blank check" to the financial services industry and said the $700 billion rescue plan gave too much authority to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to decide how the funds would be distributed.

Inhofe also voted against the 2008 proposed bailout of the "Big Three" automakers. He characterized the plan as an attempt to nationalize U.S. industries, calling it overly bureaucratic and the wrong approach to solving the business crisis.

In response to the Bush administration's proposal to divert funds from the financial bailout package to help the auto industry, Inhofe said he worried Washington might be "completely out of control."

The National Tax Limitation Committee has given Inhofe an "A" grade and the "Tax Fighter Award" every year since 1996 for his record on tax and spending issues.

The Network

Inhofe has received more than $1.1 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries in his career, making him one of the sector's top recipients. In the 2007-2008 cycle, he was a top recipient of campaign funds from the coal mining, mining and natural gas industries.

Inhofe has a particularly tense relationship with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who succeeded him as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee when the Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2006. The two often spar over such charged issues as climate change. Inhofe also accused the California senator of conspiring with then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to seek legislative action to curb the influence of conservative talk radio. Boxer and Clinton have both denied the conversation took place.

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