Tom Rooney (R-Fla.)

U.S. Representative (since January 2009)

(Tom Rooney (R-Fla.))

Why He Matters

There are probably few House districts in the country as weary of scandal as Florida's 16th. In 2006, the district's House member, Republican Mark Foley, resigned from Congress after allegations of improper communications with congressional pages. Two years later, the Democrat who replaced Foley in Congress, Tim Mahoney, admitted paying off a former staffer with whom he'd had an affair.

Into this leadership void stepped Tom Rooney, a former Army JAG and West Point instructor who hails from a storied American football family (Rooney's uncle, Dan, is part-owner and chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers and is currently serving as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland). Rooney was elected to Congress in a landslide after the scandal surrounding Mahoney came to light.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: CEO, Children's Place at Home Safe shelter (2005-2006); assistant attorney general, state of Florida (2004-2005); Army JAG Corps (2000-2004)
Birthday: November 21, 1970
Hometown: Philadelphia
Alma Mater: Washington and Jefferson College, B.A., 1993; University of Florida, M.A., 1996; University of Miami, J.D., 1999
Spouse: Tara Rooney
Religion: Catholic
Committees: Armed Services ; Agriculture ; Permanent Select Intelligence
DC Office: 1529 Longworth House Office, 202-225-5792

State/District Office: Stuart, 772-288-4668; Punta Gorda, 941-575-9101; Fort Pierce, 772-461-3933
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Path to Power

Rooney's birthplace is Philadelphia, but the central location in his family history lies some 300 miles to the west, in the city of Pittsburgh.

His grandfather, Art Rooney Sr., was the founder and original owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his father, Pat, is one of Art Rooney's five sons. Despite being from Florida, the congressman makes no attempt to hide his love for the family team, and his House office is decked out with Steelers memorabilia. "Anyone from Western Pennsylvania that walks into my [congressional] office is going to feel right at home," Rooney said.

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The Steelers are known for being a family-run operation, so it's often assumed that Rooney is among the heirs to an NFL fortune. The congressman insists that his inheritance from the team is modest, which is perhaps unsurprising, given the large size of the Rooney family.

Rooney spent his teenage years in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where his family owned a dog racing track and a gambling company. As a teenager Rooney worked for the Steelers during his summer breaks from high school. "I was a ball boy and ran the washing machines and cleaned lockers - nothing glamorous," Rooney recalled.

Rooney enrolled at Syracuse University and spent a grueling season as a tight end and longsnapper on the school's football team. After a year, he transferred to Pennsylvania's William and Jefferson College, where he continued to play football and also joined the golf team. He earned a B.A. in English literature from William and Jefferson in 1993.

During his early college years, Rooney got his first taste of politics as a staff assistant for then-Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.). Rooney continued his education at the University of Florida, which awarded him an M.S. in political science in 1996. He met his wife, Tara, during that time.

Army JAG and Florida Official

After graduating from the University of Miami's law school in 1999, Rooney and his wife joined the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps. Rooney served as a special assistant U.S. attorney at Fort Hood and went on to teach military law at West Point. "Those five semesters [at West Point] were the greatest experience of my life," Rooney said.

After leaving the Army, Rooney was appointed the assistant attorney general of Florida by Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.). In 2005, he became CEO of the Children's Place at Home Safe, a nonprofit organization that helps abused and neglected youth in Palm Beach County. He briefly entered private law practice and began to lay the groundwork for a political career.

2008 Congressional Race

Rooney toyed with a U.S. Senate run before deciding to run for the House in 2008. Armed with endorsements from Sen. Mack and Crist, he defeated two challengers in the Republican primary and faced off in the general election against then-Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.).

By early October 2008, it appeared that Mahoney was going to cruise to re-election, but that all changed when ABC News dropped a bombshell report alleging an affair between Mahoney and a former staffer. A few days after the report was released, Mahoney admitted the affair and confirmed he had paid $120,000 to the former staffer to keep her from filing a sexual-harassment suit against him. He also revealed that he had lobbied for federal funds on behalf of an official in Martin County, Florida, with whom he also had an affair.

Overnight, Rooney went from the longshot outsider in the race to the presumptive winner, and he easily won the House seat with 60 percent of the vote.

The Issues

Rooney's political views are generally in line with the Republican Party. He's anti-abortion rights (except when the mother's life is in danger), opposes same-sex marriage, generally favors low taxes and is supportive of offshore oil drilling. But it's issues in the realm of foreign policy and national security that seem to hold his greatest interest.

Military Health Screenings

Rooney reached across party lines just months after joining Congress, sponsoring a bill on mental-health screening in the military with another freshman lawmaker, Rep. Michael McMahon (D-N.Y.). The legislation, which Congress approved in fall 2009, requires all military personnel to undergo a confidential, one-on-one mental-health screening after returning from war zones.

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Rooney and McMahon said the legislation will ensure that veterans are adequately screened for various forms of combat trauma. Under the previous policy, returning troops were only required to fill out a paper assessment on their mental health, and answering honestly often resulted in them being kept away from their families. The new policy should make it harder for injuries to fall through the cracks. "If I do nothing else in Congress, this will be a great achievement for our war fighters," Rooney said of the bill.

Iraq and Afghanistan

The Republican leadership in Congress has encouraged Rooney to take advantage of his military experience and speak out on foreign policy. Soon after joining Congress, Rooney gave a ringing endorsement to President Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq.

Later that year, as Obama weighed his options in the Afghanistan conflict, Rooney pressed for a commitment of more troops to the war effort. "If you do it half-heartedly, you're going to lose [in Afghanistan]. It doesn't matter if you're the USSR, Russia or the United States of America," Rooney said.

Health-Care Reform

Rooney is adamantly opposed to a public health insurance option, which he says would drive private insurers out of business in five years and lead to a government takeover of the health-care industry. He has expressed support for a market-based approach to health-care reform that would include limits on medical malpractice suits and closer regulation of the insurance industry.

The Economy

Like every other House Republican, Rooney voted against President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan in early 2009.

The congressman later united with other members of the Florida delegation to urge the approval of $2.7 billion in stimulus funds for the state's schools. Rooney brushed off suggestions that the move was hypocritical. "The money's coming. So I can sit on the sidelines or I can advocate for my constituents. I think it would be irresponsible of me not to fight for what I think is important in that money," Rooney said.

In October 2009 Rooney and then-Rep. John Boccieri (D-Ohio) introduced a bill in the House, informally known as the HIRE America Act, that would expand existing tax credits for businesses that hire new employees. Rooney touted the bill as a commonsense solution to the nation's unemployment woes.

The Network

The congressman's uncle, Dan Rooney, is part-owner and chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers and is currently serving as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland after being nominated by President Obama. The Steelers executive was a prominent supporter of Obama during the 2008 election, despite his lifelong membership in the Republican Party.

Rooney taught at West Point with former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), the first Iraq War veteran ever elected to Congress, and the two remain close associates. "I don't agree with everything he does politically, but he's probably one of my best friends in the world," Rooney said. "I can bust his chops in front of other Democrats and probably get away with it a little bit more."

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