Amy Klobuchar

Amy Jean Klobuchar (, born May 25, 1960) is the senior United States Senator from Minnesota. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, an affiliate of the Democratic Party. She is the first elected female senator from Minnesota and is one of twenty female senators serving in the 113th United States Congress.

She previously served as the county attorney for Hennepin County, the most populous county in Minnesota. She was a legal adviser to former Vice President Walter Mondale. She has been named by the New York Times as one of the seventeen women most likely to become the first female President of the United States, and by MSNBC as a possible nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Early life and education
Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is the daughter of Rose Katherine (née Heuberger), who retired at age 70 from teaching second grade, and James John "Jim" Klobuchar, an author and retired sportswriter and columnist for the Star Tribune. Jim Klobuchar's grandparents were Slovene immigrants and his father was a miner on the Iron Range; Amy Klobuchar's maternal grandparents were from Switzerland.

Klobuchar attended public schools in Plymouth and was valedictorian at Wayzata High School. She received her Bachelor's degree magna cum laude in political science from Yale University in 1982, where she was a member of the Yale College Democrats and the Feminist Caucus. Her senior thesis was published as Uncovering the Dome, a 150-page history describing the ten years of politics surrounding the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Klobuchar served as an associate editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and received her Juris Doctor in 1985 at the University of Chicago Law School.

County Attorney
Klobuchar was elected as Hennepin County attorney in 1998, and re-elected in 2002 with no opposition. In 2001 Minnesota Lawyer named her "Attorney of the Year". Klobuchar was President of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association from November 2002 to November 2003. Besides working as a prosecutor, Klobuchar was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, and a partner at another top Minnesota law firm Gray Plant Mooty before seeking public office.

Elections

 * 2006

In early 2005 Mark Dayton announced that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate, and Klobuchar was recognized early as a favorite for the DFL nomination for the 2006 election. EMILY's List endorsed Klobuchar on September 29, 2005, and Klobuchar won the DFL's endorsement on June 9, 2006. Klobuchar gained the support of the majority of DFL state legislators in Minnesota during the primaries. A poll taken of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent, Patty Wetterling, 66% to 15%. In January, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar. Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer Mike Ciresi, who was widely seen as a serious potential DFL candidate, indicated in early February that he would not enter the race; that removal of her most significant potential competitor for the DFL nomination was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar.

In the general election, Klobuchar faced Republican candidate Mark Kennedy, Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald, Constitution candidate Ben Powers, and Green Party candidate Michael Cavlan. Klobuchar consistently led Kennedy in the polls throughout the campaign. Klobuchar won with 58% of the vote to Kennedy's 38% and Fitzgerald's 3%, carrying all but eight of Minnesota's 87 counties. Klobuchar became the first elected female U.S. Senator from Minnesota. (Muriel Humphrey, the state's first female senator and former Second Lady of the United States, was appointed to fill her husband's unexpired term and not elected.)


 * 2012

Klobuchar faced State Representative Kurt Bills and won a second term to the US Senate. She won convincingly, receiving 65.2% of the votes compared to 30.6% for Kurt Bills.

Tenure
From January to July 2009, Klobuchar was the only Senator from Minnesota, until the resolution of the disputed 2008 Senate election for Al Franken.

As of September 2009, 58% of Minnesotans approved of the job she was doing, with 36% disapproving. On March 12, 2010, Rasmussen Reports indicated 67% of Minnesotans approved of the job she was doing. The Winona Daily News described her as a "rare politician who works across the aisle." Walter Mondale stated “She has done better in that miserable Senate than most people there."

On March 30, 2008, Senator Klobuchar announced her endorsement of Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary, promising her unpledged superdelegate vote for him. She cited Obama's performance in the Minnesota caucuses, where he won with 66% of the popular vote, as well as her own "independent judgment."

Committee assignments
For the 111th Congress, Amy Klobuchar is assigned to the following committees:
 * Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
 * Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
 * Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms
 * Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
 * Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
 * Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
 * Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion (Chairwoman)
 * Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance
 * Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
 * Joint Economic Committee
 * Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.

Political positions
As a Democrat, Klobuchar's political positions have generally been in line with modern liberalism in the United States. She is pro-choice, supports LGBT rights, favors federal social services such as Social Security and universal health care, and is critical of the Iraq War.

Foreign issues
In March 2007, Klobuchar went on an official trip to Iraq with Senate colleagues Sheldon Whitehouse, John E. Sununu, and Lisa Murkowski. Klobuchar noted that U.S. troops were completing their job and working arduously to train the Iraqis, but voiced her frustration with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

Klobuchar opposed President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq in January 2007. In May 2007, after president Bush vetoed a bill (which Klobuchar voted for) that would fund the troops but would impose time limits on the Iraq War, and supporters failed to garner enough congressional votes to override his veto, Klobuchar voted for additional funding for Iraq without such time limits, saying she "simply could not stomach the idea of using our soldiers as bargaining chips".

Local issues
Within days after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Klobuchar introduced and succeeded in passing legislation to appropriate $250 million to Mn/DOT to quickly build a replacement bridge.

After the nationwide publicity of an injury of a 6-year-old Minnesotan girl at a public wading pool, Klobuchar co-sponsored the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act that created new safety standards for pool drains.

Free trade
Klobuchar opposes free trade agreements that some perceive to cause a loss of jobs in the U.S.; however, she has wavered on her opposition to such trade agreements since her election. A current trade agreement with Peru may achieve her support on grounds of expanded labor and environmental protections, even though they contain the same language as past trade agreements.

Civil liberties
In August 2007, Klobuchar was one of only 16 Democratic Senators and 41 Democratic House members to vote in favor of the "Protect America Act of 2007", which was widely seen as eroding the civil liberty protections of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and posing difficult questions relative to the Fourth Amendment. Klobuchar did however, vote against granting legal immunity to telecom corporations that cooperated with the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

Klobuchar voted in favor of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008, which included a provision to ban the use of waterboarding by the United States.

During the hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, Klobuchar sparred with Senator Tom Coburn when he questioned the nominee about his perception that Americans were "losing freedom." Klobuchar argued that the "free society" the senator favored was one in which women were underrepresented in government, including no representation on the Supreme Court or the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In 2011, Klobuchar co-sponsored the Protect IP Act and introduced S.978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, a bill that would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material for the purpose of "commercial advantage or personal financial gain" a felony under US copyright law. Backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and praised by industry groups, the legislation has been enormously unpopular among critics who believe it would apply to those who stream or post videos of copyrighted content on public sites such as YouTube. Justin Bieber has on radio called for Klobuchar to be "locked up" for supporting a bill that would make "unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted material a felony".

Healthcare reform
Klobuchar voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and she voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. In December 2012, Klobuchar advocated to "repeal or reduce" portions of the Affordable Heath Care Act.

Recreation advocacy
Senator Klobuchar has been an active supporter of outdoor recreation legislation, including the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) and the Travel Promotion Act. When the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed MAP-21, legislation ending the 1991 user pay-user benefit provision for RTP, trail interests and state park officials warned that the new policy could effectively end the program by relegating recreational trail projects to competition for funding among a broad category of authorized non-highway projects. Klobuchar lead efforts to alter the proposal, working closely with recreation interests to develop a floor amendment that would reauthorize the RTP program unchanged. Although she faced bipartisan leadership in support of the committee’s proposal, Klobuchar managed to secure acceptance of her new language by the legislation’s floor manager, and she won strong bipartisan support for her amendment. The result was Senate passage in early 2012 of new surface transportation legislation, which continued RTP with $85 million in guaranteed annual funds and no significant change in its operations. As chair of the Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion, Klobuchar continued to champion vital recreation programs. She played a key role in the 2010 passage of the Travel Promotion Act and the creation of Brand USA, an advertising effort to recover the traditional U.S. share of the international tourism market that will highlight national parks and their natural treasures. With Klobuchar’s active support, the program has been granted $100 million per annum in matching federal funding, is widely expected to bring millions of additional visitors and billions of dollars to the U.S. and its parks each year, and has become the focus of a major White House initiative.

On June 6, 2012, Klobuchar received the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award, the recreation community's most prestigious award, at a special Great Outdoors Week celebration presented by the American Recreation Coalition. The award, created in 1989 to honor the lifelong efforts of Sheldon Coleman, is presented to individuals whose personal efforts have contributed substantially to enhancing outdoor experiences across America. The winner is selected by a panel of 100 national recreation community leaders, ranging from corporate executives to key federal and state officials and nonprofit organization community leaders. Sen. Klobuchar is the fifth woman, and the first woman serving in Congress, to receive the honor.

Crime
As Attorney of Hennepin County, Senator Klobuchar was a strong advocate for Minnesota’s first “Drinking While Intoxicated” law. Klobuchar also focused on the prosecution of violent and career criminals while serving as County Attorney. Furthermore, Senator Klobuchar was actively involved in efforts within the county to promote the integrity of justice.

Through the examination of several investigative methods Klobuchar worked to ensure that those who were innocent would not be mistaken to be guilty. Looking at a paper on a pilot project for eyewitness identification it is visible that Klobuchar is concerned with establishing the most accurate methods for determining guilt, or innocence. In this paper Klobuchar and Lindell suggest five procedures to minimize eyewitness misidentification.

The first procedure is the use of double-blind line up administration. This is a method in which the individual, who shows the victim identification images of possible suspects, or the photo line up, does not have any knowledge of the identity of the actual suspect. Double-blind line up administration is used to avoid suggestive measures. This would ensure that there could be no influence on the witness, allowing them to generate a response independently.

Next it is necessary that the witness’ statement of certainty be documented at the time of the identification. If statement is taken later feedback may over inflate confidence. Judgement is most accurate at initial identification. This is procedure is essential in acquiring reliable information from the witness.

Another recommended procedure is the effective use of fillers, which are non-suspect individuals that are present in the line. Filler should closely match the description of witness as much, if not more than actual suspect. The reason for this is to prevent obvious distinction. The suspect should not easily be set apart from the other individuals present in the line up, and a strong resemblance should enforce the necessary examination by the witness.

Furthermore, the witness should be advised that there is a possibility that the suspect is not present in the line up. This procedure should be used in order to promote the use of process of elimination, rather than relative judgement. Relative judgement is the process by which the witness selects the closest individual because they assume that the suspect must be present. Being aware of the possibility that the suspect may not be present will promote the idea that it is acceptable if the witness does not find the suspect in the line-up, and that they do no have to choose the “next best thing.”

Finally, the last procedure recommended by Senator Klobuchar and Hilary Lindell is that of sequential presentation. This should be used when presenting the line up of photographs. Allowing the witness to look at each image one at a time will promote the use of absolute judgement rather than relative judgement.

Personal life
Klobuchar and Bessler were married in 1993, and have a daughter, Abigail Klobuchar Bessler, who was born in 1995. Klobuchar's husband John Bessler, is a private practice attorney and a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law; a native of Mankato, Bessler attended Loyola High School, and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.

Electoral history
US Senate

Results
Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous election.

Hennepin County Attorney

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