Tim Huelskamp

Timothy Alan Huelskamp (born November 11, 1968) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for KS's 1st congressional district since 2011. The district, popularly known as the "Big First," spills across a 63-county swath of central and western Kansas--more than half the state. He is a member of the Republican Party. He represented the 38th District in the Kansas Senate from 1997 until entering Congress in 2011.

Early life, education, and career
Huelskamp was born near and raised on the family farm in Fowler, Kansas. Pioneered by his grandparents Martin and Clara in 1926, the farm operation includes raising corn, cattle, wheat, milo, and soybeans. He attended elementary and high school in Fowler, where he was a Farm Bureau Youth Leader, a member of St. Anthony’s Parish, and active in both 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

After attending seminary for two years in Santa Fe, Huelskamp continued his education at the College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design) and received his B.A. in social science education in 1991. He received his Ph.D. in political science and agricultural policy from the American University in 1995.

Now a farmer, Huelskamp has also been a teacher and a budget and legislative analyst.

Personal life
Huelskamp and his wife Angela live in Fowler. They have four adopted children.

Elections
In 1996, Huelskamp challenged Republican incumbent Marian Reynolds in the primary and won by a shocking margin, taking 62 percent of the vote to Reynolds' 38 percent. The youngest state senator in 20 years, he then won re-election by wide margins in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Committee assignments
Huelskamp served on the following legislative committees: A leading conservative, Huelskamp had served on the state's Ways and Means Committee but was forced off due to clashes with the Committee's moderate leadership."
 * Joint Committee on Information Technology (Chairman)
 * Agriculture and Natural Resource
 * Education
 * Ethics and Local Government (Chairman)

2010 election
Seven-term congressman Jerry Moran gave up the Big First seat to make a successful run for the United States Senate. This touched off a free-for-all in the Republican primary--the real contest in this heavily Republican district. Huelskamp finished first in the six-candidate primary field with 34.8 percent of the vote, all but assuring that he would be the district's next congressman.

Huelskamp ran against Democratic nominee Alan Jilka and Libertarian nominee Jack W. Warner. Huelskamp was endorsed by The Club for Growth, Mike Huckabee, Conservative Leadership PAC, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Ron Paul and Ken Blackwell.

As expected, Huelskamp won the seat in a rout, taking 73 percent of the vote.

2012 election
Huelskamp ran unopposed in the general election.

Legislative activity
In early 2012, Huelskamp introduced legislation that would ensure military chaplains could not be “directed, ordered or required to perform any duty, rite, ritual, ceremony, service or function that is contrary to the conscience, moral principles or religious beliefs of the chaplain, or contrary to the moral principles or religious beliefs of the chaplain’s faith group.” The language appeared to be related to permitting same-sex marriages on military bases in states where such unions are permitted.

Sovereign Debt Crisis
On February 16, 2012, during a contentious three-hour House Budget Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Huelskamp warned of the looming threat of an economic crisis similar to the one then taking place in Europe. Representative Huelskamp accused Geithner and the entire Obama administration of failing to correct the U.S.'s debt crisis, which he believed would lead the country down the same path. Secretary Geithner replied that Huelskamp had an “adolescent perspective on how to think about economic policy.”

DOMA - Defense of Marriage Act Constitutional Amendment
After the United States Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA unconstitutional on June 26, 2013 Congressman Huelskamp immediately announced that he would introduce a Constitutional Amendment to restore the Defense of Marriage Act. He then went on The Steve Deace Show, a conservative radio program, to denounce the Supreme Court Justices. “The idea that Jesus Christ himself was degrading and demeaning is what they’ve come down to,” he said. "I can’t even stand to read the decisions because I don’t even think they’d pass law school with decisions like that.”

Committee assignments
The House Republican Steering Committee removed Huelskamp from both the Budget Committee and the Agriculture Committee in late 2012 as part of a larger party leadership-caucus shift. At a Heritage Foundation lunch in the immediate wake of the removal, the representative said: “It’s petty, its vindictive, and if you have any conservative principles you will be punished for articulating those.”
 * United States House Committee on Small Business
 * United States House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade
 * United States House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology
 * United States House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce
 * '''Committee on Veterans' Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Health
 * Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

On January 3, 2013, Huelskamp appeared to be counting votes as part of an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner when the 113th Congress convened. Huelskamp nominated conservative Jim Jordan to replace Boehner. When asked about the anti-Boehner effort a spokesman for Huelskamp declined to comment.

Caucus memberships

 * Republican Study Committee
 * Tea Party Caucus
 * Liberty Caucus

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