Vern Ehlers

Vernon James Ehlers (February 6, 1934 – August 15, 2017) was an American physicist and politician who represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until his retirement in 2011. A Republican, he also served eight years in the Michigan Senate and two in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Vern Ehlers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd district
In office December 7, 1993 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Paul Henry
Succeeded by	Justin Amash
Member of the Michigan Senate from the 32nd district
In office 1985–1993
Preceded by	Paul B. Henry
Succeeded by	Glenn Steil Sr.
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 93rd district
In office 1983–1985
Preceded by	John Otterbacher
Succeeded by	Richard Bandstra
Personal details
Born	Vernon James Ehlers (1934-02-06)February 6, 1934 Pipestone, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	August 15, 2017(2017-08-15) (aged 83) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Johanna Ehlers
Alma mater	Calvin College University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	College Professor

Ehlers was the first research physicist to be elected to Congress;^[1] he was later joined by Rush Holt, Jr. (D-NJ) and Bill Foster (D-IL).

Early life, education, and academic career

Born in Pipestone, Minnesota, Ehlers attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids for three years before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned an undergraduate degree in physics and, in 1960, a Ph.D. in nuclear physics. His doctoral dissertation, "The nuclear spins and moments of several radioactive gallium isotopes", is available from University Microfilms International as document number 0227304. After six years of teaching and research at Berkeley, he moved back to Michigan and took employment at Calvin College in 1966, where he taught physics for 16 years and later served as chairman of the Physics Department.

Ehlers died on August 15, 2017, at the age of 83.^[2]

Early political career

Ehlers served on the Kent County Board of Commissioners from 1975 to 1982. Ehlers served from 1983 to 1985 in the Michigan House of Representatives and then served from 1985 to 1993 in the Michigan Senate.^[3]

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
• Committee on House Administration (Chairman and Ranking Member) ^[4]
• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships

• Co-chair of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Ed Caucus
• Peak Oil Caucus^[5]

Chairman Ehlers greets Ranking Member Juanita Millender-McDonald at a hearing of the House Administration Committee.

Ehlers served as chairman of the House Administration Committee in the 109th Congress after Bob Ney resigned from the position.

A portrait of Ehlers during his service as chairman of the Administration Committee is in the House collection.^[6]

Political positions

Ehlers was a moderate Republican. According to the National Journal, in 2006 his votes split 50-50 between "liberal" and "conservative." While strongly anti-abortion and supportive of lowering taxes, he was willing to break with his party on environmental and government spending issues. He was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and Republicans for Environmental Protection. He was the only member of the Michigan Congressional delegation of either party to vote to raise fuel economy standards for automobiles in 2001^[7] and 2005.^[8]

Ehlers was a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006 he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act^[9] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.^[10]

Owing to his votes in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006, as well as his votes against hate crimes legislation and prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Ehlers was given a 0% rating by the Human Rights Campaign, indicating a voting record generally opposed to gay rights. However, in December 2010, Ehlers was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members,^[11][12][13] and one of eight Republicans to vote for the DREAM Act.^[14]

Political campaigns

See also: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan § District 3, and 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan § District 3

In 1993 Ehlers won a special election for the 3rd District, which had been vacant since Congressman Paul B. Henry died six months into his fifth term. He won a full term in 1994 and was re-elected six times with little significant Democratic opposition. Ehlers retired from Congress in 2010.^[15]

Selected publications

Lead authored articles in scientific journals

• V. J. Ehlers and A. Gallagher, Vernon; Gallagher, Alan (1973). "Electron Excitation of the Calcium 4227-Å Resonance Line". Physical Review A. 7 (5): 1573–1585. Bibcode:1973PhRvA...7.1573E. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.7.1573. ISSN 1050-2947.
• V. J. Ehlers, Y. Kabasakal, H. A. Shugart, O. Tezer, Vernon; Kabasakal, Yurdanur; Shugart, Howard; Tezer, Orhan (1968). "Hyperfine Structure of 67Ga and 72Ga". Physical Review. 176 (1): 25–42. Bibcode:1968PhRv..176...25E. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.176.25. ISSN 0031-899X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• V. J. Ehlers, T. R. Fowler, H. A. Shugart, Vernon; Fowler, Thomas; Shugart, Howard (1968). "Nuclear Magnetic Moment of 85Rb: Resolving a Discrepancy". Physical Review. 167 (4): 1062–1064. Bibcode:1968PhRv..167.1062E. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.167.1062. ISSN 0031-899X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• V. J. Ehlers, H. A. Shugart, Vernon; Shugart, Howard (1962). "Hyperfine-Structure Separations and Nuclear Moments of Gallium-68". Physical Review. 127 (2): 529–536. Bibcode:1962PhRv..127..529E. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.127.529. ISSN 0031-899X.
• V. J. Ehlers, W. A. Nierenberg, H. A. Shugart, V.; Nierenberg, W.; Shugart, H. (1962). "Nuclear Spin of Gallium-70". Physical Review. 125 (6): 2008–2012. Bibcode:1962PhRv..125.2008E. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.125.2008. ISSN 0031-899X. S2CID 120163937.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Articles on science policy

• Ehlers, Congressman Vernon J. (September 2000). "Science Education and Our Nation's Future". BioScience. 50 (9): 731. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0731:SEAONS]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0006-3568.
• Ehlers, V. J. (January 1998). "The Future of U.S. Science Policy". Science. 279 (5349): 302a–302. Bibcode:1998Sci...279..302E. doi:10.1126/science.279.5349.302a. S2CID 154533319.

References

1. Cornelia Dean (July 10, 2008). "Physicists in Congress Calculate Their Influence". New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
2. Hulett, Sarah (August 16, 2017). "Former Congressman Vernon Ehlers dies". Michigan Radio. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
3. "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
4. "Ehlers elected chairman of House Administration Committee | Committee on House Administration". cha.house.gov. February 2006. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
5. "HR 507: The Peak Oil Caucus is working for you!". December 17, 2005.
6. "Vernon James Ehlers - US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
7. "Final vote results for Roll Call 311". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
8. "Final vote results for Roll Call 121". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
9. "Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411". Archived from the original on November 25, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
10. "Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777". Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
11. Chris Geidner, House Passes DADT Repeal Bill Archived October 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Metro Weekly (December 15, 2010),
12. House Vote 638 – Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Archived 2016-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, New York Times (December 15, 2010)
13. "Final vote results for Roll Call 1638". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
14. "Final vote results for Roll Call 1625". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
15. "Congressman Vern Ehlers Announces Retirement". February 10, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.

External links

• Vern Ehlers for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Michigan House of Representatives
Preceded by John Otterbacher	Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 93rd district 1983–1985	Succeeded by Richard Bandstra
Michigan Senate
Preceded by Paul B. Henry	Member of the Michigan Senate from the 32nd district 1985–1993	Succeeded by Glenn Steil Sr.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Paul B. Henry	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd congressional district 1993–2011	Succeeded by Justin Amash
Preceded by Bob Ney	Chairman of the House Administration Committee 2006–2007	Succeeded by Juanita Millender-McDonald