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 Pennsylvania: Fourth District Rep. Ron Klink (D) As of June 1, 1997
For a century one of America's great industrial zones was along the banks of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, near where they join in westernmost Pennsylvania. This was steel country, with mills rising black and brooding from the bottomlands and filling the narrow river valleys with smoke. The sinewy sons of immigrant families worked hard in the hot mills. Looking down on riverscapes lined with piles of iron ore, limestone and coal, and littered with cranes, stocks and furnaces, families lived in small frame houses on the hillsides. Although not an environmentalist's idea of perfection, this was a land of opportunity for thousands whose lives were far worse before moving to steel country. For a few heady years, the high union wages and early retirement plans seemed to make working in the mills the way to affluence. But the industry crashed after the oil shock of 1979, when mills were closed and jobs vanished. Today, thousands of workers who long ago exhausted their unemployment benefits have given up and left the Beaver and Ohio valleys. Forty years ago, the western Pennsylvania steel country had 11 House Members; it now has six. The congressman from the 4th District is Ron Klink, a Democrat first elected in 1992. Klink grew up in Myersdale, Pennsylvania, and has been a jack of many trades. In his 20s he was a restaurant owner; in 1978 he became a reporter and anchor for Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV. In 1992, he decided to run for the House. The incumbent, Democrat Joe Kolter, was lightly regarded and drew no fewer than three primary opponents; after years of supporting union positions, he missed a key vote on unemployment benefits and in March lost the AFL-CIO endorsement, which went to another Democrat. But Klink, from his years on the air, was much better known, and his "Ron Klink Plan for Jobs" struck a chord in an area long suffering from high unemployment. Klink won the primary with a rousing 35%, two state legislators got 22% and 13%, and the hapless Kolter 20%. Klink won the general election handily. In the House Klink has had a liberal voting record on economics and been more moderate on cultural and foreign issues. He supported the Clinton budget and tax plan but vigorously opposed NAFTA in 1993 and, on the then-Education and Labor Committee, worked on the Schools-to-Work Transition Act. Unlike most Democrats, he favors restrictions on abortion and proposed that no healthcare plan should require insurers to cover abortions. He sponsored the Uniform Adoption Act, to make adoption more secure. Switching to the Commerce Committee in his second term, he worked to get FDA approval of home drug-testing kits. By 1997 he was ranking Democrat on Commerce's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, once one of John Dingell's power bases. Much of Klink's work is bolstering the 4th District's local economy. He got an extension of Trade Readjustment Assistance benefits for Rockwell International employees in New Castle. He worked to get approval of the USAirways-British Airways agreement (USAirways' Pittsburgh hub is nearby). He worked to strengthen pilot and air traffic controller training at Community College of Beaver County. He got a moratorium on zinc sales from the strategic stockpile, to save 700 jobs at Zinc Corporation of America's Monaca plant. He got an abandoned federal facility in Hopewell Township transferred to the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development. Klink was reelected by wide margins in 1994 and 1996. His agenda for the 105th Congress includes the Individual Training Accounts Act, the Crows Run Road Connector in Beaver County and a resolution recognizing the heroic struggle of the people of Crete for their battle with Germany for the island in World War II.
The People: Pop. 1990: 565,809; 33% rural; 16% age 65+; 96% White; 3% Black; 1% Hispanic origin. Households: 63% married couple families; 27% married couple fams. w. children; 36% college educ.; median household income: $26,792; per capita income: $12,684; median gross rent: $332; median house value: $55,400.
Rep. Ron Klink (D) Elected 1992; b. Sept. 23, 1951, Canton, OH; home, Jeannette; Protestant; married (Linda). Career: Businessman; Restaurant Owner; Reporter & Anchor, KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, 1978-92. DC Office: 125 CHOB 20515, 202-225-2565; Fax: 202-226-2274. District Offices: Beaver, 412-728-3005; Cranberry Township, 412-772-6080; Lower Burrell, 412-335-4518; N. Huntingdon, 412-864-8681; New Castle, 412-654-9036. Committees: Commerce (15th of 23 D): Oversight & Investigations (RMM); Telecommunications, Trade & Consumer Protection.
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