Rep. Dan Burton (R) Elected 1982, 12th term
Born:	June 21, 1938, Indianapolis
Home:	Indianapolis
Education:	IN U., 1958-59, Cincinnati Bible Seminary, 1959-60
Religion:	Protestant
Marital Status:	widowed
Elected  Office:	IN House of Reps., 1966-68, 1976-80; IN Senate, 1968-70, 1980-82.
Military Career:	Army, 1956-57, Army Reserves, 1957-62.
Professional Career:	Real estate broker; Founder, Dan Burton Insurance Agency, 1968.
DC Office	2185 RHOB20515, 202-225-2276; Fax: 202-225-0016; Web site: www.house.gov/burton
State Offices	Indianapolis, 317-848-0201; Marion, 765-662-6770.
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Indianapolis is one of America's most symmetrical cities, sited in almost the exact center of Indiana, centered on Monument Circle with eight avenues radiating like wheel spokes. A hundred years ago, it was a compact city, with everybody living within walking distance or a buggy ride of the circle in the center of downtown; even Indianapolis's one president, Benjamin Harrison, lived not far away in a mansion on North Meridian Street. But today's Indianapolis is spread out in all directions, and the metropolitan area includes nine counties smack in the center of Indiana. The most explosive growth has been in the most affluent quarter, to the north, where the fields of Carmel and Fishers in Hamilton County have filled with subdivisions, shopping centers and corporate headquarters. Hamilton County, directly north of Indianapolis's Marion County, was the fastest-growing county in the state in the 1990s, when its population rose 68%; it is now the fifth largest county in the state. Hamilton County had five banks in 1969; now there are 21, as many as in Marion County. The affluent establishment of Indianapolis is increasingly located here north of the city limits. The city of Carmel was one of the top zip codes for political donors in 2002; it was the only zip code outside New York, Chicago, California, Texas and the D.C. area that made the top 35. In 2004, residents cut their political donations back by more than half. These are not wealthy suburbs with a penchant for Democrats: Hamilton County is the most Republican county in Indiana and one of the most Republican in the nation. It voted 74%-24% for George W. Bush in 2004. The news show 60 Minutes once referred to Noblesville, the county seat, as "arguably the most Republican spot on earth."

The 5th Congressional District of Indiana includes Hamilton County and other prosperous parts of metropolitan Indianapolis--the northern fringes of the city itself, Hancock County just to the east (where the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association's championship is held every September), and parts of less affluent but still conservative Shelby and Johnson Counties to the south. It juts northward from Hamilton County to include part of Kokomo and, in the north, Wabash and Huntington Counties, which are a cradle of vice presidents: Thomas Marshall, Woodrow Wilson's vice president, was from North Manchester in Wabash County, and Dan Quayle, the first George Bush's vice president, spent his high school years and later practiced law in Huntington (which was in the Fort Wayne-based district when Quayle represented it in the House).

The congressman from the 5th District is Dan Burton, an active and enthusiastic Republican first elected to the House in 1982. He has been running for office since he was in his 20s. He had a horrific childhood: His father was abusive and left the family, his mother worked as a waitress and bought the kids' clothes at Goodwill, his father ultimately kidnapped his mother and went to jail, and the kids were sent to the county home. "I think part of my aggressive nature is because of my childhood," Burton told author Studs Terkel in an interview for Hope Dies Last. "The highest moment of hope in my childhood was when we finally got away from my father. When I was five, six years old, my mother used to stand between me and him when he'd start to beat me and take the blows. I was black and blue from my neck to my ankles." As a teenager, Burton earned money shining shoes and at 18 enlisted in the Army. He never finished college but made his way up as a real estate broker and insurance salesman. He also ran for public office, often unsuccessfully. He was elected to the Indiana House in 1966, 1976 and 1978 and to the Indiana Senate in 1968 and 1980; he lost races for Congress in 1970 and 1972 and finally won in 1982 when a Republican legislature created a heavily Republican suburban seat.

For years, Burton was regarded by many Democrats as a nut, excitably pursuing lost causes. He opposed sanctions on South Africa, backed UNITA in Angola and Renamo in Mozambique, offered dozens of spending cuts that were overwhelmingly defeated, and pushed for universal mandatory AIDS testing. He has spent much time investigating the alleged link between thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative, and autism. He contends his grandson's autism was caused by thimerosal, and in December 2002, he bitterly criticized the Department of Homeland Security bill provision ending lawsuits against vaccine makers. He has held hearings on vaccine safety and pressed for the removal of thimerosal. In May 2004, he criticized the Institutes of Medicine ("pawns for the pharmaceutical industry") when they found no link between thimerosal and autism. His position on the issue puts him at odds with one of his district's major employers, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., the company that developed thimerosal.

But Burton has also been vindicated by events for some stands that were widely scorned, from his hard-line opposition to the Soviet Union to his lonely vote against the later-repealed Catastrophic Health Care Act of 1988. In November 2003, Burton was one of the 25 Republican House members who voted against the Medicare/prescription drug bill. He argued that the drug benefit would cost too much, and the day before the vote, he warned that the bill would not meet seniors' expectations for coverage: "Wait until they find out what's in this turkey. It isn't Thanksgiving yet."

Burton has had some significant legislative successes but his biggest achievement was the Helms-Burton Act. It was a response to the Cuban Air Force's downing of the "Brothers to the Rescue" planes and stated that foreign companies could be sued in American courts if, as part of business deals with Fidel Castro's regime, they took over property expropriated from American owners. Helms-Burton passed both houses in fall 1995 and was signed by Bill Clinton, but Clinton then delayed its full implementation.

As chairman of the Government Reform Committee, he conducted tumultuous hearings on the Clinton-Gore campaign finance scandals from 1997 to 2000. Many Republicans were queasy about having Burton conduct the hearing; they felt he was too excitable and vulnerable to attack by Democrats and remembered with dismay his 1994 speech questioning whether White House counsel Vincent Foster had been murdered and his body moved. Burton promised a bipartisan approach but encountered early and fierce opposition; ranking Democrat Henry Waxman, one of the brainiest Democrats in the House, set the tone, calling it "a partisan witch hunt." Burton helped that impression along when, in reference to Clinton, he told The Indianapolis Star editorial board in April 1998, "This guy's a scumbag. That's why I'm after him." Burton faced great resistance --some 90 witnesses took the Fifth Amendment or left the country--and perhaps official retaliation: In July 1997, the FBI subpoenaed Burton's finance records of his House campaigns. Burton worked doggedly to get hold of memos to Attorney General Janet Reno with recommendations on dealing with Clinton-Gore campaign fundraising irregularities, or worse; he was still seeking them in 2002, when the Bush administration claimed executive privilege. In May 2000, when it was revealed that White House e-mails from 1996-98 sought in the investigation had been erased, Burton angrily sought an investigation, an independent counsel and he sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department; the e-mail stonewall continued until the end of the Clinton presidency. Burton has also tried to get internal Justice documents about an FBI scandal in which agents covered up evidence of crime by mobster informants in Boston from the 1960s to the 1980s; when his efforts were opposed by the Bush administration, erstwhile critic Barney Frank said, "I see now a genuine intellectual integrity in his approach."

Burton had to relinquish the Government Operations chairmanship in January 2003 because of House Republicans' six-year limit on committee chairmen; he was seeking the chairmanship of what was then the Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee of International Relations, but Chairman Henry Hyde was said to have doubts about whether he should get it. In the 109th Congress, Burton chairs the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

On International Relations, Burton has bucked the tide on several issues. He opposed normalization of relations with Vietnam. He moved to reduce aid to India, because of its treatment of the Sikhs and Kashmiris, whose American diaspora contributed heavily to his 1996 campaign; he has been a steady backer of Pakistan.

For all the pasting Burton has taken from the national press, he has never been in trouble for re-election--not even when it was revealed in 1998 that he had fathered an illegitimate son some 15 years before. The woman had not notified Burton until her companion, long presumed to be the father, left her five years later. Burton took a blood test and afterward paid child support. Redistricting changed the shape of the district considerably, and changed the number too. But any district that contains Hamilton County will be heavily Republican, and Burton has won reelection without difficulty.

Committees

• Government Reform (3d of 23 R): Criminal Justice, Drug Policy & Human Resources; National Security, Emerging Threats & International Relations.
• International Relations (4th of 27 R): Asia & the Pacific (Vice Chmn.); Western Hemisphere (Chmn.).
• Veterans' Affairs (5th of 16 R).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	0	0	0	0	80	65	95	100	92	100	--
2003	20	--	13	10	--	71	93	96	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	45%	--	55%		13%	--	85%
Social	23%	--	76%		0%	--	91%
Foreign	31%	--	65%		34%	--	63%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning *		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion *  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Dan Burton (R)	228,718	72%	$777,535
	Katherine Carr (D)	82,637	26%	$10,229
	Other	7,008	2%
2004 primary	Dan Burton (R)	83,136	86%
	George Holland (R)	8,825	9%
	Victor Wakley (R)	4,287	4%
2002 general	Dan Burton (R)	129,442	72%	$844,159
	Katherine Carr (D)	45,283	25%	$25,551
	Other	5,130	3%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (70%); 1998 (72%); 1996 (75%); 1994 (77%); 1992 (72%); 1990 (63%); 1988 (73%); 1986 (68%); 1984 (73%); 1982 (65%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 233,215 (71%) Kerry (D) 91,955 (28%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 187,489 (69%) Gore (D) 80,945 (30%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fifth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +20
• District Size: 3,291 square miles
• Population in 2000: 675,577; 74.5% urban; 25.5% rural
• Median Household Income: $52,800; 5.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 24.4% blue collar; 63.2% white collar; 12.4% gray collar; 12.9% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 93.2% White, 2.6% Black, 1.3% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.9% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.6% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 18.7% German, 9.6% USA, 9.1% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.