Rep. Phil English (R) Elected 1994, 6th term
Born:	June 20, 1956, Erie
Home:	Erie
Education:	U. of PA., B.A. 1978
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Christiane)
Elected  Office:	Erie City Controller, 1985-89.
Professional Career:	Staff aide, PA Senate; 1980-84; Chief of Staff, PA Sen. Melissa Hart 1990-92; Exec. Dir., PA Senate Finance Cmte., 1990-94.
DC Office	1410 LHOB20515, 202-225-5406; Fax: 202-225-3103; Web site: www.house.gov/english
State Offices	Butler, 724-285-7005; Erie, 814-456-2038; Hermitage, 724-342-6132; Meadville, 814-724-8414; Warren, 814-723-7282.
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The best natural harbor on Lake Erie is in a state with the second-shortest Great Lakes shoreline. It is Erie, Pennsylvania, protected by the Presque Isle ("almost an island") peninsula--a cowlick-shaped, seven-mile-long sand spit blanketed by mature forest. Erie is in Pennsylvania's far northwest corner, only about 100 miles from Cleveland but 428 miles from Center City Philadelphia. There is farmland here, and even some woods, but this land between the Great Lakes and the basin of the Ohio River has been prime territory for heavy industry for more than a century. In the 1990s, under Governor Tom Ridge, an Erie native, the state invested $100 million in Erie's waterfront--a cruise ship terminal, a convention center, a ballpark for the single-A Erie SeaWolves baseball team, and restorations to the Warner Theatre--in an attempt to boost tourism. The effort spruced up a dying downtown, but it didn't buffer Erie from the recent economic downturn, as companies like General Electric, the area's largest employer, International Paper and Gunite/EMI laid off employees and closed plants.

The 3d Congressional District of Pennsylvania occupies this northwest corner of the state--all of Erie County, most of Mercer, Crawford and Butler Counties and about half of Warren, Venango, and Armstrong Counties. Erie County has 43% of the district's population, and had modest population gains from 1990 to 2003. Growth has been greater in Butler County, the northern edge of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, while other parts of the district have lost population. Politically, the mix of industrial and rural voters makes for closely balanced territory. Erie and Mercer Counties vote Democratic in most national elections, but they have also voted for Republicans with working class appeal, like Ridge, from a Catholic working class family in Erie, Senator Rick Santorum and 2002 governor candidate Mike Fisher, whose running mate was Erie state Senator Jane Earll. The other counties are culturally conservative and solidly Republican. This is a district that voted 51% for George W. Bush in 2000 and 53% in 2004, 5% more than in the state as a whole.

The congressman from the 3d District is Phil English, a Republican first elected in 1994. English grew up in Erie and has worked at little else but politics and government. At 20, he was an alternate to the 1976 Republican National Convention, and he worked during the early 1980s as a Republican staffer in Harrisburg. In 1985 he became Erie controller; in 1988, he was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for state treasurer. In 1990 he helped produce Rick Santorum's upset win in the suburban Pittsburgh 18th District, the first step on Santorum's path to the Senate; he went on to become chief of staff to state Senator Melissa Hart, who was elected to the House in the adjacent 4th District in 2000. In 1994, when Ridge ran for governor, English ran for the House and won 66% in the Republican primary. In the general, English promised to reform welfare, cut wasteful spending and create jobs for northwestern Pennsylvania with an 18-point plan for revitalizing small business and manufacturing. Key to the outcome was Erie, English's home--and probably more important, Ridge's--which supported the Republican ticket, giving English a 49%-47% victory.

In the House, the obviously vulnerable English became one of the first freshman Republicans since George H. W. Bush in 1967 to win a seat on Ways and Means, an excellent spot from which to both legislate and raise money. Early on, English made a record on local issues, working to stop Korea's dumping of steel pipe and tubing (the Shenango Valley in Mercer County is the leading U.S. producer), preserving spending on low income home heating and protecting Erie Forge & Steel from the IRS. While he supports the Republican leadership on most votes, he has a moderate record on economic and foreign issues and has dissented prominently on occasion. He has been one of the House Republicans most willing to support a minimum wage increase and was an early proponent of limiting the tax deduction for pay to corporate chief executives.

English worries about the collapse of manufacturing across the nation, including northwest Pennsylvania. "We need to move quickly and directly to save the manufacturing base." He would impose tariffs on imports from China to respond to Beijing's alleged currency manipulation. In October 2003, he got House passage, on a 411-1 vote, of his resolution calling on China to let market forces set its exchange rate. "I think we have attracted the attention of the Chinese and Bush administration," he said. He also called for higher tariffs on imports from Vietnam. English supports major tax changes to replace individual and corporate income taxes with a consumption tax to promote savings and level the playing field for U.S. businesses and workers. He wants to repeal the alternative minimum tax on corporations, which he called a job-killer. He voted for normal trade relations with China and trade promotion authority.

As chairman of the Steel Caucus, English welcomed George W. Bush's March 2002 decision to impose quotas on steel imports. He helped pass a resolution opposing any changes to U.S. anti-dumping laws in the Doha trade negotiations and a bill to cover health insurance costs of retired steelworkers whose companies went bankrupt. After the World Trade Organization ruled against Bush's efforts to protect the U.S. steel industry, English urged him to hold firm, especially against European threats. But when Bush agreed in December 2003 to go along with the ruling, English was conciliatory; the President had kept his promises, and the steel industry was "on stronger footing."

English had a tough reelection challenge in 1996 from Democrat Ron DiNicola, who returned home from law practice in Los Angeles to run in Erie. "California office. California driver's license. And a great tan," English's campaign proclaimed. English won 51%-49%. He has had no serious challenge since then. In May 2005, he announced his candidacy for the chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee when Tom Reynolds's term ends after the 109th Congress. English is now one of three House Republicans from traditionally Democratic western Pennsylvania, a tribute to skillful redistricting, a cautious centrism and hard work by local Republicans, including Santorum, Hart, the 18th District's Tim Murphy, Ridge and English. Democrats wondering why they are in the House minority ought to look here.

Committees

• Ways & Means (10th of 24 R): Health; Human Resources; Trade.
• Joint Economic Committee (3d of 10 Reps.).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	25	10	38	27	80	59	90	68	65	84	--
2003	20	--	13	15	--	60	93	72	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	44%	--	56%		47%	--	52%
Social	46%	--	53%		47%	--	52%
Foreign	11%	--	80%		39%	--	59%
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 Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  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	Phil English (R)	166,580	60%	$1,595,195
	Steven Porter (D)	110,684	40%	$224,002
2004 primary	Phil English (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Phil English (R)	116,763	78%	$778,773
	AnnDrea Benson (Green)	33,554	22%	$19,353
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (61%); 1998 (63%); 1996 (51%); 1994 (49%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 152,473 (53%) Kerry (D) 133,764 (47%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 127,598 (51%) Gore (D) 116,118 (46%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Third 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 + 2
• District Size: 4,777 square miles
• Population in 2000: 646,311; 58.4% urban; 41.6% rural
• Median Household Income: $35,884; 11.6% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 30.7% blue collar; 52.3% white collar; 17.0% gray collar; 14.6% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 93.7% White, 3.5% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.8% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 20.8% German, 10.5% Irish, 7.1% Italian
• Click here for statewide demographic data.