Senator Mike DeWine

A lecture in the series
Affirming Freedom: One World Against Terrorism

“Strength Through Compassion: Foreign Aid as a Tool Against Terrorism”

April 3, 2002

Senator Mike DeWine
Member of the Senate Select Committee on Special Intelligence

with special guests John Glenn, William Kirwan & Edward Ray

Mike DeWine was first sworn into the United States Senate on January 4, 1995, as the first Republican U.S. Senator to represent the Buckeye state in more than two decades. In 2000, he was the first Republican U.S. Senator in nearly a half-century to be re-elected to serve Ohio.

In January 2001, DeWine was appointed to the Senate Appropriations Committee, making him the first Ohio Senator in 56 years to serve on that committee. DeWine serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia and as Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition. He also serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He serves as Co-Chairman of the Great Lakes Task Force and is a member of the Senate Drug Task Force.

Since his arrival in the Senate, DeWine has further defined his role of service to Ohio and his country by establishing himself as a leader in efforts to fight for the health, welfare, and safety of our children; provide our young people with the best possible education; promote job opportunities through an improved and user-friendly job training system; ensure local law enforcement officials have access to advanced technology; stem the flow of drugs into our country; advocate for consumer rights; and obtain a balanced federal budget. In the 106th Congress, DeWine served as Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Aging, where he oversaw the re-authorization of the wide-sweeping Older Americans Act.

After earning degrees from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1969, and Ohio Northern University Law School, Ada, Ohio, in 1972, DeWine became Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Greene County, Ohio, at the age of 25. In 1976, he was elected Greene County Prosecuting Attorney. DeWine was first elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1980 and then to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1982. During his tenure in the Ohio Senate, DeWine was instrumental in the passage of a strict drunk driving law, and in the U.S. House, he led passage of landmark federal legislation to protect children who are victims of violent crime.

In January 1991, Mike DeWine was sworn in as Ohio's 59th Lieutenant Governor. In this position, he was responsible for the oversight of seven state agencies, including the Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, Criminal Justice Services, the Department of Highway Safety, and the Department of Youth Services. He also spearheaded a vigorous anti-drug effort in the state.

A native of Greene County, Ohio, DeWine and his wife, Fran, are the parents of eight children and the grandparents of six grandchildren.