Pat Toomey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pat Toomey
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Official portrait, 2018
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| United States Senator from Pennsylvania |
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| In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2023 |
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| Preceded by | Arlen Specter |
| Succeeded by | John Fetterman |
| Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023 |
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| Preceded by | Sherrod Brown |
| Succeeded by | Tim Scott |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 15th district |
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| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Paul McHale |
| Succeeded by | Charlie Dent |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr.
November 17, 1961 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Kris Duncan
(m. 1997) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician. He was a United States senator for Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party. Before becoming a senator, he served three terms as a U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 15th district, from 1999 to 2005.
Toomey graduated from Harvard College. He worked as a banker on Wall Street. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the Club for Growth, a group that supports lower taxes and less government spending. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and reelected in 2016. In 2020, Toomey announced he would not run for reelection in 2022. After leaving office, he joined the board of a company called Apollo Global Management.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. was born on November 17, 1961. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the third of six children. His parents were Mary Ann and Patrick Joseph Toomey. His father was of Irish descent. His mother had Portuguese ancestry. Her grandparents were from the Azores.
Toomey's father worked for an electric company. His mother was a part-time secretary at a church. Toomey was an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. This is the highest rank in the organization.
He attended La Salle Academy on a scholarship. He graduated as the top student in his high school class. In 1984, he graduated from Harvard College. He earned a degree in government.
Early Career and Business
After college, Toomey worked at Chemical Bank. He handled deals involving different currencies. In 1986, he joined Morgan, Grenfell & Co. There, he worked with foreign currencies and interest rates.
In 1991, Toomey left Morgan, Grenfell. He then opened Rookie's Restaurant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his two younger brothers.
In 1994, Toomey was elected to Allentown's Government Study Commission. He helped write a new plan for the city. This plan made it harder to raise taxes. It also changed how property taxes were collected. Allentown voters approved this plan in 1996.
Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives
Becoming a Representative
In 1998, Toomey ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. He sought to represent Pennsylvania's 15th district. The current representative, Paul McHale, was retiring. Toomey won the Republican primary election.
In the main election, Toomey ran against state Senator Roy Afflerbach. Toomey criticized the government's plans for the tax agency. He said the agency should be removed. Toomey promised to serve no more than three terms if elected. He won the election with 55% of the votes.
Reelection and Leaving Office
Toomey was reelected for a second term in 2000. He defeated Ed O'Brien with 53% of the votes. In 2002, he was reelected for a third term. He again defeated O'Brien, this time with 57% of the votes.
Keeping his promise, Toomey did not run for reelection to the House in 2004. Instead, he decided to run for the U.S. Senate.
Key Actions in the House
Toomey served in the House from 1999 to 2005. He was known for his knowledge of money matters. He worked to reduce government spending. He also wanted to save money to pay off national debt.
In 2001, Toomey suggested a budget plan. It would cut taxes by a large amount over ten years. In 2002, he voted to allow military action against Iraq.
Toomey did not support a plan for immigration reform. He said it was unfair to people who enter the country legally. He also supported creating a Medicare prescription drug plan. However, he wanted it to lower costs and encourage competition. In January 1999, Toomey joined the House Budget Committee.
Serving in the U.S. Senate
Senate Elections
In 2004, Toomey challenged Senator Arlen Specter in the Republican primary. Specter was a long-serving senator. Toomey argued that Specter was not conservative enough on money issues. Most Republican leaders supported Specter. Toomey lost by a small margin, about 17,000 votes.
In 2009, Toomey announced he would challenge Specter again in 2010. However, Specter changed parties and became a Democrat. This left Toomey as the main Republican candidate. Toomey won the Republican primary easily. In the general election, he faced Joe Sestak. Toomey won the election with 51% of the votes.
Toomey ran for reelection in 2016. He won the Republican primary without opposition. In the general election, he won with 48.9% of the votes. He defeated Democratic candidate Katie McGinty.
Time in the Senate
Toomey became a U.S. Senator on January 3, 2011. He was the first person from the Lehigh Valley region to be a Pennsylvania Senator in a long time.
In 2011, he was named to a special committee. This committee was tasked with finding ways to cut government spending. In 2012, Toomey was chosen to lead the Senate Steering Committee. This group of Republican senators works together on laws.
In 2018, Toomey voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Some people criticized Toomey for not holding enough in-person meetings with his constituents. He often held phone meetings instead.
In 2019, Toomey voted against a bill to prevent a government shutdown. This bill included money for barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. In March 2019, he supported a plan to limit the Supreme Court to nine justices.
In 2020, Toomey was appointed to a commission. It oversaw how the CARES Act was used. This act provided money to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 5, 2020, Toomey announced he would retire. He did not run for reelection in 2022.
Committee Work
Toomey served on several important committees in the Senate:
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (He chaired a subcommittee on financial institutions.)
- Committee on the Budget
- Committee on Finance
- Joint Economic Committee
- Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
Political Views and Actions
Education
Toomey strongly supported giving more public money to charter schools. In 2017, he supported Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education.
Environment
Toomey has said that the extent to which human activity causes climate change is debated. In 2011, he voted to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's power to control greenhouse gases. He voted against a tax on carbon emissions in 2013. In 2015, he voted against the Clean Power Plan.
He has generally voted against environmental interests. In 2000, he opposed the Kyoto Protocol. This was an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. In 2001, he voted against raising fuel efficiency standards for cars. He also voted against giving incentives for alternative fuels.
Government Spending
In 2013, Toomey was one of 18 senators who voted against a bill to reopen the government. He said he could not support adding more debt without reforms.
Financial Rules
Toomey strongly supports reducing government rules for banks. In 1999, he said that removing rules helped the economy grow. He wanted to continue removing rules, especially in the financial industry.
He helped write a law that removed parts of the Glass-Steagall Act. This old law had separated banks and investment firms. Its removal allowed companies to combine banking and investment services.
Toomey also supported fewer rules for the derivatives market. He believed this market was already well-regulated. He helped pass a law to make trading derivatives easier.
He was a main supporter of the JOBS Act in 2012. This law aimed to lower costs for businesses that wanted to sell shares to the public. It also helped startup companies raise money.
Gun Policy
In 2013, after a school shooting, Toomey and Senator Joe Manchin proposed a law. It would have required background checks for most gun sales. This law did not pass. It failed again in 2015 and 2016.
After another school shooting in 2022, Toomey again called for background checks. He was part of a group of senators working on a gun control deal. This deal included stronger background checks for young buyers. It also provided money for school safety. Toomey voted for this deal, called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Toomey believes that Congress should pass background checks. He has received money from gun-rights groups. However, his rating from the NRA group dropped after he started supporting background checks.
LGBT Rights
In 2004, Toomey said he believed marriage should be defined as "one man, one woman." He voted for a change to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage that same year. In 2015, he disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
In 2010, Toomey supported ending "Don't ask, don't tell." This policy had prevented openly gay or bisexual people from serving in the military.
Healthcare
Toomey opposed the Medicare Prescription Drug Act. He thought it was not responsible with money. He also wanted to change Medicaid into a grant program for states.
Toomey opposed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He supported many efforts to get rid of it. In 2017, he helped write a Republican bill to repeal Obamacare.
In 2022, Toomey voted against a plan to limit insulin costs to $35 per month.
Taxes and Government Spending
Toomey supports replacing the current tax system with a flat tax. He also favors getting rid of the IRS. He has voted to cut various taxes, including capital gains tax and corporate taxes. He also supported expanding tax credits.
He opposed the 2009 federal stimulus package. He does not support government-run healthcare or farm subsidies.
In 2011, Toomey supported a balanced budget amendment for the federal government. He also supported extending unemployment benefits. He wanted to pay for them by cutting other government spending.
Immigration
Toomey supported a 2017 order by President Trump. This order banned entry to the U.S. for citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.
In 2019, Toomey voted against a bill to prevent a partial government shutdown. This bill included money for border barriers. In March 2019, he voted to block President Trump's emergency declaration. This declaration would have given Trump money to build border barriers.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
In December 2019, Toomey said that President Trump's actions were "errors of judgment." However, he did not think they were serious enough for impeachment. He voted against convicting Trump in his first impeachment trial.
On January 9, 2021, Toomey said he thought Trump's actions related to the January 6 Capitol attack were impeachable. On February 13, 2021, he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. He was one of seven Republican senators to do so.
Foreign Policy
In 2016, Toomey signed a letter to the Secretary of State. It asked the U.S. to stop Russia's airstrikes in Syria. In 2017, he supported a law that would make it a crime to encourage boycotts against Israel.
In 2018, Toomey voted against a resolution to withdraw U.S. troops from Yemen. He also signed a letter expressing concern about North Korea avoiding sanctions with help from Russia and China.
Trade
In 2018, Toomey signed a letter asking President Trump to keep the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He wanted it updated for the modern economy. In November 2018, he signed another letter. It asked Trump to submit the new trade agreement (USMCA) to Congress quickly.
January 6 Capitol Attack
On May 28, 2021, Toomey did not vote on creating a special group. This group would investigate the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Personal Life
In November 1997, Pat Toomey married Kris Ann Duncan. They have three children. After leaving the Senate in 2023, Toomey joined the board of Apollo Global Management, a financial company.
Images for kids
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Pat Toomey's signature
See also
In Spanish: Pat Toomey para niños
