Les AuCoin

Les AuCoin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oregon's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byWendell Wyatt
Succeeded byElizabeth Furse
Majority Leader of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office
1973–1975
Preceded byThomas Young
Succeeded byEd Lindquist
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 4th district
In office
1971–1975
Preceded byDavid Frost
Succeeded byBill Ferguson
Personal details
Born
Walter Leslie AuCoin

(1942-10-21) October 21, 1942 (age 82)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Sue Swearingen
​
(m. 1964)​
Children2 (including Kelly)
EducationPortland State University
Pacific University (BA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army

Walter Leslie AuCoin (/oʊˈkɔɪn/ oh-KOYN; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st congressional district, since it was formed in 1892.[1] The seat has been held by Democrats ever since.[2]

AuCoin's 18-year tenure—from the 94th United States Congress through the 102nd[3]—is the sixth-longest in Oregon history. In his career, AuCoin took a prominent role in abortion rights,[4] local and national environmental issues,[5] multiple-use management of federal forests,[6] and national security. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, he wrote the ban to stop Interior Secretary James Watt's plan to open the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf to oil exploration.[7] AuCoin was an early advocate of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China[8] and arms control with the Soviet Union,[9] and a critic of U.S. support for the Nicaraguan Contras and the rightist government of El Salvador in the 1980s.[10] At the time of his retirement in 1993, he was 84th in overall House seniority, dean of the Oregon House delegation,[11] a majority whip-at-large, and a veteran member of the House Appropriations Committee.

AuCoin was a two-term member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974. In his second term, he was House Majority Leader, at the age of 31. He is a full-time author, writer, lecturer and occasional blogger. AuCoin is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[12] He and his wife Susan live in Portland.[13]

  1. ^ "The House: New Faces and New Strains". Time magazine. November 18, 1974. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  2. ^ Official database of U.S. Congress Archived April 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "AuCoin, Les". United States Congress. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  4. ^ Phillips, Don (December 8, 1989). "AuCoin: Ready to 'Kick Ankles' for Abortion Rights; Oregon Democrat Says Legal Restrictions Have Made Women 'Victims of Tyranny'". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ "Sierra Club Awards" (PDF). 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  6. ^ "Compromised Reached on Spotted Owl". New York Times. September 30, 1974.
  7. ^ Chu, Keith (June 15, 2008). "Through Ups and Downs, Oregon Has Helped Steer Energy Policy". The Bulletin (Bend).
  8. ^ "To amend and extend the Export-Import Bank act of 1945": hearings the House Subcommittee on International Trade, Investment, and Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session on H.R. 11384, March 13, 15-17, 1978
  9. ^ Secter, Bob (August 16, 1986). "House Votes For Defense Bill Loaded With Arms Curbs". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ House Committee Hearings by Date, Digest, Congressional Record, 101st Congress, January 23, 1990-January 3, 1991.
  11. ^ Swisher, Larry (July 22, 1991). "Northwest's Senate races will be dirty". Spokane Chronicle. p. A6. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  12. ^ "Issue One – ReFormers Caucus".
  13. ^ McInally, Mike (September 22, 2019). "Think Too Much: AuCoin reflects on a life in politics". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Retrieved November 20, 2019.