Donald Leroy Bonker (born March 7, 1937 in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

) is an American former congressman for the state of Washington and a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1975 to 1989, representing

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

's third Congressional district. He is a resident of

Bainbridge Island, Washington Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

Biography

Bonker attended public schools in

Westminster, Colorado The City of Westminster is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 116,317 at the 2020 United States Census with 71,240 residing in Adams County and 45,077 residing in J ...

. He received his Associate of Arts degree from

Clark College Clark College is a public community college in Vancouver, Washington. With 11,500 students, Clark College is the largest institution of higher education in southwest Washington. Founded in 1933 as a private two-year junior college, Clark Colleg ...

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, in 1962; his Bachelor of Arts from

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1964; and completed graduate work at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in Washington, D.C. Bonker served in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

as first class yeoman from 1955 to 1959.

Political career

He served as aide to United States Senator

Maurine Brown Neuberger Maurine Neuberger-Solomon, best known as Maurine Neuberger (née Brown; January 9, 1907February 22, 2000) was an American politician who served as a United States senator for the State of Oregon from November 1960 to January 1967. She was the fou ...

from 1964 to 1965, Clark County auditor in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

from 1966 to 1974, and as a delegate to Washington State Democratic conventions from 1968 to 1970. Bonker ran for

Washington Secretary of State The secretary of state of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Fifteen individuals have held the office of Secretary of State since statehood. The ...

in 1972, but was defeated by incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Lud Kramer.

Tenure in Congress

Bonker was elected as a moderate Democrat to the 94th and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1989). He did not run for reelection in 1988 so he could run for nomination to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, where he narrowly lost in the primary to Democrat

Mike Lowry Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended abruptly following a sexual misconduct allegation made against him by h ...

, who was defeated in the general election by Republican

Slade Gorton Thomas Slade Gorton III (January 8, 1928 – August 19, 2020) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1989 until 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he hel ...

. During his time in the House, Bonker was a senior member of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

and chairman of the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade. He also served on the President's Export Council and headed former House Speaker

Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...

's Trade Task Force, which led to passage of the

Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act The Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 is an act passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. History During the 1970s, the U.S. trade surplus slowly diminished and turned into an incr ...

. During his tenure in Congress, Bonker authored and was a principal sponsor of significant trade legislation, such as the Export Trading Company Act and the Export Administration Act. He helped establish the

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuary, estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the l ...

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

and the

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was established on August 27, 1982, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, following the 1980 eruption. The 110,00 ...

, added Protection Island to the

system, preserved the Point of Arches in the

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

, added 250,000 acres (1000 km²) to the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act, and banned the export of

Western Redcedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

Later career

In 1992, Bonker again ran for a U.S. Senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by the eventual winner, Democratic Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

. In 2000, he ran for Secretary of State again, winning the party nomination in the primary, but losing in the general to

Sam Reed Sam S. Reed (born January 10, 1941) is an American accountant and politician who served as the 14th Secretary of State of Washington from 2001 to 2013 and is a member of the Republican Party. Reed was Washington's fourteenth Secretary of State ...

. Bonker is now the president and CEO of the International Management and Development Institute, on the board of the Foundation for U.S.-Russia Business Cooperation, and is executive vice president of

APCO Worldwide APCO Worldwide is a independent global public affairs and strategic communications consultancy. With 680 employees in 35 worldwide locations, it is also the fifth largest independently owned PR firm in the United States. Headquartered in Wa ...

. In 2009, Bonker was the target of significant criticism by Democrats for endorsing Republican Susan Hutchison for King County Executive against Democratic favorite and eventual winner

Dow Constantine James Dow Constantine (born November 15, 1961) is an American politician, lawyer, and urban planner in the state of Washington who is serving his third term as King County Executive, an office he has held since November 2009. He was in the state ...

. He is the author of ''America's Trade Crisis'', published by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, and is a writer and speaker on U.S. trade policy. His monthly column on trade policy appears in a number of newspapers around the country. Bonker is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of

Issue One Issue One is an American nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics. It aims to increase public awareness of what it views as problems within the present campaign finance system, and to reduce the influ ...

Biography

Political career

Tenure in Congress

Later career

See also

References

External links