Sherwood Louis Boehlert (September 28, 1936September 20, 2021) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He represented a large swath of

central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

in 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1983 until 2007. Boehlert, a

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 ...

, was considered to be a member of the party's

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

wing. He served as Chairman of the Science Committee from 2001 to 2006.

Early life, education, and early political career

Sherwood Louis Boehlert was born on September 28, 1936, in

Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the fo ...

, to Elizabeth Monica ( Champoux) and Sherwood Boehlert, and graduated from

Utica College Utica University is a private university in Utica, New York. The university dates back to the 1930s when Syracuse University began offering extension courses in the Utica area. In 2016, the university enrolled 3,084 undergraduate students and ...

. He was a practicing Roman Catholic. He served two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

(1956–1958) and then worked as a manager of

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

for Wyandotte Chemical Company. After leaving Wyandotte, Boehlert served as Chief of Staff for two upstate Congressmen,

Alexander Pirnie Alexander Pirnie (April 16, 1903 – June 12, 1982) was an American Congressman from New York. Biography Pirnie was born in Pulaski, New York, on April 16, 1903. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1924 and his law d ...

and

Donald J. Mitchell Donald Jerome Mitchell (May 8, 1923 – September 27, 2003) represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1983. Early life Donald J. "Don" Mitchell, a native of Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley, wi ...

; following this, he was elected the county executive of

Oneida County, New York Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,125. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or ''Haudenos ...

, serving from 1979 to 1983. After his four-year term as county executive, he ran successfully for Congress in the elections of 1982. He was re-elected to every Congress subsequent until his retirement.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Mitchell did not run for reelection in 1982. Boehlert entered the Republican primary to succeed him in the district, which has been renumbered from the 31st to the 25th in redistricting. He won the primary with 56% of the vote. He won the general election by defeating Democrat Anita Maxwell 56%–42%. After that, he won re-election every two years until he decided to retire and not seek re-election, in 2006. His district number changed twice, each time after redistricting—from the 25th (1983-1993) to the 23rd (1993-2003) to the 24th (2003- 2007). He was challenged in the Republican primary five times: 1986 (67%), 1996 (65%), 2000 (57%), 2002 (53%), and 2004 (60%). His lowest re-election winning percentage in the general election was 57%, in his last re-election in 2004, when he defeated Democrat Jeff Miller 57%–34%.

Tenure

Boehlert is best known for his work on environmental policy. Beginning in the 1980s with the

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but ac ...

crisis, Boehlert became a prominent voice in the Republican party for the environment. He was a major contributor to the acid rain provisions of the

Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most infl ...

. He pushed continually to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for light trucks and automobiles and was the lead GOP sponsor of numerous CAFE amendments. Due to Boehlert's constant battles over environmental legislation, often putting him at odds with his party's leadership, ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...

'' dubbed Boehlert the "Green Hornet" and featured him as one of the dozen "key players" in the House of Representatives. Due to his centrist views, ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'' also recognized Boehlert as a "power center" on Capitol Hill and ''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

'' named him one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress. Boehlert was a member of several national moderate GOP groups including the

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. Hist ...

and the Ripon Society. Sherwood Boehlert

On the Science Committee, Boehlert championed investments in the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, science and math education programs and the Department of Energy's

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...

. As Chairman he pushed for measures to increase

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

research and the creation of a Science and Technology Directorate at the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

. After

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

and the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

, Boehlert crafted legislation establishing th
DHS S&T Directorate
to oversee development of technologies to secure against terrorist attacks. This homeland security S&T bill reported out of the Science Committee was ultimately accepted by the congressional leadership and President Bush and enacted as part of the

Homeland Security Act of 2002 The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, () was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of ...

. Boehlert was one of the first Members of Congress to call for a competitiveness agenda, culminating with a major

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

repor
Rising Above the Gathering Storm
on retaining U.S. leadership in science and engineering, as well as the

American Competitiveness Initiative The American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) is a federal assistance program intended to help America maintain its competitiveness through investment in research and development (R&D) and education. The ACI’s focus is on programs that are l ...

introduced by President Bush in 2006. Boehlert was an active promoter of

first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or ...

legislation, a strong champion for

volunteer firefighter A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

s and original member and Chairman of th
Congressional Fire Services Caucus
On March 17, 2006, at a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

Boehlert announced that he would not seek a thirteenth term in office. Several important landmarks are named for Boehlert that reflect his work on transportation and science issues. These include the renovated

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

in Utica and the new science facilities of the

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

—Information Directorate in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which l ...

Committee assignments

Boehlert served on the Science Committee for his entire congressional career. In addition, he was the third-ranking member of the Transportation Committee; from 1995 to 2000, he served as the chairman of its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. He was also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, serving as interim Chairman in 2004.

Post-congressional career

After 2007, Boehlert remained active promoting environmental and scientific causes. He served on the Board of the bipartisan

Alliance for Climate Protection The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...

chaired by former Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

. Boehlert served as a Senior Fellow at the

Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address challenges in the U.S. BPC focuses on is ...

. He was 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 ...

Death

Boehlert died from complications of dementia at a hospice care facility in

New Hartford, New York New Hartford is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 22,166. The name of New Hartford was provided by a settler family from Hartford, Connecticut. The Town of New Hartford contains a v ...

, on September 20, 2021, at age 84. His Funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes,

, on September 27, 2021.Obituary
obits.syracuse.com. Accessed April 11, 2022.

References

External links

*
Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Boehlert, Sherwood L. 1936 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Catholics from New York (state) County executives in New York (state) Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Military personnel from Utica, New York Politicians from Utica, New York Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) United States Army soldiers Utica University alumni