26 Facts About Chip Cravaack

Raymond John "Chip" Cravaack was born on January 29,1959 and is an American former politician and aviator.

Chip Cravaack was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for northeastern from 2011 to 2013.

Previously, Cravaack was a pilot for Northwest Airlines, and before that, he was a Navy pilot and a graduate of the US Naval Academy.

Chip Cravaack was defeated by DFL nominee Rick Nolan on November 6,2012.

Chip Cravaack graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree and a Master's of Education from the University of West Florida in 1989.

Chip Cravaack moved to Minnesota and began working as a pilot for Northwest Airlines in 1990.

Chip Cravaack was out of work for two years in the early 1990s due to layoffs, during which time he became a simulator instructor for a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines teaching foreign pilots.

Chip Cravaack was a union steward for the Airline Pilots Association.

Chip Cravaack served as a "strike coordinator" during the 1998 pilots' strike, bringing military discipline and parade-ground style marching to the picket lines.

Chip Cravaack moved to New Hampshire after Congress to be with his sons, where he spent the last eight years before retirement as a teacher at Bishop Guertin High School, teaching US History, Economics, and US Government.

Chip Cravaack is retired and shuttles between the Winnipesaukee area in New Hampshire and the cradle of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.

Chip Cravaack was inspired to run for Congress by a suggestion from a talk radio show host that voters demand town hall meetings with their congressmen during the health care bill Tea Party movement protests of August 2009.

Chip Cravaack entered the race as a political novice and an underdog.

Chip Cravaack toured the district in a motor home dubbed "The War Wagon," and gave volunteers ranks such as commander, captain, and precinct lieutenant.

Chip Cravaack discovered that his experience as a union steward attracted the interest of district voters, especially the miners.

Chip Cravaack campaigned on a platform of free-market principles and government spending cuts.

Chip Cravaack attacked Oberstar's vote on the health care bill, saying he would vote to repeal and replace it, and called an Oberstar-approved extension of the Clean Water Act to include wet meadows a "land grab" by the federal government.

Chip Cravaack criticized the earmark process that Oberstar had used to fund infrastructure projects in the district, saying it was time for the spending to stop, and attacked Oberstar's vote on "cap and trade" legislation to limit carbon emissions, saying it would result in higher energy prices.

Chip Cravaack argued that the 2003 Bush tax cuts should be continued in all tax brackets to stimulate employment, and Oberstar said he would end the tax cut for the top two percent of earners because the lowered tax had caused part of the deficit.

Chip Cravaack received the endorsement of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as the polls tightened.

Chip Cravaack was endorsed by Minnesota's largest anti-abortion organization, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, and the largest newspaper in the district, the Duluth News Tribune.

Chip Cravaack believed the abortion issue was crucial to his victory; he had argued that Obamacare allowed for the payment of abortions with taxpayer funds and encouraged euthanasia for the elderly.

In March 2011, Chip Cravaack came under criticism by Duluth students and community leaders for voting for a budget bill that made cuts to the federal Pell Grant program that provides financial aid to college students, including 30 percent of the students at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Chip Cravaack received attention for implying during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was furthering the goals of a terrorist organization.

In March 2012, Chip Cravaack introduced a bill in Congress that would have allowed mining and logging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest through a land exchange that would rely on the state environmental review process and bypass federal environmental reviews, with proceeds going to the school districts.

Chip Cravaack sponsored a bill, which became law, that required the TSA to treat military personnel with respect while traveling on orders or in uniform.