36 Facts About Ed Whitfield

Wayne Edward Whitfield was born on May 25,1943 and is an American politician and attorney who served as the US representative of from January 1995, until his resignation in September 2016.

Ed Whitfield is a member of the Republican Party, and the first to represent the district.

Ed Whitfield's district covered much of the western part of the state, including Hopkinsville, Paducah, Henderson and Kentucky's share of Fort Campbell.

Ed Whitfield was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; his family later moved to Madisonville, Kentucky, where he graduated from Madisonville High School.

Ed Whitfield attended the University of Kentucky for both undergraduate and law school, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

Ed Whitfield served in the United States Army Reserve and reached the rank of First Lieutenant.

Ed Whitfield served as legal counsel to executives at Seaboard System Railroad of Washington.

Ed Whitfield served as a Vice President for the later CSX Corporation in two different capacities and was the Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission from 1991 to 1993.

Ed Whitfield was elected to the United States Congress in November 1994 and began his term in January, 1995, as a member of the 104th Congress.

Ed Whitfield first became interested in politics as a high school student and attended his first political event at a rally for former United States Senator Dee Huddleston.

Ed Whitfield represented Hopkinsville and parts of Trigg County and was a member of the Democratic Party.

Ed Whitfield focused on his family's oil distributorship until he went to work with Seaboard System Railroad as legal counsel in 1979.

Ed Whitfield was a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership.

The Sunlight Foundation reported in 2008 that among the 435 members of the US House of Representatives, Ed Whitfield had the seventh-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.

Ed Whitfield was co-founder of the United States Turkish Caucus in the United States Congress.

Ed Whitfield was one of three Republicans who voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009.

When chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations within the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Ed Whitfield held hearings on child pornography and during his tenure as Chairman of Energy and Power has chaired over 40 hearings on energy issues.

Ed Whitfield has focused significant time and resources to inform the American people about President Obama's Clean Power Plan which was initiated by regulation through the EPA.

Chairman Ed Whitfield referred to the Clean Power Plan as "extreme" and an "unprecedented power grab".

Ed Whitfield introduced and managed the floor debate on two Congressional Review Acts that had passed the United States Senate to stop the Clean Energy Plan Regulations adopted by EPA.

Ed Whitfield was successful in passing both measures on the House floor.

Ed Whitfield introduced and helped pass a health compensation program at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which paid over $315,000,000 to the 3,139 employees and victims of toxic contamination.

Ed Whitfield helped create the first Medicare Prescription Drug benefit plan for seniors.

Ed Whitfield has introduced, sponsored and helped pass several bills to strengthen and insure the humane treatment of animals in the United States.

Ed Whitfield is a recognized leader regarding the humane treatment of animals.

The bill was introduced by Congressman Ed Whitfield and had been a concern of his for many years; the Humane Society of the United States supported the legislation and was a part of a coalition of over 75 entities working to adopt it.

The Ethics Committee issued a report stating that Ed Whitfield's breach was unintentional.

Ed Whitfield said the individuals who filed the complaint had accomplished their goal of stopping his legislation.

Ed Whitfield had been a Democrat for most of his life, but in 1994 filed to run in the 1st District as a Republican.

Ed Whitfield defeated the 1992 Republican nominee, Steve Hamrick, in the primary, and then defeated freshman Democratic Congressman Tom Barlow by 2,500 votes.

Ed Whitfield defeated Dennis Null in 1996 even as Bill Clinton carried the district, and never faced a close race afterwards.

On September 29,2015, Ed Whitfield announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016.

That complaint was filed in 2013, and despite publicity throughout his district, Ed Whitfield was re-elected overwhelmingly.

Ed Whitfield won every county in his district with the exception of Marion.

Ed Whitfield was a Director of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and was appointed Vice Chair of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission by Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.

On November 14,2016, Ed Whitfield was presented the Distinguished Rural Kentuckian Award by the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives at a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky.