Biography of Rep. Mike Oxley

Rep. Michael Oxley, of Findlay, Ohio, Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 4th District of Ohio.  Room 2233 Rayburn Building; 202-225-2676.

District. The Fourth District is comprised of all or part of 11 counties in northern Ohio: Allen, Auglaize, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Knox, Logan, Marion, Morrow, Richland, and Wyandot. The district's rural areas and small towns are located in some of Ohio's most productive farm land. The four most populous cities are Lima, Mansfield, Marion, and Findlay, Oxley's hometown.

Committee Assignments:  Commerce Committee (3rd in seniority); Finance and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee (Chairman); and Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee (Vice-Chairman).

High Tech: Rep. Oxley is supportive of high tech.  He scored 80 out of 100 on the Tech Law Journal Congressional Scorecard 1998.   Most of the high tech agenda comes through the House Commerce Committee, and one of the two subcommittees on which he sits.  As Chairman of the Finance Subcommittee, he was instrumental in drafting and passing the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act.  This bill reformed the rules governing class action securities lawsuits.  It benefited computer, Internet, and biotech companies in particular.  The Finance Subcommittee has jurisdiction over securities, stock exchanges, online securities trading, and capital markets.  Oxley was also a sponsor of, and a leader in passing, the Child Online Protection Act at the end of the 105th Congress

On matters affecting the computer, Internet, and telecommunications industries, Oxley generally supports free enterprise, free trade, and less regulation.  An exception to this, however, is his opposition to encryption rights legislation.  Oxley is a former FBI agent.

Background.  Oxley was born February 11, 1944.  He earned a BA from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1966.  He earned his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1969.  After law school he served as a Special Agent in the FBI.  He served from 1973 through 1981 in the Ohio General Assembly.  He was first elected to Congress in a special election in 1981.

Memberships.  Oxley is a member of the American, Ohio, and Findlay Bar Associations and, in May 1986, was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is also a member of Rotary International, Findlay Elks, the Ohio Farm Bureau, the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, and Sigma Chi fraternity.