George Voinovich is one of Ohio's most distinguished public servants. His career in public service dates back to 1963 when he was appointed assistant attorney general for the state of Ohio. He later served as a state representative, Cuyahoga County Commissioner, County Auditor and Lieutenant Governor of the state of Ohio. In 1979, he was elected Mayor of Cleveland, serving as mayor for 10 years, and in 1990 he was elected Governor of Ohio and served for two terms.
George Voinovich is the only person to have served as Chairman of the National Governors Association and President of the National League of Cities. In 1998, he was elected to the United States Senate and was re-elected to a second term in 2004.
As mayor, George Voinovich helped turn Cleveland around after it became the first major city to declare bankruptcy since the Depression. As governor, he led Ohio through the early-1990s recession. In fact, during the Voinovich gubernatorial administration, unemployment hit a 25-year low thanks to the creation of 600,000 new jobs, due in part to such initiatives as the Job Creation Tax Credit which helped create or retain at least 163,000 jobs from 1993-1998.
George Voinovich's leadership and dedication have taken Ohio a long way. He has been guided by his own motto — Together we can do it! — and the state of Ohio's motto, "With God, all things are possible."
And George Voinovich hasn't lost sight of those principles in the United States Senate as he continues to make a difference for people throughout Ohio, our nation and the world.
Senator Voinovich has been called one of the most humble and hardest-working members of the U.S. Senate and he has received numerous awards for his work to strengthen the business climate in Ohio and the nation. A few of these awards include the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for his strong pro-business support in Congress; the Golden Bulldog Award by the Watchdogs of the Treasury; and the Award for Manufacturing Excellence from the National Association of Manufacturers for his continued support of American business and America's workforce.
Over the last decade, Senator Voinovich has been actively involved in crafting America's foreign and national security policies. He used his status as a five-year member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to conduct oversight of U.S. foreign policy in the most critical parts of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, the Balkans and former Captive Nations in Eastern Europe. Senator Voinovich played a leadership role in strengthening and enlarging the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Alliance and was the only member of Congress in the room at the 2002 NATO summit in Prague where membership was formally extended to Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Senator Voinovich has also carries the banners of advancing U.N. reform, strengthening U.S. public diplomacy, promoting lasting peace and stability in Southeast Europe, and combating global anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance. And, his Visa Waiver Program legislation was eagerly adopted, and is now benefiting countries that support the United States and are committed to fighting terrorism around the globe. Helle Dale of the Washington Times lauded his leadership on visa waivers, saying that by taking a fresh look at an issue that has been festering sore in relations between the United States and some of it new allies [Voinovich] came up with a solution that will greatly benefit all.
Senator Voinovich serves on the Committee on Appropriations, the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC). He is ranking member of three subcommittees: the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee of the EPW Committee, and the Oversight of Government Management and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee of the HSGAC Committee.
Of all he has accomplished, George Voinovich counts his family his wife Janet, his three children and his seven grandchildren as his greatest gifts in life.
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