CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 22 Lutherans in the 106th Congress of the United States, according to the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., the federal public policy advocacy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Nine of the 17 Lutherans in the U.S. House are Democrats; eight are Republicans. Three of the five Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are Democrats; two are Republicans.
The number of Lutherans in Congress is unchanged from the 105th Congress. Mark W. Neumann (R-Wis. 1st), a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, lost his bid for re-election to the House of Representatives in 1998. Doug Ose (R-Calif. 3rd), a member of the ELCA, was elected to his first term in the House.
The five Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Rod Grams (R-Minn.), Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.), and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).
The 17 Lutherans in the U.S. House of Representatives are Douglas K. Bereuter (R-Neb. 1st), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio 13th), Lois Capps (D-Calif. 22nd), Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash. 6th), Darlene Hooley (D-Ore. 5th), Ron Kind (D-Wis. 3rd), Tom Latham (R-Iowa 5th), David Minge (D-Minn. 2nd), Jim Nussle (R-Iowa 2nd), Ose, Michael Oxley (R-Ohio 4th), Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn. 7th), Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis. 6th), Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn. 5th), John M. Shimkus (R-Ill. 20th), Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C. 2nd), and Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas 17th).
All are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, except Senators Burns and Grams and Representatives Bereuter and Shimkus who are members of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
