Mary Rose Oakar

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Mary Oakar
Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus[a]
In office
January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1989
LeaderTip O'Neill
Jim Wright
Preceded byGeraldine Ferraro (Secretary)
Succeeded bySteny Hoyer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 20th district
In office
January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byJames Stanton
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1940-03-05) March 5, 1940 (age 84)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUrsuline College (BA)
John Carroll University (MA)

Mary Rose Oakar (born March 5, 1940) is an

Syrian and Lebanese) ancestry to serve in Congress. Oakar later served as a member of the Ohio State Board of Education
.

Early life

Oakar, who graduated with a

Cleveland's West Side and the surrounding suburbs. She took office in 1977, succeeding James V. Stanton.[1]

Political career

Oakar, one of very few

Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus.[3]

In 1991, she was one of nearly 100 Members of Congress involved in the widespread House banking scandal involving multiple overdrafts and bounced checks. The House Bank, not a normally operating financial institution, was used to pay members of the House. However, members were allowed to take advances on their pay checks without overdraft charges or repercussions to their credit.[4] Oakar was indicted on seven counts, including lying to the FBI, filing false financial statements and using the House bank to convert public money for personal use. If sentenced, she could have received 40 years in prison and a $1.7 million fine.[5][6]

She had used the names of straw donors on federal documents to conceal illegal contributions amounting to $16,000. Three counts against her were thrown out by the Supreme Court, the others were dropped after she entered a plea bargain in which she pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges; conspiracy and violation of election law.[7]

In 1992, her district was renumbered the 10th and redrawn to include more

Republicans, though it was still solidly Democratic. Oakar withstood a challenge from Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan in the Democratic primary — Hagan had been endorsed by Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White — but lost to businessman Martin Hoke
in the general election.

She won a 1999

libel settlement against Cleveland's newspaper, The Plain Dealer after seven years in court. In April 1992 the Plain Dealer published articles alleging that Oakar was forced to resign from a congressional task force after the House banking scandal. The paper acknowledged that the eight-term Democrat "was rightfully upset that erroneous information" had been printed.[8]

Oakar unsuccessfully ran in the 2001 Cleveland Mayoral Primary and served a single term in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2000 to 2002.

In November 2012, she was elected to a four-year term on the Ohio State Board of Education where she represents District 11 which encompasses Ohio Senate districts 21, 23 and 25.[9]

Personal

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Oakar's name and picture.[10]

Oakar served as president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) from 2003 through 2010. ADC describes itself as the largest Arab-American grassroots civil-rights organization in the U.S.[11]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Known as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus until 1987

References

  1. ^ "OAKAR, Mary Rose, (1940 - )". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Mary Rose Oakar: Representative, 1977–1993, Democrat from Ohio". Women In Congress. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  3. U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original
    on July 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  4. ^ Holden Lewis (Feb 22, 2000). "Congress comes down from the hill to bank with the rest of us". BankRate.com. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Ex-Rep. Oakar Indicted in House Bank Scandal". The Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. February 23, 1995.
  6. ^ "#102 Former Congresswoman Mary Oakar Rose Indicted".
  7. ^ "Mary Rose Oakar: Representative, 1977–1993, Democrat from Ohio". Women In Congress. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  8. ^ Lori Robertson (April 1999). "After All These Years". American Journalism Review. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Member Bio - Mary Rose Oakar". education.ohio.gov. Ohio Department of Education. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
  10. ^ Wulf, Steve (2015-03-23). "Supersisters: Original Roster". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  11. ^ "ADC Expresses its Gratitude to Mary Rose Oakar for Over 6 Years of Service and Congratulates Sara Najjar-Wilson as New ADC President". ArabAmerica.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2013-09-13.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mary Rose Oakar.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 20th congressional district

1977–1993 		Constituency abolished
Party political offices
Preceded byas Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus

1985–1989 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative 		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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