Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, represents Ohio's North Coast including most of Lucas, all of Erie and Ottawa, and the south and west portions of Lorain County. Marcy is currently serving her fourteenth term in the U.S. House where she is the longest serving Democratic woman.

Representative Kaptur, of Polish-American heritage with humble, working class roots, mirrors the boot-strap nature of her district. Her family operated a small grocery where her mother worked after serving on the original organizing committee of an auto trade union at Champion Spark Plug. She became the first family member to attend college. Trained as a city and regional planner, Marcy practiced 15 years in Toledo and throughout the United States before seeking office. As an urban advisor to the Carter White House, she successfully maneuvered 17 housing and neighborhood revitalization bills through the Congress during those years.

Subsequently, while pursuing a doctorate in urban planning and development finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her local Party recruited her to run for the House seat in 1982. She had been a well-known party activist and volunteer since age 13. Though outspent by 3 to 1 in the first campaign, her deep roots in the blue collar neighborhoods and rural areas of the district made her race the national upset of 1982.

Dedicated to the principle that fiscal responsibility begins in "one's own backyard," Representative Kaptur has consistently returned money from her office account to the federal Treasury. She refused to accept Congressional pay raises and donates them to charitable causes in her district.

Since fighting vigorously to win a seat on the House Appropriations Committee early in her service, Congresswoman Kaptur is now the senior Democratic woman on Appropriations where she serves in the areas of Agriculture, Defense, Housing and Transportation. These posts help her to pursue her strong interests in economic growth and new technology, community rebuilding, and supporting our veterans and our military.

She also serves on the House Budget Committee and the Government Oversight Committee by special appointment from House Leadership. Marcy has proven an outspoken critic of Wall Street and big banks in her service, leading the effort for criminal investigations into the Wall Street meltdown of 2009.

After leading the fight in Congress against The North America Free Trade Act (NAFTA) and other trade agreements that have drained thousands of jobs from the Midwest, Kaptur has introduced legislation to repeal the poorly crafted trade deal and urges a new model for fair trade that respects workers and protects the environment.

Congresswoman Kaptur is a leader in efforts to foster and develop new and alternative energy technologies in northern Ohio. Her efforts have resulted in the largest solar field in Ohio, being installed on the grounds of the 180th Fighter Wing, significant alternative energy enhancements at Ottawa County’s Camp Perry, and the upcoming installation of a solar field to power the central pylon for the Veterans Glass City Skyway over the Maumee River in Toledo.

Congresswoman Kaptur has focused strong efforts on rebuilding the economic might of her district such as improvements in bridge, road, rail and port facilities, including the Veterans Glass City Skyway -- the largest bridge project in Ohio's history; expansion of Toledo's Farmers' Market; development of the Maumee River Heritage Corridor between Ohio and Indiana, which includes passage of legislation and funds to acquire Fallen Timbers as a national affiliate of the U.S. Park Service; clean-up of the waterways adjacent to Lake Erie; development of initiatives to enhance the earnings potential of Northwest Ohio crops; ship building and repair on the Great Lakes; acquisition of wildlife refuges and shoreline recreation; and preservation of important community resources like Oberlin's Gasholder house - an important stop on the Underground Railroad.

Congresswoman Kaptur was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Americanism Award, in part for introducing the legislation authorizing the National World War II Memorial in Washington in 1987, as well as for her longstanding commitment to America's veterans. She is the only woman to have received the American Prisoner of War "Barbed Wire" Award for her commitment to veteran’s affairs.

Demonstrating international leadership through diplomatic contributions to the Middle East Peace process, Marcy Kaptur has led efforts to monetize surplus agricultural commodities to support the peace process in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. She also remains dedicated to democratic institution-building across the globe and has spearheaded private charitable efforts for people of underdeveloped nations, including Ukraine and Vietnam.

Marcy is a life-long resident of Toledo, a member of Little Flower Roman Catholic Church, and a graduate of St. Ursula Academy. In 1968, Representative Kaptur earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from the University of Wisconsin. She received her Masters' Degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan.