Todd Rokita

Rokita's oldest son, Teddy, suffers from Angelman syndrome. Rokita and his wife, Kathy, are active in promoting awareness of the syndrome.[18] They participate in and organize charity walks related to Angelman. He has cited his son's ailment in policy speeches.[19]

A commercial-rated pilot, Rokita volunteers his time by flying people in need of non-emergency medical care to hospitals and clinics throughout the Midwest for treatment with organizations that include Veterans Airlift Command and Angel Flight.[20][21][22][23]

He is a member of the Indiana chapter of the International Flying Farmers.[24] He also served as member of the Saint Vincent Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.[25]

In 2005, Rokita helped craft and implement Indiana's voter photo identification law.[30][31] The law required voters who cast their ballots at Indiana polling locations to show government issued photo identification. As one of the first states to require photo identification for voting, the Indiana law was viewed to be one of the strictest voter identification laws at the time.[30]

Rokita was a named defendant when Indiana's voter identification case went before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 9, 2008; the combined cases of Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (07-21) and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita (07-25). In April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter photo ID law. [32] Rokita noted as a result of the Supreme Court decision that "The Indiana case is still very much the law of the land and I don’t expect that to change."[30]

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita's Rethinking Redistricting (Logo)

In September 2009, Rokita outlined a plan called "Rethinking Redistricting" to reform how Indiana's legislative districts are drawn to reduce gerrymandering. He proposed making it a felony for lawmakers to use political data or incumbents' addresses when drawing electoral maps. Rokita said boundaries should follow existing county and township lines, and that each of the 50 Senate districts should be divided into two House districts, claiming that would lead to more competitive legislative elections.[33][34]

The reform plan sought to achieve these five objectives:

• Keep communities of interest together
• Create more compact and geographically uniform districts
• Reduce voters' confusion about who represents them by following already existing political boundaries, such as county and township lines
• Not use any political data, including incumbent addresses, for partisan reasons
• “Nest” two House districts under the existing lines of a Senate district

Rokita served as vice-chairman of the United States House Committee on the Budget.[35]

He co-sponsored the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act – passing the House in March 2011 – in order to prevent the "significant burden on small businesses for little obvious environmental benefit." Rokita also co-sponsored the Preserving America's Family Farms Act – which passed the House in July 2012 – citing Indiana's dependence on youth work on family farms.[36]

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue with Rep. Todd Rokita

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, he had an active role in crafting the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reauthorized the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act.[37][38] In May, Rokita introduced bipartisan legislation to help students and parents with student loan debt. His legislation would allow student loan borrowers to refinance loans and have access to lower market rate loans.[39]

On April 2, 2014, Rokita introduced the Strengthening Education through Research Act (H.R. 4366; 113th Congress).[40] The bill would amend and reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and would authorize the appropriation of $615 million for fiscal year 2015 and $3.8 billion over the 2015–19 period to support federal educational research, statistical analysis, and other activities.[41]

In 2015, Rokita and Senator Marco Rubio introduced the Education Opportunities Act, legislation to expand school choice options for low- and middle-income families to help them attend the school of their choice.[42][43][44]

Rokita co-wrote legislation that directed the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to reform and modernize the medical certification for small aircraft pilots.[45] In 2017, he received the Hartranft Award from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) for contributions to general aviation.[46] In October 2018, he received the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) American Spirit Award for his leadership and work with business aviation in Congress.[47]

Rokita voted in favor of a bill "Requiring State Reciprocity for Carrying Concealed Firearms" in November 2011.[48]

In 2017, Rokita voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[49] Following the passage of tax reform, Rokita introduced the "Creating Relief and Useful Middle-Class Benefits and Savings" (CRUMBS) Act. The legislation was introduced in response to Nancy Pelosi's comments that bonuses as a result of tax reform amounted to "crumbs." Rokita's bill would have made bonuses received by individuals in 2018 tax-free up to $2,500.[50] The legislation earned the praise of pro-tax cut organizations like Americans for Tax Reform and FreedomWorks.[51][52]

The American Conservative Union gave him a lifetime Congressional rating of 93%.

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Rokita previously served on the Committee on House Administration.[53][54]

Rokita supports charter schools, school choice, and reducing the role of the Department of Education in setting education policy.[63]

Rokita believes "in an all-of-the-above policy that utilizes all available resources and technologies, so long as such resources and technologies are supported by the free market."[64]

Rokita has a 4% lifetime voting rating from the League of Conservation Voters, an environmentalist group. In 2016, the group gave him a 0% rating.[65] He does not accept the scientific consensus that human activity is the driving factor of climate change,[66][67] and at a 2013 town-hall event called the idea that climate change was caused by human activity "arrogant."[67][68]

Rokita has stated: "I'm proud of my 'A' rating from the NRA" and has said that he will "protect our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms."[36]

[69]

Rokita supports repealing Obamacare.[64] He opposes health care regulations that increase the national debt, earning a "B" rating by the National Taxpayers Union 2011 Positions on Tax and Spending.[70]

Rokita opposes direct federal government regulation of agriculture. A representative of a heavy-farming district in Indiana, he supports deregulating agriculture, earning him an "A" rating from the American Farm Bureau Federation.[71]

Rokita has said, "Unless we get our government spending under control, we will unfairly burden the next generation with massive amounts of debt. We need to reform these programs to solve the problem."[64]

In 2017, Rokita introduced the Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians (SLAP) Act, some of the most aggressive anti-sanctuary city legislation to date in congress. The legislation would introduce fines and jail time for state and local politicians who ignored federal immigration laws and ICE detainers.[72] The legislation received praise from conservative media and garnered support by anti-illegal immigrant organizations like NumbersUSA.[73] The Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the legislation, saying it was an effort to "bully" local communities into enforcing federal immigration laws.[74]

Rokita supported President Trump's 2017 executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.[75]

In 2014, Rokita expressed concern that border agents could come in contact with illegal immigrants carrying the Ebola virus, saying, "from a public-health standpoint" it is important to know who is coming across the southern border, citing the Ebola virus epidemic spreading in Africa and news reports indicating that nationals from 75 different countries had been apprehended between 2010 and 2014 illegally crossing the Mexico-United States border.[76]

Rokita opposes abortion and has maintained a 100% pro-life voting record according to the National Right to Life Committee.[77] He holds that "every life is a precious gift from God that begins from the moment of conception."[78]

Rokita has a "D" rating from NORML for his voting history on cannabis-related causes. He opposes recreational use of marijuana, citing concern that it is a "gateway drug" to more dangerous narcotics. He expressed willingness to support legalization of some medical uses for marijuana only if the THC is removed, on the grounds that it may help people like his son Teddy, who has a rare neuro-genetic disorder called Angelman syndrome.[79]

Rokita is a supporter of industrial hemp, having voted to allow its production. In December 2018 he told a group of local Republicans that legalizing industrial hemp "could help the farming community." [80][79]

Rokita authored the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act. The bill would "make clear that the National Labor Relations Board has no jurisdiction over businesses owned and operated by an Indian tribe and located on tribal land." It cleared the House as of 2018, but has not been considered in the Senate.[81]

During his time in Congress, Rokita voted in line with President Donald Trump 90% of the time.[82] During the Republican primary for the 2018 United States Senate election in Indiana, Rokita earned the support of the chair and vice chair of 2016 Trump campaign in Indiana. [83] In May 2019, the White House announced that he would be nominated by Trump to serve on the AMTRAK Board of Directors.[84] On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[85]