Biography

Cliff Stearns was elected in 1988 to the U.S. House of Representatives, his only elected office. He was born in Washington, D.C., attended Woodrow Wilson High School, and then attended George Washington University (GWU), graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

He participated in U.S. Air Force ROTC on scholarship at GWU and was honored as the Air Force ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. Following graduation, he served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an aerospace engineer in satellite reconnaissance during the Vietnam War.

He left the service with the rank of Captain, and then worked in the private sector before starting his own business by purchasing a motel. He sold his first property, moved to Florida, and started a successful motel/restaurant business in the Ocala/Gainesville area.

Active in his community, Stearns was president of the Kiwanis Club, on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club, on the Board of Directors for Munroe Regional Hospital, and on the board of the Ocala Chamber of Commerce. Because of his community involvement, he was urged to run for Congress.

Stearns is highly regarded for his extensive record on fiscal responsibility. In 2012, he was one of only 53 House and Senate members to receive an "A" rating from the National Taxpayers Union.  Also in 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce again honored Stearns for his consistent support of economic growth, reduced federal spending, and tax relief.  In addition, other fiscal watchdog groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste and Americans for Tax Reform routinely honor him.

In November 2010 Stearns ran for the Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce.  Although not selected to Chair the full Committee, he was chosen to Chair the powerful Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which provides accountability and transparency of the Federal Government.  During the election, conservative groups endorsed Stearns.  For more information on these groups and to read what they had to say click here.

For the 112th Congress, Stearns is the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in the Energy and Commerce Committee. As Chairman, he is acting to rein in excessive federal regulations, to hold all federal agencies accountable to the American public, and to increase transparency. 

Stearns is leading the investigation into the $535 million loan guarantee by taxpayers to Solyndra, a company that was unable to compete, went bankrupt, and is now under criminal investigation by the FBI.  The inquiry has uncovered that the Obama Administration failed to conduct proper oversight in considering Solyndra’s loan guarantee and that the decision to provide the guarantee was rushed.  With the White House failing to provide the needed documents, a subpoena was issued to the White House and Stearns is working with the Administration on obtaining the documents to determine what went wrong with the Solyndra loan guarantee.  He received emails showing that the White House had a major influence on the loan guarantee as well as on the Solyndra loan restructuring that subordinated the taxpayers to two commercial firms in violation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

In addition, he serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.  

In the previous Congress, Stearns was the Republican Leader on the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee (formerly the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee). Stearns was active on the Subcommittee in reforming antiquated laws that hinder the development and expansion of new products and services. In addition, he was a leader in opposing Internet regulation (net neutrality). Stearns was also a strong advocate for privacy and is working with his Democrat counterpart on enacting consumer privacy legislation.

From 2001 until 2007, Stearns was Chairman of the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. On this panel, Stearns led efforts to expand consumer protection by enhancing cyber-security, consumer privacy, and data-security. He also was a strong advocate for ensuring that international trade agreements are fair and protect domestic intellectual property rights.

In addition, he helped to create the Do-Not-Call List to protect consumers from unwanted telephone solicitations and the House approved legislation he amended to combat the abuse of spyware, which is software that allows a third party to monitor the computer use of individuals without their knowledge.

Throughout his tenure, Stearns has served on the Veterans Affairs Committee. He led the Veterans’ Health Subcommittee as Chairman and remains a leading advocate for increasing funding for the VA. For years, Stearns pushed for establishing a VA cemetery in the Jacksonville area that recently opened. Stearns actively supports the VA's CARES plan, which is developing a new Regional Health Care Facility in Marion County that will open this year and the expansion of the VA Hospital in Gainesville with a new 230-bed patient tower. The dedication of this patient tower was in September 2011.

In addition, his legislation to improve veterans’ access to long-term care, the Veterans Millennium Health care & Benefits Act; and the language from his VA Health Care Personnel Act to increase pay for VA health professionals; were signed into law.

He is a member of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee in the Energy & Commerce Committee and a member of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, a bi-partisan forum for discussing and disseminating information about renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Stearns’ paper on developing clean-coal technology and applying coal-to-liquid technology was published in December 2008 in the Stanford Law & Policy Review.

He champions programs at College of Central Florida in Ocala, Santa Fe College in Gainesville, and the University of Florida in Gainesville.

He helped to establish the Upward Bound program at the University of Florida, and succeeded in restoring funding for that program. He was instrumental in expanding UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Services (IFUS). Stearns secured funding for UF’s research on combating citrus disease, developing technology to benefit seniors, and reducing our reliance on imported energy.

The College of Central Florida has benefited from Stearns’ efforts that include an Equine Studies Program, the Information Technology Center, and equipment and teacher training.

He also obtained funding for a planetarium and the Fine Arts Education building at Santa Fe College.

As the representative for Cecil Field (formerly a Navy master jet base closed under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment [BRAC] Commission), Stearns actively promotes the expansion of commercial activities at the former base. He is instrumental in gaining grants for converting Cecil and for training students in the Jacksonville area in aviation technology.

After years of controversy, he forged a consensus among state, local, and federal officials to return the Cross Florida Canal Lands to the state of Florida, resulting in an 80,000-acre greenway and $32 million in repayments to six Florida counties.

Earlier this year, Speaker of the House John Boehner appointed Stearns to the Chairmanship of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue that promotes discussions and cooperation between the European Parliament and the U.S. Congress. 

Stearns is also Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of the U.S. Air Force Caucus, leading congressional delegations of Caucus members to Afghanistan in 2009 and to Iraq in 2005. He is also Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of the Congressional Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Horse Caucus.

Stearns and his wife Joan live in Florida and have three adult sons. He is extremely accessible to constituents and returns to the District often and has held over 550 town meetings across north central Florida.

Family

Born:Washington, D.C.
Family: Cliff, Joan, Emily, Doug, Amy, Mackenna, Bundy, and Scott