Tim Roemer was born in 1956 in South Bend,Indiana. His grandfather,William F. Roemer,was a philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame;and his grandmother was an elementary school teacher. Roemer's parents,James and Mary Ann Roemer,also worked at Notre Dame as dean of students and coordinator of volunteer activities,respectively. His uncle,William F. Roemer Jr.,was an FBI agent who battled organized crime. Roemer graduated from Penn High School in 1975 and worked at various jobs from the age of 14 to help pay for college.
Much of Roemer's efforts during his congressional career were related to improving education. He was the principal author of the Ed-Flex bill,which encouraged states to seek innovative approaches to education. Roemer was the chief sponsor of the "Transition to Teaching" bill that helped address teacher shortages by recruiting and training professionals to become teachers. Roemer was also the lead sponsor of the five-year reauthorization of Higher Education Act,which reduced interest rates on student loans,increased Pell Grants,increased funding for teacher training,and expanded aid to families.
Tim Roemer was a principal sponsor of the AmeriCorpsnational service program,and a co-author of a bill to expand Head Start services to provide childcare coverage for women moving from welfare to work. He co-wrote legislation on reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and wrote an amendment to tax relief legislation for teacher certification of professionals in outside fields. He co-authored "School-to-Work" legislation to help non-college-bound high school students learn skills to prepare them for the workforce.
Roemer was one of the first members of Congress to call for a Cabinet-level federal executive department to oversee national security,and was an original sponsor of the legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security. Eventually he opposed the revisions proposed by the Bush administration,because of concerns about bureaucratic inefficiencies,and voted against the creation of DHS. Roemer advocated a "civilian reserve corps" to train more fluent speakers in foreign languages for the Intelligence Community. Roemer was an original sponsor of bioterrorism legislation and legislation aimed at creating the 9/11 Commission,upon which he later served.
Post-electoral career
Roemer addressing the audience at CNP's 2007 Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Service Award Dinner
Roemer was criticized as too conservative for the post,due to his anti-abortion stance and his oft-mentioned vote in 1993 against the President Bill Clinton economic plan. Roemer is a moderate Democrat,voting more liberally on some foreign policy issues and conservatively on social issues.
Roemer served as a distinguished scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He became a partner at Johnston and Associates,a public and legislative affairs consultancy. He was later selected as the president of the Center for National Policy. After leaving his post as U.S. Ambassador to India in 2011,he became a senior executive at the Washington,D.C.–based public affairs firm APCO Worldwide.[4]
Roemer served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism,a bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2007. This was one of the reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission to examine how the United States can best address this threat to national security.
In addition,Roemer served on the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Presidential Task force on Combating the Ideology of Radical Extremism,and the National Parks Second Century Commission.
Diplomatic career
Roemer receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Notre Dame after delivering the commencement address for the University's graduate school
During his tenure as Ambassador,several policies and initiatives were announced. President Obama stated during his visit to India in November 2010 that the U.S. would support India as a permanent member to a reformed United Nations Security Council.[8] The United States also removed India's defense and space-related entities from the U.S. "Entity List," opening the door for increased cooperation,technology transfer,and commercial sales in the defense and space industries.[9] The United States agreed to set up a Global Disease Detection Center.[10] and will work with India on its new Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership.[11] The United States and India will partner globally to support food security in Africa and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
On July 23,2010,Ambassador Roemer and Indian Home Affairs Secretary G.K. Pillai signed the Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative.[12] This agreement expands cooperation in several areas such as transportation security,border security,money laundering and terrorist financing,and megacity policing. The U.S. government also agreed to give the Government of India access to David Headley,one of the planners of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.[13]
Ambassador Roemer presided over several high level visits including visits by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner,Commerce Secretary Gary Locke,and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The first annual strategic dialogue meeting between the United States and India was held in June 2010 in Washington D.C.,[14] with the second scheduled for July 2011 in New Delhi.
During his two-year tenure,India moved up to be the 12th leading trade partner of the United States. In 2010,exports in goods from the United States to India were up 17 percent and two-way trade in goods increased 30 percent. During President Obama's visit to India,the United States announced 20 deals totaling $10 billion in U.S. exports that will lead to more than 50,000 jobs in America.[15] During his tenure,the United States also pushed to make the G-20 the premier international economic body [16] and reformed the IMF to give India greater representation.[17]
Ambassador Roemer travelled throughout India during his two years,visiting 17 states. He was the first Ambassador in over 10 years to visit Jammu and Kashmir,including a September 20,2010,visit to the city of Leh to bring relief supplies to 400 rural families affected by a recent flash flood.[18]
In May 2011,Roemer received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Notre Dame and gave the commencement address to The Graduate School.[19]
On April 26,2011,he announced his resignation as Ambassador and returned to the U.S.[20] A press release from the U.S. embassy in India stated ambassador Roemer leaving by June citing family reasons.[21] Indian politician Shashi Tharoor wrote that Roemer resigned the post following India's decision to reject two American aircraft manufacturing tenders worth US$10 billion.[22]
Personal life
Tim Roemer married Sally Johnston of Louisiana in 1989. They have four children:Patrick Hunter Roemer,Matthew Bennett Roemer,Sarah Kathryn Roemer,and Grace Elizabeth Roemer. Roemer is the son-in-law of J. Bennett Johnston and Mary (Gunn) Johnston. His father-in-law Johnston is a Democratic politician who served as a member of the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1972 to 1997.
The Roemers are Roman Catholic. When in Washington,they attend St. Thomas àBecket Catholic Church in Reston,Virginia.
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