Ralph Regula

Ralph Regula has had a distinguished career in public service that spans more than four decades. One of the most senior members of the US House of Representatives, he is serving as the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. He is the dean of Ohio’s Congressional Delegation and is active in the Congressional Steel Caucus.

On November 2, 2004, the people of Ohio’s 16th Congressional District elected him to his 17th term. With the beginning of the 109th Congress, the House leadership again asked him to chair the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee as well as serving as the Vice Chairman of the full committee. He will also remain active with steel and conservation issues. As Subcommittee Chairman, Regula oversees the largest non-defense spending bill, providing federal funding for education, health and labor programs. He also serves as a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, the governing body of the Smithsonian Institute.

Prior to his service in the US House of Representatives, Regula was a teacher and principal in the public school system, a lawyer in his own private practice, a member of the Ohio Board of Education, and a Member of the Ohio House and later the Ohio Senate.

Regula returns home to his farm in Ohio every weekend. He and his wife Mary have celebrated more than 50 years together there. They have three children and four grandchildren all of whom live near them.