Maurice Dunlea Hinchey (October 27, 1938 – November 22, 2017) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York and was a member of the Democratic Party. He retired at the end of his term in January 2013 after 20 years in Congress.
He was born in New York City, and later moved to the Hudson Valley where he attended high school and college, Hinchey had previously represented part of the area in the New York State Assembly since 1975. As chair of that body's Environmental Conservation Committee, he took the lead in bringing environmental issues to the fore, particularly when he held hearings on the problems created by toxic waste disposal in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls. In his later years in Congress, he opposed hydraulic fracturing to exploit the natural gas resources of the Marcellus Shale. Throughout his career, he was considered a political progressive for his liberal stands on other issues.
Early life, education and career
Hinchey was born to a working-class family on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, the son of Rose (Bonack) and Maurice D. Hinchey. His mother was of Ukrainian descent and his father was the son of Irish immigrants. He grew up in Saugerties, New York.
After graduating from high school, Hinchey enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific on the destroyer USS Marshall. After being honorably discharged, he spent two years working as a laborer in a cement plant. He graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a B.A. in 1968 and an M.A. in 1970.
Hinchey first sought public office in 1972, with an unsuccessful race for the New York State Assembly. Ulster County was a Republican stronghold, but Hinchey ran successfully in 1974, becoming the first Democrat to represent Ulster County since 1912. Hinchey remained in the Assembly until 1992 and was a member of the 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th and 189th New York State Legislatures.
He was particularly noted for his work on protecting the natural environment. For 14 years, he chaired the Environmental Conservation Committee. Hinchey also served on the Ways and Means, Rules, Banks, Health, Higher Education, Labor, Energy and Agriculture committees.
During his chairmanship of the Committee on Environmental Conservation, the committee conducted a successful investigation into the causes of "Love Canal," the nation's first major toxic dump site. During his tenure, he aided in the passage of the country's first law concerning regulation of acid rain. His committee also gained public attention for its investigation of the infiltration of the waste removal industry by organized crime.
U.S. House of Representatives
Campaigns
In 1992, 28th District Congressman Matthew F. McHugh retired after 18 years in the House. Hinchey won the Democratic nomination for the district, which had been renumbered the 26th after New York lost three districts as a result of the 1990 census. He defeated Republican Robert Moppert, a county legislator in Broome County (which includes Binghamton) in the November general election by a 50% – 47% margin. In 1994, Hinchey faced Moppert again; in that year's Republican Revolution wave election, Hinchey won by only 1,200 votes.
Hinchey's district was significantly reconfigured when New York lost two congressional seats after the 2000 census. Hinchey was threatened with dismemberment of his district or with having to run against a popular and well-established Republican incumbent, either Ben Gilman or Sherwood Boehlert. In the intense political infighting over the redistricting, however, Hinchey emerged as one of the winners. To protect two younger Republican incumbents, the Republicans agreed to sacrifice the district of the 79-year-old Gilman, who chose to retire. In return, the Democrats accepted a district that threw together two of their incumbents, Louise Slaughter and John LaFalce, prompting the latter's retirement. Hinchey's district was renumbered the 22nd and wound a narrow, contorted path across eight counties in the southern part of the state, from the Hudson River through the Catskills and Binghamton to Ithaca, connecting the most politically liberal parts of the Southern Tier and Borscht Belt regions. This gerrymandered configuration is similar to the former New York's 26th congressional district.
Hinchey ran in historically Republican areas throughout his career (his Assembly district was held by Republicans from 1915 until McHugh won it for the Democrats in 1975). He is best categorized as having been a progressive populist. For example, he was one of the first and most outspoken opponents of the 2003 war in Iraq, and one of only 11 co-sponsors of the Kucinich Resolution to impeach President Bush. He bridged the ideological gap with a reputation for supporting many measures to improve integrity in government, by popular (in New York) advocacy of strong environmental protection, and by diligent constituent services. He sat on the Appropriations Committee, a post that helped him to deliver federal support on programs important to his district.
In 2010, Hinchey was elected to his tenth and final term, with a 52% to 48% margin over Republican George Phillips of Binghamton.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Appropriations
- Subcommittee on Defense
- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Narcotics Abuse and Control Caucus
- Congressional Native American Caucus
- Congressional Progressive Caucus.
- Education Caucus
- International Conservation Caucus
- Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
- Steel Caucus
- Congressional Arts Caucus
Hinchey was one of 31 members of the House who voted to uphold the objection to counting the 20 electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 United States presidential election put forth by Ohio Rep. Tubbs Jones in order to encourage "a formal and legitimate debate about election irregularities". Republican President George Bush had won the state by 118,457 votes after a recount.
On June 18, 2008, he stated: "Should the people of the United States own refineries? Maybe so. Frankly, I think that's a good idea," but conceded it was unlikely the government would do so, and suggested putting national pressure on the oil companies.
Energy
Hinchey was an original co-sponsor of the Small Business Clean Energy Financing Act. The act contributed about $630 million in loans to environmentally friendly energy companies in the years between 2006 and 2009. Hinchey was a solar energy supporter; he helped organize the non-profit organization called The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC). TSEC supports the growth of a solar energy industry in New York, creating green jobs in the Hudson Valley area. Hinchey supported the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act. The bill supports green energy by offering rebates to homeowners who improve their homes to conserve more energy.
In 2010 midterm elections, Hinchey clashed with his opponent over shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in upstate New York. Hinchey was against gas drilling in this area. Also, the Obama administration refused a request by Hinchey to slow down drilling in New York and Pennsylvania. Along with Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Hinchey introduced legislation called the "FRAC Act" which proposes lifting fracturing exemptions and forcing public disclosure of chemicals used. The amendment failed 152–273 upon its initial vote in 2003 and was defeated several more times in subsequent years up until Hinchey's 2012 retirement. In 2014, however, the amendment passed the House as the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment and was signed into law, providing supporters of medical cannabis with a key victory at the federal level.
In 2009, the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations approved adding a provision authored by Hinchey to the committee report on the fiscal 2010 Justice Department appropriations bill, requesting "clarification of the Department's policy regarding enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources against individuals involved in medical marijuana activities."
Abortion
Hinchey supported a pro-choice position on abortion issues. Hinchey was also an advocate for family planning programs, including the Title X program.
Later votes
Representative Hinchey voted yes on H.R. 2433
Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011. This law amended title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the laws relating to the employment and training of veterans, and for other purposes.
Hinchey, in August 2010, voted yes on the "Offshore Drilling and Other Energy Laws Amendments." This regulates or controls the use of oil and natural gas.
Speeches and public statements
In a letter sent on November 10, 2010, to Jeffrey Zients, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Hinchey promoted the support of Job Corps. This program helps high-school dropouts find careers and receive their high school diplomas or GED's. He asked Zients for increased federal funding for this recovery program in the 2012 budget.
Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program
After the New York Times first disclosed the existence of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program in late 2005, Hinchey was among the earliest members of Congress to criticize the program. Not long after, Hinchey—along with three other House Democrats—John Lewis of Georgia, Henry Waxman of California, and Lynn Woolsey of California—wrote the Justice Department, requesting an investigation to determine whether Bush administration violated any laws in authorizing and carrying out the program. It was later disclosed the OPR investigation was closed when President Bush refused to allow the Justice Department attorneys who were to conduct the investigation to have the security clearances to conduct the inquiry.
200px|left|thumb|Retirement press conference|alt=A man at a lectern with his hand to his face. Behind him are the United States and New York flags and a wall with portrait paintings
1994 gun incident
In December 1994, Hinchey was issued a summons after X-ray machines at Washington National Airport found a loaded .32-caliber handgun in his carry-on luggage before he boarded a flight. Hinchey claims to have forgotten the handgun was in his luggage. He pleaded no contest and was fined.
Hinchey was informally advised to carry a handgun for personal protection by NYS Law Enforcement investigators when, as Chair of the NYS Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, he conducted a major investigation into the repeated dumping of toxic waste into an Orange County NY Landfill by Organized Crime. The advice was given after the mysterious disappearance of a key worker at the landfill.
Retirement
In January 2012, Hinchey held a news conference at Senate House in Kingston, where he had announced his first run for Congress two decades earlier, to announce his retirement. "It's time for someone else", he told assembled reporters. His illness and age had been factors.
He denied his decision to step down had anything to do with the state's pending redistricting but said he wanted to make his intentions clear before the process was completed. His departure was seen as making it easier for the state's Democratic Party to decide which member of its congressional delegation would have to give up their district since New York had to eliminate two of its seats that year. Hinchey's seat was one of two, the other being that of newly elected Republican Bob Turner, eliminated in redistricting.
Personal life
On April 22, 2011, Hinchey's office announced he was being treated for a curable form of colon cancer. A statement released by his office said Hinchey would have surgery at the Albany Medical Center, receive treatment at the Ulster Radiation Oncology Center in Kingston, New York, and also undergo chemotherapy. The statement said he would continue to work during his treatment.
Hinchey died from the disease at his home in Saugerties on November 22, 2017, at age 79. In December 2017, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution honoring Hinchey.
On July 26, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a bill renaming the Saugerties Post Office after Hinchey.