Steve Stivers

Bio:  Raised in Ripley, Ohio, Steve Stivers learned from his mother and father the importance of family, hard work and public service, which have been the values he has carried with him through his life, whether as a student at The Ohio State University, a soldier serving overseas, as a State Senator, or as a Member of Congress.

Stivers is currently serving his third term as a Member of Congress and represents Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, which is made up of 12 counties including: all of Athens, Clinton, Fairfield, Hocking, Madison, Morgan, Perry, Pickaway, and Vinton counties, and parts of: Fayette, Franklin, and Ross counties.

Stivers is serving his third term on the Financial Services Committee, which oversees the banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities industries. Stivers also serves on the Committee on Rules, which is charged with determining which bills reach the House Floor for a vote. He is also the chairman of the Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House for the Rules Committee.

Prior to running for Congress, Stivers served in the Ohio Senate and before that worked in the private sector for the Ohio Company and Bank One.

Military Bio:  A career soldier, Steve Stivers has served over 30 years in the Ohio Army National Guard and holds the rank of Colonel.

He served the United States overseas during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and Djibouti where he led 400 soldiers and contractors and is proud that each and every one returned home safely to the United States. Stivers received the Bronze Star for his leadership throughout the deployment.

Legislation: 

Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act (H.R. 359)

Status: Passed House February 9, 2016, as part of H.R. 3016, the Veterans Employment, Education & Healthcare Improvement Act

Joint Sponsor: Representative Tim Walz (D-MN)

• Would establish a pilot program at the Veterans Administration to provide for therapeutic dog training and handling for veterans.
• We are losing 22 veterans to suicide daily and while this bill is not a panacea, it could help many veterans struggling with PTSD and other wounds of war.
• According to a study by Kaiser Permanente, access to therapy dogs has been shown to help veterans struggling with PTSD and depression, improve interpersonal relationships, and lead to a lowered risk of substance abuse and better overall mental health.

Place of Remembrance Act (H.R. 5735)

Status: Department of Defense agreed to move forward without legislation

• In response to reports that the unidentified remains of fallen soldiers were being disposed of in landfills, the legislation would establish an appropriate location in Arlington National Cemetery – a Place of Remembrance – for the interment of cremated fragments of those killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and all wars and contingency operations moving forward.

Honor Those Who Served Act (H.R. 2018)

Status: Veterans Administration changed rule without legislation on March 2, 2016

Joint Sponsors: Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and Representative Pat Tiberi (R-OH)

• This will make it easier to provide headstones for veterans who currently do not have a headstone, or for those whose headstones have deteriorated.

HIRE at Home Act (H.R. 4115)

Status: Signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act

Joint Sponsor: Representative Tim Walz

• This bill helps make it easier for returning veterans in the fields of health care and transportation to find employment once they are home.
• The bill will also make it possible for service members who are trained by the military to do jobs such as truck driver or nursing assistant to receive the necessary certification to do those equivalent jobs in the private sector when they leave service.

Tricare for Kids Act (H.R. 4341)

Status: Signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act

Joint Sponsors: Representative Susan David (D-CA) and Robert Schilling (R-IL)

• Assists the Department of Defense in its efforts to develop and encourage health care practices designed to address the specific health care needs of military children.

Housing Our Military Servicemembers (HOMeS) Act (H.R. 6124)

Status: Introduced on September 22, 2016

Joint Sponsor: Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH)

• In a response to the issue of homelessness among our nation’s veterans, and some former members of the military not qualifying for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs, this legislation will add former service members as a subpopulation eligible for rehousing incentive payments through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• By codifying “former service members” into HUD’s homeless assistance statutes, the agency can incentivize and reward housing grantees that help get all former members of the military off the streets.

Never Again Act (H.R. 6108)

Status: Introduced on September 22, 2016

Sponsor: Representative David Loebsack (D-IA)

• This legislation ensures no veteran seeking in-patient psychiatric care at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center is ever denied care.
• This would require the VA health care system to provide in-patient psychiatric care to any veteran who requests it and is enrolled in the VA health care system.
• If the request is not able to be fulfilled, the VA would be required to find care for the veteran at a non-VA facility.