William Clinger

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{{Infobox officeholder

|image = BillClinger.jpg

|office = Chair of the House Oversight Committee

|term_start = January 3, 1995

|term_end = January 3, 1997

|predecessor = John Conyers

|successor = Dan Burton

|office1 = Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania

|constituency1 = {{ushr|PA|23|23rd district}} (1979–1993)
{{ushr|PA|5|5th district}} (1993–1997)

|term_start1 = January 3, 1979

|term_end1 = January 3, 1997

|predecessor1 = Joseph Ammerman

|successor1 = John Peterson

|birth_name = William Floyd Clinger Jr.

|birth_date = {{birth date|1929|4|4}}

|birth_place = Warren, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2021|5|28|1929|4|4}}

|death_place = Naples, Florida, U.S.

|party = Republican

|spouse = {{marriage|Julia Whitla|August 3, 1952|November 22, 2016|end=died}}

|education = Johns Hopkins University (BA)
University of Virginia (LLB)

|branch = {{flag|United States Navy}}

|serviceyears = 1951–1955}}

William Floyd Clinger Jr. (April 4, 1929 – May 28, 2021) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented northwest and north-central Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1997.

Early life and education

Clinger was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, the son of Lella May (Hunter) and William F. Clinger.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0HqhGvQF4CQC&q=William+Floyd+Clinger+1929&pg=PA233|title = Pennsylvania Biographical Dictionary|isbn = 9780403099504|last1 = Onofrio|first1 = Jan|date = January 1999}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NYQAQAAMAAJ&q=Lella+May+Clinger+(Hunter|title = Lineage Book|year = 1931}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1Z6TB7LYFwC&q=William+Floyd+Clinger+Acomb|title=History of Northwestern Pennsylvania: Comprising the Counties of Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Warren, Forest, Clarion, McKean, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron and Clearfield|last1=Riesenman|first1=Joseph|year=1943}} He attended the public schools there and graduated from The Hill School in 1947.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74brGsoymBoC&q=senior+fellow+at+the+Johns+Hopkins+University+Center+for+the+Study+of+American+Government|title=Congressional Record, V. 151, PT. 17, October 7 to 26, 2005|date=2010|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|isbn=9780160848254|location=Washington, D.C.|page=23013|access-date=October 11, 2016}} He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Virginia in 1965.

Career

Clinger served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1951 to 1955. He was a delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention, 1967 to 1968, and the Republican National Convention in 1972.{{cite news|last1=Trefts|first1=Deborah|title=William Clinger, Jr. Discusses Political Polarity for Chautauqua Women's Club|url=http://chqdaily.com/2016/08/william-clinger-jr-discusses-political-polarity-for-chautauqua-womens-club/|access-date=May 19, 2017|work=The Chautauquan Daily|date=August 2, 2016}} Clinger was associated with the New Process Company of Warren, Pennsylvania from 1955 to 1962, was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1965, and was a lawyer in private practice.{{cite web|title=CLINGER, William Floyd, Jr., (1929 - )|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000523|website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress}}

=U.S. House of Representatives=

Defeating incumbent Representative Joseph S. Ammerman, Clinger was elected as a Republican to the 96th and to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997). While in the House of Representatives, he was chairman of the United States House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight{{cite web|title=William Clinger, Adjunct Faculty|url=http://advanced.jhu.edu/about-us/faculty/william-clinger/|website=Johns Hopkins University|access-date=October 11, 2016|archive-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011230552/http://advanced.jhu.edu/about-us/faculty/william-clinger/|url-status=dead}} in the 104th Congress, which was quite active in investigating the Travelgate and Filegate matters. In addition, he served as vice chairman of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and ranking member on the Subcommittee on Aviation. Along with then-Senator William Cohen, Clinger co-authored the Information Technology Management Reform Act, also known as the Clinger-Cohen Act.{{cite news|last1=Wong|first1=Wylie|title=How the Clinger-Cohen Act Continues to Ripple Through Federal IT Today|url=http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2016/02/how-clinger-cohen-act-continues-ripple-through-federal-it-today|access-date=December 1, 2016|work=FedTech|date=February 10, 2016}} He was not a candidate for re-election to the 105th Congress in 1996.

=Later life=

After his retirement from Congress, Clinger served as the chairman for the Chautauqua Institution's board of trustees. He was a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Advanced Governmental Studies and co-chairman of the board of directors for the Institute for Representative Government.{{cite web|title=William Floyd Clinger, Jr.|url=https://www.irgov.org/william-floyd-clinger-jr|website=Institute for Representative Government|access-date=May 23, 2017}} He was also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.{{cite web|title=Reformers Caucus|url=https://www.issueone.org/reformers/|website=Issue One}}

In October 2016, Clinger was one of thirty Republican ex-lawmakers to sign a public letter condemning GOP presidential nominee (and future president) Donald Trump{{cite news|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=Thomas|title=Former Pa. Rep. Who Investigated Clinton Scandals Opposes Trump|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Former-Pa-Rep-who-investigated-Clinton-scandals-opposes-Trump.html|access-date=October 24, 2016|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=October 6, 2016}} as "manifestly unqualified to be president."{{cite news|author1=Bash, Dana|author2=Kopan, Tal|title=30 Former GOP Lawmakers Sign Anti-Trump Letter|url=http://us.cnn.com/2016/10/06/politics/republican-lawmakers-never-trump-letter/index.html|access-date=October 6, 2016|work=CNN|date=October 6, 2016}} Clinger died at the age of 92 on May 28, 2021.{{Cite web|date=2021-05-30|title=Former Congressman William Clinger passes away; was instrumental in funding for Lock Haven flood protection system|url=https://therecord-online.com/site/archives/69963|access-date=2021-06-01|website=The Record Online|language=en-US}}