| Claudine Schneider | |
| State: | Rhode Island |
| Term Start: | January 3, 1981 |
| Term End: | January 3, 1991 |
| Predecessor: | Edward Beard |
| Successor: | Jack Reed |
| Birth Name: | Claudine Cmarada |
| Birth Date: | 25 March 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Clairton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouse: | Eric Schneider (1972-1985, divorced)[1] [2] |
| Party: | Republican |
| Education: | Rosemont College Windham College (BA) University of Rhode Island |
Claudine Schneider (née Cmarada; born March 25, 1947) is an American economist and former politician who served as a Republican U.S. representative from Rhode Island. She was the first,[3] and to date only, woman elected to Congress from Rhode Island. She is the founder of Republicans for Integrity, which describes itself as a network of "Republican former Members of Congress who feel compelled to remind Republican voters about the fundamentals of [the Republican] party and to provide the facts about incumbents' voting records."[4]
Schneider was born Claudine Cmarada in Clairton, Pennsylvania. On her father's side, she is of Slovak descent.[5] Schneider attended parochial schools. She studied at the University of Barcelona, Spain, and Rosemont College (Pennsylvania).She obtained a B.A. degree from Windham College (Vermont) in 1969. She also attended the University of Rhode Island Program in Community Planning.
She was the founder of the Rhode Island Committee on Energy in 1973, and was appointed executive director of the Conservation Law Foundation in 1974. She became Federal coordinator of Rhode Island Coastal Zone Management Program in 1978. She worked as a producer and host of a public affairs television program in Providence from 1978 to 1979.
Schneider was elected as a Republican to the 97th Congress and was re-elected to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1991 for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district.
During her time in Congress, Schneider supported funding for the arts, the Legal Services Corporation, food stamps and busing, while also opposing the funding for the B-1 Bomber, the MX-Missile and the proposed Clinch River Breeder Reactor.[6] Schneider sponsored a bill proposing a resolution for cooperation with foreign countries on environmental protection, the bill being signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.[7] Despite her Catholic faith, Schneider supported abortion rights.[8] [9] [10]
She did not stand for re-election in 1990 to the 102nd Congress but was an unsuccessful nominee for the United States Senate in challenging incumbent Claiborne Pell.
In 1985, she was interviewed by David Wallechinsky for his book, "Midterm Report: The Class of '65: Chronicles Of An American Generation" (1986). It was later published as "Class Reunion '65, Tales of an American Generation," written from the perspective of two decades post-high school graduation. Twenty-eight contemporary graduates were interviewed, Wallachinsky noting the profound impact of the Vietnam War on their lives.[11]
After leaving Congress, she served as a member of the faculty of the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.
She is a resident of Boulder, Colorado, where she works as an independent consultant, specializing in environmental matters and ecological economics.[12] Schneider endorsed Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the 1992, 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.[13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
In June 2022, Schneider was one of eleven former Republican House representatives to sign a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to pass an LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill.[18] Schneider has been critical of the fossil fuel and gas industries and Republicans' support of them.[19]
Schneider was one of six petitioners represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in Trump v. Anderson, a 2023 case brought before the Colorado Supreme Court ruling Donald Trump ineligible for the 2024 presidential election on grounds of violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[20] [21]
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