Mark Souder

Mark Edward Souder (July 18, 1950 – September 26, 2022) was an American politician and businessman from Indiana.

Souder was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of Irma (née Fahling) and Edward G. Souder, on July 18, 1950.

He grew up in Grabill, Indiana, and was educated at Leo Junior/Senior High School, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne and the University of Notre Dame.

While in college, he was a member of the Young Americans for Freedom.

After graduating from college, Souder worked as a marketing manager and small business owner.

He was a member of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.

From 1974 to 1976, Souder served as marketing manager for Gabbort's Furniture.

From 1976, he was the owner of Souder's General Store, also known as Historic Souder's of Grabill.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as a congressional aide and committee staff director to Dan Coats.

Souder served as an aide for United States Representative Dan Coats from 1983 to 1984; as minority staff director of the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families from 1985 to 1988; and again as an aide for Coats from 1988 to 1993, staying with Coats when the latter became a United States Senator in 1989.

He was a staff director on the United States House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

He was elected to his congressional seat in 1994, and remained in office until he resigned in May 2010, after admitting to an affair with a female staff member.

Souder was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican in November 1994, defeating Coats' successor in Congress, Democrat Jill Long, in that year's national Republican landslide.

A Republican, he was a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 2010.

In November 1997, Souder was one of eighteen Republicans in the House to co-sponsor a resolution by Bob Barr that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton.

The resolution did not specify any charges or allegations.

This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the eruption of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal.

The eruption of that scandal would ultimately lead to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton in 1998.

On October 8, 1998, Souder voted in favor of legislation that was passed to open an impeachment inquiry.

On December 19, 1998, Souder voted in favor of one (and against three) of the four proposed articles of impeachment against Clinton (only two of which received the majority of votes needed to be adopted).

The only article of impeachment that Souder voted in favor of adopting was the third article, which charged Clinton with obstruction of justice.

In March 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, which represented the most comprehensive anti-methamphetamine legislation ever passed by Congress.

Souder authored much of this law, which targets meth trafficking at local and state, national, and international levels.

In December 2006, Bush signed into law the ONDCP Reauthorization Act, which Souder had authored and introduced.

The law reauthorizes the office of "the Drug Czar" for five years.

He was re-elected in every election thereafter until his resignation in 2010.

It was the only elected office he ever held.

He originally ran on a signed pledge with America that he would not serve more than two additional terms.

He was regarded as a staunch advocate of abstinence education and family values.

Souder was the Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.

He was also a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee.

Along with U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), he was co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional National Parks Caucus.

He was also co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy.

On May 18, 2010, Souder announced he would resign from Congress effective Friday, May 21, after admitting to an affair with Tracy Meadows Jackson, a married female staffer.

He and Jackson had made a television video in which they both extolled the virtues of abstinence.

In a written statement released that morning, Souder said:

"It is with great regret I announce that I am resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives as well as resigning as the Republican nominee for Congress in this fall's election. ... I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part time member of my staff. I am so shamed to have hurt those I love."

Souder deviated from his written statement when reading it aloud to the Fort Wayne press later in the morning to explain why, unlike many legislators admitting adultery, he did not have his wife of 30 years at his side:

"I'm sick of politicians who drag their spouses up in front of the cameras rather than confronting the problem they caused."

Until the start of the 110th Congress, Souder was chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources.