Mary Bono

Mary Bono with Henry Hyde during a press conference related to the impeachment inquiry against Bill Clinton

In 1998, Mary Bono won the Republican nomination for the special election to succeed her late husband in what was then California's 44th congressional district. She was then elected to Congress on April 7, 1998.[8] Bono won election to a full term on November 3, 1998.[9]

That same year, Bono was added to the House Judiciary Committee by the Republican leadership in anticipation of the consideration of impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, thus becoming the only Republican woman on the committee during the impeachment inquiry against Bill Clinton.[10][5] Bono voted along party lines on all four motions for impeachment in both the committee and on the House floor,[11][12] despite other moderate Republican House members voting against Articles II, III, and IV.[12] Bono's service on the House Judiciary panel increased her national profile considerably.[5]

Bono served in Congress for 15 years.[13] In 2011, her bill, H.R. 2715, was signed into law with bipartisan support to amend and improve the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.[14] The daughter of a veteran, Bono also played a key role in creation of VA clinics in Blythe and Palm Desert, California.[15] In December 2010, she was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly homosexual service members.[16][17]

Official portrait

After the 2010 United States census, Bono's district was renumbered as the 36th district and made somewhat more Democratic and Hispanic than its predecessor. In a significant upset, Democratic challenger Raul Ruiz, a physician, defeated her with 53 percent of the vote to Bono's 47.1 percent.[18]

In 2013, Bono was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[19]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade (Chairwoman)
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy
• United States House Committee on Armed Services
• United States House Committee on the Judiciary
• United States House Committee on Small Business

Bono was chairwoman of the House Energy Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. This committee debates legislation related to intellectual property, telecommunications, energy and healthcare. She was the first Republican woman to chair this subcommittee. She was co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse.[20] In 2012, she formed and chaired the House Women's Policy Committee, which included 24 female Republican lawmakers from 17 states.[21]

• America Supports You Caucus
• Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Prevention Caucus (Co-chair)
• International Conservation Caucus
• Recording Arts and Sciences Caucus (Co-chair)
• Congressional Hispanic Conference {associate member}
• Republican Main Street Partnership

In March 2013, Bono became a senior vice president at the Washington, D.C.-based federal affairs firm Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting.[22][23]

In June 2013, a group of leading telecommunications firms announced formation of the 21st Century Privacy Coalition, which focuses on updating U.S. privacy and data security laws. Mary Bono and Jon Leibowitz, former Federal Trade Commission chairman, were named co-chairs of the coalition.[24] Also in June 2013, Bono helped lead expansion of Faegre Baker Daniels and Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting into Silicon Valley, in her home state of California.[25]

In August 2013, Bono was a panelist at the National Journal's Women 2020 event. At that event, she discussed gender inequality and her experiences as a woman in Congress.[26]

In October 2018, following the Michigan State University sex abuse scandal, Bono was named interim president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics.[27] However, she resigned four days later following criticism over her previous role as a lobbyist for USA Gymnastics amid public concern that she had marked out the Nike logo on her sneakers in protest of Nike's support for NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.[28]