William Cohen - House of Representatives and Senate

House of Representatives and Senate

In the 1972 election, Cohen won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Maine's 2nd congressional district, succeeding Democrat William Hathaway, who was elected to the US Senate.

During his first term in Congress, Cohen became deeply involved in the Watergate investigation. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he was one of the first Republicans to break with his party, and voted for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. During this time, Time magazine named him one of "America's 200 Future Leaders."

After three terms in the House, Cohen was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, defeating William Hathaway in his first bid for reelection. He was reelected in 1984 and 1990, serving a total of 18 years in the Senate (1979–1997). In 1990 he defeated Democrat Neil Rolde.

In 1994 Cohen investigated the federal government's process for acquiring information technology, and his report, Computer Chaos: Billions Wasted Buying Federal Computer Systems, generated much discussion. He chose not to run for another Senate term in 1996; Susan Collins, who had worked for Cohen, was elected to succeed him. (Maine's other current senator, Olympia Snowe, had also worked for Cohen while he was in the House of Representatives.)

While in the Senate, Cohen served on both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Governmental Affairs Committee (1979–1997) and was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee 1983–1991 and again 1995–1997. He also participated in the drafting of several notable laws related to defense matters, including the Competition in Contracting Act (1984), the Montgomery G.I. Bill Act (1984), the Goldwater-Nichols Act (1986), the Intelligence Oversight Reform Act (1991), the Federal Acquisition Reform Act (1996), and the Information Technology Management Reform Act, also known as the Clinger-Cohen Act (1996).