Claudine Schneider (née Cmarada; born March 25, 1947) is an American politician and executive who served five terms as a RepublicanU.S. representative from Rhode Island from 1981 to 1991. 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]
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’s hallmark legislative initiatives in Congress centered on promoting clean energy (especially energy efficiency) policies and preventing global warming through federal action and international cooperation. Her 1989 Global Warming Prevention Act established the goal of a 20% reduction in atmospheric CO2 levels from 1988 levels by 2000 through a mix of federal and state energy policies. This comprehensive omnibus bill was revenue-neutral and enjoyed bipartisan support from 144 Members of Congress. Although it did not pass into law in its entirety, two of the bill’s titles were subsequently incorporated into federal energy regulatory policies: creation of the nation’s first appliance energy efficiency standards (which became the Energy Star program) in the bill’s Title II and the creation of least-cost electric utility planning in the bill's Title I.[6]
A longtime advocate of environmental protection and hazardous waste-prevention measures,[7][8] Schneider was responsible in 1985 for creating the first economic incentive to reduce hazardous waste production. Her measure, the “waste-end” tax – was endorsed by the White House and included in the House version of the Superfund Bill.
Schneider’s other legislative initiatives included the cofounding of the Congressional Competitiveness Caucus[9] in 1987 together with Hewlett Packard CEO John Young. The caucus hosted briefings by top corporate CEOs. In 1994, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Competitiveness Policy Council.
In 1986, Schneider organized a series of television debates and exchanges between Members of Congress and the Soviet parliament (the Supreme Soviet) through satellite hookup between the capitals of the two superpowers. Initially dubbed “CongressBridge,” the goal of Schneider and her congressional colleague Rep. George Brown was “to break the 27-year public silence between Soviet and American politicians since the 1959 Moscow ‘kitchen debate’ between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev.” In the United States, the series of forums between the two countries’ legislators aired on ABC in 1987 as Capitol to Capitol, and Schneider went on to receive an Emmy Award for her role in initiating and co-producing with Peter Jennings these live and unedited programs.
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.[10] 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.[11] Schneider was a supporter of abortion rights.[12][13][14]
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.[15] Twenty-eight contemporary graduates were interviewed, Wallechinsky noting the profound impact of the Vietnam War on their lives.[15]
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.[23] Schneider has been critical of the fossil fuel and gas industries and Republicans' support of them.[24]
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