Earl Francis Blumenauer[1] (/ˈbluːmənaʊ.ər/ BLOOM-ə-nowər; born August 16, 1948) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district from 1996 to 2025.

In 1966, he graduated from Centennial High School on Portland's east side and then enrolled at Lewis & Clark College.

[15] During his time on the council, Blumenauer was appointed by Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt to the state's commission on higher education, on which he served in 1990 and 1991.

[21] He was elected to a full term that November, and was reelected 10 times without serious difficulty in what has long been Oregon's most Democratic district, never with less than 66% of the vote.

[28] In the political aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Blumenauer noted that he was among those who had pointed out the vulnerability of New Orleans and encouraged Congress to help that city and the gulf coast get better prepared: Blumenauer supports the World Trade Organization[31] and has voted for free trade agreements with Peru, Australia, Singapore, Chile,[32] Africa, and the Caribbean.

On September 24, 2007, four labor and human rights activists were arrested in Blumenauer's office protesting his support for the Peru Free Trade Agreement.

[35] In June 2008, Blumenauer had sponsored legislation to ban interstate trafficking of great apes, which had passed in the House but been tabled by the Senate.

[37] The amendment, as introduced, was based on an earlier proposal cosponsored by Blumenauer and Republican Representative Charles Boustany of Louisiana.

[38] The amendment generated controversy, with conservative figures, such as 2008 vice presidential nominee and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, suggesting that the amendment, if made law, would be used as a cover for the federal government to set up "death panels" that would be used to determine which people received medical treatment.

His rebuke was echoed by Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who called the death panels claim "nuts.

[41][42] He argued that "a failure to provide these additional visas ensures the many brave translators the U.S. promised to protect in exchange for their services would be left in Afghanistan, hiding, their lives still threatened daily by the Taliban.

"[42] Blumenauer skipped all of President Trump's State of the Union addresses, saying, "I refuse to be a witness to his continued antics.

[49] During the 117th Congress, Blumenauer voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 99.1% of the time according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

[73][74] He was the chief sponsor of a bill to expand the research of medical cannabis and its drug derivatives that passed the House in July 2022 and the Senate in November.

[77][78] Each year, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Blumenauer bakes and delivers hundreds of fruitcakes to his colleagues on the Hill.