Ernest James "Ernie" Istook Jr. (born February 11, 1950) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th congressional district.

As a member of Congress, Istook focused on issues surrounding national defense and homeland security, transportation, education, labor, social services and religious liberty.

[9] On June 4, 1998, the House voted 224–203, with 7 abstentions, in favor of it, but it failed as a Constitutional amendment, needing a 2/3 majority to pass.

[16] Istook voted to make the USA PATRIOT Act permanent and supports intelligence gathering by the military.

Istook endorsed the Bush administration and its handling of the War in Iraq and supports higher Defense Department funding.

Istook does not support a U.S. ratification of the Kyoto Protocol nor heavy taxpayer subsidies for alternative fuel sources.

He was a member of the Appropriations Committee from the mid-1990s[17] and chaired a number of its subcommittees including Treasury, Transportation, and Special Agencies.

Istook introduced language into an FY2004 federal spending bill that would cut funding for transit authorities that sponsored advertisements contradicting current government policies and laws regarding marijuana.

Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia later ruled that the "Istook Amendment", as it came to be known, was unconstitutional on grounds that it violated the First Amendment, stating "the government articulated no legitimate state interest in the suppression of this particular speech other than the fact that it disapproves of the message, an illegitimate and constitutionally impermissible reason".

On January 9, 2006, Istook announced he would give $23,000 in Abramoff-related money that was donated to his re-election campaign or his PAC to the Boy Scouts of America.

[20] His congressional campaign paid back $5,126 to Abramoff's Sports Suites LLC, for the use in 2003 of skyboxes by the congressman for an American Idol concert and a Washington Redskins game.

The government filing refers to an Abramoff e-mail saying Istook "had basically asked what we want in the transportation bill", and telling his colleagues at Greenberg Traurig to "make sure we load up our entire Christmas list".

[23] He was immediately the consensus frontrunner for the nomination, as a seven-term incumbent U.S. representative whose district covered most of the Oklahoma City area, the state's largest media market.

After a heated campaign, Henry defeated Istook, gathering 66.5% of the total vote—the biggest landslide in an Oklahoma governor's race in almost half a century.

[2][26][27] Istook contributed opinion columns to a variety of outlets including The Washington Times, Human Events[28] The Huffington Post,[29] and Newsmax.

He now teaches History and Political Sciences classes at Utah Valley University in Orem, UT and practices law.

[2] Istook and his wife Judy (whom he met through his radio job at KOKC and married in 1973) have five children, two sons and three daughters, and fifteen grandchildren.