In the 104th Congress, Cooley was an advocate of private property rights, American military superiority, tort reform to limit recovery by plaintiffs, and other planks of the Republican Party's proclaimed Contract with America.

[citation needed] In April 1996, the Medford, Oregon Mail Tribune questioned Cooley's statement in the 1994 Voter's Guide that he had served in the Army Special Forces in Korea.

[1] Cooley was unopposed for renomination in the May primary and vigorously denied the charges; however, he came under increasing pressure from fellow Republicans, including his campaign manager Greg Walden and House speaker Newt Gingrich, to step down.

[3] A special nominating convention chose former six-term incumbent Republican Bob Smith, who had retired two years earlier, to replace Cooley on the ballot.

[8] In December 2012, Cooley was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to hiding $494,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service.