Overview
Committee Assignment:
House Energy and Commerce Committee
· Health Subcommittee (Vice Chairman); Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee; Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee
8th District: 21-county district covering both urban and rural areas of Southern and West Central Indiana
Elected: Assumed office January 3, 2011, 7th Term
Previous Political Experience: None
Military Service: United States Navy Reserve
Education: University of Illinois, 1984
Family: Married, 4 Children
Full Biography
Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (pronounced: “Boo-shon”) represents the Eighth District of Indiana, which encompasses all or part of 21counties in Southern and West Central Indiana. First elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, Dr. Bucshon currently serves as a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Energy and Commerce Committee is the oldest standing legislative committee in the House of Representatives and has a broad jurisdiction over our nation’s energy, health care, telecommunications and consumer product safety policies. On the committee, Dr. Bucshon serves as Vice Chair of the Health Subcommittee, and is a member of the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee and the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee. During his first two terms in Congress, Dr. Bucshon served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee - where he served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Research in the 113th Congress.
Since his election to Congress, Dr. Bucshon has been a champion for advancing patient-centered health care reforms that support innovation and give patients access to high-quality, affordable, and timely care - while also ensuring that patients and their doctors have the freedom to make their own health care decisions as opposed to Washington bureaucrats. Bloomberg News has referred to him as "a Republican go-to member on health policy" and noted he “often works across the aisle on health care concerns with common ground.” He is a member of the House GOP Doctors Caucus, which is made of members who have a professional background as medical providers, and currently serves as a Vice Chair of the caucus. In the 117th Congress, Dr. Bucshon was selected by then-House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to serve on the Healthy Future Task Force, which was created to craft House Republicans’ health care agenda, and to lead the Subcommittee on Doctor/Patient Relationships. In addition to his leadership role on the Health Subcommittee, Dr. Bucshon serves as a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Kidney Caucus, which was founded over twenty years ago to focus on policy issues related to chronic kidney disease.
Beyond health care, Dr. Bucshon has also been a champion of an all-of-the-above energy approach. Representing a district that is rich in energy resources – including every coal mine in Indiana – he is focused on advancing energy policies that ensure we can utilize all sources of energy to make our nation energy independent and drive down the cost of energy for families and businesses on Main Street. Dr. Bucshon has also been a recognized leader on transportation issues, as the Evansville Courier and Press noted that during his time on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee he “found himself taking leadership on transportation issues” and established himself “as a strong voice for highway projects such as Interstate 69.”
According to the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Dr. Bucshon is rated as one of the most effective lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the most effective House Republican from Indiana. No matter the issue, Dr. Bucshon has been a consistent advocate who delivers results for hard-working Hoosier families, farmers, and Main Street businesses in Southern and West Central Indiana.
Dr. Bucshon has also been appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve as a member of the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees, where he has served as one of three Members of Congress on the board since February 2020. Chartered in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln, Gallaudet University is the world’s only liberal arts university for the deaf and hard of hearing that offers a bilingual learning environment in American Sign Language and English.
Dr. Bucshon was born and raised in Kincaid, Illinois, a small town of 1,400 people in central Illinois. His life was shaped by this small- town upbringing and growing up in a home where his father worked as an underground coal miner and his mother worked as a nurse. Dr. Bucshon received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. Following medical school, he completed a residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and remained there to complete a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery. During this time, Dr. Bucshon enlisted with the United States Navy Reserve and served for almost a decade before being honorably discharged.
Before coming to Congress, Dr. Bucshon was a practicing physician and surgeon specializing in cardiothoracic surgery. During his time in private practice, Dr. Bucshon performed hundreds of heart surgeries and served as President of Ohio Valley HeartCare. His outstanding work and leadership in this field led to him being honored as the St. Mary’s (now Ascension St. Vincent) Medical Staff Physician of the Year in 2006. Dr. Bucshon also served as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Medical Director of the open heart recovery intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital. During his time in practice, Dr. Bucshon was board certified in Cardiothoracic Surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Bucshon and his wife Dr. Kathryn Bucshon, who is also a physician and a practicing anesthesiologist, reside in Vanderburgh County and attend Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Evansville. They have four children.
