Roger M. Cooper (born November 8, 1944) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and a former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the Min ...

from southwestern Minnesota. First elected in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Cooper served five terms. He was re-elected in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994. He represented the old District 21B and, later, District 15B, which included all or portions of Chippewa, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Renville, Sibley and

Yellow Medicine Yellow is the color between green and Orange (color), orange on the Visible spectrum, spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 Nanometre, nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, u ...

counties, changing somewhat through redistricting in 1990. From the small town of Bird Island, Cooper, a public school history teacher, earned a reputation as a strong advocate for education, farmers and agricultural issues during his time in office. After his service in the legislature concluded, he served on the Minnesota Region 6E Development Commission and, more recently, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Bird Island City Council. He was subsequently elected to that position in November 2006. While in the legislature, Cooper was a member of the House Agriculture, Health & Human Services, Transportation & Transit, Local Government & Metropolitan Affairs, and Economic Development & Governmental Operations committees, and of various sub-committees relevant to each area. In 2007, the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

renamed an incentive program for Minnesota's

emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wit ...

personnel in honor of Cooper, who is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, and former Minnesota State Senator Dallas Sams, who died in 2007 after a long battle with brain cancer. The program is now known as the Cooper/Sams Volunteer Ambulance Program. Both Cooper and Sams invested a great deal of time into ensuring the passage of the original incentive program through the Legislature in 1993.

References

External links

"Rep. Roger Cooper...Teacher produces laws to benefit rural Minnesota"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Roger 1944 births Living people People from Bird Island, Minnesota Rockford University alumni Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni Minnesota city council members Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives