Editing Rob Portman (section)

===House legislative career===
[[File:Rob Portman testifying before the Senate Budget Committee.jpg|thumb|right|Rob Portman testifying before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Budget|Senate Budget Committee]] in 1998]]
As of 2004, Portman had a lifetime rating of 89 from the [[American Conservative Union]], and ranked 5th among Ohio's 18 House members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-legislative-ratings/?year1=2004&chamber=12&state1=48&sortable=6 |title=2004 ACU House ratings |website=Federal Legislative Ratings |publisher=[[American Conservative Union]] |language=en}}</ref>

One of Portman's first votes in [[United States Congress|Congress]] was for the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] on November 17, 1993.<ref>{{Cite news|url =http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1993/roll575.xml|title=FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 575|publisher=United States House of Representatives Roll Call Vote|date=November 17, 1993|access-date=June 3, 2012}}</ref>

Of Portman's work on the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pete Sepp of the [[National Taxpayers Union]] said, "He set a professional work environment that rose above partisanship and ultimately gave taxpayers more rights."<ref name="weeklystandard1" /> Democratic Representative [[Stephanie Tubbs Jones]] from Cleveland said Portman, "compared to other Republicans, is pleasant and good to work with."<ref name="cleveland1" /> During the first four years of the [[George W. Bush]] Administration, Portman served as a liaison between congressional Republicans and the White House.<ref name="cleveland1">{{cite web|url=http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/04/ready_for_prime_time_president.html|title=Ready for Prime Time President Bush has tapped Ohio's Rob Portman to be the nation's top trade negotiator|date=April 19, 2008|publisher=Blog.cleveland.com|access-date=August 21, 2010}}</ref> Portman voted for the [[Iraq War Resolution]] in [[107th United States Congress|2002]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://voteview.com/gulfwar.htm|title=The Iraq War Vote|publisher=VoteView.com|date=October 11, 2002|access-date=December 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107024756/http://voteview.com/GulfWar.htm|archive-date=November 7, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was known for his willingness to work with Democrats to enact important legislation.<ref name="loyalist" />

Portman has said that his proudest moments as a U.S. Representative were "when we passed the [[Balanced Budget Act of 1997|balanced budget agreement]] and the [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform bill]]."<ref name="weeklystandard1" /> As a congressman, Portman traveled to [[Argentina]], Chile, [[Costa Rica]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], Israel, [[Jordan]], [[Kuwait]] and Mexico.<ref name="RealClearPolitics" /> During his time in the [[United States House of Representatives|House]], Portman began assisting prominent [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] candidates prepare for debates by standing in for their opponents in practice debates. He took the role of [[Lamar Alexander]] (for [[Bob Dole]] in 1996), [[Al Gore]] (for [[George W. Bush]] in 2000), [[Hillary Clinton]] (for [[Rick Lazio]] in 2000), [[Joe Lieberman]] (for [[Dick Cheney]] in 2000), [[John Edwards]] (for Cheney in 2004), and [[Barack Obama]] (for [[John McCain]] in 2008 and [[Mitt Romney]] in 2012).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/us/politics/rob-portman-a-master-of-washingtons-inner-workings.html|title=Possible No. 2 to Romney Knows Ways of the Capital|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 3, 2012|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/potential-romney-vp-rob-portman-method-actor-debate/story?id=16488358#.UIdBQW_A8jI|title=Potential Romney VP Rob Portman is a method actor of debate prep: 'physical mannerisms, parsing of his voice, everything'|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=June 4, 2012|first=Chris|last=Moody}}</ref> His portrayals mimic not only the person's point of view but also their mannerisms, noting for instance that he listened to Obama's audiobook reading to study his pattern of speech.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/portman-to-reprise-obama-role-for-romney-debate-preparation/?partner=rss&emc=rss|title=Portman to Reprise Obama Role for Romney Debate Preparation|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 27, 2012}}</ref>
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