James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 - September 27, 2014) was a Democratic, and later independent, politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. He was expelled from the House after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and houseboat in Washington, D.C.

In the House, Traficant was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He often dressed poorly, with narrow neckties (then out of style), wide-lapel sport-coats and an occasional denim suit. He also sported an unkempt pompadour, which he jokingly claimed he cut with a weed whacker (it was revealed, after his conviction, that he wore a toupee). His trademark closing lines while addressing the House were "Beam me up..." and "I yield back the fact..." His website featured a picture of him swinging a two-by-four with the words "Bangin' away in D.C."  While in Congress, Traficant was a supporter of immigration reduction, and a strong opponent of illegal immigration. In the controversy surrounding the defeat of Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, Traficant was the only Democratic member of Congress who advocated a new election, due to Dornan's allegations of voting in that race by undocumented immigrants (the allegations went unproven, and a new election was not held).  Traficant's major legislative accomplishment in the House was the adoption of some of his proposals to constrain enforcement activities by the Internal Revenue Service against delinquent taxpayers.  After the Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Traficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. On the issue of abortion, Traficant voted with the position of the National Right to Life Committee 95% of the time in the 105th Congress, and 100% of the time in the 106th and 107th Congresses. However, he voted against all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. After he voted for Republican Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to give him any committee assignments. Because the Republicans did not assign him to any committees either, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century--outside the top leadership--to lack a single committee assignment.

What was Traficant's connection to the House of Representatives?
His trademark closing lines while addressing the House were "Beam me up..." and "I yield back the fact..."