Buerkle, Ann Marie, 1951-

Ann Marie Buerkle (née Colella; born May 8, 1951) is an American nurse, attorney, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she notably served as U.S. Representative from New York's 25th congressional district from 2011 to 2013.

Born in Albany, New York, she graduated from Mount Carmel Catholic High School in Auburn before attending St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Syracuse. She married August R. Buerkle two weeks after earning her nursing degree in 1972; the couple divorced in 1997. Buerkle specialized in trauma treatment at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City until her family moved back to central New York in 1976. The following year, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Le Moyne College in Syracuse. Buerkle worked as a teaching nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital until leaving the job to care for her family, occasionally substituting as a school nurse in the Syracuse area. During this period, she also became involved with the movement against abortion rights and helped found a Friends for Life chapter in Syracuse. She served as local spokeswoman for the chapter and the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue before leading the Syracuse Right-to-Life Group.

In 1987 and 1989, Buerkle ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Onondaga County legislature. In 1988 she won the Onondaga County Conservative Party’s nomination for Congress but dropped out of the race. While earning a law degree at Syracuse University in 1994, Buerkle was appointed to a vacant seat on the city council. At the time, she described herself as an “across-the-board conservative.” She lost the ensuing election for the seat in late 1994. After graduating from law school that year, Buerkle worked for a medical malpractice firm until 1997 when New York attorney general Dennis Vacco appointed her as assistant attorney general, representing Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. While serving as assistant attorney general, she continued to own and operate a small commercial real-estate business in the Syracuse area. Returning to her background in health care, Buerkle joined the Surrogate Decisionmaking Committee for the New York State Commission on Quality of Care in 2009. She also volunteered legal services and counseled victims of domestic abuse.

Challenging incumbent Dan Maffei in the 2010 midterm Congressional election favorable to Republicans, Buerkle ultimately won by less than three-tenths of one percent. In the 112th Congress (2011–2013), Buerkle served on three committees: Oversight and Government Reform; Foreign Affairs; and Veterans’ Affairs, where she chaired the Health Subcommittee. Buerkle cosponsored a bill to end federal funding for abortion services and took conservative stances on issues ranging from climate change to welfare programs. An active freshman, Buerkle sponsored 17 bills, three of which became law, including a measure to tax civil service employees’ savings plans. Following reports of sexual assaults at the United States Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Buerkle sponsored a military sexual assault prevention bill in collaboration with Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller of Florida. Buerkle lost in her 2012 rematch with Maffei by a five-point margin.

After leaving office, Buerkle began hosting a weekly radio show and was subsequently appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, serving from 2013 to 2019. She served as acting head of the commission from 2017 to 2019 while awaiting formal Senate confirmation. In June 2019, she withdrew her nomination as chair and stepped down at the end of her term in October.