The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

RUSSELL, STEVEN DANE (1963– )

Steven Dane Russell represented Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 through 2018. Born in Oklahoma City on May 25, 1963, to Clyde E. and Donna J. Porter Russell, he spent his youth in nearby Del City. After graduating from Del City High School in 1981, he attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, receiving a bachelor's degree.

After college, from 1985 Russell served in the U.S. Army Airborne at various postings around the globe, including combat operations in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. During the war in Iraq he commanded the First Battalion of the Twenty-second Infantry; his unit operated in the capture of Saddam Hussein. He earned a master's degree in military history from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After ending his army operations service in June 2005, he became U.S. Army Infantry School Chief of Tactics at Fort Benning, Georgia. He retired from the army in 2006 with a rank of lieutenant colonel. At the close of his military career Russell returned to Oklahoma where he became a small-arms manufacturer.

In 2008 Russell entered politics, successfully campaigning as a Republican for a seat in the Oklahoma Legislature. He served in the Senate until 2012, when he ran for election as Oklahoma's Fifth District representative in the U.S. House. A member of Congress since 2015, he has served on the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the House Committee on Armed Services, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He has been principal sponsor of the Federal Agency Mail Management Act of 2017, the Federal Firearms Licensee Protection Act of 2018, and the VA Medical Center Improvement Act of 2018. He is married, has five children, and is domiciled in Choctaw, Oklahoma. Russell lost his bid for reelection to Congress in 2018.

Dianna Everett