Who can name all three congressmen from Utah? Now, who can say all of their names correctly? How about the representative from Utah’s third district, Jason Chaffetz?

OK, the first name is a give away, but the last name could be butchered easier than a turkey in November. It’s simple, (CHAY-fits) as in, Jason is “chaffed” that the shirt “fits.”

Now that we have his name down, let’s move on.

This first-term congressman from Utah is making quite the political stir in the House of Representatives. He beat out 12-year veteran congressman Chris Cannon in 2008 on an agenda of representing traditional-conservative values. He promised to reject earmark spending and be fiscally responsible.

Since landing his position in the House of Representatives, it seems that Chaffetz hasn’t slowed down a bit and became famous for sleeping on a cot in his office in D.C. to save money on rent.

The freshman congressman has been making waves in other areas of Congress as well. For example, Chaffetz was a strong opponent of the stimulus bill but soon after the bill passed, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, he made a dash for the cash. He wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior department seeking $95 million for a Provo water project, which he didn’t receive.

Chaffetz also reversed his ban on earmarks and, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, Chaffetz said he supports some earmarks as long as they fit his specifications.

Chaffetz is also one of the biggest opponents to the full-body scanners that are now being used by airport security throughout the country. He even said he was detained in the Salt Lake airport because of his outspoken stance against the scanning machines.

Chaffetz says that he supports a limited federal government and even attended Utah’s version of the Tea Party protests in Salt Lake City on Sept. 12. He, along with Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum, spoke at an event that was supposedly nonpartisan and lobbied for a smaller federal government.

This week, Chaffetz has been quoted in several national news outlets including The Washington Post and CNN because of his opposition to a gay rights bill making its way through Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, the District of Columbia council introduced a bill that will legalize gay marriage. The bill is supported by 10 of the 13 Councilmembers. Nevertheless, because the District of Columbia is not a state, the House of Representatives has 30 days to review and vote on the bill. If no action is taken, the bill becomes a law.

Chaffetz has promised to oppose the bill. He also opposed a bill passed earlier this summer that made the District of Columbia recognize same-sex unions that were done in other states.

Chaffetz acknowledges that it is likely that the bill will pass due to a large majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives.

So, if the democratically elected District of Columbia council overwhelmingly supports legal recognition of same-sex unions, why is Chaffetz fighting to strike the measure down? And why would a congressman from Utah think that he should be able to stop the very liberal, largely Democratic District of Columbia from legalizing gay marriage? What happened to letting the states decide? Why should the federal government only intervene on matters concerning gay rights?

Granted, Chaffetz is on a congressional committee that oversees Washington, D.C. but after protesting a large federal government, it is hypocritical for him to want Congress to contradict the will of the people from the District of Columbia.

Another interesting fact that may or may not influence his opinion on gay rights is that, according to the Daily Kos, Jason Chaffetz’s father came out as a gay man after divorcing his mother, Kitty Chaffetz. Kitty went on to marry Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988 and Jason went on to be the co-chairman for the group, Dukakis for Utah. John Chaffetz, Jason’s father, went on to be an author and recently wrote a book profiling two gay contestants on the reality television series, “The Amazing Race.”

In the biography on Jason Chaffetz’s Web site, there is no mention of John Chaffetz, his father.

It’s good that we have gotten to know Chaffetz a little better. We might be seeing more of him in the future. According to The Deseret News, Chaffetz bought a few domains for the Internet: www.chaffetzforgovernor.com, www.chaffetzforsenate.com and www.chaffetzforpresident.com.

Don’t forget to comment below to let me know what you think about congressman Chaffetz.

Seth Bracken is a senior majoring in print journalism. Questions or comments can be sent to him at seth.bracken@aggiemail.usu.edu