Gabrielle Giffords

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Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 4, 2007
Preceded by Jim Kolbe
Born June 8, 1970 (1970-06-08) (age 38)
Tucson, Arizona
Political party Democratic
Spouse Mark E. Kelly
Residence Tucson
Alma mater Scripps College, Cornell University
Profession Politician; businesswoman
Religion Jewish

Gabrielle Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is a Democratic politician from Tucson, Arizona. She is congresswoman for Arizona's 8th congressional district. Giffords is the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Arizona Senate, where she served from 2003 to 2005. She is also the only member of the U.S. Congress who is a spouse of an active duty member of the US military.[1]

Giffords was sworn in to office as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives on January 4, 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress and she is the only woman elected as part of Arizona's congressional delegation to the 110th Congress. She is Arizona's first Jewish congresswoman.[2] On May 31, 2008, Giffords became the first sitting member of the U.S. Congress to have a spouse in outer space when her husband began a fourteen day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.[3] She is a member of the Democratic Leadership Council and she is a Blue Dog Democrat.

Giffords is a Fulbright Scholarship winner, and she focused her studies on US-Mexico relations while at Cornell University. Before entering politics, she served as president of El Campo Tire, a small family-owned business.

Contents

Congressional career

In her inaugural speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Giffords said a comprehensive immigration reform package needs to include modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program. In her first month in office, Congresswoman Giffords voted to support increased funding for stem cell research, raising the minimum wage, endorsing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and supporting the Democrats new rules for the House of Representative targeting ethical issues. Giffords also voted to repeal subsidies to big oil companies and invest the savings in renewable energy. "We put our national security at risk by relying on oil from unstable regimes in the Middle East and Latin America," Giffords told her colleagues in a speech on the House floor during debate on the Clean Energy Act. The act repeals $14 billion in subsidies given to oil companies and establishes a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to increase research in clean, renewable energy, develop greater energy efficiency and improve energy conservation.

During the 2007 session of Congress, Giffords introduced a bill (H.R. 1441)[4] that forbids the sale of F-14 aircraft parts on the open market. [5] She also voted for the contentious May 2007 Iraq Emergency Supplemental Spending bill, saying, "I cannot, in good conscience, allow the military to run out of money while American servicemen and women are being attacked every day". [6]

Committee assignments

  • Armed Services Committee
    • Subcommittees on Air and Land Forces and Military Readiness
  • Science and Technology Committee
    • Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment
  • Foreign Affairs Committee
    • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere

Positions on issues

Military and war

Giffords is a strong supporter of the military, an opponent of the war in Iraq, and a proponent of strengthening American efforts in Afghanistan. She has consistently voted to fund U.S. troops in Iraq while at the same time calling for a drawdown there.

Immigration and Mexico

Arizona's 8th Congressional District is one of ten in the country bordering Mexico. Giffords lived in Mexico as a Fulbright Scholar in the early 1990s. She has promoted comprehensive immigration reform. Her opponents have accused her of supporting amnesty, a charge she flatly denies. She supports stronger penalties against employers hiring illegal immigrants and she would like to see a new system allowing work permits for foreign citizens who apply for them. “We should take advantage of our proximity to Mexico and promote development of private initiative, free trade, and support for Mexico in creating new jobs. For example, in Agua Prieta, Sonora, alone, 17 of the ‘maquilladora’ factories have moved to Asia,” Giffords said.[7]

Giffords has introduced legislation that will increase the cap on the H-1B visa from 65,000 per year to 130,000 per year. If that is not sufficient, according to her legislation, the cap will be increased to 180,000 per year.

Energy

Giffords has been an advocate for a national energy policy with an emphasis on promoting solar and other renewable energy. Tucson Weekly noted an August 1, 2008 letter Giffords sent to congressional leaders regarding tax credits that were set to expire. She wrote "failure to extend the tax credits would deal a devastating blow to the U.S. renewable energy industry, just as it is beginning to take off."[8]

Economic policy

In endorsing Giffords, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said, "Our economic policy is headed in the wrong direction for businesses and for families, and it will take real leadership to change direction. That leadership is what Gabrielle Giffords has to offer. I have known Gabrielle Giffords for many years and she impressed me from the outset...Her support of a higher minimum wage at both the state and national level is representative of the understanding that she has for the concerns of working men and women. I spent time with her in Tucson meeting with union leaders and members at the IBEW Hall on Tucson Blvd. this spring and I was impressed at her command of the economic issues facing both Arizona and the nation."[9]

Education

Giffords emphasizes that Americans are competing on a global level and that this competition starts in the classroom. She is a critic of the No Child Left Behind law, viewing it as an unfunded federal mandate. She is a graduate of public schools and supports them with a variety of proposals to make them more effective.

Giffords was a Fulbright Scholar and a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Government Bailout of Wallstreet

Giffords voted against the government bailout of Wall Street on 29th of September, 2008.


Congressional campaigns

2008

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2008#District 8

Giffords is running against Republican Tim Bee, a childhood classmate and former colleague in the Arizona State Senate. Bee is currently the Arizona State Senate President and is considered a strong challenger in this race. As of June 6, 2008, Congressional Quarterly says this district "leans Democrat."

2006

Main article: Arizona's 8th congressional district election, 2006

Giffords launched her campaign on January 24, 2006. The campaign received national attention early on as a likely pick-up for the Democratic Party. Prominent Democrats endorsed Giffords including Tom Daschle, Robert Reich, Janet Napolitano, and Bill Clinton. EMILY's List endorsed Giffords early in the campaign cycle.[10] The Sierra Club and the Arizona Education Association also endorsed her.[11] On September 12, 2006, Giffords won her party's nomination in the primary election.

Her Republican opponent in the general election was Randy Graf, a conservative former state senator known for his enforcement-only position on immigration and illegal aliens. Graf had run against Jim Kolbe in the 2004 GOP primary, and had announced his candidacy in 2006 before Kolbe announced his retirement. The Republican establishment was somewhat cool toward Graf, believing he was far too conservative for the district. While the 8th has a slight Republican lean, the brand of Republicanism practiced in the Tucson area has historically been more moderate than has been the case in the rest of the state. Many analysts[who?] believed that Graf faced certain defeat in November if he won the nomination. The national GOP took the unusual step of endorsing one of the more moderate candidates in the primary; but Graf won anyway, helped by a split in the Republican moderate vote between two candidates.

Not long after the primary, Congressional Quarterly changed its rating of the race to "Leans Democrat." By late September, the national GOP had pulled most of its funding, effectively conceding the seat to Giffords.

Giffords won the race on November 7, 2006, with 54% of the vote. Graf received 42% of the vote. The rest of the vote went to minor candidates.

Graf's candidacy was mentioned frequently in the national media as a test case of voters' feelings toward immigration issues, and Giffords' victory was portrayed as evidence that Americans are less extreme in their anti-immigration positions than Graf.[12] Graf did not even carry a majority in Cochise County, a border region where illegal immigration is an important local issue. However, Arizona's continuing interest in the issue is evidenced by the fact that all propositions in the general election relating to restricting benefits to illegal aliens did pass by wide margins.

Career in Arizona legislature

Giffords began her political career as a legislator in the Arizona House of Representatives, where she served from 2001 to 2003.

Giffords was elected to the Arizona Senate in the fall of 2002 and is the youngest woman ever elected to this body. She took office in January 2003 and was re-elected in 2004. She resigned from the Arizona Senate on December 1, 2005, in preparation for her congressional campaign.

In early 2005, Giffords said of the Arizona Legislature: "The previous two legislatures enjoyed the benefits of a working coalition consisting of Democrats and middle-of-the-road Republicans. Due to a lack of competitive legislative districts and low voter turnout during GOP primaries, a fairly large crop of mostly conservative Republicans will dominate the House and Senate in 2005." Giffords' concerns played out as an increasingly conservative legislature combined with a Democratic governor, led to increased polarity in Arizona politics. [13]

Healthcare for the poor was a major issue for Giffords when she served in the legislature. She worked to expand health care coverage for low-income women and children by sponsoring a number of bills. She wanted to change the law to allow schools to help children who lacked health insurance. She sponsored a cancer control plan for Arizona and was a leader in investigating the issue of cervical cancer. She pushed for state support of rural health care. She also push for bills related to mental health and was named by the Mental Health Association of Arizona as the 2004 Legislator of the Year. Giffords also earned the Sierra Club's Most Valuable Player award. [14]

In the legislature, Giffords worked on the bipartisan Children’s Caucus, which sought to improve education and health care for Arizona’s children. Critics of this plan argued that it amounted to taxpayer funded daycare. She worked with Arizona's Governor Janet Napolitano to promote all-day kindergarten. Giffords supported raising more money for schools "through sponsorship of supplemental state aid through bonds and tax credits that could be used for school supplies." She was awarded Arizona Family Literacy’s Outstanding Legislator for 2003. [15]

Business career

Giffords is the managing partner at Giffords Capital Management, a property management company based in Tucson. Prior to this she served as president and CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses. El Campo was a local automotive chain founded by her grandfather. In 2000, she oversaw the sale of the company to Goodyear Tire. At the time of the sale she commented on the difficulties local businesses face when competing against large national firms. Giffords said "I’m really proud of being able to return to Arizona and help my family in 1996 and take over a tire business that had serious challenges."[16]

Personal

Giffords married astronaut Mark E. Kelly on November 10, 2007. He was the space shuttle's pilot on STS-108 and STS-121. STS-121 in 2006 was the first shuttle mission to launch on the Fourth of July. Giffords participated in a NASA tradition when she selected "Beautiful Day" by U2 as one of the wake-up calls for the STS-121 shuttle crew. On May 31, 2008, Kelly rocketed toward the heavens for the third time as Commander of STS-124. This mission in to space marked the first time an astronaut was married to a sitting member of the U.S. Congress, although there have been lawmakers in space previously including John Glenn and Jake Garn.

Giffords is an avid reader and was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition on July 9, 2006. She discussed books she was currently reading, including First Man, a biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong and The Heartless Stone a book reporting on several continents that exposes unsavory[citation needed] aspects of the diamond industry. Congresswoman Giffords is periodically interviewed together with Illinois Republican Peter Roskam on NPR's All Things Considered. The series focuses on their experiences as freshman members of Congress.

After Hurricane Katrina struck in the late summer of 2005, Giffords spent time as a volunteer in Houston, Texas, helping those displaced by the storm. She wrote about her experience in the Tucson Citizen. [17]

Giffords graduated from University High School. She received a B.A. in Sociology and Latin American History from Scripps College in Claremont, California in 1993, and a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1996.

Giffords is Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman, though she is not the first member of that faith to represent Arizona in Washington. There have been at least two others: Democrat Sam Coppersmith served one term in the House from 1993 to 1995 and Republican Sam Steiger served in the House from 1967 to 1977. Former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, while not Jewish himself, had Jewish heritage and referred to himself as half-Jewish.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.giffordsforcongress.com/biography/
  2. ^ Gelbart, Debra Morton (2006-11-08). "Ms. Giffords goes to Congress", JTA News Service, JTA.org. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  3. ^ Congresswoman's husband now in orbit
  4. ^ THOMAS Search Results: H.R.1441. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2008-03-09
  5. ^ House Votes Again To Ban Sales Of F-14 Parts To Iran. Aero-News.net, June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-09
  6. ^ Stanton, Billie. Stanton: Democrats damned by Iraq war vote. Tucson Citizen June 5, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-09
  7. ^ "Giffords Seen as Successor to Kolbe", La Voz (republished on candidate's web site and translated to English) (June 15, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  8. ^ http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:114370
  9. ^ "Candidate's track record", Candidate's web site (June 15, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  10. ^ "EMILY's List Announces Endorsement of Gabrielle Giffords for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District", Emily's List (June 14, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-09. 
  11. ^ "Democratic contender gets support in House race", Phoenix Business Journal (June 13, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-09. 
  12. ^ "Voters reject immigrant-bashing among candidates", San Jose Mercury News (November 12, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  13. ^ "Right-Wing Agenda Will Obscure our Most-Pressing Issues", Tucson Citizen (republished on candidate's web site) (January 10, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  14. ^ "Flunkies — The Sierra Club grades the Arizona Legislature", Candidate's web site (June 12, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  15. ^ "Track Record", Candidate's web site (June 12, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  16. ^ "Gifford's campaign website". Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  17. ^ "Gifford's campaign website". Retrieved on 2007-05-08.

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jim Kolbe		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona's 8th congressional district
2007–Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
Arizona's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Representative(s)
Rick Renzi (R), Trent Franks (R), John Shadegg (R), Ed Pastor (D), Harry Mitchell (D), Jeff Flake (R), Raúl Grijalva (D), Gabrielle Giffords (D)
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Representatives to the 110th United States Congress from Arizona
110th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: E. Pastor | J. Shadegg | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | R. Renzi | G. Giffords | H. Mitchell
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Giffords"
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