Allen Boyd

Allen Boyd, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Pete Peterson
Succeeded by	Steve Southerland
Personal details
Born	June 6, 1945 (1945-06-06) Valdosta, Georgia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Stephanie "Cissy" Roush (separated)
Children	David Boyd
Residence	Monticello, Florida
Alma mater	Florida State University
Occupation	farmer
Religion	Methodist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Unit	Infantry
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Fred Allen Boyd Jr. (born June 6, 1945) is the former U.S. Representative for Florida's 2nd congressional district, serving from 1997 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He currently works for a lobbying firm, the Twenty-First Century Group.

Early life, education and career

Boyd was born in Valdosta, Georgia to Margaret Elizabeth Finlayson and Fred Allen Boyd. He was educated at Florida State University, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating in 1969, Boyd served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the United States Army.

Florida House of Representatives

Boyd served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1989 to 1997.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
• Committee on the Budget

Boyd is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Political positions

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

• On June 14, Boyd held the Joint Oil Spill-Hurricane Planning conference at Florida State University Panama City campus to examine the potential threat of a Gulf of Mexico hurricane colliding with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Federal and state emergency response agenices, representatives from the Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy, and members of the local tourism industry all participated in the day long event.
• On June 11, Boyd sent a letter to the President of the United States asking him to create a Gulf seafood safety task force to counter growing public perception that all seafood harvested in the Gulf of Mexico is contaminated by oil.
• In April the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded, killing 11 individuals and leaking thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On May 5, 2010, Boyd introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would raise the liability cap on economic damages in oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion. The legislation would alter the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which was passed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and requires companies to pay for all cleanup costs of spills but only up to $75 million in economic damages.

Health care

• On March 19, 2010, Boyd announced his support for the Health Care Reform Bill under consideration in the House and Senate.
• In November 2009, Boyd voted along with 39 other Democrats against the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

2008 financial crisis

• On December 11, 2009, Boyd voted for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
• On October 3, 2008, Boyd voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. He later voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Iraq War

• On October 10, 2002, Allen Boyd was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

Drug War

• On Sep 25, 2001, Boyd voted for HR 2586, an amendment to set up a task force on counter-terrorism and drug interdiction and allow military personnel to help patrol U.S. borders.
• Voted on Jun 10, 2008 for the Mérida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Authorization Act, providing funding for Mexico to spend on drug prohibition related contracts. Opponents at the time complained this would increase the availability of military trained hit men to the drug cartels.

Political campaigns

1996-2008

Boyd entered the 1996 Democratic primary for the 2nd in 1996, after three-term Democratic incumbent Pete Peterson announced his retirement. He led a three-way Democratic primary with 48 percent of the vote, a few thousand votes short of outright victory. He then won the runoff with 64 percent of the vote and easily won the election in November. He was reelected with no major-party opposition in 1998 and defeated an underfunded Republican in 2000.

In 2002, however, the Republican-controlled state legislature significantly altered Boyd's district. Part of Tallahassee, which has anchored the district since its formation in 1963 (as the 9th District; it was renumbered the 2nd in 1967) was shifted to the Jacksonville-based 3rd District. In its place, heavily Republican Panama City was shifted from the Pensacola-based 1st District to the 2nd. On paper, this made the district considerably friendlier to Republicans; Al Gore narrowly won the old 2nd in 2000, but George W. Bush would have narrowly won the district under its current boundaries. However, Boyd was handily reelected with 66 percent of the vote in 2002 against another underfunded Republican. In 2004, Boyd faced his first serious test in the form of state representative Bev Kilmer, but Boyd turned back this challenge fairly easily, taking 62 percent of the vote even as George W. Bush carried the district with 54 percent of the vote. Boyd was unopposed for reelection in 2006 and defeated a nominal Republican challenger in 2008.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010#District 2*

Boyd was defeated by Republican nominee Steve Southerland in the 2010 election, taking only 41 percent of the vote. Independent candidates Paul C. McKain and Dianne Berryhill were also on the ballot; Ray Netherwood qualified as a write-in candidate.

In the Democratic primary, Boyd won against State Senator Alfred Lawson, Jr.

Personal life

Boyd is married and has 3 grown children (2 sons and 1 daughter). His son John was imprisoned in 2008 for transporting illegal narcotics and illegal aliens into the United States from Mexico. On September 30, 2009, it was announced that Boyd and his wife of 40 years, Cissy, had filed for divorce once before in 1997, but the couple reconciled and no additional action was taken on the divorce until 2002 when a joint dismissal of the divorce filing was submitted. There is no additional information on their recent separation other than they stated it is not connected to their previous separation

Boyd is a fifth generation farmer from Monticello, Florida and is the majority owner of Boyd Family Farms Inc. It is currently receiving farm subsidies appropriated by the same Appropriations Subcommittee of which Boyd is a member. Allen Boyd has received almost $1.3 million in federal farm subsidies since 1996, placing him in the top 3 percent of farmers receiving subsidies nationally, and 12th among more than 5,300 farms in his district that received subsidy money over this period.

External links

• U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd official U.S. House site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Pete Peterson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 2nd congressional district 1997–2011	Succeeded by Steve Southerland