Jeff Flake

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Jeff Flake
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2001
Preceded by Matt Salmon
Personal details
Born Jeffry Lane Flake
December 31, 1962 (1962-12-31) (age 49)
Snowflake, Arizona
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Cheryl Flake
Residence Mesa, Arizona
Alma mater Brigham Young University
Occupation Public affairs director
Religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)

Jeffrey Lane "Jeff" Flake (born December 31, 1962) is the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 6th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was featured in the documentary series How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories.

Flake is running for a seat in the United States Senate in 2012.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life, education, and early career

Flake was born in Snowflake, Arizona, the son of Nerita (née Hock) and Dean Maeser Flake.[2] His birth town was named in part for his great-great-grandfather, Mormon pioneer William J. Flake.[3] Flake was educated at Brigham Young University and was a Mormon missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to South Africa in the early 1980s. He worked in the public affairs sector after college and served as Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia and Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute before entering the House of Representatives.

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives

[edit] Elections

Flake was first elected to what was then Arizona's 1st congressional district in 2000, after Republican incumbent Matt Salmon stepped down in honor of a self-imposed term limit. The district was then renumbered to the 6th district as Arizona gained two Congressional seats due to the results of the 2000 census.

In his campaign in 2000, Flake had pledged to serve no more than three terms in Congress, leaving no later than January 2007, but in early 2005, shortly after being elected for a third time, Flake announced that he had changed his mind and would in fact run for re-election in 2006. "It was a mistake to limit my own terms," Flake said.[4]

Flake's departures from the Republican party-line on certain issues earned him a closely watched primary challenge in 2004. He easily defeated the challenger.[5] In that same election, three out of five mayors in his home district opposed his re-election as he did not "bring pork barrel spending" to the mayors' cities.[3] In 2006, several Democrats had announced their intention to run for the seat; however, only one met the June filing deadline and that particular filing was rejected due to an insufficient amount of nominating signatures. "I did expect to have a primary opponent. I deserve one," Flake said, referring to the term-limit pledge which he had broken. "By all rights, I ought to have an opponent. I just got lucky, I guess."[6]

In the 2006 mid-term elections, Flake had no Democratic Party opponent and easily defeated the Libertarian Party candidate, Jason Blair, with 74% of the vote.[7]

[edit] Tenure

Jeff Flake at the 2011 Veterans Day parade in Phoenix, Arizona.

Flake is often among a handful of Republicans casting 'no' votes on bills most of his party supports.[8]

Spending

Flake is a "fiscal conservative."[9] He is a critic of government waste and advocates reducing federal spending.[10] He was described by columnist Robert Novak as an "insistent reformer."[11] He is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge[12] and one of eight House members to receive a 100% approval rating from the American Conservative Union.[13] Flake voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("TARP").[14]

A "scourge of pork-barrel spending,"[15] Flake was ruled the least profligate spender in Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste in July 2007 and designated a "taxpayer superhero."[10] In September 2010, Flake introduced a series of press releases under the title "So Just How Broke Are We?", whereby he explains the size of the national debt ($13 trillion) in terms of recent events, followed by a pun. As an example, noting that the cheapest 2010 World Series ticket on StubHub.com at AT&T Park was $425, it would take 30.6 billion tickets sold to pay down the debt, whereupon he remarked, "Looks like the voters are about to bring in some (debt) relievers."[16]

Earmarks

Flake is "known for his ardent opposition to earmarks."[17] He has been called an "anti-earmark crusader,"[18] and frequently challenges earmarks proposed by other members of Congress. Since May 2006, he has become prominent with the "Flake Hour," a tradition at the end of spending bill debates in which he asks earmark sponsors to come to the house floor and justify why taxpayers should pay for their "pet projects."[19] He is credited with prompting House rule changes to require earmark sponsors to identify themselves.[20]

Until September 2010, Flake issued a press release listing an "egregious earmark of the week" every Friday.[10] Usually the earmark will be followed by Flake making a humorous comment; as an example, Rep. Flake once said of Congressman Jose Serrano's $150,000 earmark to fix plumbing in Italian restaurants, "I would argue this is one cannoli the taxpayer doesn’t want to take a bite of."[3] The "earmark of the week" releases were ended and replaced with the "So Just How Broke Are We?" series of releases.

In 2007, Flake was removed from the House Judiciary Committee for "bad behavior." According to one source, the group that made this decision was dominated by Appropriations members resentful of Flake's opposition to earmarks.[21]

In March, 2010, the House Appropriations Committee implemented rules to ban earmarks to for-profit corporations, a change Flake supported. “This is the best day we’ve had in a while,” he said to the New York Times, which reported that approximately 1,000 such earmarks were authorized in the previous year, worth $1.7 billion.[22]

Immigration

Flake has sponsored bills to increase legal immigration and establish a guest worker program.[23] Some episodes of Flake's work toward immigration reform in the mid-2000s were documented in the series How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories.

Foreign policy

Flake initially supported the Iraq War, but later changed his position to one of cautious opposition,[24] including voting against appropriations. At a 2008 congressional hearing featuring General David Petraeus, Flake said: "I still have a hard time seeing the big picture and what constitutes success [in Iraq]. That's not just one side of the aisle with those kind of concerns. Many on this side of the aisle have that as well."[25] He also voted against President Barack Obama's proposed troop surge in Afghanistan.[26]

Flake supports ending the Cuba Trade Embargo[27] and otherwise normalizing relations with Cuba.[28] On February 8, 2011, Flake voted for renewal of the PATRIOT Act.[29]

Social issues

In October 2008, Esquire named Congressman Flake one of the Ten Best Members of Congress saying in part, "A true conservative, Flake is as rare as the dodo. Republicans should learn from him, and liberals and libertarians will find in him a strong privacy-rights ally."[30]

In December 2010, Flake was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members.[31][32] Flake had voted to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage with a Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006.[33][34]

USA Patriot Act

During the 2005 debate on renewal of the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, Jeff Flake successfully submitted several amendments to the bill in the House of Representatives. One required the FBI director to personally sign off on any request for library and bookstore records before applying to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court but it was altered in the United States Senate version of the bill.[35] Two of his amendments were signed into law and they subjected any National Security Letter and its gag order to a judicial challenge by the recipient, and narrowed the scope of "Sneak and Peek" warrants to have definite time limits on their duration and extensions before they need to notify the target of the investigation.[36] Before that "Sneak and Peek" warrants could be extended by the vague standard of not "unduly delaying trial" without any defined time limitation.[37] This amended bill was titled the U.S.A Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and it was signed into law on March 9, 2006.[38] This bill also required three Inspector General investigations that lead to the discovery of exigent letters[39] and National Security Letter abuses.[40]

On February 8, 2011 Jeff Flake voted to renew key provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT. The vote failed.[41] On February 10, 2011 Jeff Flake again voted to renew key provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT. This vote succeeded.[42]

[edit] Committee assignments

He also serves on the Liberty Committee (sometimes called the Liberty Caucus), a group of libertarian-leaning Republican congressmen.[43] He is also a member of the Republican Study Committee.

[edit] Film

Flake was featured in the documentary film series How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories by filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini. Films he appears in through the series include:

[edit] 2012 U.S. Senate campaign

Main article: United States Senate election in Arizona, 2012

In February 2011, Flake announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl in 2012.[44]

[edit] Personal life

Flake and his wife Cheryl have five children. They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spent time in Zimbabwe and South Africa as a Mormon missionary.[3][45] The Flakes have been married since ca. 1985.[10]

His uncle, Jake Flake, was an Arizona state senator.[46]

[edit] Electoral history

Arizona's 1st congressional district: 2000 results[47]
Year Democratic Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
2000 David Mendoza 97,455 42.38% Jeff Flake 123,289 53.61% Jon Burroughs Libertarian 9,227 4.01%
Arizona's 6th congressional district: Results 2002–2010[47]
Year Democratic Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
2002 Deborah Thomas 49,355 31.57% Jeff Flake* 103,094 65.94% Andy Wagner Libertarian 3,888 2.49%
2004 (no candidate) Jeff Flake 202,882 79.38% Craig Stritar Libertarian 52,695 20.62%
2006 (no candidate) Jeff Flake* 152,201 74.80% Jason M. Blair Libertarian 51,285 25.20%
2008 Rebecca Schneider 115,457 34.55% Jeff Flake* 208,582 62.42% Rick Biondi Libertarian 10,137 3.03%
2010 Rebecca Schneider 72,615 29.12% Jeff Flake* 165,649 66.42% Darell Tapp Libertarian 7,712 3.09% Richard Grayson Green 3,407 1.37%

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Camia, Catalina (2011-02-14) "GOP Rep. Jeff Flake kicks off Senate bid in Arizona" USA Today. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  2. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/reps/flake.htm
  3. ^ a b c d CBS 60 Minutes, Rep. Flake On Cutting Congressional Pork. Consulted on July 27, 2007.
  4. ^ Stone, Andrea. "Term-limit pledges get left behind". USA Today. April 12, 2006. [1]
  5. ^ Arizona Secretary of State website: [2]. Retrieved January 7, 2006.
  6. ^ Paul Giblin, "Flake faces solo race after judge removes hopeful", East Valley Tribune, July 12, 2006
  7. ^ CNN
  8. ^ Reason Magazine, Who Deserves the Libertarian Vote?. Consulted on July 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Copeland, Libby (2006-07-09) Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not., Washington Post
  10. ^ a b c d "It's gotta be the hair". East Valley Tribune. 2007-07-12. http://blogs.eastvalleytribune.com/view.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1728&blogId=31. Retrieved 2007-08-05. [dead link]
  11. ^ Novak, Robert. "The Pork-as-Usual GOP". The Washington Post. January 24, 2008. A4. [3]
  12. ^ Current Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers
  13. ^ http://www.conservative.org/archive2/House_standout.asp
  14. ^ Larison, Daniel (2011-02-10) Kyl Will Not Be Missed, The American Conservative
  15. ^ Caldwell, Christopher (2007-07-22) The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, New York Times
  16. ^ http://flake.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=213126
  17. ^ Wilson, Reid and Friedman, Dan (2011-02-10) Kyl Won't Run Again, National Journal
  18. ^ "America's Newsroom". 'Fox News'
  19. ^ Rogers, David. "Tilting at Appropriations". The Wall Street Journal. June 29, 2006. A4. [4]
  20. ^ Kelly, Matt. "Congressman says earmarks could cost GOP power". USA Today. 10/17/2006. [5]
  21. ^ RealClearPolitics - Articles - Inside Report: Democratic Discipline
  22. ^ Eric Lichtblau, "New Earmark Rules Have Lobbyists Scrambling", The New York Times, March 11, 2010.
  23. ^ Immigration: President Bush’s Proposal, Cato Institute
  24. ^ Fickess, Jim (2007-02-22) Flake: Patience with Iraq waning, Arizona Republic
  25. ^ Milbank, Dana (2008-04-10) From the GOP, the General Gets Unfriendly Fire, Washington Post
  26. ^ Abrams, Jim (2010-07-28) House OKs funds for Afghan surge, Associated Press
  27. ^ Rep. Jeff Flake on US Cuba Policy: End the Embargo, Reason.tv
  28. ^ Clemons, Steve (2007-04-15) Jeff Flake and Charlie Rangel Break Through Taboo of Exposing America's Failed Cuba Policy, Talking Points Memo
  29. ^ [6]
  30. ^ "The 10 Best Members of Congress," Esquire Magazine. October 2008
  31. ^ Chris Geidner, House Passes DADT Repeal Bill, Metro Weekly (December 15, 2010).
  32. ^ House Vote 638 - Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', New York Times (December 15, 2010).
  33. ^ Clerk of the House (September 30, 2004). "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 484". United States House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2004/roll484.xml. Retrieved February 14, 2011. 
  34. ^ Clerk of the House (July 18, 2006). "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 378". United States House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll378.xml. Retrieved February 14, 2011. 
  35. ^ http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-109hr3199enr/pdf/BILLS-109hr3199enr.pdf
  36. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-3199&tab=amendments
  37. ^ http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL33332.pdf
  38. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-3199
  39. ^ http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/04/14/sensenbrenner-feels-betrayed-by-fbis-violations/
  40. ^ http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RS22406.pdf
  41. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll026.xml
  42. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll029.xml
  43. ^ "The Liberty Committee". http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
  44. ^ Tang, Layla (2011-02-14) "U.S. Rep. Flake announces Senate bid", KGUN9-TV. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  45. ^ Lynch, Michael W. (February 2001). Reason Magazine, Soundbite: The Missionary's Positions Consulted on July 28, 2007.
  46. ^ Reid, Betty (2008-06-08). "State Senator Jake Flake dies at Snowflake home". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/06/08/20080608flakedies.html. Retrieved 2011-02-14. 
  47. ^ a b "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-10. 

[edit] External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Matt Salmon		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona's 1st congressional district
2001–2003		 Succeeded by
Rick Renzi
Preceded by
J.D. Hayworth		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona's 6th congressional district
2003–present		 Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Susan Davis
D-California		 United States Representatives by seniority
172nd		 Succeeded by
Sam Graves
R-Missouri
Senators
Representatives
Other states'
delegations
Representatives to the 107th–112th United States Congresses from Arizona (ordered by seniority)
107th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: B. Stump | J. Kolbe | E. Pastor | J. D. Hayworth | J. Shadegg | J. Flake
108th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: J. Kolbe | E. Pastor | J. D. Hayworth | J. Shadegg | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | R. Renzi
109th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: J. Kolbe | E. Pastor | J. D. Hayworth | J. Shadegg | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | R. Renzi
110th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: E. Pastor | J. Shadegg | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | R. Renzi | G. Giffords | H. Mitchell
111th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: E. Pastor | J. Shadegg | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | G. Giffords | H. Mitchell | A. Kirkpatrick
112th Senate: J. McCain | J. Kyl House: E. Pastor | J. Flake | T. Franks | R. Grijalva | G. Giffords | P. Gosar | B. Quayle | D. Schweikert
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeff_Flake&oldid=476931426"
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