Steve Israel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve Israel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Rick Lazio
Born	May 30, 1958 (1958-05-30) (age 51) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Marlene Budd Israel
Residence	Huntington, New York
Alma mater	Nassau Community College George Washington University
Occupation	public relations executive, political assistant
Religion	Jewish

Steve J. Israel (born May 30, 1958) is an American politician from the state of New York, currently representing the state's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

[edit] Biography

Israel was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Nassau Community College, and George Washington University. He was elected to the town board in Huntington, New York in 1993.

He lives in Dix Hills with his wife, Marlene Budd, who had served on the Huntington Town council before being elected as a county Family Court judge last year. Israel has two daughters, ages 21 and 18.

[edit] Congress

[edit] Campaigns

After Rick Lazio left his House seat to run for the United States Senate in 2000, Israel was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat. Israel received 48% of the vote, defeating Republican Joan Jonhson, who received 34%, and three independent candidates who received 6% of the vote each.

[edit] The second district

Israel represents the New York's 2nd congressional district, located on Long Island, which includes the towns of Huntington, Babylon, Islip, and Smithtown in Suffolk County and part of the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County. It comprises such communities as Huntington, Dix Hills, Melville, Northport, Commack, Brentwood, Central Islip, Bay Shore, Deer Park, North Amityville, and Wyandanch. Israel's district was once one of the most conservative districts in the East. In 2002, however, the district was gerrymandered to Israel's advantage, removing much of the heavily middle-class, Republican South Shore neighborhoods and incorporating some of the more liberal and heavily Jewish areas on Long Island's affluent North Shore into the district. Until recently, the 2nd district was the only district on Long Island (excluding Brooklyn and Queens) where Democrats outnumber Republicans, though the 5th district, which is part in Nassau and part in Queens, also has a Democratic registration advantage both in the Queens and Nassau sections. With the Democrats making up quite a bit of ground on Long Island in voter registration, the 4th district also has a Democratic advantage in voter enrollment.

[edit] Congressional career

In his first term, Israel voted to authorize George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq, even though over 60% of his Democratic colleagues in the House voted against the bill.^[1] He said he was most proud of a bill that would accelerate research and treatment of ovarian cancer.^{[citation needed]} He has said his primary interests are national security, healthcare,and the environment.^{[citation needed]} Newsday called Israel "rookie of the year" in his first term and later identified him as one of eight "rising stars" nationally.^{[citation needed]}

In his second term, Israel was tapped for a leadership position as Assistant Whip. He is one of only two New York Members of Congress to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. He also serves on the House Financial Services Committee. He is the founder and chair of the Democratic Study Group on National Security, the Congressional center aisle caucus, and co-chairs the bipartisan House Cancer Caucus and the bipartisan Long Island Sound Task Force.

In his third term, Israel was appointed to chair the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Defense and Military, a group of 15 Members of Congress who will outreach to the defense community and advise the House Democratic Leadership on military policy. In 2006, Israel harshly criticized Jimmy Carter for his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid and at the same time criticized the Palestinian government.^[2]

In his fourth term in Congress, Israel was appointed to the Appropriations committee.

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

[edit] Leadership positions and Caucus membership

• House Democratic Caucus
  • Assistant Democratic Whip
  • Chair, House Democratic Caucus Task Force On Defense and the Military
  • Co-chair, House Democratic Study Group on National Security Policy
• Co-chair and founder of the House Center Aisle Caucus
• Co-chair, House Cancer Caucus
• Co-chair, Long Island Sound Caucus

[edit] Electoral history

New York election law allows for fusion voting, where a candidate can run as a member of multiple parties. In 2000, Israel ran only as a Democrat in his winning bid for Congress, but since 2002 he has run under the Democratic Party, the Independence Party, and the Working Families Party. The pooled vote totals for candidates are listed first, and the split of the votes among the parties they ran as is listed beneath.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steve Israel

• U.S. Representative Steve Israel, official U.S. House site
• Congressman Steve Israel, official campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Steve Israel profile