Pete Stark

Pete Stark
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Norman Mineta
Personal details
Born	Fortney Hillman Stark, Jr. (1931-11-11) November 11, 1931 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Deborah Roderick
Residence	Fremont, California
Alma mater	MIT University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	Banking executive, politician
Committees	Ways & Means Committee
Website	http://www.petestark.com/
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	Air Force
Years of service	1955-1957

Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark, Jr. (born November 11, 1931) is an American politician from the state of California. A Democrat, he has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973, representing California's 13th congressional district in southwestern Alameda County.

The 13th district includes Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro and Fremont, as well as parts of Oakland and Pleasanton. Stark lives in Fremont.

One of the House's most outspokenly liberal members, Stark is the first, and so far only, openly atheist member of the United States Congress.

Early life and education

Stark was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953. He served in the United States Air Force from 1955 to 1957. After leaving the Air Force, Stark attended the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his MBA in 1960. Stark enjoyed living in the Bay Area so much that he decided to settle there after graduating.

In 1963, Stark founded Security National Bank, a small bank in Walnut Creek. Within 10 years it grew to a $100 million company with branches across the East Bay.

Stark grew up as a Republican, but his opposition to the Vietnam War led him to switch parties in the mid-1960s. He printed checks with peace signs on them and placed a giant peace sign on the roof of his bank's headquarters.

Congressional career

In 1972, Stark ran in the Democratic primary against ten-term incumbent U.S. Representative George Paul Miller in what was then the 8th district. He won the nomination by a shocking 34-point margin. In the 1972 general election he won by a narrow 5-point margin. Since that election he has not faced a contest nearly that close and has been reelected 16 times. He has only dropped below 60 percent of the vote once (in 1980). Due to redistricting, his district has changed numbers twice, from the 8th (1973–75) to the 9th (1975–93) to the 13th (since 1993).

Today Stark is the longest-serving member of Congress from California. Ironically, Stark ran against George P. Miller, " For Miller being in Washington - to long, elected in 1944." He has been a ranking member of the Banking and Currency Committee and powerful Ways and Means Committee. He also served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia in the 103rd Congress. His voting record is generally very liberal, as indicated in the ratings section below, and he has been voted the most liberal member of Congress for two consecutive years. He was a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 election and was re-elected in the general election with 76.3% of the vote.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways & Means
  • Subcommittee on Health (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support

Controversial statements

Stark has been known to make controversial statements throughout his political career.

In August 1990, Stark drew controversy for calling Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Wade Sullivan, an African American, "a disgrace to his race" for "supporting Bush Administration policies that Mr. Stark called "bankrupt and damaging to minority members". Stark was criticizing a speech by Sullivan who opposes proposals for federally-sponsored national health insurance (Stark had introduced legislation for national health insurance). Stark said that Sullivan had been influenced by George H. W. Bush administration officials such as Office of Management and Budget Director Richard Darman and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu to change his positions on both abortion and health care. Stark later apologized for the controversy.

In May 2004, Stark responded to a constituent Army National Guard member's letter critical of Stark's recent vote on the war in Iraq by immediately calling the service member's telephone and leaving a feisty response on voicemail which was later broadcast on San Francisco's controversial talk radio station KSFO. Stark's harsh voicemail was transcribed as follows:

Dan, this is Congressman Pete Stark, and I just got your fax. And you don't know what you're talking about. So if you care about enlisted people, you wouldn't have voted for that thing either. But probably somebody put you up to this, and I'm not sure who it was, but I doubt if you could spell half the words in the letter, and somebody wrote it for you. So I don't pay much attention to it. But I'll call you back later and let you tell me more about why you think you're such a great goddamn hero and why you think that this generals [sic] and the Defense Department, who forced these poor enlisted guys to do what they did, shouldn't be held to account. That's the issue. So if you want to stick it to a bunch of enlisted guys, have your way. But if you want to get to the bottom of people who forced this awful program in Iraq, then you should understand more about it than you obviously do. Thanks.

On October 18, 2007, Stark made the following comments on the House floor during a debate with Congressman Joe Barton of Texas: "Republicans sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement." Following the initial criticism to his statements, when asked by a radio station if he would take back any of his statements, Stark responded "Absolutely not. I may have dishonored the commander in chief, but I think he’s done pretty well to dishonor himself without any help from me." Five days later on October 23, 2007, Stark said, "I apologize for this reason: I think we have serious issues before us, the issue of providing medical care to children, the issue about what we’re going to do about a war that we’re divided about how to end."

Other controversies include calling Congressman Scott McInnis of Colorado a "little wimp" and a "little fruitcake" and challenging him to a fight during a Ways and Means Committee meeting in 2003. In a 2001 debate, he falsely stated that all of the children of Congressman J. C. Watts of Oklahoma were "born out of wedlock." In another debate, he called Congresswoman Nancy Johnson of Connecticut a "whore for the insurance industry" and suggested that her knowledge of health care came solely from "pillow talk" with her husband, a physician.

Political views

Budget

Stark voted against the bipartisan May 2008 farm subsidy bill, which was supported by most House Democrats and over half of House Republicans, in part because of its cost.

He also voted against both readings of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which gave $700 billion dollars to troubled investment banks. Stark argued that "the proposed bailout will only help reckless speculators who have been caught on the wrong side of the come line." Criticizing the bill as corporate welfare, he said "The bill before us today is basically the same three-page Wall Street give-away first put forth by President Bush" before the vote on the first bailout.

Health care

Stark is known to have a longstanding interest in health care issues and has been critical of the fate of the uninsured under the current administration.

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Stark brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which cut Medicaid payments. The case, Conyers v. Bush, was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing in November of the same year.

Iraq War

Pete Stark speaks at a Town Hall meeting in January 2007 in San Leandro, CA.

Pete Stark was an early opponent of the Iraq War, speaking on the House floor against the resolution authorizing military force against Iraq, on October 10, 2002. In part he said, "Well then, who will pay? School kids will pay. There'll be no money to keep them from being left behind — way behind. Seniors will pay. They'll pay big time as the Republicans privatize Social Security and rob the Trust Fund to pay for the capricious war. Medicare will be curtailed and drugs will be more unaffordable. And there won't be any money for a drug benefit because Bush will spend it all on the war. Working folks will pay through loss of job security and bargaining rights. Our grandchildren will pay through the degradation of our air and water quality. And the entire nation will pay as Bush continues to destroy civil rights, women's rights and religious freedom in a rush to phony patriotism and to courting the messianic Pharisees of the religious right."

In January 2003 Stark supported a reinstatement of the draft, partly in protest against the call to war but also saying, "If we're going to have these escapades, we should not do it on the backs of poor people and minorities." In October 2004, Stark was one of only two members of Congress to vote in favor of the Universal National Service Act of 2003 (HR 163), a bill proposing resumption of the military draft.

Stark voted against authorizing the Iraq war and has opposed every funding bill for the war while the Republicans controlled Congress. However, he chose not to stand against the Democratic legislation to continue funding the war on March 23, 2007, despite other liberal Democrats voting against the bill. In a statement posted on his website he stated, "Despite my utmost respect for my colleagues who crafted this bill, I can't in good conscience vote to continue this war. Nor, however, can I vote 'No' and join those who think today's legislation goes too far toward withdrawal. That's why I'm making the difficult decision to vote 'present'." Stark was the only member of Congress to take this position.

2008 financial crisis

On September 25, 2008, Stark and Oregon Democrat Rep. Peter DeFazio signed a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposing a one quarter of one percent “transaction tax” on all trades in financial instruments including stocks, options, and futures. On September 29, 2008, Stark voted against HR 3997, the bailout bill backed by President Bush, House Speaker Pelosi and Presidential Candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Stark's vote helped defeat the bill, which led to a plunge in share prices on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 778 points for its biggest point drop ever as $1.2 trillion in market value was erased from American equities. Explaining his vote, Stark stated:

"President Bush tells us that we face unparalleled financial doom if this $700 billion bailout is not approved today. He and his Treasury Secretary – a former Wall Street fat cat – tell us that we have reached the point of 'crisis.' That is a familiar line from this President. It sounds like the disastrous rush to war in Iraq and the subsequent stampede to enact the Patriot Act. As I opposed the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, I stand in opposition to his latest rush to judgment."

On October 3, 2008, Stark voted against HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. With this vote, Stark became the sole member of the House of Representatives from the San Francisco Bay Area to oppose the bill. Explaining his vote, Stark stated:

"You're getting the same kind of misinformation now, the same kind of rush to judgment to tell you that a crisis will occur. It won't. Vote 'no.' Come back and help work on a bill that will help all Americans."

Atheism

"[I am a] Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being. I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social service."

Statement from Stark, January 2007

Stark is the first openly atheist member of Congress, as announced by the Secular Coalition for America. Stark acknowledged his atheism in response to an SCA questionnaire sent to public officials in January 2007.

On September 20, 2007, Stark reaffirmed his atheism by making a public announcement in front of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, the Harvard Law School Heathen Society, and various other atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, and nonreligious groups. Honoring his courage, the American Humanist Association named him their 2008 Humanist of the Year.

External links

• Congressman Pete Stark official U.S. House website
• Pete Stark for Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Interview with Jan Henfeld
• "The bottom line is I don't trust this president and his advisors", Salon.com, October 10, 2002, Stark's speech against the resolution authorizing military force against Iraq, delivered on the floor of the House
• "California Congressman Pete Stark Reflects on Life Under a Republican in the House", BuzzFlash, August 5, 2005
• "The War on Our Children", Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), In These Times, November 25, 2005
• Medicare for All Rep. Pete Stark, The Nation, February 6, 2006
• "First 'Nontheistic' Member of Congress Announced", Daniel Burke, Beliefnet, March 14, 2007

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