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Louie Gohmert

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Louie Gohmert
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2005
Preceded byMax Sandlin
Personal details
Born (1953-08-18) August 18, 1953 (age 71)
Pittsburg, Texas
Political partyRepublican
SpouseKathy Gohmert
ChildrenKaty, Caroline, and Sarah
ResidenceTyler, Texas
Alma materTexas A&M University, Baylor University
OccupationCongressman
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1978–1982
UnitJudge Advocate General's Corps

Louis Buller (Louie) Gohmert, Jr. (born August 18, 1953) is an American politician and current Republican U.S. Representative from Texas's 1st congressional district.[1]

Life and career

Gohmert was born in Pittsburg, Texas. He received his B.A. from Texas A&M University in 1975. At A&M, he was a Brigade Commander of the Corps of Cadets and class president. He later received his Juris Doctor from Baylor University in Waco in 1977 where he also served as class president. Gohmert served in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, at Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1978 to 1982. The majority of his U.S. Army legal service was as a defense attorney.

Gohmert was elected as a state district judge for Texas's 7th Judicial District comprising Smith County (Tyler) in 1992 and was reelected two times before being appointed by Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacancy as Chief Justice on Texas's 12th Court of Appeals, where he served from 2002 to 2003. After Texas' 2003 mid-decade redistricting process, he successfully defeated Democratic incumbent 1st District Congressman Max Sandlin for his seat in Congress, becoming the first Republican since Reconstruction to represent the 1st District of northeast Texas. In the Republican primary, Gohmert defeated State Representative Wayne Christian of Center, who thereafter returned to the state legislature.

Gohmert serves on two House committees: Judiciary (because of his judicial background) and Natural Resources (as his district sits on top of the East Texas oil field).

In 2006, Gohmert won his second term by defeating independent Roger L. Owen, a swimming pool builder from Hallsville. He faced no major-party opposition in 2008.

Congressional activities

2008–2009

Gohmert offered an alternative plan to kick-start the economy with his tax holiday bill that would allow taxpayers to be exempt for two months from having federal income tax taken out of their paychecks.[2]

On July 29, 2009, he signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1503. This bill would "amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of president to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the office of president under the Constitution".[3]

Political positions

Taxes

Gohmert is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge.[4]

Abortion

Gohmert has a Pro-Life voting record. He has stated that he believes that life begins at conception. Gohmert sponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act. Gohmert voted for the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, a bill that prohibits the transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of an abortion without the consent of the minor's parents. He has 100% Pro-Life voting record rating from the NRLC.[5][6]

Animal rights

In a 2012 meeting of the House Natural Resources committee, Gohmert stated his strong support of a trans-Alaskan pipeline, as a means for caribou to have more sex.[7][8][9]

According to Gohmert, "When [the caribou] want to go on a date, they invite each other to head over to the pipeline. So [his] real concern now [is] … if oil stops running through the pipeline … do we need a study to see how adversely the caribou would be affected if that warm oil ever quit flowing?” Gohmert's comments were not favorably received by the rest of the committee; reportedly, Alaskan representative Don Young was forced to stifle his laughter in response.[10][11]

Energy and the environment

Gohmert does not believe in man made climate change, and has asserted that data supporting the theory is fraudulent. Gohmert has opposed cap-and-trade legislation, such as the one that was passed in the US House when it was Democratic controlled. Gohmert supports expanding drilling, and exploration and drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).[12]

Education

Gohmert has made statements and voted for legislation that support the use of school vouchers.[13]

Debt

Gohmert was one of a number of Republicans who voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011 on grounds it did not do enough to deal with the government's growing debt.[14]

Comments on "terror baby" plots

On August 12, 2010, Gohmert appeared on Anderson Cooper 360° to defend recent comments he made on the floor of the House regarding "terror babies". Initially, Gohmert had claimed (in a speech made on the House floor in June 2010) that an ex-FBI agent had told him about "terror baby" plots. On Fox Business News, Gohmert had later claimed that an airline passenger with a relative in Hamas had a grandchild who was to be intentionally born in the United States.[15] In the interview, Gohmert asserted that pregnant women from the Middle East are traveling to the US on tourist visas, planning to deliver the child there. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, this automatically grants citizenship to the child. Gohmert asserted that the child would then be returned to the mother's home country and be submitted to a life of terrorist training. When repeatedly asked by the host for any evidence of this, Gohmert did not provide substantiation for either the ex-FBI agent story or the airline passenger story, but gave a description of a Washington Post article,[16] which described so-called "birth tourism" packages, mainly directed at Chinese tourists. These packages (one was described in the article for $14,750) were described by Gohmert as a "gaping hole in the security of our country". When asked several times by Cooper for the connection and any corroborating evidence, Gohmert responded "If you don't think this is evidence, you have to believe that the terrorists are more stupid than these enterprising people".[17] The Daily Show later parodied this incident.[18]

Congressional committee assignments

Committee on the Judiciary

Committee on Natural Resources

In addition Gohmert is a member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Gohmert and his wife Kathy are parents to three daughters. Gohmert attends Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, where he has served as a deacon and teaches Sunday school.[19]

References

  1. ^ map
  2. ^ "Rep. Louie Gohmert Wants Congress to Ditch Federal Income tax for 2008". Fox News. December 1, 2008.
  3. ^ "Text of H.R.1503 as Introduced in House: Presidential Eligibility Act - U.S. Congress". OpenCongress. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  4. ^ "The Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers 112th Congressional List" (PDF). Americans for Tax Reform. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  5. ^ http://www.ontheissues.org/TX/Louie_Gohmert.htm#Foreign_Policy
  6. ^ http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/rep_bios.php?rep_id=31558116&category=views&id=20100506100929
  7. ^ http://www.adn.com/2012/02/07/2304478/texas-congressman-lectures-colleagues.html
  8. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-state-department-is-no-donald-trump/2012/02/07/gIQANuCkyQ_story.html
  9. ^ http://www.newser.com/story/139284/things-congress-talks-about-caribou-sex.html
  10. ^ http://www.inquisitr.com/192125/texas-republican-supports-pipeline-for-the-sake-of-caribou-sex/
  11. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/louie-gohmert-best-caribou-wingman-ever/2012/02/07/gIQAIj2dwQ_blog.html
  12. ^ http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/rep_bios.php?rep_id=31558116&category=views&id=20100506145376
  13. ^ http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/rep_bios.php?rep_id=31558116&category=views&id=20100527128545
  14. ^ http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/rep_bios.php?rep_id=31558116&category=views&id=140971302572
  15. ^ Editorial (August 14, 2010). "... and avoid crackpot theories, too". Boston Globe. Retrieved August 14, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ Richburg, Keith (18 July 2010), "For many pregnant Chinese, a U.S. passport for baby remains a powerful lure", Washington Post, retrieved 13 August 2010
  17. ^ Cooper, Anderson (August 12, 2010). "Video: Rep. Gohmert on 'terror babies' conspiracy". CNN. Retrieved August 13, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ "Jon Stewart & Anderson Cooper Look at Gaping Holes - Security - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 08/17/2010 - Video Clip | Comedy Central". Thedailyshow.com. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  19. ^ http://gohmert.house.gov/Biography/
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U.S. House of Representatives

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