Kevin Brady
Kevin Brady | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 8th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Fields |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 15th district | |
| In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Mike McKinney |
| Succeeded by | Tommy Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kevin Patrick Brady April 11, 1955 Vermillion, South Dakota |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Cathy Brady |
| Residence | The Woodlands, Texas |
| Alma mater | University of South Dakota |
| Occupation | public affairs director |
Kevin Patrick Brady (born April 11, 1955) is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 8th congressional district, serving since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes a large swath of suburban and rural territory around Houston and Beaumont.
Early life, education, and early political career
Brady was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, one of five children of William F. and Nancy A. Brady. His father, a lawyer, was killed in 1967 in a courtroom shooting in Rapid City when Brady was 12 years old. His mother was left to raise five children by herself. Student body president and a four-sport athlete, Brady graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 1973. Working his way through college holding a variety of jobs - construction worker, meat packer, manufacturing worker, waiter, and bartender - Brady graduated from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he played varsity baseball, served in the student government association and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. In 2005 he was named a Distinguished Alumni of the university, and in 2001 was a recipient of the Order of Achievement by the national Lambda Chi Alpha organization.
A chamber of commerce executive at the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce, Brady was elected to the Rapid City Common Council at age 26. In 1982 he moved to Texas to work for the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and later the South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce.
Texas House of Representatives
Brady began his Texas political career in 1990 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, representing The Woodlands, parts of Montgomery County and five other counties west and north of Houston.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
- 1996
Incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Jack Fields of Texas' 8th congressional district decided to retire. Brady decided to run and ranked second in the Republican primary with 22% of the vote in a six candidate field. But the candidate who ranked first, Dr. Gene Fontenot, received just 36% of the vote, short of the 50% threshold. [1] In the run-off election, Brady defeated him 53%-47%.[2] However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Bush v. Vera that three congressional districts in Texas were unconstitutional.[3] After holding hearings, the court concluded that there was no longer time to hold primaries and instead forced all candidates (Democrats and Republicans) be listed together on the November general election ballot in a jungle primary. If no candidate reached 50%, a special runoff would be held on December 10 between the two highest ranking candidates regardless of political party. In the November election, Brady ranked first with 41% of the vote.[4] In the December run-off election, he defeated Fontenot again 59%-41%.[5]
- 1998–2008
During this time period, he never won re-election with less than 67% of the vote.[6]
- 2010-2012
For the first time since 1998, Brady was challenged in the Republican primary. Three candidates filed against him. He defeated all of them in the March primary with 79% of the vote.[7] He won re-election with 80% of the vote.[8] In the May, 2012, Republican primary in a newly-redrawn district he defeated his challenger with 76% of the vote. In the November 6, 2012 general election he defeated his Democratic opponent with over 77% of the vote.
Tenure
Brady has been a reliable conservative and serves as a Deputy Whip for the House majority. He has advocated lower taxes, deficit reduction and free trade, and called for replacing the income tax with a federal sales tax. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, in 2004 he restored the sales tax deduction, which had been eliminated in 1986. Brady has been a leader on free trade within Congress, serving as President George W. Bush's point man on the successful passage of the Central America Free Trade Agreement and the recent agreements with S.Korea, Colombia and Panama. However, he is best known as the author of a federal "sunset law" that would require every federal program not specifically written into the Constitution to justify its existence to taxpayers within 12 years or face elimination.[9] He has introduced this bill at the beginning of every Congress. It was approved overwhelmingly by the House as an amendment in 2004 but did not progress further. In 2006 it passed the Government Reform Committee but did not reach a floor vote.
As the vice chairman and top Republican in Congress on the Joint Economic Committee, Brady and his staff developed the "Organizational Chart of the House Democrats Health Plan", the complex chart that showed the creation of at least 31 new federal agencies, commissions and mandates included in the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. He has also called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to step down, citing rising unemployment, exaggerated stimulus job claims, unsustainable debt and "failed economic policies" of the Obama administration. Recently he has introduced two major pieces of legislation: The MAP Act which shrinks the size of the federal government, abolishes obsolete agencies, establishes a line item-veto for each President and permanently ends the threat of a future government shutdown; and the Sound Dollar Act which reforms the Federal Reserve(see below).
In March, 2012, he proposed the Sound Dollar Act, which would require the Federal Reserve to monitor gold and the foreign-exchange value of the U.S. Dollar. The bill would also replace the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of controlling unemployment and inflation with one mandate for U.S. Dollar price stability.[10]
Brady's district was hit hard by Hurricane Rita and again by Hurricane Ike, and he has helped lead the Texas recovery effort in the House for both disasters. Recently, in the interim redistricting map approved by a San Antonio federal court the 8th District loses seven counties in east and southeast Texas and gains all or part of six counties going north toward Dallas.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Ways and Means
- Joint Economic Committee (Vice Chairman)
Caucus memberships
- Army Caucus
- Congressional Missing and Exploited Children Caucus
- Congressional Rural Caucus
- International Conservation Caucus
- Sportsmen's Caucus
Personal life
Brady lives in The Woodlands, a suburb of Houston with his wife Cathy and two young sons. He is an original Hometown Hero of The Woodlands awarded by Interfaith-of-The Woodlands, a Paul Harris Fellow in The Woodlands Rotary Club and a member of Saints Simon & Jude Catholic Church. He and his family did not move to Washington, D.C. and he continues to commute from Texas to work in Congress each week.
On October 7, 2005 Brady was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol while in South Dakota to accept a distinguished alumni award. He was returning from a reception with his mother, wife, sister and brother-in-law in the car when it was pulled over for a non-working tail light. He faced a fine of up to $1,000 and a year in jail. He pleaded no contest. Upon his misdemeanor conviction on November 8, he was fined $350, and his right to drive in South Dakota was suspended for 30 days. Before his sentencing, Brady had stated that "no one is above the law" and he would accept "every consequence" of his actions, even if that meant a jail sentence. "To me, regardless of how this turns out, what it says is that you don't get behind the wheel." Conroe (Texas) Courier.
References
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=222672
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=222682
- ^ http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-03-09/texas-redistricting-a-timeline/
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=30056
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=30083
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=1744
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=612091
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=524824
- ^ "U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady". The Texas Tribune. 1955-11-04. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- ^ http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/293730/king-dollar-will-cut-oil-prices-larry-kudlow
External links
- U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady official U.S. House site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Profile at SourceWatch