Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Zoe Lofgren, U. S. House of Representatives, California

Zoe Lofgren was born Sue Lofgren in December 1947 in San Mateo, California. A lifelong Bay Area resident, Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, and earned her B.A. at Stanford University, and a J.D. at Santa Clara University. She left the San Jose area a few years after graduation from Stanford to serve as a staff assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, where, among other projects, she worked on the attempted impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

She returned to San Jose, but continued working for the Congressman while pursuing her law degree. After two years as a partner at an immigration law firm in San Jose, she was elected first to a community college board, then to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors where she served for three years.

When Congressman Edwards retired, Lofgren entered the race for his congressional seat, a decided underdog, but she managed to defeat the favorite. She has been re-elected six times with no substantive opposition.

Lofgren is currently the chair of her party’s Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee, and is the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.

Lofgren is married to John Marshall Collins. She lists her faith as Lutheran.

IN THE NEWS: Zoe Lofgren, chairman of the House Ethics Committee, disputed media reports that she has met privately with Rep. Charles Rangel to negotiate a “deal” with the embattled New York congressman. There are no committee rules barring Lofgren from meeting with Rangel directly, but any arrangements worked out would require a bipartisan vote of the Ethics Committee to be ratified.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Sue Myrick, United States House of Representatives, North Carolina

Sue Wilkins Myrick was born in August 1941 in Tiffin, Ohio. She is a professional advertising and public relations executive. She was previously a member of the Charlotte, North Carolina, City Council, and ran for the nomination for a U.S. Senate seat but did not survive the primary.

In 1994, Myrick was elected to the House of Representatives from North Carolina. She was again overwhelmingly re-elected, garnering nearly 70% of the popular vote. She has not been without controversy in both her private and political life, and has been outspoken on matters regarding radical Islam in America. She is part of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and a member of the Subcommittee on Health, and Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Rep. Myrick is married to Ed, and lists her religion as Evangelical Methodist.

IN THE NEWS: Rep. Sue Myrick said that the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has been sending agents to Mexico – and they have already entered the United States across the porous border. Myrick has asked Homeland Security to set up a special task force to investigate reports that Hezbollah is working with the drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. There are also Hezbollah agents in Venezuela, she added.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Carl Levin, United States Senator, Michigan

Carl Milton Levin was born in June 1934 in Detroit. He attended Detroit public schools and graduated from Swarthmore College and from Harvard Law School. Soon after earning his law degree, he was admitted to the Michigan bar and opened a practice in Detroit where he still lives.

He was state assistant police officer and general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964-67. The Detroit civil rights riots occurred in 1967. He was special assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan and chief appellate defender for the City of Detroit. He was also a member of the Detroit City Council, serving two four-year terms, the last four years as council president.

He was elected to the United States Senate in 1978, and has been comfortably re-elected since. Levin is currently the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He is a strong advocate for cost controls regarding military procurements. Levin argued against the Iraq War as being a diversion from pursuing terrorists.

Senator Levin is married to Barbara Halpern and they have three daughters. They list their faith as Jewish.

IN THE NEWS: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin says he has no objection in principle to the Pentagon’s current survey of active and reserve personnel about the potential repeat of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays. “It is a very good idea to get the attitude of the troops on things providing it is clearly understood that it is just a question to help guide decision makers,” he said.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

John Barrasso, United States Senator, Wyoming

John Anthony Barrasso was born in July 1952 in Reading, Pennsylvania.  He is a graduate of Central Catholic High School in Reading, and began his college career at Reseller Polytechnic Institute, later transferring to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  He obtained his bachelor of science degree there and later received his M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine.  He conducted his residency at Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut.  He is a board certified orthopedic surgeon, and has had private practice in Casper, Wyoming.

In addition to his private practice, Barrasso is Chief of Staff of the Wyoming Medical Center, State President of the Wyoming Medical Society, and holds other positions. He is also a rodeo physician for the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association, and has been awarded the “Wyoming Physician of the Year” and “Medal of Excellence” awards.

He was elected to the Wyoming Senate and served as the Chairman of the Transportation and Highways Committee.  In 2008, he was elected in a special election to fill the remainder of the term held by the late Sen. Craig L. Thomas.  He received more than 73 percent of the vote in that special election.

Barrasso is married to Bobbi Brown, and he has three children.  He lists his faith as Presbyterian.

IN THE NEWS:  President Barack Obama’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick   to be the new “Medicare czar” is said by Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming to be “an insult to the American people.  Dr. Berwick is a self-professed supporter of rationing health care and he won’t even have to explain his views to the American people in a Congressional hearing. Once again, President Obama has made a monkey of his pledge to be accountable and transparent.”

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Eric Cantor, U. S. House of Representatives, Virginia

Eric Ivan Cantor was born in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from the Collegiate School and earned a baccalaureate at George Washington University. He received his jurist doctorate from William & Mary Law School, and received a Master of Science degree from Columbia University.  While at George Washington University, Cantor worked as an intern for Representative Tom Bliley of Virginia, thus whetting his appetite for things political. Out of school, he worked for over a decade with his family’s small business doing legal work and real estate development.

He served in the Virginia House of Delegates for eight years, and in 2000 announced that he would seek the seat in the United States House of Representatives that was being vacated by the very representative for whom he had interned. He has served on numerous House committees, including Financial Services, Ways and Means and International Relations. He is presently the 23^rd Minority Whip.

Cantor is married to Diana Fine, and have three children. Mrs. Cantor is a lawyer and certified public accountant. Mrs. Cantor’s mother, Barbara Fine, also lives with them, and manages the cooking and shopping in the Cantor household, which is kosher. The Cantor family faith is Jewish.

IN THE NEWS:  Two discharge petitions to force votes to repeal the “Obamacare” health care reform act in its entirety are making their way through the House of Representatives. Among the signers are House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Virginia).  “The American people asked Congress and President Obama not to pass the massive healthcare overhaul, and they were ignored,” Boehner and Cantor said in a statement.  “The House should immediately vote on and pass legislation that would implement the will of the American people with respect to the president’s health care

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Joe Barton, U. S. House of Representatives, Texas

Joseph Linus “Joe” Barton was born in Waco, Texas in September 1949. He graduated from Waco High School and attended Texas A&M University in College Station, receiving a B.S. in industrial engineering. He received his M.Sc. from Purdue University in industrial administration.  Following college Barton entered private industry until becoming a White House Fellow under U. S. Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards. Later he consulted for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Co. before being elected to the United States Congress in 1984.

In the U.S. House of Representatives he has served as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and was Chairman of the House-Senate energy conference committee. He is currently the Ranking Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Barton and his wife Terri own several homes in Texas. Barton has four children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren.   He lists his faith as Methodist

IN THE NEWS:  The dust is not yet settling over remarks by Rep. Joe Barton on the BP oil spill disaster. At the House Energy Committee hearings last week, Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for what Barton called a “shake down” by the White House for a $10 billion escrow fund to help oil spill victims. Political pundits and lawmakers have seized Barton’s  statements to turn them into a campaign issue for the upcoming mid-term elections.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Spencer Bachus, House of Representatives, Alabama

Spencer Thomas Bachus, III,  was born in a Birmingham, Alabama suburb. He graduated from Auburn University, and received his juris doctor degree from the University of Alabama’s Law School. During the Vietnam War he served in the Alabama National Guard.

Bachus was elected to the Alabama State Senate and served one term there before moving to the Alabama House of Representatives for two terms.  In 1992 he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, and has been re-elected seven times without serious opposition.  However, he is facing a primary opponent this year.

Bachus is married to Linda Hills and they have five children. He lists his religion as Baptist.

IN THE NEWS:  Representative Bachus, the ranking member on the House Financial Services committee, has advised a slow-down on the process of financial reform legislation. He stated that the leaders are trying to hustle a Wall Street reform bill to President Obama’s desk without taking time to “digest all the changes” being made to it.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

David B. Vitter, United States Senator, Louisiana

Vitter was elected to the United States House of Representatives in a special election after the resignation of his predecessor. In subsequent elections he won re-election with over 80 percent of the vote.  In 2004, Vitter won a position in the U. S. Senate.

Vitter is a pro-life adherent, and has been involved in issues such as illegal immigration and ethics reform and term limits. He has advocated for abstinence education and against same-sex marriage. He has introduced legislation along with Sen. Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from the current $75 million to a liability of $10 billion.  He is the Ranking Member on four Senate subcommittees.

Senator Vitter is married to Wendy and they have four children. He lists his faith as Roman Catholic.

IN THE NEWS:  Louisiana Senator David Vitter has written Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking the administration to release the safety enhancement recommendations in leiu of the deepwater moratorium in the Gulf, saying it would cost more jobs and economic devastation than the oil spill itself.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Gary Ackerman, U.S. House of Representatives, 5^th District, New York

Gary Leonard Ackerman was born in Brooklyn in 1942. He attended local public schools and graduated from Queens College. He became a New York City school teacher where he taught social studies, mathematics and journalism to junior high school students in Queens. He has since been named as an honorary graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, for his continued support of the service academy located in Kings Point, New York.

He was first elected to public office, the New York State Senate, in 1978. Five years later, in a special election, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He has been a congressional delegate to the United Nations. He has travelled in his capacity as Chairman of the Asia Subcommittee to both North and South Korea to discuss non-proliferation. He has worked with missions that feed the starving of Ethiopia and the Sudan, and played a leading role in the rescue of Ethiopian Jews and aiding their emigration to Israel. He is active in the Middle East peace process, and has met with leaders of both Israel and the surrounding Arab countries.  Ackerman currently chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and strongly supports Israel’s right to defend itself, citing Hamas as the “true villain” in the current situation.

Congressman Ackerman is married to Rita Gale and they have three children. Ackerman is an Eagle Scout, an amateur photographer, an avid stamp collector and a boating enthusiast.

IN THE NEWS:  While the Obama Administration takes a wait-and-see approach, there are some members of Congress who stand firmly behind Israel’s raid of a Turkish flotilla en route to Gaza. Representatives Weiner, Nadler, Ackerman, Klein and Senator Gillibrand have all vigorously supported Israel’s boarding an aid ship bound for the blockaded Gaza – an act that resulted in ten deaths and a United Nations condemnation.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Bennie Thompson, U. S. House of Representatives, Mississippi

Bennie G. Thompson was born in January 1948 in Bolton, Mississippi. He attended local public schools before earning degrees from Tougaloo College and Jackson State University.

He worked as a high school teacher, and served as an alderman, then mayor of Bolton before being elected to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. In 1993, he joined the U.S. House of Representatives, after winning a special election for the 2^nd Congressional seat. He has been re-elected six times, and now ranks as Mississippi’s most senior African-American politician.

In 2006, Thompson was elected by his House colleagues to serve as Chairman of the U.S. Committee on Homeland Security. He became an outspoken advocate for the Gulf coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Congressman Thompson is married to London. They have one daughter and two grandchildren.  He is a lifetime member of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Bolton, and is an avid hunter and outdoorsman.

IN THE NEWS:  President Obama is being encouraged to increase the responsibilities of the Director of National Intelligence. House Homeland security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said, “What is needed now in order for the Office of the DNI to realize its potential is strong presidential leadership. The office will only be effective if the president clarifies its authorities and defines its roles and responsibilities.”

Posted in legislative prayer focus |