Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Darrell Issa, United States House of Representatives for California

Darrell Edward Issa was born in November 1953 in Cleveland, Ohio, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants. He enlisted for a three-year tour in the Army at age 17. He attended Kent State University at Stark in North Canton, Ohio, and Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan, on an ROTC scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Upon graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army, where he served for four years, departing the Army with the rank of Captain.

He was a business executive with Directed Electronics, Incorporated, most famous for its flagship product, the “Viper” car alarm. It bears a siren that is a recording of Issa’s voice saying, ‘please step away from the car.”

His initial foray into politics came when he ran for the United States Senate, but was defeated. Two years later, he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 49^th District. He is the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and as such may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees. He also serves on the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Representative Issa is married to Kathy and they have one son. He lists his faith as Antiochian Orthodox Christian.

IN THE NEWS: Representative Darrell Issa of California has called upon U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the Eastern District of New York to launch an investigation into allegations that New York Communities for Change (NYCC) may have “solicited donations from union members under false pretenses and misappropriated those funds to support the protesters.” In late October sources within NYCC said that the group – run and staffed by nearly all former ACORN employees – was asking for donations for other purposes that ultimately wound up paying for Occupy Wall Street protests.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Dick Durbin, United States Senator from Illinois

Richard Joseph “Dick” Durbin was born in November 1944 in East St. Louis, Illinois, of an Irish-American father and Lithuanian-born mother. He graduated from Assumption High School in East St. Louis. During his high school years he worked at a meatpacking plant. He earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and later obtained his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.

After law school and admittance to the Illinois bar, Durbin was engaged in private practice in Springfield. He became legal counsel to Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon, and later to the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee. He was an adjunct professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine for five years while maintaining his law practice.

In 1982, he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, to which he was then re-elected six times, rarely facing serious opposition. In 1996, he was elected to the United States Senate.

Durbin is married to Loretta Schaefer Durbin and they had two daughters, Christine and Jennifer, and a son, Paul. After several weeks in the hospital with complications due to a congenital heart condition, Christine died in November 2008. The Durbin family are Roman Catholic.

IN THE NEWS: After the Democratic members of the supercommittee panned the GOP offer of raising $300 billion in new taxes as insufficient for the deficit deal, Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democratic leader, chose to focus on the positive and hailed the latest development as a “breakthrough.” He has worked on a massive deficit-reduction package for more than a year as a member of the Simpson-Bowles commission and the Senate’s Gang of Six. “The fact that some Republicans have stepped forward to talk abut revenue, I think, is an invitation for Democrats to step forward and talk about entitlement reform as well as spending cuts. Therein lies the core of an agreement,” Durbin said, adding that he is “definitely” encouraged.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Legislative Branch Prayer Needs

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Lamar Alexander, Senator from Tennessee

Senator Lamar Alexander was the seventh generation of his family to be born in Tennessee, when he came into the world there on July 3, 1940. His mother was a kindergarten teacher and his father an elementary school principal. His early introduction to politics happened when in high school he was elected Governor of Tennessee Boys State.

He received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1962, and in 1965 received his law degree from the New York University School of Law. He clerked for Fifth Circuit Judge John M. Wisdom in New Orleans from 1965 to 1966. For ten years beginning in 1967 he worked periodically for Senator Howard Baker. In 1978, Alexander ran for governor of Tennessee, and made a name for himself by walking 1,000 miles across the state wearing a red and black plaid shirt. He won that election, and served until January 1987.

He moved his family to Australia for a brief period of time, but returned in 1988 to become the president of the University of Tennessee. He became U. S. Secretary of Education in 1991, during which time he approved the accreditation of Christian schools and universities in a highly controversial move. He made two unsuccessful runs for President in 1996 and 2000.

Despite vowing to never again return to elective office, he was persuaded by the Bush White House to run for the seat of retiring Senator Fred Thompson in 2002.

Alexander is married to Honey Buhler and they have four children. He is a Presbyterian.

IN THE NEWS: Former U.S. Secretary of Education, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, offered a list of seven amendments geared toward bringing modifications to the No Child Left Behind act, said that his proposals were intended to insure that the judgment of governors, state legislatures, mayors, local school board members, parents, principals and teachers would not be superseded by Washington officials.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives for California

Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi was born in March 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the youngest of six children, and her father was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland. Because of him, Pelosi was involved with politics from an early age. She had been present at the inaugural of President John F. Kennedy.

Pelosi graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, a Catholic all-girls school in Baltimore and from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. in political science. She interned for a time for Senator Daniel Brewer of Maryland alongside future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

After marrying, she moved to San Francisco and worked her way up the political ladder. She was first elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987. She served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, was elected as the House Minority Whip and later as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position she lost at the last election. She is currently House Minority Leader.

Representative Pelosi is married to Paul Pelosi. They have five children and eight grandchildren. She is Roman Catholic.

IN THE NEWS: Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, told reporters “I don’t think I have been cut out of the supercommittee discussions. The three people we have sent to the table have my trust and confidence and that of our caucus.” Pelosi’s colleagues have shown frustration that their leader was being cut out of the talks. Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia said that if she is not a stakeholder in the final product, neither is the Democratic caucus.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

John S. McCain, III, U.S. Senator from Arizona

John Sidney McCain, III was born in August 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, which was at that time under U.S. Control. His family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors. Both his father and paternal grandfather became four-star U.S. Navy admirals.

The family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954. Following the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and graduated in 1958.

He embarked upon a military career and became a naval aviator, training at Pensacola. It was said he was a good pilot albeit one who tended to “push the envelope” in his flying. Even though by then married with two young children, McCain requested a combat assignment during the Vietnam War. In October 1967, while flying his 23^rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, he was shot down by a missile over Hanoi, badly wounded and captured. He was imprisoned in what later was nicknamed “The Hanoi Hilton.” His tortuous stay has become legendary. After five and a half years, he was released in March 1973. His wartime injuries left McCain permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.

Following his extensive recovery time, during which he was divorced and remarried, he entered politics and was elected a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona’s first district in 1982. He served until January 1987, when he began a term as United States Senator from Arizona. McCain ran for his party’s presidential nomination in 2000, but lost a heated primary contest to George W. Bush. He secured that nomination in 2008, after coming back from early reversals, but lost the general election to Barack Obama. He continues to serve as the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona.

McCain is married to Cindy Lou Hensley. Although brought up as an Episcopalian, he is a Baptist congregant.

IN THE NEWS: Citing a trip that Arizona Senator John McCain recently took to Iraq, he told reporters, “The Iraqis were ready to negotiate. The United States didn’t have a plan as to how many troops should remain behind. How could we expect to sit down and agree?” McCain said the issue of immunity for American troops could have been resolved. “It could have been negotiated. I know because I was there at the time. The question of immunity could have been resolved. The question of immunity is being used as an excuse.” McCain feels that some troops should remain in Iraq. President Obama has announced that all troops will leave by December 31 this year.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Maxine Waters, U.S. Representative for California

Maxine Waters was born Maxine Moore Carr in August 1938 in Kinloch, Missouri, the fifth of thirteen children. She graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis and moved with her family to Los Angeles. She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

She later enrolled at Los Angeles State College and graduated with a sociology degree, after which she went to work as the chief deputy to City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr.

Waters served as a member of the California State Assembly for fifteen years. She was for a time the chairman of her party’s caucus in the California Assembly.

She assumed office as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving two years representing the 29^th district, and the past 18 years representing the 35^th district.

Representative Waters is married to Sid Williams, who played professional football in the NFL and is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas under the Clinton Administration. She lists her faith as non-denominational Protestant.

IN THE NEWS: In a press release, Representative Maxine Waters said, “I firmly believe that Congress should be focused squarely on this nation’s unemployment crisis. Since the Super Committee’s single charge is to produce $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction – which could include cuts to programs that create jobs – it must be promptly dismantled so that regular order can be restored and the federal government can fully dedicate itself to creating jobs and stimulating the economy. If not, unemployment will inevitably rise in all communities, in particular in communities of color.” Her statement accompanied her introduction of a bill that would strike any authority of the Congressional supercommittee.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

John Barrasso, United States Senator from Wyoming

John Anthony Barrasso was born in July 1952 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central Catholic High School and began his college career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He transferred to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and graduated with a bachelor of science degree. He later received his M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine. His medical residency was conducted through Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut. Barrasso is an orthopedic surgeon.

In addition to the private practice of medicine, Barrasso was Chief of Staff of the Wyoming Medical Center, the State President of the Wyoming Medical Society, President of the National Association of Physician Broadcasters, and a member of the American Medical Association Council of Ethics and Judicial Affairs.

He was also a rodeo physician for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and volunteered as a team physician for Casper College as well as several local high schools.

Early in his political career, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, but was then elected to the Wyoming Senate where he served two terms.

Barrasso was chosen in 2007 by Governor Dave Freudenthal to replace the late Craig Thomas. He has been elected to a full term.

Barrasso is divorced from m Linda Nix with whom he had two children. He is currently married to Bobbi Brown and is step-father to her daughter. He is a Presbyterian.

IN THE NEWS: Senator John Barrasso’s office has released a statement in response to President Obama’s economics and jobs plan. In part, the statement says: With 9.1 percent unemployment, Washington doesn’t have time or money to waste.” He added, “If the President is serious about moving forward on ‘every good proposal,’ he will support our common sense plan.” He also called upon the Obama Administration to not only identify but take action on job-killing regulations of many of the federal agencies.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Marco Rubio, United States Senator, Florida

Marco Antonio Rubio was born in May 1971 in Miami, Florida, the second child of Cuban exiles. He attended South Miami Senior High School and then Tarkio College for one year on a football scholarship, before entering Santa Fe Community College. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Florida, and his juris doctor from the University of Miami School of Law.

While studying law, he interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtimen. Rubio served as a City Commissioner for West Miami before being elected to the Florida legislature. He served in the Florida House of Representatives for the 111^th district and in his third term was elected Speaker of the Florida State House.

In the 2009 election, Rubio was elected to the United States Senate.

Rubio is married to Jeanette Dousdebees, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, and together they have four children. Rubio attends Christ Fellowship, an evangelical Protestant Church. He was baptized, confirmed and married in the Catholic Church.

IN THE NEWS: Senator Marco Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to Libya with fellow Senators Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona. Rubio said he told those he met in Tripoli that people who are oppressed in other parts of the world have looked to the Libyan revolution as inspiration. He also said the American role in aiding the transition is vital for the region.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Charles B. Rangel, U.S. House of Representatives for New York

Charles Bernard “Charlie” Rangel was born in June 1930 in Harlem, New York City. His father was frequently absent from the family and he was reared by his mother who worked as a maid and a seamstress in a factory in the New York Garment District. Rangel did well in elementary and middle school, and began working at a neighborhood drug store at the age of eight. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, but was often truant and sometimes driven home by the police. At age 16, Rangel dropped out of high school in his junior year and worked in various low-paying jobs, including selling shoes.

Rangel enlisted in the United States Army and served four years. During the Korean War, he was an artillery operations specialist in the all-black 503^rd Field Artillery Battalion. He faced action against the Chinese where he was injured. He was later awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor. When he left the Army, he was honorably discharged with the rank of staff sergeant.

Rangel finished high school and then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the New York University School of Commerce. Then, on a full scholarship, he obtained a law degree from St. John’s University School of Law. After passing the New York Bar Exam, Rangel entered private practice, until he was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Following that he was legal counsel to the New York Housing and Redevelopment Board, associate counsel to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and law clerk to a pioneering judge and general counsel to the National Advisory Committee on Selective Service. His interest in politics grew with these roles.

He served four years in the New York State Assembly before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He is currently the third-longest serving House member.

Rangel is married to Alma Carter, a social worker, whom he met on the dance floor of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. They have two children and three grandsons. Rangel is Roman Catholic.

IN THE NEWS: A packed committee room full of hometown supporters and congressional allies serenaded Rangel with chants of “Charlie, Charlie,” as the House of Representatives honored the New York Representative with an official Capitol portrait. Rangel was lauded for his long and highly decorated service. Although the unveiling of Rangel’s portrait came nine months after a congressional censure, he would be praised for his “indomitable fighting spirit.” When it was his turn to speak, Rangel offered a long list of thank-you’s and bemoaned what he described as a “dearth of reason” in modern politics and campaigns. He paid tribute to a country that had allowed him to rise so high and achieve so much. “We know there’s a lot of hypocrisy involved, and we know there’s a lot of racism involved, but we also know that there’s no country in the whole world that is as good to all people as the United States of America,” Rangel said. “My life is a story that anyone can make it – from high school dropout to having been chair of this great committee.”

Posted in legislative prayer focus |

Featured Member of the Legislative Branch for Prayer

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senator, Kentucky, Minority Leader

Addison Mitchell “Mitch” McConnell, Jr. was born in February 1942 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. He grew up in southern Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended the duPont Manual High School. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in political science, and later from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was elected president of the student bar association.

McConnell became a member of the U.S. Army Reserve during his final semester of law school. After his induction into active service at Fort Knox, he was released early from active duty receiving a medical discharge for optic neuritis, a symptom of multiple sclerosis.

He gained political experience in his final semester of law school interning for Senator John Sherman Cooper. Later, he was assistant to Senator Marlow Cook, and was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General under President Gerald R. Ford.

He has been a United States Senator representing Kentucky since 1985. He has had leadership in many Committees, including Appropriations and Agriculture subcommittees. He was elected to the position of Minority Leader in 2006.

Senator McConnell is divorced from Sherrill Redmon, and together they have three daughters. He remarried to Elaine Chao, the former Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush. He is a Baptist.

IN THE NEWS: When asked if there were any possibility of a budget compromise where Republicans could actually agree to some tax increases, Senator Mitch McConnell said he was in favor of tax reform, and suggested a complete review of the tax code is in order for this Congress. He argued that Congress could still get a lot done before the election next year, and cited historical partnerships Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton made with their opposition to bring about significant financial reforms.

Posted in legislative prayer focus |