David Vitter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Vitter
Junior Senator, Louisiana
In office 2005–Present
Preceded by	John Breaux
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2010)
Born	May 3, 1961 New Orleans, Louisiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Wendy Baldwin Vitter
Religion	Roman Catholic

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American politician, currently serving as the Junior Senator from Louisiana. He was formerly a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, first elected in 1999, to represent the suburban First Congressional District of Louisiana.

Contents 1 Early life, career, and family 2 United States Senate 2.1 Election 2.2 Hurricane Katrina 2.3 Same sex marriage views 3 External links

[edit] Early life, career, and family

Vitter was born in New Orleans, was educated at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), and the law school of Tulane University. He was a lawyer and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999, when he entered the U.S. House. He occupies the Senate seat formerly held by Democrat John B. Breaux.

Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack.

[edit] United States Senate

[edit] Election

Vitter won the Senate contest outright in the November 2, 2004, senatorial jungle primary, which coincided with the regular presidential election. He defeated outright a field of opponents, including two major Democrats, then Seventh Congressional District Congressman Christopher John and state Treasurer John Kennedy, no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys.

While Vitter is widely believed to be the first Republican Senator elected in Louisiana, that title actually goes to John S. Harris who took his office as a senator in 1868. However, Vitter is the first to be elected by the general populace of Louisiana, while Harris was chosen by the state legislature before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution made that procedure obsolete.

Vitter quarreled with former Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., his fellow Republican, in regard to gambling on Indian reservations. The Louisiana Jena Band of Choctaws accused Vitter of being "in cahoots" with Jack Abramoff and his attempts to stymie the tribe's casino plans. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee, led by Republicans, dubbed the allegations against Vitter as lacking factual basis.

Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, while New Orleans' flood levels were still rising in all areas, Vitter made an inaccurate statement that received notable media attention.

"In the metropolitan area in general, in the huge majority of areas, it's not rising at all. It's the same or it may be lowering slightly. In some parts of New Orleans, because of the 17th Street breach, it may be rising and that seemed to be the case in parts of downtown.

"I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening," said Vitter on August 30. [1]

In later days, Vitter gave the federal government's emergency response an "F grade" during an interview on Fox News's Hannity & Colmes, but avoided criticising President George W. Bush. [2]

Vitter's performance during Hurricane Katrina was later documented in historian Douglas Brinkley's book, The Deluge.

In light of the gun confiscations during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was the senatorial sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster.

[edit] Same sex marriage views

In June 2006, in line with several of his Republican colleagues in the Senate, Vitter came out strongly in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to ban same sex marriages. He said, "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one...I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress".[3]

At a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter also compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita stating, "it's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita, I always knew I was against same-sex unions." [4]

[edit] External links

• David Vitter Online Office
• Political Biography (Washington Post)
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post

Political offices
Preceded by: David Duke	State Representative, 81st Representative District of Louisiana 1992–1999	Succeeded by: Jennifer Sneed
Preceded by: Bob Livingston	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st congressional district 1999-2005	Succeeded by: Bobby Jindal
Preceded by: John Breaux	United States Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana 2005-Present	Succeeded by: Incumbent

Louisiana's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators: Mary Landrieu (D), David Vitter (R) Representative(s): Bobby Jindal (R), William J. Jefferson (D), Charles Melancon (D), Jim McCrery (R), Rodney Alexander (R), Richard H. Baker (R), Charles Boustany (R) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands