Ginny Brown-Waite

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Ginny Brown-Waite

United States Representative from Florida's 5th district
In office 2003-present
Preceded by	Karen Thurman
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	October 5, 1943 Albany, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Harvey Waite
Religion	Roman Catholic

Virginia (Ginny) Brown-Waite (born October 5, 1943), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 5th District of Florida (map). The district stretches along several counties in western and central Florida, including territory in the metropolitan areas of Tampa Bay and Orlando.

1 Early life, education, and early career
2 Florida legislature
3 U.S. House of Representatives
4 2006 re-election campaign
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life, education, and early career

Brown-Waite was born in Albany, New York and educated at the State University of New York at Albany. She earned a master's degree in public administration from Russell Sage College. She served as a staffer in the New York State Senate, eventually rising to legislative director. She moved to Brooksville, Florida in the 1980s, where she still lives.

[edit] Florida legislature

After serving one term as a county commissioner in Hernando County, Florida, Brown-Waite was elected to the Florida State Senate as a Republican from Hernando County. She served as Senate Majority Whip from 1999-2000, and was elected president pro tem of the State Senate in 2000.

Brown-Waite has expressed support for the death penalty. She says she believed she saw "a message" in a nosebleed suffered by death row inmate Allen Lee Davis during his execution on July 8, 1999. Brown-Waite, who saw in the blood the shape of a cross, believes that it either indicated Davis had made peace with God, or it was a message from God giving his blessing to the execution.^[1]

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives

[edit] 2002 election

In 2002, the 5th District had been represented by Democrat Karen Thurman since its formation in 1993. After the 2000 Census, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature redrew the 5th to be more friendly to Republicans. The new 5th was virtually coextensive with Brown-Waite's state senate district.^[2] Brown-Waite won a narrow victory in November 2002 over Thurman despite the unfavorable publicity that came in October when police caught her husband, former New York state trooper Harvey Waite, stealing pro-Thurman lawn signs.^[3]

[edit] 2004 re-election

Brown-Waite was re-elected in 2004 with 66% of the vote.

[edit] Political positions

Brown-Waite is a rank-and-file Republican. Since entering the United States Congress she has voted with the President and the Republican Party 90% of the time.^{[citation needed]} Yet she has broken with her party on several occasions. She was one of three Republicans who voted against a bill to give Terri Schiavo's parents the right to sue in federal court to keep her alive (Schiavo's home is located in the 5th).^{[citation needed]} She has has criticized George W. Bush for fielding questions from hand-picked crowds. "Let me tell you the difference between a GWB town-hall meeting — George W. Bush — and a GBW — Ginny Brown-Waite — town-hall meeting: I don't load the audience with just the choir," she once said.^{[citation needed]} She also opposes any change to an abstinence-only approach to sex education.^{[citation needed]} She is a member of Republican groups such as Christine Todd Whitman's Its My Party Too, Ann Stone's Republicans for Choice, Mike Castle's Republican Main Street Partnership, The Wish List, The Republican Majority For Choice and Republicans For Environmental Protection.

However, she opposes abortion in most cases.^{[citation needed]} She strongly opposes gun control, and takes her gun on visits from Washington, D.C. back to her district.^{[citation needed]} She proposed the American Heroes Repatriation Act, to move American soldiers buried in France and Belgium back to the United States.^[4]^[5] Brown-Waite is a leading voice in the House for changes in immigration policy, advocating military deployment along the U.S. borders and deporting illegal immigrants.^{[citation needed]} Brown-Waite was recently the soucre of controversy for her defense of "Muslim-bashing", agreeing that Islam was a "hateful and frightening religion". Brown-Waite deplored both Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Governor-elect and current Florida State Attorney General Charlie Crist for condemning the position of a Florida politicians wife. During a Tampa Bay Fox 13 News interview, Brown-Waite stated, "Not every Muslim is a terrorist, but every terrorist is a Muslim except for Tim McVeigh... and except [Eric Rudolph] too", when asked about the Ku Klux Klan she said "They're not doing terrorist activities right now. We're talking about a group that wants to do away with our way of life. With all due respect, I don't think there's any comparison."^[6]

Brown-Waite's district has one of the highest concentration of retirees in the country.^[7] In early 2005, she referred to the current Social Security system as a "Ponzi scheme".^[8]

On Iraq, after reports that Brown-Waite supports the withdrawal of U.S. troops within a year, Charlie Keller, her spokesman, said in an e-mail in early October that "It was taken out of context" and that "She said that if the Iraqis did not work toward troop and police deadlines, then Congress would put pressure on them to do so with the threat of denying funds for reconstruction and possibly withdrawing some troops." He also said that Brown-Waite would support "a properly-worded resolution" that would put forth a no-confidence vote in Congress for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.^[9]

[edit] Mark Foley scandal

Main article: Mark Foley scandal

In September 2006, Brown-Waite was told about an incident from 2003 or 2004 when an apparently inebriated Mark Foley had tried to gain access to the pages' dormitory. On September 28, 2006, an inappropriate e-mail that Foley sent was posted on ABCNEWS.com's "The Blotter". Brown-Waite launched her own investigation and alerted Republican leadership on September 29 both about the dorm incident and about pages who had been made to feel uncomfortable by Foley. Foley resigned that day and the scandal erupted that evening with news of the lurid instant messages he had sent former pages.^[10]