Spencer Abraham

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Spencer Abraham
Spencer Abraham
In office
January 20, 2001 – February 1, 2005
Preceded by Bill Richardson
Succeeded by Samuel Bodman
Born July 12, 1952
East Lansing, Michigan
Political party Republican

Edward Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952 in East Lansing, Michigan) is an American politician, of Lebanese Christian extraction. He had served as the 10th United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. In 2006, Spencer Abraham was named director of Areva Inc., the US subsidiary of the French nuclear energy company [1].

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[edit] Education and family

Spencer Abraham and his wife, Jane (current Co-Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party), have three children, a son and twin girls. He holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard University, and is a 1974 Honors College graduate of Michigan State University and is a native of East Lansing, Michigan. His parents were Lebanese immigrants. While at Harvard Law School, Abraham founded the official journal of the Federalist Society, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. [1]

[edit] Republican Party service

Before his election to the Senate, Abraham was a law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1983 to 1990. He was deputy chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He later served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993. Previously,

[edit] United States Senate
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Prior to becoming Energy Secretary, Abraham represented Michigan in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2001, as the only Arab American in that chamber. He served on the Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Judiciary, and Small Business Committees. He also chaired two subcommittees: Manufacturing and Competitiveness, and Immigration. Abraham authored the "H1B Visa in Global and National Commerce Act", establishing a federal framework for on-line contracts and signatures; the "Government Paperwork Elimination Act", and the "Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act", which protects Internet domain names for businesses and persons against copyright and trademark infringements. He was defeated for reelection to the Senate in 2000 for a second term by Debbie Stabenow.

According to the New York Times State Republicans attributed the loss (defeat by Debbie Stabenow) to "often scathing advertisements by a wide range of special interest groups, including advertisements that criticized Mr. Abraham's support for a relaxation of some immigration restrictions"[2]. During the campaign the Federation for American Immigration Reform ran ads asking: "Why is Senator Spencer Abraham trying to make it easier for terrorists like Osama bin Laden to export their war of terror to any city street in America?" [3][4][5]. The media denounced these commercials as "vengeful" [6]. Abraham was a consistent advocate of Open Borders and worked relentlessly to weaken immigration controls and regulations. For example, in 1997 he received the Congressional Award from the National Council of La Raza [7]. In May of 2002, the Washington Monthly published an article titled "Borderline Insanity" [8]. This article explains how Stuart Andersen, the immigration policy director for Abraham, successfully sabotaged a foreign student tracking system and a "entry/exit" visa tracking system. According to the article, both systems could well have prevented the attacks of September 11th.

[edit] U.S. Energy Secretary

Abraham was given the position of Secretary of Energy by the incoming Bush administration, a post he stayed at for the first Bush term. On November 15, 2004, Abraham announced that he would resign from the position of Secretary of Energy, which took effect with the swearing in of his successor Samuel W. Bodman on February 1, 2005.

On February 14, 2005 The Toronto Star reported that Abraham was on a short list of candidates for American ambassador to Canada to replace Paul Cellucci.

In July 2005, Abraham's wife, Jane, announced that after some consideration she would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate to challenge Debbie Stabenow. Michigan Republicans had attempted to recruit Mrs. Abraham to run against the first-term Stabenow, who had defeated her husband in 2000.

[edit] Hoover Institution

Abraham is now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an influential conservative think tank based at Stanford University.

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (French) "Spencer ABRAHAM nommé Président du conseil d’administration d’AREVA Inc.", Framatome ANP, March 1, 2006.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Melvin L. Larson		 Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party
1983– 1991		 Succeeded by
David J. Doyle
Preceded by
Donald W. Riegle, Jr.		 United States Senator (Class 1) from Michigan
1995—2001
Served alongside: Carl Levin		 Succeeded by
Debbie Stabenow
Preceded by
Bill Richardson		 United States Secretary of Energy
2001–2005		 Succeeded by
Samuel W. Bodman
United States Secretaries of Energy Seal of the United States Department of Energy
Schlesinger • Duncan • Edwards • Hodel • Herrington • Watkins • O'Leary • Peña • Richardson • Abraham • Bodman
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