Pete Sessions
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| Pete Sessions | |
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| In office 1997 - present |
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| Preceded by | None (District Created After 2000 Census) |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | March 22, 1955 (age 52) Waco, Texas |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Juanita Sessions |
| Religion | Methodist |
Peter Anderson "Pete" Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is a politician from the state of Texas. He is a Republican, and currently represents the 32nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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[edit] Personal
Sessions was born in Waco, Texas, where he grew up. His father is William Sessions, the former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He graduated from Southwestern University in 1978. Sessions then worked for Southwestern Bell for 16 years. He rose to the rank of District Manager for Marketing in Dallas, supervising 435 employees and managing a $16 million budget. He also worked at Bell Labs in New Jersey.
He is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America,[1][2] as well as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.
Sessions and his wife Juanita have two sons.
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
[edit] Campaigns
In his 1991 election bid, Sessions finished third in a special election for the House of Representatives.
In 1993, Sessions left his job with Southwestern Bell to again run for Congress, against 5th District incumbent Democrat John Bryant. Sessions made a tour of the district with a livestock trailer full of horse manure, claiming that the Clinton administration's health care plan stunk more than the manure. Sessions lost by 2,400 votes. He subsequently became Vice President for Public Policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a Dallas-based conservative public policy research institute.
In 1996, when Bryant decided to seek a Senate seat, Sessions was elected to succeed him in the 5th District, defeating Democrat John Pouland with 47 percent of the vote. Sessions was re-elected in 1998, defeating school teacher Victor Morales with 56 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 54 percent of the vote.
When redrawing of districts after the 2000 Census placed Sessions in a district that was slightly more Democratic, he moved to the new 32nd District (map) for the 2002 election. He won that with 68 percent of the vote over Pauline Dixon.
In 2004, Sessions defeated fellow Congressman Martin Frost, a 13-term Democrat, who had moved to the 32nd after the Republican-engineered redistricting in 2003 eliminated Frost's former district. Sessions won 54-44%, in what was considered the most expensive U.S. House race in the nation. According to the Associated Press, "The race also was one of the nastiest, with Frost unearthing a decades-old streaking incident by Sessions in his college days and questioning Sessions' commitment to security with an ad featuring the World Trade Center towers in flames. Sessions criticized Frost for booking Peter Yarrow of the '60s group Peter, Paul and Mary for a fundraiser. Yarrow had faced an indecency with a child charge years earlier."
[edit] Committees and caucuses
Sessions currently serves as a Member of both the House Committee on Rules and the House Committee on the Budget, and also chairs the Results Caucus. He also formed the Malaysia Trade, Security and Economic Cooperation Caucus.
[edit] Political positions
Sessions calls himself as a conservative. He is a backer of free trade, and a member of a Republican cybersecurity task force created by Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Sessions is trying to pass the "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005" (HR2726), which would ban towns and cities from wiring themselves for broadband. However, questions have been raised about Sessions's partiality toward the telecom industry: Sessions, a former SBC employee, holds half a million dollars in SBC (now AT&T) stock options, and his wife works for Cingular (jointly owned by the former SBC).
[edit] References
- ^ Townley, Alvin [2006-12-26]. Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 241-252. ISBN 0-312-36653-1. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Distinguished Eagle Scouts. Troop & Pack 179. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
[edit] 2006 re-election campaign
Sessions faced Democrat Will Pryor,[1] an attorney and former district judge, in the November general election. Other candidates were N. Ruben Florez (Libertarian) and Philip Scheps (Independent). Sessions won re-election easily.
[edit] 2008 election
Sessions has recently announced his support for former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani's bid for the Republican Nomination for President.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions official House site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Federal Election Commission - Pete Sessions campaign finance reports and data
- On the Issues - Pete Sessions issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org - Pete Sessions campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart - Representative Peter A. 'Pete' Sessions (TX) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia - Pete Sessions profile
- Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Pete Sessions voting record
- Pete Sessions for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Beyond DeLay - Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) criticism from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
| Preceded by John W. Bryant |
United States Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Texas 1997–2003 |
Succeeded by Jeb Hensarling |
| Preceded by New District |
United States Representative for the 32nd Congressional District of Texas 2003–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
