Walter B. Jones
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| Walter Jones, Jr. | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 4, 1995– |
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| Preceded by | Martin Lancaster |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | February 10, 1943 (age 64) Farmville, North Carolina |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | JoAnne Jones |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Walter Beaman Jones, Jr. (born February 10, 1943) is an American politician; a Republican, he currently represents North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District (see map) in the United States House of Representatives.
Born in Farmville, North Carolina his father was Walter B. Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st District.
He has long since dropped the "Jr." from his name, much like John Dingell of Michigan.
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[edit] Background
Jones attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina before serving four years (1967–1971) in the North Carolina National Guard.
Jones is a convert to Catholicism. Raleigh News Observer story (archive link, was dead; history)
[edit] Political career
An executive with his family's business supply company, Jones was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1983 and served for five terms, until 1992. Shortly after his father died, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Congressional nomination for his father's seat in the 103rd United States Congress of 1992 (losing to Eva Clayton in a primary runoff).
He switched parties and won in the 3rd District in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, defeating incumbent Democrat Martin Lancaster. The 3rd had incorporated a large amount of his father's former territory. Jones has been re-elected every two years since. His most serious reelection challenge came in 2000, when his opponent spent well in excess of $1.4 million dollars in attempting to unseat him. Jones garnered some 63% of the vote in that contest. Although Democrats have a slight majority of the 3rd's registered voters, the state and national Democratic parties have largely lost interest in the seat due to Jones' popularity. It is very likely that he will hold the seat for as long as he wants it.
He was easily reelected again in 2006, receiving 69% of the vote against Democrat Craig Weber. Jones serves on the Armed Services and Financial Services Committees.
Unlike Walter, Sr., a moderate Democrat, Walter, Jr. is one of the most conservative members of the House. He has a lifetime rating of 93 from the American Conservative Union. He is best known for leading the effort, along with GOP Rep. Bob Ney to have french fries renamed "freedom fries" in House cafeteria menus as a protest against French opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [1] Jones later modified his stance on the war to some considerable extent (in 2005, he stated that he had come to believe that there had been little reason to go to war, despite his earlier support which had been based upon selective intelligence supplied to Congress) and said of his previous position on the fries, "I wish it had never happened." [2]. In July 2006, the names were quietly changed back. [3]
Jones is also very active on issues of religious freedom.
[edit] Iraq war
Jones was initially a strong supporter of the conflict in Iraq. More recently, however, Jones called on President George W. Bush to apologize for misinforming Congress to win authorization for the war. Jones said, "If I had known then what I know today, I wouldn't have voted for that resolution." [4]
He contends that the United States went to war "with no justification". [5], [6]
On the subject, he said, "I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there." He added that his change of opinion came about from attending the funeral of a sergeant killed in Iraq, when his last letter to his family was being read out. On June 16, 2005, he joined with three other Congressmembers (Neil Abercrombie, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul) in introducing a resolution calling for the start of a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to begin by October 2006. [7]
On March 17, 2005, he sponsored a bill endorsing the conduct of controversial Marine Corps Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, who faced charges (subsequently dropped) for having shot two Iraqis (allegedly unarmed civilians) on April 15, 2004.[citation needed]
On March 23, 2007, Jones was one of two Republicans to vote for a bill that would require President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq by September 1, 2008.[8]
[edit] References
- Official website
- This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. [9]
[edit] External links
- Information from Project Vote Smart
- Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
- Politics website BlueNC's coverage of Walter Jones
| Preceded by Martin Lancaster |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 3rd congressional district 1995 – present |
Incumbent |
Categories: Articles with dead external links | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1943 births | American anti Iraq War activists | Current members of the United States House of Representatives | Living people | Members of the North Carolina State House | Members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina | Converts to Roman Catholicism | Roman Catholic politicians
