Adam Putnam

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Adam Putnam
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 12th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Charles Canady
Born	July 31, 1974 (1974-07-31) (age 33) Bartow, Florida
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Melissa Putnam
Religion	Episcopalian

Adam H. Putnam (born July 31, 1974), American conservative politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Florida's 12th congressional district. He was born in Bartow, Florida and was educated at Bartow High School and the University of Florida (BS, Food and Resource Economics).

[edit] U.S. Congress

In February 2006, Congressman Putnam became a member of the House leadership, assuming the role of chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, the fifth-ranking Republican position in the House. In November 2006, Putnam was elected by his colleagues as House Republican Conference Chairman, the third-highest ranking position. ^[1]

Putnam describes himself as one of Congress's leading supporters of developmental education for children from low-income families and is the author of the Head Start Accountability Bill. Congressman Putnam is also the co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus.

Putnam is currently the third-youngest member of Congress. He was the youngest member of Congress from his inauguration in 2001, which occurred only a year after he became eligible to run under the Constitution, which requires congress members to be over 25 years old, until 2005, when Patrick McHenry, who is a year younger than Putnam and also a Republican from a southern state, was elected to Congress.

Other Congressmen frequently poke fun at Putnam while on the floor, calling him "The Elder Statesman" in jest.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Financial Services Committee
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises

[edit] Controversy

Adam Putnam accused Nancy Pelosi of arrogance in requesting an Air Force Three for flights back to her district.^[2]

"Just a month into the new Democratic majority, we are talking about the costs of an arrogance of office," said Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam of Florida at a briefing for reporters Tuesday. "The same week she is talking about fiscal responsibility, she is requesting a jumbo jet to taxi her back and forth from her district, something that is a major deviation from the previous speaker. Certainly, it is the interest of someone who is in the presidential succession to have access to a secure aircraft, but this is not a routine military charter flight. This is Air Force Three."

However, the House of Representatives' Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood had requested the plane for House Speaker Pelosi's security.^[3]

"I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue," Bill Livingood said in a news release.

The White House issued a press release supporting the House Sergeant at Arms and Speaker Pelosi.^[4]

"This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker," White House spokesman Tony Snow said at a morning briefing with reporters. "We think it's important that the speaker of the House enjoy the same kind of security that we arranged for Speaker Hastert in the wake of September 11th. And like I said, I think that there's been a lot of over-hyped reporting on this," Snow said.

The Tampa Tribune described him as "unapologetic" about making comments on what turned out to be a false story about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ^[5]

Putnam now acknowledges he had no personal knowledge of any Pelosi request. He said he was commenting on an anonymously sourced story in The Washington Times and additional coverage from CNN. "This was a classic case where the media got out in front of us," Putnam said. "Did we jump on it? Yes." And he is unapologetic about that. He calls the Pelosi plane story, whatever its legitimacy, "the first break [Republicans] have had from the media in driving our message since before the Mark Foley story broke."

Putnam also garnered attention when he stated “white rednecks” who “didn’t show up to vote for us” cost Republicans their Congressional majority in the 2006 elections. The report noted that...

"Three Republicans in the room independently confirmed to the Hotline the substance and context of Putnam’s remarks. But Putnam’s chief of staff insists that the remarks were taken out of context...Putnam’s chief of staff, John Hambel, said his boss has used the word “redneck” only in the context of sharing polling data from last week’s elections. Hambel said Putnam was listing off different constituencies and ended with saying: “Heck, we even had rednecks who go to church who didn't come out to vote.[1]

[edit] Elder Statesman

Adam Putnam has endured a number of nicknames throughout his short career including President Bush's constant reference to him as "Red" due to his shaggy mane of fire-engine red hair. His colleagues in the House have also made reference to his red hair, including Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas who addressed him as "this Howdy Doody-looking Nimrod" during a floor debate over the Republicans' plan to cut funding for Medicare and other senior services. He is also derided as "The Elder Statesman" due to his meteoric rise in the House Republican leadership, despite his relative youth and inexperience.

[edit] Gonzales' ouster

After the numerous calls by Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Putnam became the top Republican in either House to call for the ouster of former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "For the good of the nation, I think it is time for fresh leadership at the Department of Justice," Putnam said adding that Gonzales' flip-flopping explanation has been hurtful to the deteriorating relationships between Congress and the Department of Justice.^{[citation needed]}

This move was met by surprise by many Republicans, who were remaining silent on the Gonzales issue. However, Putnam mentioned that there remained severe discontent within the GOP circle over Gonzales and as the Chairman of the House Republican Conference, he thought it was important to send this message out.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Adam Putnam official U.S. House site
• Adam Putnam for US Congress official campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Opie's All Grown Up Now USNews.com, December 3, 2006
• Opie? National Review, July 30, 2007