Pete Hoekstra

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Pete Hoekstra
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1993–
Preceded by	Carl Pursell
Born	October 30, 1953 (1953-10-30) (age 54) Groningen, Netherlands
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Diane M. Johnson
Children	Allison Hoekstra, Bryan Hoekstra
Religion	Reformed Church

Peter "Pete" Hoekstra (born October 30, 1953) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. A Republican, Hoekstra has represented the Michigan's 2nd congressional district ^[1] since taking office in 1993 following his win in the 1992 election.

Born in Groningen in the Netherlands, Hoekstra emigrated to Holland, Michigan, U.S., at the age of three with his family. (Hoekstra's district has the largest concentration of Dutch Americans in the country.) Hoekstra attended Hope College, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Business School in 1977.

Prior to running for Congress, Hoekstra worked for office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, eventually rising to vice president for marketing. In 1992, he ran in the Republican primary for the 2nd District, which had been renumbered from the 9th district after the 1990 Census.

The district had been held for twenty six years by Guy Vander Jagt, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Hoekstra rode his bicycle across the district, charging that Vander Jagt had served in Congress for too long. He promised to serve no more than six terms (12 years) in the House, and not to accept any money from political action committees. He scored a monumental upset, winning by almost six percent. This primary win was tantamount to election in the 2nd district, the "most Republican" district in Michigan (Republicans have held the district for all but four years since it was created in 1873).

In 2004, Hoekstra broke his term limits pledge by announcing that he would run for a seventh term, citing his membership on the Select Committee on Intelligence. By this time he had also accepted a considerable amount of money from political action committees; in 2006 alone, Hoekstra had accepted more than $160,000 ^[2].

Despite these revelations, Hoekstra faced no significant opposition in the Republican primary or in the general election (as in his previous five reelection campaigns) and went on to secure his seventh term. Shortly after the primary, he was named chairman of the committee, succeeding Porter Goss, who became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Hoekstra has a very conservative voting record, which is consistent with the tendency of the 2nd to elect some of Michigan's most conservative state and federal legislators. However, he opposes amending the Constitution to prohibit flag desecration.

Hoekstra is thinking about running for governor of Michigan in 2010.^[3]

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism/HUMINT, Analysis and Counterintelligence (Ex Officio)
  • Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence (Ex Officio)
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management (Ex Officio)
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Ex Officio)
• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
• Founding chairman of the Education Freedom Caucus
• Founding chairman of the Congressional Caucus on the Netherlands

[edit] Criticism of the Islamic Society of North America

Hoekstra angered many American Muslims when he described the Islamic Society of North America as a group of "radical jihadists" ^[4].

[edit] Weapons of mass destruction

On June 22, 2006, Hoekstra made headlines by announcing at a press conference in the Capitol that weapons of mass destruction had been located in Iraq in the form of 500 chemical weapons ^[5].

However, the Duelfer Report had previously said of WMD in Iraq: "While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991" ^[6]. A number of other media outlets disputed the claims made by Hoekstra and Rick Santorum regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction, reporting that the claims were disputed by both Pentagon officials and the intelligence community ^[7], ^[8].

On November 3, 2006, The New York Times reported that a website created at the request of Hoekstra and Senator Pat Roberts was found to contain detailed information that could be helpful to anyone seeking to produce nuclear weapons. The website was shut down on November 2 following questioning by the New York Times. ^[9].

As of September 17, 2007 Major news outlets are reporting that the Congressional committee he oversees is creating "erroneous" and 'misleading" reports about Iran's nuclear capabilities. "Among the committee's assertions is that Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz. The IAEA called that "incorrect," noting that weapons-grade uranium is enriched to a level of 90 percent or more. Iran has enriched uranium to 3.5 percent under IAEA monitoring." ""Privately, several intelligence officials said the committee report included at least a dozen claims that were either demonstrably wrong or impossible to substantiate." ^[10][11]

[edit] 2006 election

Hoekstra had no primary opponent. In November he was opposed by the Democratic candidate Kimon Kotos ^[12], who was also his 2004 opponent. Hoekstra defeated Kotos 183,518 votes to 87,361 votes ^[13].

[edit] 2008 election

Hoekstra has announced plans to run for re-election in 2008. Announced Democratic candidates include Kimon Kotos, Manistee resident Scott Killips, and Fred Johnson, Associate Professor of History at Hope College. There are strong indications that Hoekstra will leave Congress in 2010 and run for governor of Michigan (current Governor Jennifer Granholm is term-limited.) On the national level, Hoekstra has endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, son of former Michigan governor George W. Romney, in the Republican primaries.

[edit] See also

• WMD theories in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Pete Hoekstra official House site
• Pete Hoekstra at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission - Peter Hoekstra campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues - Peter Hoekstra issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org - Peter Hoekstra campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Peter 'Pete' Hoekstra (MI) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia - Pete Hoekstra profile
• Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Pete Hoekstra voting record
• Pete Hoekstra for U.S. Congress official campaign site