Saxby Chambliss

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Saxby Chambliss
Senior Senator from Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2003 Serving with Johnny Isakson
Preceded by	Max Cleland
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 8th district
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	J. Roy Rowland
Succeeded by	Mac Collins[1]
Born	November 10, 1943 (1943-11-10) (age 64) Warrenton, North Carolina
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Julianne Chambliss
Alma mater	University of Georgia
Religion	Episcopalian

Clarence Saxby Chambliss (born November 10, 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party. In the 110th Congress, Chambliss serves as the Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. He chaired the committee during 109th Congress (2005-2007), which was a rare distinction for freshman Senator.

[edit] Early life and education

Chambliss was born in Warrenton, North Carolina. He graduated from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1960. Chambliss earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia in 1966 and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1968. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Chambliss was given five student deferments and he received a medical deferment (1-Y) for bad knees due to a football injury.^[2]

Chambliss began his career as an attorney after he graduated from law school.

[edit] Political career

Chambliss is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Rules Committee and he is the Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

During the 109th Congress, Chambliss served as Chairman of that committee and is the only senator since 1947 to have chaired a full standing Senate Committee after serving in the Senate for just two years.

Chambliss’ service on committees relevant to homeland security and intelligence while serving in the House led to an appointment to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he has repeatedly advocated that the U.S. intelligence community must dramatically improve its information sharing and human intelligence gathering abilities

[edit] House of Representatives

Chambliss was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as one of the new conservative Republican congressmen whose elections caused the party to gain a majority in both houses of congress. A long-time congressman and fellow Georgian, Newt Gingrich, was the leader of the movement, and Chambliss and the other Republicans elected that year are known as the Class of '94.

Chambliss was elected from the Macon-based 8th District, which came open after six-term incumbent J. Roy Rowland retired. He was elected with 63 percent of the vote--an unexpectedly large margin since the 8th had never elected a Republican before. He was nearly defeated in 1996 by Macon attorney Jim Wiggins, but breezed to reelection in 1998 and 2000. During his four terms in the House, Chambliss served on the House's Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and served as Chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Chambliss was criticized for remarks he made during a November 19, 2001 meeting with emergency responders in Valdosta, Georgia, where he said that they should "turn the sheriff loose and arrest every Muslim that crosses the state line." Chambliss later apologized for the remarks.^[3]

In 2006, under mounting pressure, Chambliss was among several Senate Republicans that returned monetary gifts from convicted criminal Jack Abramoff. ^[4]

[edit] Senate

[edit] 2002 race

Chambliss ran for the Senate in 2002 and won a close race, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Max Cleland, 53% to 46%. His House career would have likely been over even if he hadn't run for the Senate; his home in Moultrie had been redrawn into the neighboring 1st District, represented by fellow Republican Jack Kingston.

His campaign was based on themes of national defense and security, but drew criticism for television ads that paired images of Cleland and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and for questioning the commitment to homeland security of his opponent, a triple amputee and decorated Vietnam veteran.^[5]

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said of one ad, "[I]t's worse than disgraceful, it's reprehensible;" Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said the ads were "beyond offensive to me."^[6]

[edit] Political positions

Chambliss' ratings from interest groups indicate how often he votes in agreement with their priorities; his particular scores are fairly typical for a conservative Republican.

• NARAL: 10%
• American Civil Liberties Union:7%
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce: 91%
• National Education Association:27%
• League of Conservation Voters: 0%
• Christian Coalition: 100%
• National Rifle Association: A+
• AFL-CIO: 15%
• National Taxpayers Union: 74%

Chambliss is the primary sponsor in the United States Senate for the tax-reform proposal The Fair Tax Act (S. 1025), attracting more cosponsors than any other fundamental tax reform bill introduced.

On the Issues rated him as a Hard-Core Conservative^[7].

[edit] Lobbyist son

Chambliss' son, Bo, is a registered lobbyist with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and lobbies on commodity futures trading issues that are directly under the purview of his father, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Since May 2004, the senator's office has had a written office policy that staff members must refrain from engaging in any meeting or activity involving lobbying by Bo Chambliss: "Staff should not be informed of any lobbying that Bo might undertake with respect to committees or subcommittees on which Senator Chambliss serves," the policy says.^[8]

Bo is a member of The Capital Club in Washington DC. The Capital Club is a recognized non-profit which maintains a membership of only one hundred and is committed to its long tradition of support for local and national charities and community causes.^[9] He is also a member of the Nine O'Clocks, a men's social club of Atlanta, GA.

In 2004, Bo married Bess Stembler, daughter of William and Anne Stembler of Atlanta and Sea Island, GA. They reside in Washington, D.C.^[10]

[edit] Environmental Record

In 2005, Saxby Chambliss received a 0 percent on the Republicans for Environmental Protection's ("REP") environmental scorecard.^[11] He voted in a manner inconsistent with what the REP considers pro-environment on all 15 issues considered environmentally critical by the REP. Issues in which Senator Chambliss voted anti-environment were: all amendments to the Energy Policy Act proposed in 2005, the issue of authorizing drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and fuel economy standards for vehicles.

Senator Chambliss also received a 0 percent from the League of Conservation Voters ("LCV") scorecard for his anti-environment votes on all votes considered environmentally important by the LCV in 2005. ^[12] The issues considered important by the LVC in 2005 include votes on the energy conference report, renewable energy, farm conservation programs,global warming, natural gas facilities, undermining fuel economy, increasing fuel economy, and various other issues.

In 2006, Senator Chambliss again received a 0 percent from the REP^[13] and a 0 percent from the LCV^[14]. According to these organization, he voted anti-environment on the issue of energy and weatherization assistance, on drilling, environmental funding, peer review, renewable resources, and The Gulf of Mexico Security Act.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Rules and Administration
• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
• Joint Committee on Printing
• Select Committee on Intelligence

[edit] Personal

Chambliss is a member of the St. John's Episcopal Church in Moultrie, Georgia. He married Julianne in 1966 and they have two children.

[edit] See also

• FairTax — Bill S.1025 sponsored by Saxby Chambliss

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• James Moore. 2004. Bush's War for Reelection: Iraq, The White House, and the People. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-48385-0. Chapter 15, pp. 288–308.

[edit] External links

• Saxby for US Senate, Campaign site
• Saxby's YouTube Channel, YouTube Channel
• Saxby's Facebook Page, Facebook Page

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Saxby Chambliss

• United States Senator Saxby Chambliss, U.S. Senate 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
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Saxby Chambliss profile

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