| Bill Owens | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 23rd district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 3, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | John M. McHugh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 20, 1949 Brooklyn, New York |
| Political party | Registered independent (1971-2009) Democratic (2009-present) |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Owens |
| Children | Three |
| Residence | Plattsburgh, New York |
| Alma mater | Manhattan College (B.B.A.) Fordham University School of Law (J.D.) |
| Profession | Lawyer, Businessperson |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Congressman Bill Owens |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Air Force |
| Rank | Captain |
William Lewis “Bill” Owens (born January 20, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for New York's 23rd congressional district, serving since the special election in 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, the state's largest and most rural, includes most of the North Country, as well as the northern suburbs of Syracuse.
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Born in Brooklyn to Lewis Owens and Alice Stanton Owens,[1] Owens was raised in Mineola, New York. After graduating from Chaminade High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. He returned to the North Country and has lived there for over 30 years after serving as a United States Air Force captain.
Owens is a 1971 summa cum laude graduate of Manhattan College with a degree in business administration and a 1974 top-half graduate of Fordham University School of Law.
Before coming to Congress, Owens was a managing partner at Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane & Trombley, where he specialized in business law, international law, and estate and tax law.[2] He is also an adjunct professor in business law at State University of New York at Plattsburgh. In 2004, he was appointed by Governor George Pataki to the College Council at that university.[3] He served as the host for Business Affaires[4][5] on WCFE-TV, a PBS television station in Plattsburgh. According to financial disclosure forms filed when he ran for Congress, Owens made $751,000 in 2008, mostly from his law practice.[6]
When the Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed in 1995, Owens helped create and worked for the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation (formerly the Plattsburgh Inter-municipal Development Council), which recruited private companies to reuse the space. The base is now home to companies such as Bombardier Inc., a passenger railway car maker. Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation attests that more than 2,000 jobs were created at the site since the military left.[7]
On August 10, 2009, the Democratic Party of New York's 23rd congressional district chose Owens to run in a special election to fill the House seat vacated by the incumbent Republican John McHugh, who had resigned to take a post as the Secretary of the Army.[8] Because he was a registered independent at the time, Owens had to obtain the signatures of all 11 Democratic county chairs in the district to allow him to run as a Democrat.[9]
Originally, Owens faced Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug Hoffman, an accountant from Lake Placid who was running as a third party candidate on the single ballot line of the Conservative Party of New York after failing to also get the Republican Party nomination. Hoffman became Owens's sole opponent when Scozzafava dropped out of the race on October 31. The Watertown Daily Times, which had originally endorsed Scozzafava, switched its endorsement to Owens on November 1.[10] Later on November 1, Scozzafava endorsed Owens. According to unofficial returns, Owens won 49 percent of the vote to 45 percent for Hoffman and 6 percent for Scozzafava. Owens was sworn in on November 6, 2009. He became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 23rd since the 19th century.
Owens won his re-election bid with a second consecutive plurality against Republican and Independence nominee Matthew A. Doheny and Conservative nominee Doug Hoffman, becoming the first Democrat in over a hundred years to win a full term in the North Country district.
Source: H.Res. 921
During his campaign, Owens said he would focus on creating jobs throughout his district, attracting foreign manufacturers, taking care of veterans, and ensuring that Fort Drum is preserved.[9][11]
As a congressman, Owens first authored piece of legislation was the [12] Rural Jobs Tax Credit Act, a bill that, if passed, would create a 15% tax incentive in 2010 for businesses that hire or expand their payroll in rural areas, and a 10% tax incentive for firms that do the same in 2011.
In August 2009, Owens stated that supported civil unions but opposed same-sex marriage and federal action on marriage, which he called a "states rights issue".[9] In July 2011, after the New York State legislature passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, Owens became a co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.[13]
He supports the Employee Free Choice Act.[14]
Owens voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act on November 7, 2009.[15] He voted against the Stupak Amendment which proposed to restrict abortion funding in the federal health insurance exchanges.[16] He voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 21, 2010, and for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to incorporate certain agreed-upon changes with the Senate.[17][18]
Owens and his wife Jane have three children and four grandchildren. Jane was an early childhood education teacher and is currently the Director of Education and Outreach for Mountain Lake PBS in Plattsburgh.[19] He is a Roman Catholic.
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John M. McHugh |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 23rd congressional district 2009–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by John Garamendi D-California |
United States Representatives by seniority 334th |
Succeeded by Ted Deutch D-Florida |