Pete Sessions

Pete Sessions
Chairman of the House Rules Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	David Dreier
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 32nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Constituency established
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 5th district
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	John Bryant
Succeeded by	Jeb Hensarling
Personal details
Born	Peter Anderson Sessions (1955-03-22) March 22, 1955 Waco, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Juanita (1984–2011) Karen Diebel (2012–present)
Alma mater	Southwestern University
Religion	Methodism

Peter Anderson "Pete" Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is an American politician. He represents Texas's 32nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is the current chairman of the House Rules Committee and a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.^[1]

Early life, education and career

Sessions was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Alice June (née Lewis) and William Steele Sessions, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^[2] He grew up in Waco and in the suburbs of Washington, DC. He graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas in 1978. He worked for Southwestern Bell for 16 years and rose to the rank of district manager for marketing in Dallas, supervising 435 employees and managing a $16 million budget.

U.S. House of Representatives

Campaigns

In his 1991 election bid, Sessions finished third in a special election for the House of Representatives.

In 1993, he left his job with Southwestern Bell to again run for Congress, against 5th District incumbent Democratic Congressman John Bryant. He toured the district with a livestock trailer full of horse manure, claiming that the Clinton Administration's health care plan stank more than the manure.^[3] He lost by 2,400 votes. He subsequently became vice president for public policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a Dallas-based conservative public policy research institute.

In 1996, when Bryant decided to seek a Senate seat, Sessions was elected to succeed him in the 5th District, defeating Democratic candidate John Pouland with 47 percent of the vote.

He was re-elected in 1998, defeating schoolteacher Victor Morales with 56 percent of the vote.

In 2000, he ran against Regina Montoya Coggins, and was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote.

When redistricting after the 2000 Census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, he moved to the newly created 32nd District for the 2002 election, in which he ran against Pauline Dixon and won the district with 68 percent of the vote.

In 2004, Sessions defeated 13-term, Democratic incumbent Congressman Martin Frost, who had moved to the 32nd after the redistricting in 2003 eliminated Frost's former district. He won 54–44%, in what was considered the most expensive U.S. House race in the nation. According to the Associated Press, "The race also was one of the nastiest, with Frost unearthing a decades-old streaking incident by Sessions in his college days and questioning his commitment to security with an ad featuring the World Trade Center towers in flames. In response, he criticized Frost for booking Peter Yarrow of the 1960s group Peter, Paul and Mary for a fundraiser. Yarrow had faced an indecency with a child charge years earlier."

In 2010, he faced Dallas businessman and attorney Grier Raggio and Libertarian John Jay Myers. The election was initially considered one of the top dark horse battles in the country, but Sessions won re-election.^[4]

In 2012, he faced the Democratic candidate, Katherine Savers McGovern, and independent, Seth Hollis. He was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News and won re-election.

In the 2014 Republican primary, Sessions defeated conservative Katrina Pierson, an African American and a favorite of the Tea Party movement. He polled 28,954 votes (63.6 percent) to her 16,560 (36.4 percent).^[5] Pierson, originally allied with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, later joined the Donald Trump presidential campaign staff.

In 2016, Sessions polled 49,632 votes (61.4 percent) to gain re-nomination in the Republican congressional primary, which had a much greater turnout than in 2014. The runner-up, Russ K. Ramsland (born c. 1952) of Dallas, received 19,105 votes (23.6 percent). Two other contenders held the remaining 14.9 percent of the ballots cast.^[6]

Legislation

On March 14, 2016 Representative Sessions introduced H.Res.642 Recognizing magic as a rare and valuable art form and national treasure. ^[7]

Sessions supported the North Texas Invasive Species Barrier Act of 2014 (H.R. 4032; 113th Congress), a bill that would exempt the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) from prosecution under the Lacey Act for transferring water containing invasive species from Oklahoma to Texas.^[8] The Lacey Act protects plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for various violations, including transferring invasive species across state borders.^[8] Sessions argued that the bill was necessary to prevent "more than 1.5 million customers of the North Texas Municipal Water District" from facing "restricted access to water as a result of the discovery of invasive species in Lake Texoma."^[9]

Disability advocacy

Earlier in his career, he passed the Family Opportunity Act. In 2008, he joined his colleagues Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Patrick Kennedy, and Eleanor Holmes Norton in forming the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus to educate members of Congress and their staff, about Down Syndrome.

In 2011, he sponsored of the ABLE Act, which sought to amend Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986. It did not pass in the 112th Congress and was reintroduced in the 113th Congress^[10] and in 2014.^[11]

Boy Scouts

He was involved in the effort to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America by introducing a "100 Years of Scouting" commemorative coin, released in 2010.^[12] In 2008, Pres. George W. Bush signed H.R. 5872 entitled, the "Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act." ^[13] The BSA recognized him as a "Distinguished Eagle Scout." He holds a position on the Circle Ten Council of the BSA. Both of his sons are also active in scouting.^[14]

National Republican Congressional Committee

In the 2010 election, during his tenure as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party gained control of the House with significant gains. They won a net gain of 63 seats and 89 new freshman members.^[15]

Committee assignments

• House Committee on Rules, chairman

In 2012, he was named chairman of the House Rules Committee for the 113th Congress by Speaker of the House John Boehner. The Rules Committee is among the oldest standing committees in the House, having been first formally constituted on April 2, 1789.

• Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House

Party leadership and caucus memberships

• National Republican Congressional Committee, former chairman
• Results Caucus
• Malaysia Trade, Security and Economic Cooperation Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Congressional Hispanic Conference
• Tea Party Caucus
• Congressional Cement Caucus

Controversies

Connections to Abramoff

In late 2001 and early 2002, he cosigned letters to two Cabinet members asking them to shut down casinos operated by several Native American tribes. Within 18 months of sending the letters, he received a total of $20,500 from tribes associated with Jack Abramoff, raising suspicion that he had written the letters to curry favor with Abramoff as he represented a number of competing tribes. In response, his office said that he wrote the letters because of his view that gambling is a local issue, falling under his long held support for federalism.^[16]

Taliban comments

In early February 2009, Sessions made the following comment about the Republican Party legislative strategy in the House of Representatives: "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," he said, during the 60-minute sitdown.^[17] "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes."^[18] He continued: "I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban.... I'm saying an example of how you go about [it] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."^[19]

Blimpgate

In 2008, he added a $1.6 million earmark to an appropriations bill, for dirigible research. The earmark benefitted a Chicago company, Jim G. Ferguson & Associates, which had no experience in government contracting or dirigible research. Former Sessions aide and convicted felon Adrian Plesha was a lobbyist for the firm.^[20][21]

In September, Adrian Plesha sued Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for non-payment of fees and expenses connected with his lobbying effort on their behalf.^[22]

Ties to Allen Stanford

Sessions came under criticism for his personal ties to Allen Stanford. Records showed that he received over $44,000 in political contributions from Allen Stanford and his associates.^[23] He also took multiple trips to Fire Island and to the Caribbean to attend Stanford sponsored events.^[23] These trips included private travel on Stanford's fleet of jets and accommodations.^[23]

Racial comments

In September 2010, Sessions remarked after watching the Princeton University men's basketball team, "How often can you go see a bunch of white guys play basketball?" He also reportedly said that the players stayed entirely below the rim. The comments were described as an allusion to the phrase "White Men Can't Jump", and were labeled as inappropriate by New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell.^[24]

Less than two weeks after his "white guys" comments he made controversial comments about the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) giving money to and supporting, "African Americans like Sanford Bishop. And when you have to retreat back to ... your hard base you're having to make tough decisions."^[25][26]

Countrywide Financial loan

In January 2012, it was reported that Sessions received a so-called "VIP" or "Friends of Angelo" loan in 2007 from troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, in which loans were granted at lower interest rates than were available to the public. Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo created the program to boost the company's standing with politicians, celebrities and well-connected business figures. He received a $1 million loan from Countrywide at below-market rates, which he never declared in financial disclosures. His, as well as names of other legislators who received similar loans were subsequently referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of an ethics investigation into improper gifts.^[27][28] He was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform when their investigation revealed he did not receive any preferential treatment or a below market interest rate on his mortgage from Countrywide.^[29]

Implication regarding the French

During the 2013 government shutdown, after being questioned by another individual regarding his position on the shutdown and his presence at the National World War II Memorial, which was open while other National Park Service monuments and parks remained closed, he replied that "we're not the French; we don't surrender."^[30] As the chairman of the House Rules Committee, Sessions had in fact introduced HR 368 to a vote in the House which allowed the shutdown to take place; Sessions voted in favor of the bill and therefore the shutdown.^[31][32]

Personal life

In August 2011, he and Juanita divorced, after 27 years of marriage. They have two sons, Bill and Alex.^[33] In August 2012, he married Karen Diebel.^[34]

References

External links

• Congressman Pete Sessions official House site
• Pete Sessions for Congress
• Pete Sessions at DMOZ
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

Chairmen of the United States House Committee on Rules (1880–present)
Randall Keifer Carlisle Reed Crisp Reed Henderson Cannon Dalzell Henry Pou Campbell Snell Pou Bankhead O'Connor Sabath Allen Sabath Allen Smith Colmer Madden Delaney Bolling Pepper Moakley Solomon Dreier Slaughter Dreier Sessions