- For guitarist/vocalist for the rock band Cursive, see Ted Stevens (musician).
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens (born November 18 1923) is the senior United States Senator from Alaska. As the longest serving Republican in the Senate, Stevens served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2007. Stevens served as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee from 1997 to 2005 except for the 18-month interlude when Democrats controlled the chamber. The chairmanship gave Stevens considerable influence among fellow Senators, who relied on him for home-state project funds.
Ted Stevens | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Alaska | |
| In office 1968–Present | |
| Preceded by | Bob Bartlett |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent (2009) |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | american |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Ann Cherrington, deceased (2) Catherine Ann Chandler |
Due to Republican Party rules that limit committee chairmanships to six years, Stevens gave up the Appropriations gavel at the start of the 109th Congress. He chaired the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for the 109th Congress and is currently the ranking member on the committee.
Stevens has had a six-decade-long career of public service, beginning with his service in World War II. Later, in the 1950s, he held senior positions in the Eisenhower Interior and Justice departments. He has served continuously in the Senate since 1968.
Stevens served as President pro tempore until January 4, 2007, when the 110th Congress convened and Democrats took control of the chamber. He was replaced by Robert Byrd.
Early life
Ted Stevens was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1923. During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces C-47 pilot in the China-Burma-India theater with the "Flying Tigers" of the Fourteenth Air Force from 1943 to 1946, holding the rank of First Lieutenant. There he received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals, as well as the Yuan Hai medal awarded by the Republic of China.
After the war ended, Stevens attended UCLA, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Harvard Law School. In the early 1950s he moved to Alaska, then a territory.
In Fairbanks, Stevens practiced law, and he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Fairbanks in 1953.
Political career
Department of the Interior
In 1956, Stevens was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he worked as legislative counsel and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. He also pushed for the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which occurred in 1959. In 1960, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Stevens to solicitor of the Department of the Interior.
Alaska House of Representatives
After returning to Alaska, Stevens practiced law in Anchorage. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, and became House majority leader in his second term.
United States Senate
In December 1968, Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Stevens to the U.S. Senate after the death of Democrat Bob Bartlett[1]. In 1970, Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election, and has been reelected six times since, in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002. His current term will expire in 2009.
Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Whip from 1977 to 1985. In 1994, Stevens was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber as a result of the 2002 mid-term elections, during which the previous longest-serving republican senator and former president pro tempore Strom Thurmond retired. He is a former Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. In the past, Stevens also has served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.
His campaign political action committee is called the "Northern Lights PAC."
Issues
Abortion
According to Ontheissues.org[2] and NARAL[3], Ted Stevens has a voting record that indicates a pro-life perspective, despite some notable pro-choice votes[4]. However, as a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, Stevens supports human embryonic stem cell research.
Criticism
Ted Stevens has taken criticism for a wide variety of positions and actions taken in the Senate. This includes placing a secret hold on a bill that would allow easier accountability and research of all federal funding measures, describing the Internet as a "series of tubes" when taking a strong alliance with the telecommunications industry against network neutrality[5], and supporting perceived pork barrel projects such as the Gravina Island Bridge (known as the "Bridge to Nowhere" to its opponents) and the Knik Arm Bridge. He threatened to resign from the Senate if the federal earmark for the Alaskan bridges was sent to help repair Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina damage.
Additionally, he received criticism for introducing a bill [6] in January 2007 that would heavily restrict access to social networking sites from public schools and libraries. Sites falling under the language of this bill could include MySpace, Facebook, Digg, and Reddit. Despite initial concerns, the bill would probably not affect Wikipedia. [7][8][9]
Family
In December 1978, Stevens survived the crash of a Lear Jet at what would later be named the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which killed five people, including his first wife, Ann.
Stevens' son, Ben Stevens, was appointed to the Alaska Senate in 2001 by Democratic Governor Tony Knowles, and was the Senate President until the fall of 2006.
Aside from Ben, Stevens and his first wife Ann had two daughters, Susan and Beth, and two sons, Walter and Ted. He and his second wife Catherine have a daughter, Lily.
Stevens' current home in Alaska is in Girdwood.
Recognition
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage is named after him.
When he is discussing issues that are especially important to him (such as opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling), he wears a necktie with The Incredible Hulk on it to show his seriousness.[10] Marvel Comics responded by sending him free Hulk paraphernalia and throwing a Hulk party for the Senator. [11]
Stevens is the focus of the Ted Stevens Foundation, a charity established to "assist in educating and informing the public about the career of Senator Ted Stevens." Tim McKeever, chairman of the Foundation and is a lobbyist who was treasurer of Stevens' campaign, has said that the charity is "nonpartisan and nonpolitical." [12]
In May 2006, the Senate Majority Project, a partisan political organization, nominated Stevens as "Drama Queen of the US Senate" for his entertaining tactics. [13]
November 18, 2003, the senator's 80th birthday, was declared Senator Ted Stevens Appreciation Day by Alaska's Governor, Frank H. Murkowski. [14]
Stevens delivered a eulogy of Gerald R. Ford at the 38th President's funeral ceremony on December 30, 2006.
He is also famous for delivering the now-infamous "Series of Tubes" speech.
Contact Information
- Senate Office Contact Info:
- 522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
- Washington, DC 20510
- Ph: (202) 224-3004
- Fax:(202) 224-2354 FAX
References
- ^ Official biography [1]
- ^ http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Stevens_Abortion.htm
- ^ http://www.naral.org/choice-action-center/in-congress/congressional-record-on-choice/state.html?state=AK
- ^ [http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00048
- ^ http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1779
- ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00049:
- ^ http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/4598
- ^ http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/02/fear_and_loathi.html
- ^ http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/02/15/dopa-jr-is-not-a-wikipedia-ban
- ^ http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/v-printer/story/7303381p-7215164c.html
- ^ http://alaskalegislature.com/stories/062203/stevens.shtml
- ^ http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/05/07/limits_urged_on_political_charities/?page=2
- ^ http://www.senatemajority.com/node/289
- ^ http://gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=652&type=6
External links
- United States Senator Ted Stevens official site
- United States Congress. "Ted Stevens (id: S000888)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Federal Election Commission - Theodore F (Ted) Stevens campaign finance reports and data
- New York Times - Ted Stevens News collected news and commentary
- On the Issues - Ted Stevens issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org - Ted Stevens campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart - Senator Ted Stevens (AK) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia - Ted Stevens profile
- Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Ted Stevens voting record
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
- Audio recording of Ted Stevens expressing his views on net neutrality