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Steve King

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Steve King
Steve King Official.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded by Tom Latham
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 5th district
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by Tom Latham
Succeeded by District eliminated
Member of the Iowa Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by Wayne Bennett
Succeeded by Thurman Gaskill
Personal details
Born Steven Arnold King
) May 28, 1949 (age 63)
Storm Lake, Iowa
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Marilyn
Children three
Residence Kiron, Iowa
Occupation Construction contractor
Religion Roman Catholic

Steven Arnold "Steve" King (born May 28, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for Iowa's 4th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is located in the northwestern part of the state and includes Sioux City. On May 3, 2013, King tweeted he will not run for for the U.S. Senate in 2014.[1]

Contents

Early life, education, and business career

King was born on May 28, 1949 in Storm Lake, Iowa. The son of Emmett King, a state police dispatcher, and Mildred King, a homemaker, King graduated in 1967 from Denison Community High School.[2] He attended Northwest Missouri State University from 1967 to 1970,[3] taking courses toward becoming a wildlife officer.[2] In 1975, he founded King Construction, an earth moving company. King founded the Kiron Business Association in the 1980s. His involvement with the Iowa Land Improvement Contractors' Association led to regional and national offices in that organization and a growing interest in public policy.[2]

Iowa Senate (1997-2003)

Elections

In 1996, he ran for Iowa's 6th Senate district and defeated Democrat Eileen Heiden 64%-35%.[4] In 2000, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat Dennis Ryan 70%-30%.[5]

Tenure

From 1996 to 2002, King served as an Iowa State Senator, representing the 6th district.[3] He assisted in eliminating the inheritance tax, authored and passed into law workplace drug testing, worked for strengthening parental rights, passing tax cuts for working residents of Iowa, and passing a law that made English the official language in Iowa.[6]

Committee assignments

  • Appropriations
  • Business and Labor
  • Commerce
  • Judiciary
  • Oversight Budget (Vice Chairman)
  • State Government (Chair)

U.S. House of Representatives (2003-Present)

Elections

2002
Steve King at an event in Ames, Iowa in August 2011.

In 2002, after redistricting King ran for the open Iowa's 5th congressional district. He ranked first in the four-way Republican primary with 31% of the vote.[7] He was unable to procure the 35% voting threshold needed to win; subsequently, a nominating convention was held, which led to a nomination for King, who defeated State Representative Brent Siegrist 51%-47%.[8][9] King won the general election, defeating Council Bluffs City Councilman Paul Shomshor 62%-38%. He won all the counties in the district except Pottawattamie.[10]

2004

King won re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat Joyce Schulte, 63%-37%. He won all the counties in the district except Clarke.[11]

2006
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2006#District 5

In 2006, King won re-election to a third term, defeating Democrat Joyce Schulte, 59%-36%. He won all the counties in the district except Clarke and Union.[12][13]

2008
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2008#Fifth District

King won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Democrat Rob Hubler, 60%-37%. For the first time in his career he won all 32 counties in his district.[14][15]

2010
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2010#District 5

King won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Matt Campbell, 66%-32%. That was his highest percentage yet. King also won all 32 counties again.[16][17]

2012
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2012#District 4

Iowa lost a district as a result of the 2010 Census. King's district was renumbered as the 4th District, and pushed well to the east, absorbing Mason City and Ames in the process. This placed King and his predecessor, Latham, in the same district. Latham opted to move to the reconfigured 3rd District to challenge Democratic incumbent Leonard Boswell. While the new district closely resembles the area Latham represented for his first four terms, it is much more competitive than King's old district. The old 5th had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+9 while the new 4th has a PVI of R+4.

Soon afterward, former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, the wife of former Governor and current Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, announced she was moving to the new 4th to challenge King. King received endorsement from Mitt Romney, who said, "I’m looking here at Steve King because this man needs to be your congressman again. I want him as my partner in Washington, D.C."[18] King won re-election to a sixth term, defeating Vilsack, 53%-45%. King won all but seven counties: Webster, Boone, Story, Chickasaw, Floyd, Cerro Gordo, and Winnebago. All of those counties he did not represent in the 5th district.[19][20] Of the election, King stated “I faced $7 million, the best of everything Democrats can throw at me, their dream candidate and everything that can come from the Obama machine, and prevailed through all of that with 55 percent of my district that was new.”[21]

Tenure

King is considered an outspoken fiscal and social conservative. After winning the 2002 Republican nomination, he said that he intended to use his seat in Congress to "move the political center of gravity in Congress to the right."[22]

During the 110th Congress, King voted with the majority of the Republican Party 90.9% of the time.[23] King has continuously voted for Iraq War legislation, and has supported surge efforts and opposed a time table for troop withdrawals.

During the 112th Congress King was one of 40 "staunch" members of the Republican Study Committee who frequently voted against Republican party leadership and vocally expressed displeasure with House bills.[24]

He was the only Representative from Iowa to score 100 percent on the joint Family Research Council Action/Focus on the Family Action Congressional Scorecard in the second session of the 109th Congress[citation needed]. In the 109th United States Congress, and again in the 110th Congress, King chairs the Conservative Opportunity Society, an organization founded by Newt Gingrich and others consisting of Republican members of Congress committed to representing the conservative agenda in the House of Representatives.[citation needed]

King scored a 100% rating with the National Right to Life Committee, indicating a pro-life voting record. King also voted no on allowing human embryonic stem cell research.[25] King supports the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would ban federal funding of abortions except in cases of what the bill calls "forcible rape". This would remove the coverage from Medicaid that covers abortions for victims of statutory rape or incest.”[26]

King supports a broad legal latitude for individual gun ownership.[27]

On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a state ban on same-sex marriage violated the Iowa constitution.[28] King soon commented that the judges "should resign from their position" and the state legislature "must also enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become the gay marriage Mecca." [29] King, along with others, mounted a campaign against the retention of all three Iowa Supreme Court judges who ruled on the gay marriage case. King bought $80,000 of radio advertising across the state calling for Iowans to vote "no" on the judges. Subsequently, all three judges were not retained.[30]

King fought against Medicare and Medicaid paying for a number of medications such as Viagra, which he described as "recreational drugs".[31] King also has voted against each stimulus bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, saying, “Our economy will not recover because government spends more. It will recover because people produce more.”[32]

King gained prominence by being one of 11 in Congress to vote against the $52 billion Katrina Aid package citing fiscal responsibility and the government needing a comprehensive plan for spending aid money. The Sioux City Journal wrote the following about King's vote:

In September, we took our congressman, Steve King, to task for voting against a $52 billion aid package for victims of Hurricane Katrina. King - who was just one of 11 members of Congress who voted against the package which passed both houses and was signed by President Bush - based his vote on the need for "fiscal responsibility". He said the federal government needed to develop a comprehensive plan for spending aid dollars, including input from members of Congress, before more money was appropriated. He earlier had voted for a $10.5 billion emergency aid package. Well, after reading an Associated Press story about a report that details how perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in Katrina disaster aid have been misspent, it appears we were wrong and King was right about his vote on the $52 billion.[33]

In April 2006, conservative members of Congress proposed strengthening law enforcement against illegal immigration to the United States. When asked if "the US economy simply couldn't function without" the presence of illegal immigrants, King said that he rejected that position "categorically". He said "they", referring to the 77.5 million people between the ages of sixteen and sixty-five in the United States who are not part of the workforce, "could be put to work and we could invent machines to replace the rest."[34]

King said that "members of Congress that vote for a guest-worker plan ... will be supporting an amnesty plan and they should be branded with the scarlet letter 'A' and pay for that amnesty in the ballot box in November [elections]".

In July 2012 King opposed the McGovern amendment (to the 2012 farm bill) to establish misdemeanor penalties for knowingly attending an organized animal fight and felony penalties for bringing a minor to such a fight. In defense of his position, King stated that every state already has sufficient laws and penalties against dog- and cock fighting.[35] King received a score of zero on the 2012 Humane Society Legislative Fund's Humane Scorecard.[36]

King was also one of 39 members of the House to vote against an upgrade of penalties for transporting fighting animals across state lines in 2007.[37]

Obama's middle name controversy

On March 7, 2008, during his press engagements to announce his reelection campaign, King made remarks about Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama and his middle name, saying:

I don't want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name - whatever their religion their father might have been, I'll just say this: When you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States -- I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam? I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror. Additionally, his middle name (Hussein) does matter. It matters because they read a meaning into that in the rest of the world. [...] If he were strong on national defense and said "I'm going to go over there and we're going to fight and we're going to win, we'll come home with a victory," that's different. But that's not what he said. They will be dancing in the streets if he's elected president. That has a chilling aspect on how difficult it will be to ever win this Global War on Terror.[38]

Then on March 10, King defended his comments to The Associated Press, saying "(Obama will) certainly be viewed as a savior for them.... That's why you will see them supporting him, encouraging him."[39]

Obama said he did not take the comments too seriously, describing King as an individual who thrives on making controversial statements to get media coverage. He said, "I would hope Senator McCain would want to distance himself from that kind of inflammatory and offensive remarks." The McCain campaign disavowed King's comments, saying "John McCain rejects the type of politics that degrades our civics…and obviously that extends to Congressman King's statement."[39]

In mid-January 2009, King acknowledged that terrorists were not dancing in the streets, and in fact "They have made statements against Obama." He also said that he found Obama's decision to use his middle name "Hussein" when he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009, to be "bizarre" and "a double-standard".[40]

Affirmative Action controversy

King opposes race based quotas and affirmative action. King has stated: “There’s been legislation that’s been brought through this House that sets aside benefits for women and minorities. The only people that it excludes are white men...Pretty soon, white men are going to notice they are the ones being excluded.” [41]

Political lobbying controversy

On February 26, 2010, King went to the House floor to protest the Democrats' handling of health care reform and said: "Lobbyists do a very effective and useful job on this Hill ...There's a credibility there in that arena that I think somebody needs to stand up for the lobby, and it is a matter of providing a lot of valuable information."[42]

Racial profiling controversy

See also: Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy

Steve King said on the floor of the House on June 14, 2010 that racial profiling is an important component of law enforcement: "Some claim that the Arizona law will bring about racial discrimination profiling. First let me say, Mr. Speaker, that profiling has always been an important component of legitimate law enforcement. If you can’t profile someone, you can’t use those common sense indicators that are before your very eyes. Now, I think it’s wrong to use racial profiling for the reasons of discriminating against people, but it’s not wrong to use race or other indicators for the sake of identifying people that are violating the law."[43] As an example of profiling, King described an instance when a taxi driver would stop for him before he had to hail a cab, just because he was in a business suit.[44]

Steve King said on a radio show on June 14, 2010 that President Obama's policies favor black people. On G. Gordon Liddy's radio program, King said, "The president has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race - on the side that favors the black person in the case of Prof. Gates and officer Crowley."[45]

Todd Akin Rape controvery

King called the comments concerning statements made by Todd Akin about "legitimate rape" to be "petty personal attacks" and also called Akin a "strong Christian man".[46] In an interview with a local TV Station, King denied ever personally hearing about anyone getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest, saying: "Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way, and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter."[26]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

References

  1. ^ "Steve King not running for Iowa Senate Seat". The Quinton Report. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Steve King (R)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  3. ^ a b "Steve King". KCCI. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  4. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=458601
  5. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=458602
  6. ^ "U.S. House Of Representatives District 5". Lyon County Reporter. 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  7. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=96961
  8. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=458603
  9. ^ Giroux, Gregory L., King Promises Rightward Movement for Iowa , CQ Daily Monitor, 7/5/2002.
  10. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=976
  11. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=4145
  12. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=206934
  13. ^ "Iowa Statewide Election Summary" (pdf), November 9, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
  14. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=357505
  15. ^ Office of the Iowa Secretary of State
  16. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=489192
  17. ^ "Iowa Secretary of State - Matt Schultz". Sos.state.ia.us. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  18. ^ Jacobs, Jennifer. "Firebrand Steve King tells Siouxland not to doubt Romney's faith in Jesus". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  19. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=705017
  20. ^ http://electionresults.sos.iowa.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=CON&map=CTY
  21. ^ http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/can-steve-king-win-iowa-senate-seat-86820_Page2.html#ixzz2JNbtaCcR
  22. ^ Thompson, Kate. Fifth District Republicans Crown Their King. Sioux City Journal, 2002-06-30.
  23. ^ "Votes Database - Steve King". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  24. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (2012-03-16). "G.O.P. Freshmen Not as Defiant as Reputation Suggests". New York Times.
  25. ^ "Steve King on Abortion". On the Issues. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  26. ^ a b Leigh, Heather. "Rep. Steve King on the Campaign Trail". KMEG14. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  27. ^ "Steve King on Gun Control". Ontheissues.org. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  28. ^ Des Moines Register
  29. ^ The Iowa Independent
  30. ^ "The Winners of the 2010 Election". The Iowa Republican. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  31. ^ "House Rejects Coverage of Impotence Pills". The New York Times. June 25, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  32. ^ "U.S. Rep. King: Opposes bill stimulating government". IowaPolitics.com. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  33. ^ "King was right". Sioux City Journal. 2007-12-13. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  34. ^ Robin Lustig, interviewing King on the BBC's programme 'The World Tonight' on BBC Radio 4
  35. ^ Noble, Jason (10 August 2012). "Iowa's Steve King defends dogfighting comment after Stephen Colbert's mockery". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  36. ^ "Humane Scorecard". Final Report for the 112th Congress Preview Version—September 2012. Humane Society Legislative Fund. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  37. ^ "The HSUS Calls Out Steve King on Opposition to Anti-Dogfighting Bill". humanesociety.org. The U.S. Humane Society. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  38. ^ "Local News: King announced bid for fourth term (03/08/08)". Spencer Daily Reporter. 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  39. ^ a b "Rep. King defends comments on Obama". USA Today. March 11, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  40. ^ Daniel Libit (January 15, 2009). "King: Obama 'bizarre' to use 'Hussein'". Politico.
  41. ^ "Why is the GOP slighting Hispanics? (page 2)". Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  42. ^ Vaida, Bara (2010-03-01). "Rep. King: "Lobbyists Are Useful"". National Journal. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  43. ^ King: Racial profiling is important for law enforcement (Des Moines Register, 6/15/10)
  44. ^ Rep. Steve King Tells Congress He Is A Victim Of Profiling As A White Man In A Suit
  45. ^ Steve King Says Obama "Favors the Black Person" (CBS News, 6/15/10)
  46. ^ Joseph, Cameron. "Rep. Steve King defends Akin as a "strong Christian man"". The Hill. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  47. ^ Preston, Julia (January 7, 2011). "Surprise Choice for Immigration Panel". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2011.

External links

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United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Tom Latham		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 5th congressional district
2003–2013		 Succeeded by
District eliminated
Preceded by
Tom Latham		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 4th congressional district
2013–Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Jeb Hensarling
R-Texas		 United States Representatives by seniority
161st		 Succeeded by
John Kline
R-Minnesota