Jack Brooks | |
|---|---|
 Brooks in 1979 | |
| Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Peter W. Rodino |
| Succeeded by | Henry Hyde |
| Chair of theHouse Government Operations Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Chester E. Holifield |
| Succeeded by | John Conyers (Oversight Committee) |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTexas | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Jesse M. Combs |
| Succeeded by | Steve Stockman |
| Constituency | 2nd district (1953–1967) 9th district (1967–1995) |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 16-1 | |
| In office January 1947 – January 1951 | |
| Preceded by | William Smith |
| Succeeded by | William Ross |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jack Bascom Brooks (1922-12-18)December 18, 1922 Crowley, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 2012(2012-12-04) (aged 89) Beaumont, Texas, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (BA,LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Brooks, as chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee, opens debate on H.R.2978, the Flag Protection Act of 1989 Recorded September 12, 1989 | |
Jack Bascom Brooks (December 18, 1922 – December 4, 2012) was an AmericanDemocratic Party politician from the state ofTexas who served 42 years in theUnited States House of Representatives, initially representingTexas's 2nd congressional district from 1953 through 1967, and then, after district boundaries wereredrawn in 1966, the9th district from 1967 to 1995. He had strong political ties to other prominent Texas Democrats, includingSpeaker of the HouseSam Rayburn andPresidentLyndon B. Johnson. For over fifteen years, he was the dean of the Texas congressional delegation.
Brooks was born inCrowley, Louisiana, on December 18, 1922, and moved toBeaumont, Texas, at age 5 with his family.[1] When he was 13 his father, a rice salesman, died and among the jobs young Brooks took on were as acarhop and a newspaper reporter.[2] He enrolled atLamar Junior College in 1939 after receiving ascholarship.[1] After completing his two years at Lamar, he transferred to theUniversity of Texas at Austin, from which he earned aBachelor of Arts injournalism in 1943.[3]
Brooks enlisted in theU.S. Marine Corps duringWorld War II. He served for about two years on the Pacific islands ofGuadalcanal,Guam, andOkinawa, and in NorthChina,[1] attaining the rank offirst lieutenant.[2] Afterward, he remained active in theMarine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1972 with the rank ofcolonel.[3]
A lifelongDemocrat, Brooks was elected in 1946 to representJefferson County in theTexas House of Representatives. After his election, he sponsored a bill that would turn Lamar Junior College into a four-year university. The bill initially failed, but passed the following year. The institution is today known asLamar University.
Brooks won re-election to the state legislature in 1948 without opposition; the following year he earned alaw degree from theUniversity of Texas Law School.[1]
After four years in the Texas legislature, Brooks won a crowded 12-candidate Democratic primary and then was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives in the1952 election.[2][4]
A protégé of fellow Texans, House SpeakerSam Rayburn and then-U.S. SenatorLyndon B. Johnson,[2] Brooks showed himself to be a conservative on some issues like thedeath penalty andgun control, but more liberal on issues like domestic spending,labor, andcivil rights. In 1956, he refused to sign theSouthern Manifesto that opposedracial integration in public places.[5] Brooks voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957 and1960,[6][7] but voted in favor of the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[8] theCivil Rights Acts of 1964 and1968,[9][10] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[11] As a member of theHouse Judiciary Committee, he helped to write the 1964 and 1965 bills.[1]
On November 22, 1963, Brooks was in PresidentJohn F. Kennedy's motorcade inDallas at the timeKennedy was assassinated.[2][4] Hours later, he was present onAir Force One whenLyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.[12]
The 2nd was redistricted as the9th district in 1966, after theSupreme Court ruled inWesberry v. Sanders that congressional district populations had to be equal or close to equal in population.
One of Brooks's signature bills required competitive bidding for federal computing contracts. Initially conceived in the mid-1960s and enacted into law in 1972, theBrooks Act was the primary rule for all federal computer acquisitions for three decades, and is often cited as being a catalyst for technological advances.[13]
As a member of theHouse Judiciary Committee, Brooks participated in the 1973–74impeachment process against Richard Nixon. In mid-July 1974 he drafted and distributed to all members of the committee a strongly-worded set ofarticles ofimpeachment. Uncompromising though they were, the Brooks proposals provided others on the committee with an opportunity to meld their thoughts together and to further develop, thus serving as the foundation for the articles of impeachment that the committee subsequently adopted.[14] Because of the part he played in the president's downfall, Nixon later called Brooks his "executioner".[12]
Brooks was one of eight representatives to vote in favor of all five articles of impeachment against Nixon, brought before the Judiciary Committee. The others were also all Democrats:Robert Kastenmeier,Don Edwards,John Conyers,Barbara Jordan,Charles Rangel,Elizabeth Holtzman andEdward Mezvinsky.
Brooks was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Government Operations from 1975 through 1988, and of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary from 1989 until 1995.[1] He also served on the Select Committee on Congressional Operations, the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations, and the Subcommittee on Legislation and National Security.[15] In 1979, he became thesenior member of the Texas congressional delegation, a position which he maintained for fifteen years.[1][15]
As the leader of theGovernment Operations Committee, Brooks oversaw legislation affecting budget and accounting matters, and the establishment of departments and agencies. He also helped pass theInspector General Act of 1978, theGeneral Accounting Office Act of 1980, thePaper Reduction Act of 1980, and theSingle Audit Act of 1984.
In 1988, Brooks's influence was made prominent by his unusual involvement in trade policy. He introduced a spending bill amendment that bannedJapanese companies from U.S. public works projects for one year. He said he was motivated by continuing signs that the Japanese government "intended to blatantly discriminate against U.S. firms in awarding public works contracts". House Majority LeaderTom Foley ofWashington, who opposed the amendment, said Brooks "is one of the most powerful and effective chairmen in Congress."[16]
Brooks served twice as aHouse impeachment manager, being among the House impeachment managers that successfully prosecuted the cases against federal judgesAlcee Hastings andWalter Nixon in their 1989impeachment trials.[17]
While chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Brooks sponsored theAmericans with Disabilities Act of 1990, theOmnibus Crime Control Act of 1991, and theCivil Rights Act of 1991. He was also a sponsor of the 1994Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a measure which eventually came to include aban on assault weapons (the inclusion of which he opposed).[1][18]
Brooks won re-election in the1992 election, comfortably defeating hisRepublican opponentSteve Stockman. However, two years later, in1994, the 21-termincumbent unexpectedly lost to Stockman, becoming the most senior representative ever to be unseated in a general election,[19] a distinction Brooks still holds as of 2026. His tenure had extended across the administrations of 10 U.S. presidents,[12] and he was on the verge of becoming thedean of the U.S. House had he won a 22nd term.[4]
In 1960, Brooks married Charlotte Collins. They had three children: Jeb, Kate, and Kimberly.[2][4]
Brooks died at Baptist Hospital in Beaumont on December 4, 2012, at age 89.[2][4]
| Texas House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Smith | Member of theTexas House of Representatives from District 16-1 1947–1951 | Succeeded by William Ross |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 2nd congressional district 1953–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 9th congressional district 1967–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Government Operations Committee 1975–1989 | Succeeded byas Chair of the House Oversight Committee |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee 1989–1995 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
