Jack Fields | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Eckhardt |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Brady |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jack Milton Fields Jr. (1952-02-03)February 3, 1952 (age 74) Humble, Texas, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Education | Baylor University (BA,JD) |
Jack Milton Fields Jr. (born February 3, 1952) is an American businessman and a formerRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives from aHouston-based district. He served eight terms from 1981 to 1997.
Fields was born inHumble, a northern suburb of Houston. He graduated fromHumble High School in his hometown in 1970. Fields earned both Bachelor of Arts andJuris Doctor degrees fromBaptist-affiliatedBaylor University andBaylor Law School inWaco, Texas, in 1974 and 1977, respectively. After being admitted to theTexas bar in 1977, Fields worked as a lawyer in private practice and as a vice president of a family-owned business through 1980.
In1980, at the age of twenty-eight, Fields was elected to the U.S. House on thecoattails of PresidentRonald Reagan'selectoral victory. He narrowly defeated8th District incumbentBob Eckhardt, a seven-termDemocrat, by only 4,900 votes to become the first Republican to represent what is now the 8th in 83 years. After the 1980 census, most of the 8th's more Democratic areas were cut out, and Fields was reelected seven more times without serious difficulty.
When the Republican Party assumed majority control of the House of Representatives in the1994 elections, Fields was elected chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of theHouse Committee on Commerce. In that role, he was one of the principal authors of thePrivate Securities Litigation Reform Act, the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, and theTelecommunications Act of 1996.
In 1993, Fields joined a field of 24 candidates in aspecial election for theU.S. Senate seat vacated byLloyd Bentsen, when Bentsen was appointed by U.S. PresidentBill Clinton as thesecretary of the treasury. However, Fields failed to win enough votes to advance to arunoff election.
Fields did not run for reelection to the106th Congress in1996. Instead, he started two companies, the 21st Century Group, Inc., a government relations firm based in Washington, D.C., and Texana Global, Inc., an international trade corporation headquartered in Texas. He has served on various corporate and charitable boards. In 2004, theU.S. Post Office inKingwood was renamed the "Congressman Jack Fields Post Office" in Fields' honor.
He joinedInsperity as a director in January 1997. His total compensation for this role in 2009 was $120,746.[1]
Fields is married to Lynn Fields and has two daughters, Jordan and Lexi, and a stepson, Josh Hughes.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 8th congressional district 1981–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee 1993–1995 | Position abolished |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
