Jim Sensenbrenner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Hyde |
| Succeeded by | John Conyers |
| Chair of theHouse Science Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Walker |
| Succeeded by | Sherwood Boehlert |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Kasten |
| Succeeded by | Scott Fitzgerald |
| Constituency | 9th district (1979–2003) 5th district (2003–2021) |
| Member of theWisconsin Senate from the4th district | |
| In office April 8, 1975 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Kasten |
| Succeeded by | Rod Johnston |
| Member of theWisconsin State Assembly | |
| In office January 1, 1973 – April 2, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Rod Johnston |
| Constituency | 10th district |
| In office 1969 – January 1, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Nile Soik |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency | 25thMilwaukee County |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (1943-06-14)June 14, 1943 (age 82) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | John C. Pritzlaff (great-great-grandfather) James C. Kerwin (great-grandfather) F. Joseph Sensenbrenner Jr. (2nd cousin) |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD) |
Sensenbrenner supporting a resolution recognizingOzaukee County as the birthplace ofFlag Day. Recorded June 14, 2004 | |
Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (/ˈsɛnsənbrɛnər/; born June 14, 1943) is anAmerican politician who representedWisconsin's 5th congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the9th district until 2003). He is a member of theRepublican Party.
He is the former chairman of theHouse Science Committee and the former chairman of theHouse Judiciary Committee; when the Republicans lost control of the House, he finished his six-year term as chairman and was not chosen as the Judiciary Committee's ranking minority member (that honor went toLamar S. Smith ofTexas).[1] He served as the ranking Republican on theHouse Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2011 before Republicans abolished the committee after regaining control of the House. At the time of his retirement, Sensenbrenner was the most senior member of the Wisconsin delegation and the second most senior member in the House.
Sensenbrenner announced in September 2019 that he would not run for re-election in2020.[2]
Sensenbrenner was born inChicago, Illinois. His great-grandfather, Frank J. Sensenbrenner, was involved in the early marketing ofKotexsanitary napkin and served as the second president ofKimberly-Clark.[3] His grandfather, John S. Sensenbrenner, also spent his entire career working for Kimberly-Clark.[4] Sensenbrenner was raised inShorewood, Wisconsin, and attended the privateMilwaukee Country Day School inWhitefish Bay, from which he graduated in 1961. Hematriculated atStanford University, graduating with aB.A. inpolitical science in 1965. He received aJuris Doctor degree from theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School in 1968. Sensenbrenner served as staff assistant to California U.S. CongressmanJ. Arthur Younger and Wisconsin State SenatorJerris Leonard.[5]
Sensenbrenner was elected to theWisconsin State Assembly in 1968, the same year he graduated from law school. He served in the State Assembly until 1975, and in theWisconsin State Senate from 1975 to early 1979.[6]
When 9th District CongressmanBob Kasten vacated his seat to run for governor in 1978, Sensenbrenner ran in the election to succeed him in what was then the 9th District, which covered most of Milwaukee's northern and western suburbs. He defeated his primary opponent, State AssemblywomanSusan Engeleiter, by 589 votes with a plurality of 43%.[7][8] He defeated Democratic lawyerMatt Flynn in November 1978 with 61%[9] and was reelected 20 more times with no substantive opposition, sometimes running unopposed in what has long been the most Republican district in Wisconsin. His district was renumbered as the 5th after the 2000 census, when Wisconsin lost a district. He never won re-election with less than 62% of the vote. In fact, his worst two re-elections were in 2004, when he defeatedUW-Milwaukee professor Bryan Kennedy with 67% of the vote,[10] and in 2006 defeated him in a rematch with 62%.[11]
On September 4, 2019, he announced that he would not seek a 22nd term in office and would retire from Congress at the conclusion of the 116th Congress.[12]
In 1998, Sensenbrenner was one of theHouse managers (prosecutors) inthe 1999 impeachment trial of PresidentBill Clinton.[13] He was also one of the impeachment managers for three otherimpeachment trials (all for federal judges): the 1989 trial ofWalter Nixon, the 2009 trial ofSamuel B. Kent, and the 2010 trial ofThomas Porteous.[14]
Sensenbrenner introduced theUSA PATRIOT Act to the House on October 23, 2001. Although the primary author wasU.S. Assistant Attorney GeneralViet D. Dinh,[15] Sensenbrenner has been recognized as "one of the architects of the Patriot Act".[16]
In November 2004, Sensenbrenner and California CongressmanDuncan L. Hunter objected to provisions of a bill that created the9/11 Commission. In 2006, the NRA successfully lobbied Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act re-authorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees.[17]
In 2005, Sensenbrenner authored theReal ID Act, which requires scrutiny of citizenship before issuingdrivers' licenses to make it more difficult for terrorists and criminals to alter their identities by counterfeiting documents. He attached the controversial act as a rider on military spending bill HR418, which the Senate passed without debate.[18]
On June 17, 2005, Sensenbrenner, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, ended a meeting where Republicans and Democrats were debating the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act and walked out in response to Democratic members discussinghuman rights violations at theGuantanamo Bay detainment camp and the ongoingIraq War. He ordered the court reporter to halt transcription of the proceedings andC-SPAN to shut off its cameras. Sensenbrenner defended his actions by stating that the Democrats and witnesses had violated House rules in discussing issues unrelated to the subject of the meeting.[19] Democrats have claimed that his walkout was contrary to Houseparliamentary procedure, which is to adjourn either on motion or without objection.[20]
In June 2013, Sensenbrenner objected to theFBI andNSA's use of the PATRIOT Act to routinely collect phone metadata from millions of Americans without any suspicion of wrongdoing. He said:
The Bureau's broad application for phone records was made under the so-called business records provision of the Act. I do not believe the broadly drafted FISA order is consistent with the requirements of the Patriot Act. Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.[21]
He released a statement saying: "While I believe the Patriot Act appropriately balanced national security concerns and civil rights, I have always worried about potential abuses."[22][23]
He also criticized thePRISM program, stating that the Patriot Act did not authorize the program.[24][25]
Sensenbrenner supported theAmash–Conyers Amendment, a plan to defund the NSA's telephone surveillance program. "Never, he said, did he intend to allow the wholesale vacuuming up of domestic phone records, nor did his legislation envision that data dragnets would go beyond specific targets of terrorism investigations." The Amendment fell seven votes short of the number it needed to pass.[26][27]
In October 2013, he introduced theUSA Freedom Act in the House, a bill designed to curtail the powers of the NSA and end the NSA's dragnet phone data collection program. The bill is supported by civil liberties advocacy groups, including theAmerican Civil Liberties Union.[28]
In March 2005, Sensenbrenner sided with the parents and siblings in theTerri Schiavo case, who fought unsuccessfully in federal court to block the withdrawal of her feeding tube.[29]
Sensenbrenner was the main sponsor ofH.R. 4437, a bill passed by the House in 2005 that would provide additional criminal penalties for aiding and abettingillegal immigration to the United States.[30] Sensenbrenner, in spite of unanimous Congressional support,[31] attempted to delay a bill[32] in December 2010 that would have been benefited Hotaru Ferschke, the Japanese-born widow of a United States Marine killed in combat. CongressmanJohn Duncan was able to use "a loophole" to get the bill passed in spite of Sensenbrenner's objections. By adding language in the Senate indicating the bill would not impact the federal budget Sensenbrenner could no longer block the bill by himself according to House rules. The measure was passed unanimously.[33]
On May 9, 2019, Sensenbrenner was one of four Republicans who voted for HR 986, a measure supported by all voting House Democrats intended to maintain protections of those with pre-existing medical conditions to have continued access to affordable medical insurance under the existing provisions of theAffordable Care Act.[34]
On September 8, 2005, Sensenbrenner voted against a bill to provide $50 billion in emergency aid to victims ofHurricane Katrina.[35] The bill passed and was signed into law by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.
On December 16, 2005, Sensenbrenner introduced theDigital Transition Content Security Act. He helped lead the effort to pass theIntellectual Property Protection Act of 2006, which was supported by largecopyright holders and opposed byfair use activists.[36]
In 2017, Sensenbrenner joined fellow Congressional Republicans in overturning policies put in place by theObama administration that required telecommunication carriers likeVerizon,AT&T, andComcast to allow customers to opt in or out from those companies' sharing their confidential information. When asked about the issue at a town hall, Sensenbrenner stated, "Nobody's got to use the Internet."[37]
In 2006, Sensenbrenner expressed outrage at theFBI raid of the congressional office of Democratic RepresentativeWilliam J. Jefferson, asserting constitutional concerns overseparation of powers. He held Judiciary Committee hearings in May 2006 on this issue.[38] One year before, on May 9, 2005, he suggested the creation of an "inspector general" on the federal Judiciary.[39]
In fall 2006, the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act unanimously passed the Senate, but Sensenbrenner used his position to block final House consideration of the legislation, even though the bill had 324 co-sponsors. The act createsfelony-level penalties foranimal fighting activities.[40]
Sensenbrenner was the only Republican to join House SpeakerNancy Pelosi's Congressional delegation to meet theDalai Lama inDharamsala,India during the March 2008protests against China byTibetans.[41] While there he said, "In the US Congress, there is no division between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of protecting Tibetan culture and eliminating repression against Tibetans around the world."[42]
Following the death ofNelson Mandela, Sensenbrenner objected to the executive proclamation by PresidentBarack Obama to lower the flags to half-staff to honor Mandela. He stated it was his belief that the American flag should only be flown at half-staff for Americans.[43]
Sensenbrenner received important international recognitions. In 2014, the Japanese Government awarded him theOrder of the Rising Sun, gold and silver stars.[44] He is only the second American to receive theRobert Schuman Medal (2015) after President George H. W. Bush (2014).[45]
Sensenbrenner believes in criminal prosecution of broadcasters and cable operators who violate decency standards, in contrast to theFCC regulatory methods.[46] In July 2012, Sensenbrenner advocated amending theEspionage Act of 1917 to enable the prosecution of journalists involved in publishing leaks of state secrets.[47]
In December 2011, theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sensenbrenner referred toFirst LadyMichelle Obama's "big butt" while talking to church members at aChristmas bazaar at St. Aidan's church inHartford.[48] Church member Ann Marsh-Meigs told the newspaper that she heard Sensenbrenner's remarks. She said the congressman was speaking about the first lady's efforts to combat childhood obesity, and added, "And look at her big butt." On December 22, Sensenbrenner's press secretary said Sensenbrenner had sent Obama a personal note and released a statement saying he regretted his "inappropriate comment". Sensenbrenner's office would not release the text of the note.[49]
Sensenbrenner has received high marks from theNational Taxpayers Union, anon-profit organization that supports low taxes.[50]
Sensenbrenner was named the 2006 "Man of the Year" by theconservative publicationHuman Events because of his immigration policies.[51] In contrast, in the same year he was rated the second-worst member of the House byRolling Stone, which dubbed him "thedictator".[52][53] Also in 2006, the NRA lobbied Sensenbrenner to add a provision to thePatriot Act re-authorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees.[17]
In 1977, Sensenbrenner married Cheryl Warren, daughter of former state attorney general and U.S. District Court JudgeRobert W. Warren. The couple have two sons, Frank (born 1981), and Bob (born 1984). Frank worked as a lobbyist for the Canadian embassy in Washington D.C. starting in 2007, although he didn't register with the U.S. as an agent for a foreign government.[56] He is currently a visiting fellow atJohns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, his research focusing on Eurozone financial markets, and has blogged for theHuffington Post on Italian politics and theVatican.[57][58]
When not inWashington D.C., Sensenbrenner resides inMenomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
Sensenbrenner has a net worth of about $11.6 million.[59] His net worth in 2010 was $9.9 million.[60] He is an heir to theKimberly-Clark family fortune,[61] but no longer owns any Kimberly-Clark stock.[60] His great-grandfather, Frank J. Sensenbrenner, who served as Kimberly-Clark's second president and CEO during the period Kimberly Clark developed Kotex and numerous other consumable goods, but the congressman has never served on the board or been directly involved with the company.[60] He has put his money into stocks, as detailed in theCongressional Record.[8] Sensenbrenner has also won lottery prizes three times, the largest, $250,000, in 1997.[59][62]
Other notable ancestors of Sensenbrenner's include maternal great-great-grandfatherJohn C. Pritzlaff, founder of Milwaukee-basedJohn Pritzlaff Hardware Company, and paternal great-grandfatherJames C. Kerwin, a justice of theWisconsin Supreme Court. His ancestry includes German, Irish, andAlsatian.[63]
In August 2009, Sensenbrenner announced that he was diagnosed withprostate cancer. His doctor said the cancer was caught in the early stages when the cure rate is between 85 and 95 percent.[64]
A formerUnited Episcopalian, Sensenbrenner became aCatholic in August 2014.[65]
Sensenbrenner's wife, Cheryl, died on June 15, 2020, in Alexandria, Virginia, after suffering a stroke six years earlier.[66]
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968[67] | Primary | September 10 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 3,444 | 42.96% | Rod Johnston (inc.) | Rep. | 2,772 | 34.58% | 8,017 | 672 |
| Richard W. Yeo | Rep. | 849 | 10.59% | |||||||||
| Lewis B. Rheinsmith | Rep. | 820 | 10.23% | |||||||||
| Thomas J. Aaron | Rep. | 132 | 1.65% | |||||||||
| General | November 5 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 15,150 | 70.33% | Richard J. Regan | Dem. | 6,390 | 29.67% | 21,540 | 8,760 | |
| 1970[68] | General | November 3 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 12,802 | 73.44% | Margaret Rounseville | Dem. | 4,631 | 26.56% | 17,433 | 8,171 |
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972[69] | General | November 7 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 17,483 | 71.88% | Barbara Ulichny | Dem. | 6,840 | 28.12% | 24,323 | 10,643 |
| 1974[70] | General | November 5 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 12,579 | 72.19% | Charles J. Sykes | Dem. | 4,847 | 27.81% | 17,426 | 7,732 |
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975[70] | Special | April 1 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 16,605 | 72.63% | Robert A. Jakubiak | Dem. | 6,258 | 27.37% | 22,863 | 10,347 |
| 1976[71] | General | November 2 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 47,605 | 100.0% | 47,605 | 47,605 | ||||
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978[72] | Primary | September 12 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 29,584 | 43.30% | Susan Engeleiter | Rep. | 28,995 | 42.44% | 68,325 | 589 |
| Robert C. Brunner | Rep. | 9,746 | 14.26% | |||||||||
| General | November 7 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 118,386 | 61.15% | Matthew J. Flynn | Dem. | 75,207 | 38.85% | 193,593 | 43,179 | |
| 1980[73] | General | November 4 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 206,227 | 78.39% | Gary C. Benedict | Dem. | 56,838 | 21.61% | 263,065 | 149,389 |
| 1982[74] | General | November 2 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 111,503 | 100.0% | 111,503 | 111,503 | ||||
| 1984[75] | General | November 6 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 180,260 | 73.36% | John Krause | Dem. | 64,145 | 26.11% | 245,711 | 116,115 |
| Stephen K. Hauser | Const. | 1,306 | 0.53% | |||||||||
| 1986[76] | General | November 4 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 138,766 | 78.22% | Thomas G. Popp | Dem. | 38,636 | 21.78% | 177,402 | 100,130 |
| 1988[77] | General | November 8 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 185,093 | 74.91% | Thomas J. Hickey | Dem. | 62,003 | 25.09% | 247,096 | 123,090 |
| 1990[78] | General | November 6 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 117,967 | 100.0% | 117,967 | 117,967 | ||||
| 1992[79] | General | November 3 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 192,898 | 69.70% | Ingrid K. Buxton | Dem. | 77,362 | 27.95% | 276,760 | 115,536 |
| David E. Marlow | Ind. | 4,619 | 1.67% | |||||||||
| Jeffrey Holt Millikin | Lib. | 1,881 | 0.68% | |||||||||
| 1994[80] | General | November 8 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 141,617 | 100.0% | 141,617 | 141,617 | ||||
| 1996[81] | General | November 5 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 197,910 | 74.50% | Floyd Brenholt | Dem. | 67,740 | 25.50% | 265,650 | 130,170 |
| 1998[82] | General | November 3 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 175,533 | 91.43% | Jeffrey M. Gonyo | Ind. | 16,419 | 8.55% | 191,976 | 159,114 |
| Anthony E. Deiss (write-in) | Tax. | 24 | 0.01% | |||||||||
| 2000[83] | General | November 7 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 239,498 | 74.04% | Mike Clawson | Dem. | 83,720 | 25.88% | 323,455 | 155,778 |
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002[84] | General | November 5 | F. James Sensenbrenner | Republican | 191,224 | 86.13% | Robert R. Raymond | Ind. | 29,567 | 13.32% | 222,012 | 161,657 |
| 2004[85] | General | November 2 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 271,153 | 66.57% | Bryan Kennedy | Dem. | 129,384 | 31.77% | 407,291 | 141,769 |
| Tim Peterson | Lib. | 6,549 | 1.61% | |||||||||
| 2006[86] | General | November 7 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 194,669 | 61.76% | Bryan Kennedy | Dem. | 112,451 | 35.68% | 315,180 | 82,218 |
| Bob Levis | Grn. | 4,432 | 1.41% | |||||||||
| Robert R. Raymond | Ind. | 3,525 | 1.12% | |||||||||
| 2008 | Primary[87] | September 9 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 47,144 | 78.27% | James Burkee | Rep. | 13,078 | 21.71% | 60,236 | 34,066 |
| General[88] | November 4 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 275,271 | 79.58% | Robert R. Raymond | Ind. | 69,715 | 20.15% | 345,899 | 205,556 | |
| 2010[89] | General | November 2 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 229,642 | 69.32% | Todd P. Kolosso | Dem. | 90,634 | 27.36% | 331,258 | 139,008 |
| Robert R. Raymond | Ind. | 10,813 | 3.26% | |||||||||
| 2012[90] | General | November 6 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 250,335 | 67.72% | Dave Heaster | Dem. | 118,478 | 32.05% | 369,664 | 131,857 |
| 2014[91] | General | November 4 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 231,160 | 69.45% | Chris Rockwood | Dem. | 101,190 | 30.40% | 332,826 | 129,970 |
| 2016[92] | General | November 4 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 260,706 | 69.45% | Khary Penebaker | Dem. | 114,477 | 29.29% | 390,844 | 146,229 |
| John Arndt | Lib. | 15,324 | 3.92% | |||||||||
| 2018 | Primary[93] | August 14 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 73,397 | 81.15% | Jennifer Hoppe Vipond | Rep. | 17,011 | 18.81% | 90,442 | 56,386 |
| General[94] | November 6 | F. James Sensenbrenner (inc.) | Republican | 225,619 | 61.93% | Tom Palzewicz | Dem. | 138,385 | 37.99% | 364,288 | 87,234 | |
Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin who was one of the "managers" of President Bill Clinton's impeachment, criticized Democrats for lending support to a "character assassination squad running around this town" sullying innocent people.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's 9th congressional district 1979–2003 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Science Committee 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee 2001–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's 5th congressional district 2003–2021 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former House Majority Whip | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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