Frank Wolf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's10th district | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Joe Fisher |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Comstock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frank Rudolph Wolf (1939-01-30)January 30, 1939 (age 86) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Carolyn Stover |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Pennsylvania State University (BA) Georgetown University (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1962–1963 (active) 1963–1967 (reserve)[2] |
| Unit | Signal Corps (Reserve)[1] |
Wolf on an FY2002 appropriations bill for the Commerce, Justice, and State departments and the judiciary. Recorded November 14, 2001 | |
Frank Rudolph Wolf (born January 30, 1939) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forVirginia's 10th congressional district from 1981 to 2015. A member of theRepublican Party, he announced in December 2013 that he would not seek re-election in2014. He was succeeded by his formerchief of staff and Republicanstate delegateBarbara Comstock.[3] At the time of his retirement, he was the dean of thestate's congressional delegation, having served for 34 consecutive years.[4]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Frank Wolf" politician – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Born and raised inPhiladelphia, Wolf overcame an earlyspeech impediment which caused him tostutter.[5] AttendingPennsylvania State University, he was a member ofAlpha Sigma Phi fraternity, received a degree in political science and subsequently earned a law degree fromGeorgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He then joined theUnited States Army as a reservist and became a lawyer for the military.
Wolf entered politics in 1968, at the age of 29, when he became a legislative assistant toEdward Biester, the Republican congressman fromPennsylvania's 8th congressional district. From 1971 to 1975, Wolf served as an assistant toSecretary of the InteriorRogers Morton.
During the1976 presidential election year, Wolf's first campaign forVirginia's 10th congressional district ended with his loss in the Republican primary toVince Callahan by 45%–42%.[6] Two years later, amidst the1978 midterm elections, he won the Republican nomination unopposed, but lost the general election to the incumbentDemocrat,Joseph L. Fisher, 53%–47%.[6]
_in_brown_jacket%2c_and_Representative_Frank_Wolf_(R-VA)_visit_the_212th_Mobile_Army_Surgical_Hospital_(MASH)%2c_Camp_Bedrock%2c_Bosnia-Herzegovina%2c_during_Operation_Joint_Endeavor.jpg)
.jpg)
In the1980 House election, whenRonald Reagan's decisive victory in thepresidential election brought with it a 34-seat swing in the House, Wolf's third run proved to be successful; he won the Republican primary with 75% of the vote and then defeated Fisher in a rematch, 51%–49%.[6] In the1982 midterms, Wolf won re-election with 53% of the vote.[6] He would never face another contest anywhere near that close.
Wolf did not face a Democratic opponent in1994 and2000, winning both with over 80% of the votes against third-party candidates. After 1982, his closest races were in the Democratic wave elections of2006 and2008. On both occasions he defeated professorJudy Feder, by 57%–41% and 59%–39%, respectively.[6][7] Those were the only occasions after 1982 that he received below 60 percent of the vote.
In the2012 election, as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district by 1%, Wolf was re-elected by20%.[8] In September 2013, it was announced that Wolf was to be challenged in the2014 election by Democrat Richard Bolger, a Fairfax attorney and small business owner.[9][10] In December 2013, Wolf announced his intention to retire from politics, leaving office in January 2015 – just days before his 76th birthday.[4] He was succeeded by his former aide, Republican State DelegateBarbara Comstock.
Wolf's district was significantly redrawn several times during his 34 years in office. For his first six terms, he represented a compactNorthern Virginia-based district coveringFairfax,Arlington, andLoudoun Counties. The 1990 redistricting by a DemocraticVirginia General Assembly drew heavily Democratic Arlington County into the neighboring 8th District, while drawing the more Democratic portions of Fairfax County into the new 11th district. To make up for the loss of population, the 10th was pushed to the west and south to encompass parts of the congressional district held by U.S. Rep.George Allen, which was eliminated to create a black-majority district in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. Allen chose not to challenge Wolf, instead running forGovernor of Virginia in 1993. The district kept approximately the same composition after the 2000 apportionment by a RepublicanVirginia General Assembly, but lost territory in the outlying areas of the district to allow for population growth in Fairfax and Loudoun. In 2013, the Fairfax portion of the district held about 40 percent of the population, Loudoun County held 30 percent, and the remainder of the district at 30 percent.
During his final three terms, Wolf was the only Republican representing a district based in the Washington suburbs on either side of thePotomac River. The neighboring 11th district was taken by DemocratGerry Connolly in 2008, while the last Republican representing a district on the Maryland side,Connie Morella, had been defeated in 2002.
In 2022 Wolf's grandson, Caleb Max, ran for his seat in the Republican Firehouse Primary for Virginia's then redistricted 10th Congressional District.[11] Max was eliminated in round 8 of the ranked choice ballet counting which included 11 candidates total.
Wolf was especially prominent in three areas: transportation, human rights, and gambling. Before he retired, he was the co-chair of the US CongressTom Lantos Human Rights Commission, formerly the Human Rights Caucus.[12]
In 2010, theNRA Political Victory Fund gave him a B+ and theAmerican Civil Liberties Union gave him 13%, dropping to 0% in 2011.[13] His pre-2009 ranking from the United States Border Control was 92%.[13][14]
Wolf traveled five times to theSudan, advocating for relief of theDarfur genocide.[15]He has also convened conferences in his district to address human rights issues around the world.
After Iran tried the leadership of theBaháʼí Faith of Iran on February 11, 2009, Wolf voiced his deep concern over the"systematic persecution" of the Baháʼís.[16] On February 13, Wolf offered a resolution on the subject of the Iranian trial, co-sponsored by seven other Congressmen, in H. RES. 175 – "Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baháʼí minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights"; the resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.[17] The situation in Iran received international attention, including defense of Iranian Nobel Laureate attorneyShirin Ebadi in June,[18] after she received threats in April warning her against making speeches abroad, including her defending Iran's minority Baháʼí community.[19]
On February 28, 2014, along with the DemocratJackie Speier, Wolf became the co-chair of theAhmadiyya Muslim Caucus, a group created in response to the ongoingpersecution of Ahmadis. On May 9, 2014, Wolf introduced theUnited States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4653; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend theInternational Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to reauthorize theU.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an independent federal government advisory body through FY2019.[20]
Wolf has criticized thehuman rights record of China.[21] He was one of the leading congressman trying to stop the grant of permanentMost Favored Nation (MFN) status to China in 1999.[22]When Wolf and CongressmanChris Smith were in Beijing shortly before the2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese security service prevented them from participating in a dinner meeting with local human rights lawyers.[23]
In the2011 United States federal budget, Wolf inserted a clause prohibitingNASA and theWhite HouseOffice of Science and Technology Policy from any joint scientific activity with China for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year. Wolf remarked, "We don't want to give them the opportunity to take advantage of our technology, and we have nothing to gain from dealing with them. And frankly, it boils down to a moral issue. ... Would you have a bilateral program with Stalin?"[24]
In June 2014, Wolf got House support for an amendment that would rename thestreet on which theChinese embassy was located; the amendment would change International Place to Liu Xiaobo Plaza, in honor of Chinese dissidentLiu Xiaobo.[25]
During the Bush administration, Wolf voted consistently with the President's positions. He voted in favor of military action in Iraq in 2002. He also voted to make thePatriot Act permanent, opposed requiringForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants for wiretaps within the United States, and supported the president in restricting congressional oversight forCIA interrogations.[15]
However, in March 2006, Congress, at Wolf's suggestion by inserting an earmark into a supplemental appropriation bill, and in a breach with theBush administration, announced the creation of theIraq Study Group to reassess the U.S. strategy inIraq.[26][27]
Wolf opposesabortion and subsidizedbirth control for federal employees. As congressman, Wolf also voted to deny funding toPlanned Parenthood. He also opposes U.S. funding for international family planning in developing countries. Wolf was one of several Congressmen who spoke against the Uganda anti-gay bill in 2010.[28] He signed a letter supporting the "one man one woman" issue in theManhattan Declaration.[28] Wolf sponsored the bill that became theDistrict of Columbia Civil Contempt Imprisonment Limitation Act,H.R. 2136, in 1989 and supported the bill that became theElizabeth Morgan Act in 1996.
A 2005Washington Post article cited "opposition to the spread of gambling" as one of Wolf's "central causes".[29] Wolf sought to revise the regulation process for gambling onNative American reservations.[29]
In the109th Congress, Wolf was chairman ofSubcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs, and itsranking minority member in the110th. He was co-chairman of theCongressional Human Rights Caucus withJim McGovern, who replaced the lateTom Lantos.[30] Wolf is a member of the ModerateRepublican Main Street Partnership.
| Year | Republican | Votes | Pct | Democratic | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Frank Wolf | 61,981 | 47% | Joseph Fisher | 70,892 | 53% | ||||||||||||
| 1980 | Frank Wolf | 110,840 | 51% | Joseph Fisher | 105,883 | 49% | ||||||||||||
| 1982 | Frank Wolf | 86,506 | 53% | Ira Lechner | 75,361 | 46% | Scott Bowden | Independent | 2,162 | 1% | ||||||||
| 1984 | Frank Wolf | 158,528 | 63% | John Flannery | 95,074 | 37% | ||||||||||||
| 1986 | Frank Wolf | 95,724 | 60% | John Milliken | 63,292 | 40% | ||||||||||||
| 1988 | Frank Wolf | 188,550 | 68% | Robert Weinberg | 88,284 | 32% | ||||||||||||
| 1990 | Frank Wolf | 103,761 | 61% | N. MacKenzie Canter | 57,249 | 34% | Barbara Minnich | Independent | 5,273 | 3% | Lyndon LaRouche | Independent | 2,293 | 1% | ||||
| 1992 | Frank Wolf | 144,471 | 64% | Ray Vickery | 75,775 | 33% | Alan Ogden | Independent | 6,874 | 3% | ||||||||
| 1994 | Frank Wolf | 153,311 | 87% | (no candidate) | Bob Rilee | Libertarian | 8,267 | 5% | Alan Ogden | Independent | 13,687 | 8% | ||||||
| 1996 | Frank Wolf | 169,266 | 72% | Robert Weinberg | 59,145 | 25% | Gary Reams | Libertarian | 59,145 | 3% | ||||||||
| 1998 | Frank Wolf | 103,648 | 72% | Cornell Brooks | 36,476 | 25% | Robert Barnett | Independent | 4,506 | 3% | ||||||||
| 2000 | Frank Wolf | 238,817 | 84% | (no candidate) | Brian Brown | Libertarian | 28,107 | 10% | Marc Rossi | Independent | 3,226 | 6% | ||||||
| 2002 | Frank Wolf | 115,917 | 72% | John Stevens | 45,464 | 28% | ||||||||||||
| 2004 | Frank Wolf | 205,982 | 64% | James Socas | 116,654 | 36% | ||||||||||||
| 2006 | Frank Wolf | 138,213 | 57% | Judy Feder | 98,769 | 41% | Wilbur Wood | Libertarian | 2,107 | 1% | Neeraj Nigam | Independent | 1,851 | 1% | ||||
| 2008 | Frank Wolf | 223,140 | 59% | Judy Feder | 147,357 | 39% | Neeraj Nigam | Independent | 8,457 | 2% | ||||||||
| 2010 | Frank Wolf | 131,116 | 63% | Jeff Barnett | 72,604 | 35% | William Redpath | Libertarian | 4,607 | 2% | ||||||||
| 2012 | Frank Wolf | 214,038 | 58% | Kristin Cabral | 142,024 | 39% | J. Kevin Chisholm | Independent | 9,855 | 3% |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 10th congressional district 1981–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Human Rights Commission 2001–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Human Rights Commission 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Human Rights Commission 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| 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 |
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
