Mac Thornberry

Mac Thornberry
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Bill Sarpalius
Personal details
Born	(1958-07-15) July 15, 1958 Clarendon, Donley County Texas, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Sally Thornberry
Residence	Clarendon, Texas
Alma mater	Texas Tech University University of Texas School of Law
Occupation	Attorney, Rancher
Religion	Presbyterian

William McClellan Thornberry, known as Mac Thornberry (born July 15, 1958), is the U.S. Representative from the Texas Panhandle. He has served since 1995, when the House seated its first Republican majority in forty years.

A Republican, Thornberry represents Texas's 13th congressional district, a GOP stronghold which stretches between the Oklahoma and New Mexico borders. It winds across the Panhandle into the South Plains, then runs east across the Red River Valley. Covering over 40,000 square miles (100,000 km²), it is the second-largest district geographically in Texas and one of the largest (excluding at-large districts in Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska) in the country. It is even larger in area than thirteen states. The principal cities in the district are Amarillo and Wichita Falls.

Early life, Education and Career

His great-great-grandfather, Amos Thornberry, a Union Army veteran and staunch Republican, moved in the 1880s to Clay County, just east of Wichita Falls. A year after Amos died in 1925, his son bought the cattle ranch that Mac Thornberry, his brothers, and their father now run.^[1]

Thornberry is a lifelong resident of Clarendon, some 60 miles (97 km) east of Amarillo, in the heart of the 13th. His family has operated a ranch in the area since 1881. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He then obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.^[2]

He served previously as a staffer to two other Texas Republican congressmen, Tom Loeffler and Larry Combest, and as deputy Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Ronald Reagan before he joined his brothers on the family ranch. He also practiced law in Amarillo.

Thornberry is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.^[3]

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities (Chairman)
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

He currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the Armed Services Committee where he leads the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities. He also serves as a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.^[4]

According to a 2013 POLITICO article, Thornberry is considered by most defense industry experts and House insiders to be the front runner to be the next chairman of the Armed Services Committee.^[5] Thornberry has called massive cuts in defense spending preferable to any additional tax revenues.^[6] And for the Pentagon to do more with less, for example by cutting pensions and health care for veterans.^[7]

Legislative Work

Legislative Biography

From the National Journal Congressional Almanac:

"In the House, Thornberry has compiled a solidly conservative voting record, though he has a pragmatic streak and is hardly the most ideological Republican in the Texas delegation. In keeping with his scholarly nature, his official website includes an essay explaining his philosophy and explaining his interest 'in continuing to push government to work smarter and more efficiently.'

Thornberry has often been at the forefront of security issues. In 2002, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, he played a key role in the establishment of the new Homeland Security Department. He took over in January 2011 as chairman of the Armed Services Committee’s terrorism panel, and Speaker John Boehner also asked him to lead an effort to develop a cyber security strategy for the country. Earlier, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, Thornberry criticized delays in integrating computer networks and intelligence analyses at the Homeland Security Department. He also has championed missile defense and called for better coordination of military space programs.

Thornberry was critical of President Barack Obama’s arms control deal with Russia in 2010 for precluding the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations. But he can be more pragmatic than other defense hawks. He served on a bipartisan commission in 2007 that drew up recommendations for winning the war in Iraq with both lethal and non-lethal approaches, such as diplomacy and foreign aid. Despite his expertise on security matters, he lost his bid in 2009 to chair the full Armed Services Committee to Buck McKeon, R-Calif., who had more seniority.

On domestic issues, Thornberry has pressed for repeal of the estate tax and also tax credits to encourage production of oil in marginal wells. In 2010, he got a bill into law expanding access to state veterans’ homes to parents whose children died while serving in the military. He introduced a bill in January 2011 to help states set up special health care courts staffed by judges with expertise in the subject. The judges would serve as an alternative to juries that Republicans say are inclined to award unnecessarily large damage amounts in malpractice cases."^[8]

Term Limits

Thornberry has consistently voted for term limits that would apply to U.S. Congressmen. He has never said that he would limit the amount of terms he would serve until a Constitutional Amendment is passed limiting senators and representatives across the board. He is quoted as saying, "The key is who are we working for? It doesn't matter if you've been in Washington two years or 25 years. We saw a huge number of incumbents lose in the last election because they forgot that. I don't work for the new speaker. I don't work for the party. I work for the 650,000 folks in my district. That's certainly the focus of mine."^[9]

Agriculture and Farm Bill

With a long personal and family background in ranching, Thornberry has been a leading voice in the House of Representatives about the importance of passing a Farm Bill every five years to give farmers and ranchers more stability.^[10] In 2013, he voted for the five year Farm Bill that failed in the House.^[11]

The 2013 Farm Bill offered taxpayers close to $40 billion in savings, including reductions in farm policy spending and the repeal or consolidation of over 100 programs.^[12] Those savings included annual cuts of $2 billion from food stamps, which would have been the most extensive reforms to food policy since 1996.^[13]

Voting Record

From Jan 1995 to May 2013, Thornberry missed 124 of 12,475 roll call votes, which is 1.0%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.^[14]

Voting Scorecard by Issue

• In 2012 the American Conservative Union Ratings of Congress gave Thornberry a 96% rating for the year. He has a lifetime score of 95%.^[15]
• The National Right to Life Committee has consistently scored Thornberry at 100%.^[16]
• The National Rifle Association gave Thornberry a lifetime rating of 92% on 2nd Amendment and gun rights issues.^[17]
• The Disabled American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America have both given Thornberry a 100% score.^[18]
• Both the Fleet Reserve Association and Non Commissioned Officers Association have given Thornberry a 100% score.^[19]

Political campaigns

Thornberry defeated Democratic Congressman Bill Sarpalius in the 1994 general election, a heavily Republican year nationwide. He polled 79,416 votes (55.41 percent) to Sarpalius' 63,923 votes (44.18 percent). Two years earlier in a much higher turnout election, Sarpalius had polled nearly double the votes that he received in 1994. The 13th District has always been a somewhat conservative district, but Thornberry's victory is still regarded as an upset.

Since his initial election, Thornberry has consolidated his hold on the district and routinely wins by large majorities in an area that was historically Democratic as recently as the 1970s. Thornberry is only the third Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction. The previous Republican representatives were Robert D. "Bob" Price of Pampa (1967–1975) and Beau Boulter of Amarillo (1985–1989).

In the 2006 and 2008 elections, Thornberry handily defeated former intelligence officer and Professor Roger Waun.

In the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012, Thornberry overwhelmed his lone opponent, Pamela Lee Barlow, 47,251 votes (77.6 percent) to 13,643 (22.4 percent).^[20] In the general election, Thornberry bested (91 percent) Libertarian John Robert Deek of Denton and Green Party candidate Keith F. Houston of Canyon (there was no Democratic candidate).^[21]

In the Republican primary held on March 4, 2014, Thornberry easily won re-nomination to an eleventh term in Congress. He polled 45,097 votes (67.92 percent) to challengers Elaine Hays and, again, Pamela Barlow, who received 12,438 votes (18.7 percent) and 8,860 votes (13.3 percent), respectively.^[22]

General Election Results

References

External links

• Congressman Mac Thornberry official U.S. House site
• Mac Thornberry for Congress
• Mac Thornberry at DMOZ
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
• Profile at SourceWatch