Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 22:15, 6 June 2011

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Feel free to improve this article or discuss changes on the talk page, but please note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Anthony Weiner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Charles Schumer
Member of the New York City Council for the 48th District
In office 1992–1998
Preceded by	New District
Succeeded by	Michael C. Nelson
Personal details
Born	(1964-09-04) September 4, 1964 (age 60) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Huma Abedin
Residence(s)	Forest Hills, Queens, New York City
Alma mater	SUNY, Plattsburgh (B.A.)
Occupation	Congressman
Website	Anthony Weiner – New York's 9th District

Anthony David Weiner (pronounced /ˈwiːnər/; born September 4, 1964) is the U.S. Representative for New York's 9th congressional district, which includes parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens. Weiner is a Democrat, and has held the office since 1999.

Weiner was first elected to the House in the 1998 mid-term elections, filling the seat previously occupied by Democrat Charles Schumer who successfully ran for the U.S. Senate that year. Weiner defeated his Republican opponent, Louis Telano, by a margin of 66 percent to 23 percent. He was re-elected handily in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 never receiving less than 59% of the vote. In the House, he is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of New York City in the 2005 Mayoral election. Weiner graduated from State University of New York at Plattsburgh (SUNY), was an aide to former U.S. Representative Schumer (1985–91), and was a member of the New York City Council (1992–98).

Early life

Weiner was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Mort, a neighborhood lawyer, and Fran, a mathematics teacher at Midwood High School. As siblings, he has two brothers, Seth (d. 2000) and Jason. The family lived for a time in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Weiner was raised Jewish: he told Moment Magazine in 2011, "We weren’t a very religious household, but we had a very strong sense of our Judaism."

Weiner took the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) and entered Brooklyn Technical High School. He had failed the admission test for Stuyvesant High School by one point. After graduating (1981), he attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where he played hockey. He sought to become a television weatherman, but his interests turned towards politics, and he became active in student government.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1985, Weiner worked on the staff of then-Congressman and current Senator Chuck Schumer (1985–91). First working in Schumer's office in Washington, D.C., he was sent to the District Office in Brooklyn in 1988 when Schumer encouraged him to become involved in local politics.

New York City Councilman: 1992–98

In 1991, after a three-way primary and a four-way general election, Weiner was elected to the New York City Council. At 27, he was the youngest person to serve on the Council to that date.

Over the next seven years on the City Council, Weiner initiated programs to tackle quality of life concerns. He started a program to put at-risk and troubled teens to work cleaning up graffiti. He spearheaded development plans for historic Sheepshead Bay that led to a revival of the area; and, when supermarkets started leaving the neighborhood, Weiner worked to reverse the trend.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Housing, he fought to increase federal funding, to ban dangerous dogs, and to add more police officers to the beat. His investigation into the cause of sudden, fatal stairwell fires made headlines; he exposed dangerous practices that eventually led the city to replace the paint in developments citywide.

U.S. Congressman: 1999–present

In 1998, Congressman Chuck Schumer opted to try to unseat D'Amato. In the Democratic primary election, Schumer won the right to face D'Amato, whom he defeated in the General Election; and Weiner won the Democratic nomination to succeed Schumer, which was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic 9th District. The district includes parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens. In Queens, it includes the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Maspeth, Fresh Meadows, Glendale, Howard Beach, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Middle Village, Ozone Park, Rego Park, Rockaway Beach, and Woodhaven. In Brooklyn, it includes the neighborhoods Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Midwood, Mill Basin, and Sheepshead Bay.

Weiner is only the fifth person to represent the District since its creation in 1920. Because of the redistricting required by the U.S. Census every ten years, the 9th has been numbered the 10th (1920–45), the 15th (1945–53), the 11th (1953–63), the 10th again (1963–73), the 16th (1973–83), the 10th again (1983–93); and the 9th (1993–present).

In April 2008, Weiner created the bi-partisan Congressional Middle Class Caucus. Weiner received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.

In late July 2009, Weiner succeeded in securing a full House floor vote for single payer health care when Congress returned from its August recess, in exchange for not amending America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (AAHCA) in Committee mark-up with a single-payer plan.

Weiner is known to be one of the most intense and demanding members of Congress. He often works long hours with his staff fact-checking documents, resulting in one of the highest staff turn-over rates of any member of Congress, including, at one point, three chiefs of staff in eighteen months. Weiner admitted, "I push people pretty hard... I have nothing but love for people who endured it, even if they endured it for a short period of time."

Committees

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Domestic policy

Weiner is an advocate of the United States National Health Care Act, which expands Medicare to all Americans. He has remarked that while Medicare has a 4% overhead rate, private insurers put 30% of their customer's money into profits and overhead instead of into health care.

Weiner believes that a public option “gets you some of the way” towards reducing costs, and set up a web site to push for the public option in HR 3200. Weiner has derided the Republican party as "a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry, teaming up with a small group of Democrats to try to protect that industry". Weiner attracted wide attention when, on February 24, 2010, he proclaimed in front of Congress: "Make no mistake about it, every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry."

In 2003, he received a 100% rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League and a 0% rating from National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which made it a crime for a doctor to perform Intact dilation and extractions. He was critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which places limits on taxpayer-funded abortions in the context of the November 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act.

The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) of 2009, sponsored by Weiner, was signed into law in March 2010. The bill makes it a felony for selling tobacco in violation of any state tax law and effectively ends Internet tobacco smuggling by stopping shipments of cigarettes through the United States Postal Service. Weiner said, “This new law will give states and localities a major revenue boost by cracking down on the illegal sale of tobacco and close a major source of finances for international terrorists and criminals. Every day we delay is another day that New York loses significant amounts of tax revenue and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the internet.”

On July 29, 2010, Weiner lambasted Republicans for opposing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This act would provide for funds for sick first responders to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, many of whom reside in Weiner's district. In a speech on the floor of the House, he accused Republicans of hiding behind procedural questions instead of voting for the right thing.

In October 2010, Weiner urged YouTube to take down Anwar al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring al-Awlaki calls to jihad.

Foreign policy

Weiner voted for the authorization to use force in Iraq in 2002, which he later said he regretted. In a conversation with talk show host Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, Weiner proposed a withdrawal from Iraq.

In May 2006, Weiner attempted to bar entry by the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations. He claimed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not represent the PLO, and implied that this was because the group is listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department. Weiner further stated that the delegation "should start packing their little Palestinian terrorist bags." Weiner went on to claim that Human Rights Watch, the New York Times, and, in particular, Amnesty International are biased against Israel.

On July 29, 2007, Weiner and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced that they would seek to stop a $20 billion arms deal that the Bush Administration had negotiated with Saudi Arabia. The lawmakers objected to the deal because they do not want to provide "sophisticated weapons to a country that they believe has not done enough to stop terrorism," also noting that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Weiner made the announcement outside of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Washington, stating that "We need to send a crystal clear message to the Saudi Arabian government that their tacit approval of terrorism can't go unpunished." Weiner and Nadler intend to use a provision of the Arms Export Control Act to review the deal and pass a Joint Resolution of Disapproval.

Weiner, along with several other members of Congress, have criticized the Obama administration proposal to sell over $60 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. Weiner said:

"Saudi Arabia is not deserving of our aid, and by arming them with advanced American weaponry we are sending the wrong message"

He described Saudi Arabia as having a "history of financing terrorism" and teaching hatred of "Christians and Jews" to their schoolchildren.

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

Weiner, who voted against the Tax Relief bill, said the Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama.

Local NYC issues

In June 2008, Weiner sponsored a bill that would increase the number of O-visas available to foreign models. Weiner argued that increasing the number of visas would help boost the fashion industry in New York City.

Parking tickets

On March 29, 2010, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that Weiner had racked up $2,180 in parking tickets in Washington, D.C. between 2007 and 2011 and that all but one had yet to be paid before the release of the story. Some tickets included instances in which he appears to have incurred multiple violations at the same time, such as failing to display current tags while parked in a taxi stand zone. A spokesman for his office stated that all the parking tickets have since, "been paid. He is pleased to have helped decrease the D.C. budget deficit." Weiner has criticized United Nations diplomats for failing to pay parking tickets in New York City, claiming foreign nations owed $18,000,000 to the city.

Treatment of staffers

In July 2008, The New York Times printed a front page story on Weiner's demanding treatment of his staffers. The piece reports that Weiner frequently resorts to verbally abusing his staffers when he believes they have failed to adequately perform their duties, in addition to physically abusing his office furniture when upset. As a result of Weiner's demanding and intense nature, the Times reported that a "sizable number" of his staff members had resigned following "abbreviated stints." According to Congressional data at the time, Weiner had "presided over more turnover than any other member of the New York House delegation in the last six years." Additionally, at the time of the report, about half of Congressman Weiner’s staff had been his employee for less than a year and since early 2007, he had gone through three chiefs of staff.

2005, 2009, and 2013 Mayoral races

Weiner failed in his attempt to win the Democratic nomination for the 2005 New York City mayoral election against three other Democrats. Weiner started out last in many polls, but gained ground in the final weeks of the campaign. When the initial returns came in, Fernando Ferrer had 39.95%, just shy of the 40% required to avoid a runoff, and Weiner had 28.82%. In a legally non-binding statement, Weiner then withdrew from the race and endorsed Ferrer, citing the need for party unity. Eventually, the runoff was declared unnecessary as absentee ballots put Ferrer over the 40% mark in the official 2005 primary election returns. Weiner denied rumors that various high-ranking New York Democrats, such as Schumer and then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, had urged him to concede.

Before the New York City Council voted to extend term limits for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city council, Weiner appeared to be a candidate for mayor of New York City in 2009. He later backed away from a potential race against Bloomberg, saying he would make a decision in the spring. He formally announced his decision not to run on May 26, 2009 and endorsed Democratic candidate Bill Thompson.

By July 2010, Weiner had reportedly raised $3.9 million for a potential campaign in the 2013 mayoral election, and was considered a leading contender in early polls.

Personal life

Weiner married Huma Abedin, a longtime personal aide of Hillary Clinton, on July 10, 2010. Former president Bill Clinton officiated the wedding. Weiner proposed to Abedin on May 23, 2009.

Weiner is a friend of actor Ben Affleck, whom he met while Affleck was researching this role for the film State of Play, in 2008. "We got into a chest-to-chest shouting match over Obama–Clinton within about four minutes. Literally, people were outside the office wondering if they should go in and separate us," Weiner has said about one of their first encounters.

Weiner has been friends with Jon Stewart since Weiner and some of Stewart's college friends rented a summer house in Dewey Beach, Delaware, in the 1980s.

Twitter photo scandal

On May 27, 2011, a post linking to a photograph of a man wearing gray boxer briefs was sent via Weiner's Twitter account to a 21-year-old female college student in Seattle who followed his Twitter account. Weiner said the image was not posted by him and that the account had been "hacked." Weiner stated that he did not know the woman who had received the message. He indicated that he could not say "with certitude" that the photo was not of him, and that "Maybe it did start being a photo of mine and now looks something different or maybe it is from another account." He said he had retained a private security firm to look into the matter, stating that he views it as a prank. Weiner has not asked the FBI or U.S. Capitol Police to investigate the incident. Media sources and political commentators dubbed the controversy Weinergate.

On June 6, 2011, blogger Andrew Breitbart said that an additional social media contact of Weiner had been e-mailed intimate pictures from the Congressman from a BlackBerry in May 2011, at least one of which Breitbart claimed to be sexually graphic. Later that afternoon, Congressman Weiner held a press conference where he apologized, saying he had lied, and that, "To be clear, the pictures were of me, and I sent them." He admitted he had had internet relations with six women over three years. In questioning after the statement he declined to deny that a published "x-rated" photo was of himself. He said that he had his wife's continuing support, and that he did not intend to resign his congressional seat.

References

1. Haberman, Maggie (July 10, 2010). "Weiner-Abedin wedded bliss – Maggie Haberman". Politico. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
2. "2010 Election results". New York Post. November 3, 2010.
3. "Anthony Weiner for Mayor". Web.archive.org. May 26, 2005. Archived from the original on May 24, 2006. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
4. ^ "Anthony Weiner — New York's 9th District". Weiner.house.gov. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
5. Burger, Timothy J. (May 23, 2000). "SETH WEINER, 39, BROTHER OF CONGRESSMAN, KILLED". New York Daily News.
6. Berman, Daphna. "Live from New York, It's Anthony Weiner". Moment Magazine. Retrieved 5/6/2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
7. Archibold, Randal C.; Urbina, Ian (August 30, 2005). "A Scrappy Congressman, Ready for His Next Risk". The New York Times.
8. Woodberry Jr., Warren. WAL-MART 'BAD NEIGHBOR' Planned big-box store a biz killer – Weiner. Daily News. December 17, 2004.
9. Lawrence Kestenbaum. "Political graveyard". Political graveyard. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
10. ^ Dovere, Edwards-Isaac (July 4, 2008). "Anthony Weiner, Seriously". City Hall News. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
11. "Congress at the Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record". Drum Major Institute. Retrieved August 18, 2006.
12. Slome, Jesse (August 3, 2009). "Congress Will Vote On Single Payer Health Care Plan". Huliq Citizen News Review. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
13. ^ David W. Chen (23 July 2008). "Congressman Pushes Staff Hard, or Out the Door". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
14. Anthony Weiner (August 19, 2009). "Weiner Defending the Public Option on Hardball".
15. Anthony Weiner (September 24, 2009). "Weiner Fights for Single Payer on the Floor".
16. Catlin, Aaron and Cowan, Cathy and Heffler, Stephen and Washington, Benjamin and the National Health Expenditure Accounts Team, (2007). "National Health Spending In 2005: The Slowdown Continues". Health Affairs. 26 (1): 142–153. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.26.1.142. PMID 17211023. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |abstract= ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) – Exhibit A
17. ^ Anthony Weiner (August 18, 2009). "Weiner Leaves Scarborogh "Speechless" Part 1".
18. Anthony Weiner (October 16, 2009). "Weiner Discusses Health Reform on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann".
19. New York Democrat Anthony Weiner says "The GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry", Republicans oppose his wording, so he clarifies.
20. Ever met a Republican not Owned by the Insurance Industry? Weiner on C-SPAN
21. "Anthony Weiner on the Issues". Ontheissues.org. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
22. "PACT ACT" (PDF). Washington D.C.: GPO. October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
23. Condon, Stephanie (July 30, 2010). "Anthony Weiner Erupts at Republicans for Rejecting 9/11 Responders Health Bill". Washington D.C.: CBS news. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
24. "Al-Awlaki's YouTube Videos Targeted by Rep. Weiner". Fox News. April 7, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
25. Burns, John F.; Helft, Miguel (November 4, 2010). "YouTube Withdraws Cleric's Videos". The New York Times.
26. ^ "Congressmember Weiner Gets It Wrong On Palestinian Group He Tried To Bar From U.S." Democracy Now!. August 30, 2006.
27. Klaus Marre, "Lawmakers vow to stop Saudi Arabia arms deal," The Hill, July 29, 2007.
28. http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=188405 Some Congressmen come out against US-Saudi arms deal
29. Washington Post, December 18, 2010
30. "Weiner bill looks out for models". Politico.com. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
31. Jennifer Yachnin (2011-03-29). "Members Collect Many Unpaid Tickets". Roll Call. Retrieved 2011-03-30. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
32. "Rep. Anthony Weiner Racks Up $2K in D.C. Parking Tickets". WNYW. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
33. Brooklyn Congressman Won’t Quit Mayor’s Race
34. Barbaro, Michael (March 12, 2009). "Weiner Steps Back, for Now, From Mayoral Race". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
35. Barbaro, Michael; Chen, David W. (May 27, 2009). "Weiner Decides to Stay Out of Mayoral Campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
36. "Weiner Leading Mayoral Money Chase". The Wall Street Journal. July 13, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-4. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
37. "Rep. Weiner engaged to Hillary Clinton Aide". New York Post. July 12, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
38. Barbaro, Michael (May 6, 2009). "The Curious Friendship of Weiner and Affleck". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
39. Distinguished Member of Congress. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 31 May 2011. Event occurs at 1:45.
40. CBSNews.com staff "an image of a man in boxer briefs showcasing an obvious erection" 3 June 2011 CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504943_162-20068717-10391715.html]
41. The New York Post "a man's erect penis inside gray briefs" [http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/few_holes_in_skeevy_skivvy_story_nUf66IOYmqgN5SCW3Ck23N#ixzz1ORNdvnit
42. New Yorker Magazine "a photo of his erect penis, concealed by briefs" [http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/06/anthony_weiners_big_ego.html Anthony Weiner’s Big Ego 6/2/11
43. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette "a photo of an erection barely covered by a man's underwear." Weiner's troubling tweet, June 05, 2011 By Jack Kelly http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11156/1151175-373-0.stm
44. "Weiner's wife puts on brave face amidst Twitter-photo scandal" New York Post, S.A. Miller in Washington and Dan Mangan, June 4, 2011 http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/the_good_wife_gTbmLsA7ZPumS0RJQTUpAL#ixzz1OQKeyAmG
45. Fenton, Reuven; MacIntosh, Jeane (3 June 2011). "Lewd-pic recipient worn out by Weiner scandal". New York Post. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
46. "Anthony Weiner cancels Wisconsin speech to Democrats". Reuters. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
47. "Rep. Anthony Weiner Refuses to Discuss Lewd Photo". The Wall Street Journal. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
48. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/congressman-anthony-weiner-hacked-on-twitter-13724352
49. Weiner's spokesman originally confirmed Weiner's statement, saying that the Twitter "accounts were obviously hacked." See "Rep. Weiner: I did not send Twitter crotch pic". CBS News/Associated Press. May 29, 2011.
50. Epstein, Jennifer (2 June 2011). "Eric Cantor says Anthony Weiner should 'come clean'". Politico. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
51. "'Maybe it started out being a photo of mine': Weinergate continues as Congressman admits Twitter photo could have been one of his that was 'taken out of context'". Daily Mail. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
52. "Weiner 'can't say with certitude' that lewd photo isn't of him". MSNBC. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
53. "Probe could give Weiner more headaches: expert". CBS. June 2, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
54. "Police could figure out Weiner guilt or innocence". Associated Press. June 3, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
55. Andrew Malcolm (3 June 2011). "Weinergate: Whose crotch was it and when did he know it?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
56. Chris Taylor (3 June 2011). "9 things Weinergate tells us about Twitter". CNN. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
57. Maggie Haberman (3 June 2011). "Rudy Giuliani wades into Weinergate". POLITICO. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
58. Daly, Corbett B. (June 6, 2011). "Conservative website posts private pictures of Anthony Weiner". CBS News.
59. Epstein, Jennifer (June 6, 2011). "Report: Shirtless Anthony Weiner photo sent". Politico.
60. Live press conference, Fox News, 6/6/2011
61. Anthony Weiner Weiner Admits Internet Affairs, Says He Will Not Resign By HUMA KHAN June 6, 2011 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrat-anthony-weiner-hold-press-conference-york-afternoon/story?id=13775137

External links

• Congressman Anthony Weiner official U.S. House site
• Anthony Weiner official campaign site
• Anthony Weiner on YouTube
• Anthonty Weiner in-depth profile at Moment Magazine
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• June 6, 2011 Press conference – CBS News: "Embattled NY Rep Anthony Weiner admits to sending pictures to women online. Weiner admits 'very bad decisions' but says he is not resigning"

Template:Persondata

• Current events
• 1964 births
• Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives
• Living people
• American Jews
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York
• New York City Council members
• New York Democrats
• New York City politicians
• People from Brooklyn
• Public officeholders of Rockaway, Queens
• State University of New York at Plattsburgh alumni