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Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) represents the Texas 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Elected as a Republican, he professes a limited government libertarian ideology, which frequently conflicts with other Republicans and indeed most of his Congressional colleagues. Ron Paul's Legislative Director in 2004 described President George Bush as a "domestic socialist" and "war-monger" and has accused the GOP leadership of engaging in trickery and deceit. His regular votes against almost all government spending, taxes, and programs and that he is often the sole dissenter in otherwise unanimous votes have earned him the nickname "Dr. No".
History
Ron Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Gettysburg College (1957) and M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine (1961). He served as a surgeon for the United States Air Force in the 1960s. In 1968 he and his wife Carol moved to Texas, where they reside in the town of Surfside Beach.
Dr. Paul was first elected to the House of Representatives in a 1976 special election to replace Robert R. Casey. He lost his bid for a full term in the November 1976 election to Democrat Robert A. Gammage but defeated him in a 1978 rematch. In 1984, he did not seek reelection and returned to practice medicine as an OBGYN.
In 1988, Dr. Paul won the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the U.S. Presidency. He spent the year campaigning across the country on the Libertarian platform eventually placing third behind George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis with 0.3% of the vote.
In 1996, he was again elected to the House. Because Texas ballot access laws prevented him from running as a Libertarian, he registered and ran as a Republican. Mainstream Republican Party figures backed his challenger in the primary; however, he won and went on to win the general election.
Leaders of the Texan Republican Party made similar efforts to defeat him in 1998, but he again won the primary and the election. The Republican congressional leadership then agreed to a compromise: Paul votes with the Republicans on procedural matters and remains nominally Republican in exchange for the committee assignments normally due according to his seniority. This is arguably similar to the deal that Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont has with the Democratic Party (though Jeffords was elected as a Republican and is now officially independent). He was convincingly re-elected in 2000, 2002, and 2004. He is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus.
When Paul joined the Libertarian Party, he did so as a lifetime member, a status which he appears never to have renounced. He remains on good terms with the party and has addressed its national convention since his election as a Republican congressman. A Libertarian Party spokesman George Getz said thousand of libertarians across the United States donate money to Ron Paul's campaign funds. Texas Democrats allege he uses those campaign funds to present himself as having more moderate positions than his Congressional votes."
Ron Paul's views
Consistent with libertarianism, his economic views are against government intervention in the market while he has also criticized United States' intervention in Iraq and what he charges is the use of the war on terror to curtail civil liberties. He believes in the complete abolition of income tax, most Cabinet departments, the Federal Reserve and American withdrawal from the United Nations. Paul has referred to the Internal Revenue Service as the Gestapo.
He has been criticized at times for his voting record, being the only dissenting vote against giving Rosa Parks and Mother Theresa the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor; Paul believes that Congress is not authorized by the Constitution to issue this medal. According to Texas Monthly, "When he was criticized for voting against the medal , he chivied his colleagues by challenging them to personally contribute $100 to mint the medal. No one did, of course. At the time, Paul observed, 'It's easier to be generous with other people's money.'"
Paul's supporters say he is willing to take unpopular positions in order to defend what he regards as constitutional limited government. He has even voted against a federal ban on GHB, a date rape drug, on the grounds of its unconstitutionality.
Ron Paul's Newsletter Attracts Controversy Over Racial Claims
Paul has been accused of racism over an article in a 1992 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report. The article, about the L.A. race riots and titled "Los Angeles Racial Terrorism," characterized African-Americans as "barbarians" and called the rioters "thugs and revolutionaries who hate Euro-American civilization".
Ron Paul's publication cited reports that 85 percent of African-American men in Washington, D.C., are arrested at some point. The article argued that "Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the 'criminal justice system,' I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal." It blames liberals and the welfare state for telling African-Americans that they "are entitled to something for nothing". Years later, Paul claimed that this article was written by a staff member without his approval.
District and contact information
The 14th Congressional District of Texas stretches from the Gulf Coast south of Houston almost to Corpus Christi; north through Victoria and west close to San Antonio; extending north to Hays county near Austin. From Hays county, the District stretches east to Fayette and Colorado counties, south through Wharton county, and back to the Gulf through the lower half of Brazoria county. In all, the district encompasses more than 22,000 square miles.
- Washington: 203 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. Phone Number: (202) 225-2831
- Freeport, Texas: 200 W 2nd Street, Suite 210, Freeport, TX 77541. Phone Number: (979) 230-0000
- Victoria, Texas: 312 S Main Street, Suite 228, Victoria, TX 77901. Phone Number: (361) 576-1231
External links
- Official web site of Congressman Ron Paul
- National Taxpayers Union Honors Ron Paul as one of 29 Congressman who are "Taxpayer's Friends"
References
- Gwynne, Sam (Oct. 1, 2001). Texas Monthly.
- Bernstein, Alan (May 23, 1996). Newsletter excerpts offer ammunition to Paul's opponent; GOP hopeful quoted on race, crime. The Houston Chronicle, p. A33.
| Preceded by: David Bergland |
Libertarian Party Presidential candidate 1988 (lost) |
Followed by: Andre Marrou |