Randy Forbes

Randy Forbes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 4th district
In office June 19, 2001
Preceded by	Norman Sisisky
Born	February 17 1952 (1952-02-17) (age 56) Chesapeake, Virginia
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Shirley Forbes
Religion	Baptist

James Randy Forbes (born February 17 1952) is an American politician who has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing the 4th congressional district of Virginia (map). Born in Chesapeake, Virginia, he graduated first in his class from Randolph-Macon College in 1974, and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. Forbes worked in private practice, for Kaufman & Canoles PC, and served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1989–1997) and the Virginia State Senate (1997–2001). He was also Chair of the Republican Party of Virginia (1996-2001). Forbes was first elected to the House in 2001 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of ten-term Democratic Congressman Norman Sisisky; defeating Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas 52-48%.[1]. However, he didn't face Democratic opposition again until 2004, when he faced Jonathan R. Menefee and won with 65% of the vote.[2]

Major issues

Culture

Forbes has made a major issue out of the "culture war," by forming the Push Back Team [3], basically a fundraising measure for Forbes' campaign. As part of this campaign, Forbes is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, [4] formed for the purpose of encouraging prayer through legislation, and opposing laws such as those banning prayer led by school officials.

Gangs

Forbes sponsored H.R. 1279[5] The Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005 (The Gangbusters Bill), which intends to increase support for police in going after gangs, re-define violent crime, and sets higher minimum mandatory sentences for gang related activity.[6] Some critics of the bill say that it re-defines violent crime very broadly, allows the death penalty for "any crime resulting in death," and sets overly stringent minimum sentences.[7] Forbes has said he sees gangs partially as a problem brought in with immigrants, specifically mentioning the MS-13 gang. This bill passed the House on May 11, 2005, and has been referred to the Senate. Similar legislation was passed again on September 21, 2006, yet to be taken up by the Senate.[8]

Controversial campaign contributions

Forbes received campaign contributions from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. DeLay has since resigned and is being prosecuted on charges of felony money laundering of campaign finances and conspiracy to launder money. To date, Forbes has not offered to return or donate to charity any of the $30,000 he received, despite calls from Democrats to do so. [9][10] He has donated $1,000 he received from Jack Abramoff to charity; however, he kept the $4,000 he received from Indian tribes that hired Abramoff for lobbying work. [11] He also accepted $1,000 from convicted former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham and $5,000 from the founder of MZM, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges.[12] Also of interest is the "Hero of the Tax Payer" award Forbes received from Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).[13] A Senate report revealed recently that ATR, headed by Grover Norquist whom admitted to using ATR to sell clout to and launder money for Jack Abramov, may have violated its tax exempt status.[14]

Committees, caucuses, and other groups

• United States House Committee on the Judiciary
• United States House Committee on Science
• United States House Committee on Armed Services
• House Republican Israel Caucus
• Children's Caucus
• Diabetes Caucus
• Immigration Reform Caucus
• Historic Preservation Caucus
• Congressional Prayer Caucus
• Congressional China Caucus
• Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus
• Congressional pro-life caucus
• Army; Navy/Marine Corps; Coast Guard; Special Operations Force Caucuses
• Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus
• Internet Caucus
• Military Retiree-Veterans Caucus
• Judicial Activism Working Group
• Cancer Working Group
• Alzheimer's Task Force
• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force

External links

• U.S. Congressman Randy Forbes official House site
• Randy Forbes at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — J. Randy Forbes campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Randy Forbes issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — J. Randy Forbes campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative James Randy Forbes (VA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Randy Forbes profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Randy Forbes voting record
• Randy Forbes for Congress official campaign site
• Quotes