Kay Granger

Kay Granger
Vice Chairperson of the House Republican Conference
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Leader John Boehner
Preceded by Jack Kingston
Succeeded by Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 12th district
Assumed office
January 3, 1997
Preceded by Pete Geren
41st Mayor of Fort Worth
In office
May 21, 1991 – December 19, 1995
Preceded by Bob Bolen
Succeeded by Jewell Woods (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1943-01-18) January 18, 1943
Greenville, Texas, U.S.
Political party Republican
Alma mater Texas Wesleyan University
Religion Methodism

Kay Granger (born January 18, 1943) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas, representing its 12th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. A former teacher and businesswoman, she is the first Republican woman to represent Texas in the U.S. House. After serving on the zoning commission of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1991 she was elected as the city's first woman mayor, serving two terms to 1995.

Biography and career

Granger was born in Greenville, Texas, and grew up in Fort Worth. She attended local public schools and Eastern Hills High School.[1] She graduated from Texas Wesleyan University.

Granger taught high school English and journalism for several years and became familiar with many issues in the community. In 1978 she decided to establish her own insurance agency, which she operated for years. Deciding to become active in local politics, Granger was elected to the Fort Worth Zoning Commission. she was elected to the city council in 1989. She was elected Mayor in 1991 in a non-partisan election as the first woman mayor of the city. She served until 19xx. She was known for .

After Congressman Pete Geren announced he would retire in 1996, both the Democratic and Republican parties worked to recruit Granger to run for his seat. Republicans were bullish on their chances of winning Texas' 12th congressional district. It had once been represented by Democratic Speaker of the House Jim Wright, but legislative redistricting after the 1990 census had added areas with more Republican residents.

Granger decided to run as a Republican, much to the dismay of local GOP activists, who criticized her as being too liberal. She won handily, taking 56 percent of the vote over the Democrat Hugh Parmer, also a former Fort Worth mayor. She was reelected in 1998 and faced serious opposition only in 2000. In 2008, Granger defeated Democratic challenger Tracey Smith with 67 percent of the vote.

In 2006 Granger published a book, What's Right About America, Celebrating Our Nation's Values, reflecting on lessons from prominent figures of United States history.

That year, she was reelected to her sixth term in Congress. She was elected as Conference Vice Chair, the fourth-ranking position among House Republicans, in November 2006. She is Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommitee on State-Foreign Operations. She also sits on the United States House Committee on Appropriations's Subcommittee on Defense (the first woman to do so), and the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee. She has also served as a House Deputy Whip.

On September 25, 2007, she publicly endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the primary race for the Republican Party presidential nomination.[2] She also took up the position of national co-chair of the campaign organization Women for Mitt, filling a vacancy left by the death of Jennifer Dunn.[3] In a statement to the press following her endorsement, she said that she had heard Romney speak and that "I agreed with everything he said, in the order he said it."

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Republican Institute.[4] and Southwestern University. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Congressional committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Ideology and voting record

Kay Granger campaign sign in the Fort Worth Stockyards

Her website has an article from "Conservative Quarterly" that describes her as "a dependable vote for the leadership on most issues." She is a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

In 2003, Granger was given a 10 percent rating by NARAL and an 84 percent rating by the Christian Coalition of America.

Granger has voted several times in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it a crime to physically desecrate the American flag. She supports the Federal Marriage Amendment to define marriage as only permitted between a man and a woman.

She was renominated in the March 2, 2010, Republican primary, having polled 70 percent of the ballots over intraparty rivals Mike Brasovan and Matthew E. Kelly.[5]

In 2012, after chairman of the Taiwanese defense committee Lin Yu-fang rejected calls for more F-16 fighters and said that only the F-35 could ensure Taiwan's security,[6] Granger offered a NDAA amendment, which passed the House, to offer only the much older F-16 fighter to Taiwan.[7][8]

In June 2013, Granger was among the members of Congress who voted to pass an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The amendment would continue to restrict the Pentagon from entering into new contracts with Russia’s state arms broker Rosoboronexport.[9]

During her tenure, Granger has supported more than $50 million in earmarks to infrastructure projects in Fort Worth, Texas that benefited the Trinity River Vision Authority, an organization headed by her son.[10]

Kaptur Amendment voted down

On May 29, 2014, the Appropriations Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives marked up the agriculture funding bill for Fiscal Year 2015. That bill included a provision known as the GIPSA rider (Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Act), which prohibited USDA from using any money to implement rules authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill to protect chicken farmers from industry retaliation.

The USDA rule in question was developed over a six-year period, during which time USDA held numerous public forums and interviewed many farmers, processors and others. The final rule was designed by USDA to protect poultry, cattle and pig farmers from industry retaliation if they spoke out, and to ensure the farmers would have standing when negotiating contracts with large industrial meat-processing companies.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) proposed two amendments during the markup in an effort to remove some or all of the GIPSA rider and allow USDA to enforce the 2008 Farm Bill protections authorized in law. The first amendment she proposed attempted to remove the entire GIPSA rider, which is referred to here as section 730 of the bill. That amendment was declined. The second amendment focused specifically on allowing USDA enforcement of protections of farmers’ right to speak about their conditions without fear of retaliation. Rep. Kaptur noted several examples of this kind of retaliation. That amendment was also declined.

The following Republican members from Texas voted against these Kaptur amendments: Kay Granger, John Abney Culbersons, and John R. Carter.

http://www.kaptur.house.gov/index.php/news-15011/articles-70036/3410-rep-marcy-kaptur-amendments-protecting-farmers-from-industry-retaliation

Personal life

Granger has three children and five grandchildren.[11]

Honors

References

  1. 1 2 Kay Granger, USA Centers for Global Commercial & Investment Relations]. Retrieved October 25, 2007. Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC". Mittromney.com. November 9, 2009. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  3. ↑ Granger endorses Romney and will co-chair Women for Mitt | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas-Fort Worth Politics | The Dallas Morning News Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ International Republican Institute web site, accessed July 16, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, March 2, 2010". sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Taiwan needs advanced F-16 C/D jets: defense official." ROC Central News Agency, May 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ "U.S. Congress to debate sale of F-16 fighters to Taiwan." CNA, May 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ Mullins, Richard. "House Moves To Ease Restrictions On U.S. Satellite Exports." Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, May 21, 2012.
  9. ↑ Bowser-Soder, Brenda (June 14, 2013). "House Agrees to Amendment to Restrict U.S. Contracts with Syrian Regime Weapons Supplier". Human Rights First. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Share: More > Public projects, private interests". Washington Post. February 7, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ "About Kay".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kay Granger.


Political offices
Preceded by
Bob Bolen		 Mayor of Fort Worth
1991–1995 		Succeeded by
Jewell Woods
Acting
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Pete Geren		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 12th congressional district
1997–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Jack Kingston		 Vice Chairperson of the House Republican Conference
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Diana DeGette		 United States Representatives by seniority
73rd 		Succeeded by
Rubén Hinojosa
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