Jack Milton Fields, Jr. (born February 3, 1952), is a Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 businessman and a former Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from a Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

-based district.

Fields was born in Humble

Humble, Texas

Humble is a city in Harris County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,579. The city shares a zip code with the small Houston neighborhood of Bordersville, although people who live in Bordersville still have Humble...

, a northern suburb of Houston, to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Fields, Sr. He graduated from Humble High School

Humble Independent School District

Humble Independent School District is a school district based in Humble, Texas .Humble ISD serves the city of Humble, small portions of the city of Houston , and portions of unincorporated Harris County . The district serves over 33,000 students and is led by Superintendent Dr...

 in his hometown in 1970. Fields earned both Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 and Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degrees from Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

-affiliated Baylor University

Baylor University

Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...

 and Baylor Law School

Baylor Law School

Founded in 1857, Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas and has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1938. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas...

 in Waco

Waco, Texas

Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....

, Texas, in 1974 and 1977, respectively. After being admitted to the Texas bar

State Bar of Texas

The State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas...

 in 1977, Fields worked as a lawyer in private practice and as a vice president of a family-owned business through 1980.

Congressional career

In 1980

United States House elections, 1980

The U.S. House election, 1980 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1980 which coincided with the election of Ronald Reagan as President. Reagan's victory also allowed many Republican House candidates to secure election, and the Republicans gained a net of 35 seats from...

, at the age of twenty-eight, Fields was elected to the U.S. House on the coattail

Coattail effect

The coattail effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election...

s of President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's electoral victory

United States presidential election, 1980

The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...

. He narrowly defeated 8th District

Texas's 8th congressional district

Texas District 8 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that stretches from Montgomery County and Walker County to the Louisiana border. It includes much of the northern outlying areas of metro Houston and Beaumont. As of the 2000 census, District 8 represents...

 incumbent Bob Eckhardt, a seven-term Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, by only 4,900 votes to become the first Republican to represent what is now the 8th in 83 years. After the 1980 census, most of the 8th's more Democratic areas were cut out, and Fields was reelected seven more times without serious difficulty.

When the Republican Party assumed majority control of the House of Representatives in the 1994

United States House elections, 1994

The 1994 U.S. House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 1994, in the middle of President Bill Clinton's first term. As a result of a 54-seat swing in membership from Democrats to Republicans, the Republican Party gained a majority of seats in the United States House of...

 elections, Fields was elected chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the House Committee on Commerce

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce

The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...

. In that role, he was one of the principal authors of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

The United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-67, 109 Stat. 737 implemented several substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation, and...

, the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996

Telecommunications Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...

.

1993 special senate election

In 1993, Fields joined a field of 24 candidates in a special election for the U.S. Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 seat vacated by Lloyd Bentsen

Lloyd Bentsen

Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...

, when Bentsen was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 as the secretary of the treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

. However, Fields failed to win enough votes to advance to a runoff election

Two-round system

The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

.

In the Senate race, Fields divided the pro-life vote with fellow U.S. Representative Joe Barton

Joe Barton

Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton is a Republican politician, representing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus...

. The Fields-Barton split propelled Texas Secretary of State Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....

, who supported the United States Supreme Court Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...

abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

 decision, into the runoff with appointed incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Krueger. Two former governors divided their support between Fields and Barton. John B. Connally, Jr.

John Connally

John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...

, supported his fellow Houstonian Fields, and Bill Clements

Bill Clements

William Perry "Bill" Clements, Jr. was the 42nd and 44th Governor of Texas, serving from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991. Clements was the first Republican to have served as governor of the U.S. state of Texas since Reconstruction...

 endorsed his fellow Dallasite Barton.

Post-congressional career

Fields did not run for reelection to the 106th Congress

106th United States Congress

The One Hundred Sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1999 to January 3, 2001, during the last two...

 in 1996

United States House elections, 1996

The U.S. House election, 1996 was an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 5, 1996, which coincided with the re-election of Bill Clinton as President of the United States. Clinton's Democratic Party won a net of nine seats from the Republican Party, but the Republicans...

. Instead, he started two companies, the 21st Century Group, Inc., a government relations firm based in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and Texana Global, Inc., an international trade corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

 headquartered in Texas. He has served on various corporate and charitable boards. In 2004, the U.S. Post Office

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

 in Kingwood

Kingwood, Houston, Texas

Kingwood is a 14,000 acre master-planned community located in northeast Houston, Texas, United States. The majority of the community is located in Harris County with a small portion in Montgomery County...

 was renamed the "Congressman Jack Fields Post Office" in Fields' honor.

He joined Insperity as a director in January 1997. His total compensation for this role in 2009 was $120,746.

Fields is married to Lynn Fields and has two daughters, Jordan and Lexi, and a stepson, Josh Hughes.