Jim Kolbe
Encyclopedia
James Thomas "Jim" Kolbe (born June 28, 1942) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives
for Arizona's 8th congressional district
, serving 11 terms from 1985 to 2007.
, a suburb of Chicago
, but when he was five, his family moved to a ranch in rural Santa Cruz County, Arizona
. He attended Patagonia Elementary School and Patagonia Union High School
, but graduated from the United States Capitol Page School in 1960 after serving for three years as a United States Senate Page
for Barry Goldwater
. He completed his higher education at Northwestern University
in Evanston and Stanford University
in Palo Alto, California
, served in the United States Navy
, and was a special assistant to Illinois Republican Governor
Richard B. Ogilvie
. He then moved to Tucson, Arizona
, where he was a business executive.
In 1976, Kolbe ran for the Arizona Senate
in a Tucson-area district and defeated a one-term Democrat
who had been elected in the national Democratic wave of 1974. He served three terms in that body, and was majority whip from 1979 to 1982. He divorced his wife in 1992.
, by 2,400 votes. However, Kolbe sought a rematch in 1984. Buoyed by Ronald Reagan
's massive national landslide that year (Reagan carried the 5th with 60 percent of the vote), Kolbe won by 6,000 votes, becoming the first (and as of the 2010 elections, only) Republican to represent southern Arizona in the House. He was reelected 10 times, only facing serious opposition once. In 1998, former Tucson mayor Tom Volgy
held Kolbe to only 51 percent of the vote. The district was renumbered the after the 2000 census.
Kolbe served as chair of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs of the House Appropriations Committee.
Kolbe is a leading moderate Republican. This served him well; although his district included most of Tucson's Republican-leaning suburbs, the brand of Republicanism practiced in southern Arizona has traditionally been a moderate one. Like his mentor, Goldwater, he is pro-choice
. He was generally more supportive of environmental legislation than most Republicans, especially those from the West. He is a member of various moderate Republican groups such as the Log Cabin Republicans
, the Republican Main Street Partnership
, the Republican Majority For Choice
, Republicans for Choice
, Republicans For Environmental Protection and It's My Party Too. He is one of the four Republicans who voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
which was passed by the House of Representatives with 281-142 votes on October 2, 2003.
In 2002, Kolbe introduced the Legal Tender Modernization Act
which would have ceased production of the U.S. one-cent piece (penny)
. In July 2006, Kolbe introduced the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act, which would round cash transactions to the nearest five cents. This act would effectively remove the penny from circulation. Kolbe argues that, because of inflation, the penny is virtually worthless, and that the U.S. should stop using the penny now that the costs of penny production exceed its value. Kolbe has received some media attention as one of the foremost promoters of eliminating the penny from circulation.
In 2004, when State House Majority Whip Randy Graf
challenged Kolbe for the Republican nomination. It was the first substantive primary challenge Kolbe had faced since his initial run for the seat in 1982. Graf ran well to Kolbe's right, but was best known for his hardline approach to illegal immigration. In contrast, Kolbe was a strong supporter of guest worker program
s for immigrants. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the 8th, which takes up about half of Arizona's share of the Mexican
border. Kolbe managed to fend Graf off. He easily won an 11th term in November.
On November 23, 2005, Kolbe announced that he would not seek a 12th term in 2006. His exit left the district open. While Kolbe had been re-elected with almost no difficulty, it had been expected to be very competitive if he ever retired. (Bill Clinton
had narrowly won the district in 1996, and George W. Bush
narrowly edged out Al Gore
and John Kerry
in both of his presidential bids.) Graf won the five-candidate primary on September 12, 2006. Kolbe refused to endorse Graf, who lost to Democrat Gabrielle Giffords
in the November 2006 election.
Kolbe endorsed State Senate President Tim Bee
's bid to unseat Giffords in 2008. His support was subsequently withdrawn in July 2008.
as gay
in August 1996 after his vote in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act
spurred efforts by some gay rights activists to out
him. He won re-election that year. In 2000, he became the first openly gay person to address the Republican National Convention
, although his speech did not address gay rights. He is the second openly gay Republican to serve in Congress, the other being Steve Gunderson
of Wisconsin
.
Even after coming out, Kolbe's record on gay rights was somewhat mixed. He was lukewarm in his support of same-sex marriage
and voted in support of the Defense of Marriage Act
. However, he strongly supported the availability of universal civil union
s.
's "Internet communications with teenagers" who were subordinate to Foley, he informed the office that oversaw the page program. He assumed the matter had been taken care of, although this was not brought to the public's attention until September 29, 2006 when it became public that Foley had sent sexually explicit and solicitative e-mail
s and instant messages to young adult male pages. Republican leaders had claimed that they had only recently been made aware of Foley's actions, despite Kolbe's actions.
In October 2006, federal prosecutors in Arizona opened a preliminary investigation into a camping trip that Kolbe took in July 1996 that included two teenage former congressional pages, as well as National Park officials, then-current staff, and Kolbe's sister. During that trip to the Grand Canyon, he was accused of "acting inappropriately"; NBC News
interviewed several people who were on the trip, and their accounts vary. One participant, who requested anonymity, said he was uncomfortable with the attention Kolbe paid to one of the former pages. He was "creeped out by it," he said, adding that there was a lot of "fawning, petting and touching" on the teenager's arms, shoulders and back by Kolbe. On June 5, 2007, federal investigators absolved Kolbe of any wrongdoing in the case. In a statement released by the Justice Department, "investigators have completed their work on the preliminary inquiry opened by federal prosecutors last fall, and see no reason to pursue it further."
think tank and a consultant at Kissinger McLarty Associates. He focuses on issues that were his priorities when he was in Congress — trade, aid and migration. In the fall semesters 2007 to 2009, he taught a class on trade and globalization
at the University of Arizona
James E. Rogers College of Law
in Tucson. He is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute
. During the 2010 election he broke from the Republican Party to endorse the candidacy of Democrat Andrei Cherny for state treasurer.
In September 2010, President Barack Obama
appointed Kolbe to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
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...
for Arizona's 8th congressional district
Arizona's 8th congressional district
Arizona's 8th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona and encompasses the extreme southeastern part of the state...
, serving 11 terms from 1985 to 2007.
Early life
Kolbe was born in Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, a suburb of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, but when he was five, his family moved to a ranch in rural Santa Cruz County, Arizona
Santa Cruz County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.5% White*0.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*22.9% Other races*82.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. He attended Patagonia Elementary School and Patagonia Union High School
Patagonia Union High School
Patagonia Union High School , is a public high school located in Patagonia, Arizona, which serves rural eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona, including the communities of Patagonia, Sonoita, and Elgin. PUHS is a 1A school, with an enrollment of about 90 students in grades 9-12...
, but graduated from the United States Capitol Page School in 1960 after serving for three years as a United States Senate Page
United States Senate Page
A United States Senate Page is a non-partisan federal employee serving the United States Senate in Washington, DC. Despite the non-partisan affiliation, Pages are typically divided to serve the party that appointed them.-Selection:In order to become a US Senate Page, one must first be nominated...
for Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
. He completed his higher education at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Evanston and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and was a special assistant to Illinois Republican Governor
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
Richard B. Ogilvie
Richard B. Ogilvie
Richard Buell Ogilvie was the 35th Governor of Illinois from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he achieved fame as the mafia-fighting Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois in the 1960s....
. He then moved to Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, where he was a business executive.
In 1976, Kolbe ran for the Arizona Senate
Arizona Senate
The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, with each district having average populations of 219,859 . Members serve two-year terms with...
in a Tucson-area district and defeated a one-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...
who had been elected in the national Democratic wave of 1974. He served three terms in that body, and was majority whip from 1979 to 1982. He divorced his wife in 1992.
Congressional career
In mid-1982, Kolbe resigned from the state Senate to run in the newly created . He lost to Democrat Jim McNulty, a member of the Arizona Board of RegentsArizona Board of Regents
The Arizona Board of Regents is the governing body of Arizona's public university system, providing policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and their branch campuses.-Organization:...
, by 2,400 votes. However, Kolbe sought a rematch in 1984. Buoyed by 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 massive national landslide that year (Reagan carried the 5th with 60 percent of the vote), Kolbe won by 6,000 votes, becoming the first (and as of the 2010 elections, only) Republican to represent southern Arizona in the House. He was reelected 10 times, only facing serious opposition once. In 1998, former Tucson mayor Tom Volgy
Thomas Volgy
Thomas John Volgy is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona, where he has been on faculty since 1971. He is also the Executive Director of the International Studies Association....
held Kolbe to only 51 percent of the vote. The district was renumbered the after the 2000 census.
Kolbe served as chair of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs of the House Appropriations Committee.
Kolbe is a leading moderate Republican. This served him well; although his district included most of Tucson's Republican-leaning suburbs, the brand of Republicanism practiced in southern Arizona has traditionally been a moderate one. Like his mentor, Goldwater, he is pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
. He was generally more supportive of environmental legislation than most Republicans, especially those from the West. He is a member of various moderate Republican groups such as the Log Cabin Republicans
Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C...
, the Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
, the Republican Majority For Choice
Republican Majority for Choice
The Republican Majority for Choice is a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supports federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, including Embryonic stem cell research.....
, Republicans for Choice
Republicans for Choice
Republicans for Choice, an organization based in the Washington, D.C. area is a political action committee composed of members of the United States Republican Party who support legalized abortion.-History of Republicans for Choice:Republicans for Choice was founded in 1989 by Ann Stone...
, Republicans For Environmental Protection and It's My Party Too. He is one of the four Republicans who voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is a United States law prohibiting a form of late-term abortion that the Act calls "partial-birth abortion", often referred to in medical literature as intact dilation and extraction...
which was passed by the House of Representatives with 281-142 votes on October 2, 2003.
In 2002, Kolbe introduced the Legal Tender Modernization Act
Legal Tender Modernization Act
The Legal Tender Modernization Act was a bill proposed by United States Representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona in 2002. Its main goal was to stop the continual production of pennies. The bill also mentions other provisions including:...
which would have ceased production of the U.S. one-cent piece (penny)
Cent (United States coin)
The United States one-cent coin, commonly known as a penny, is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From 1959 to 2008, the reverse...
. In July 2006, Kolbe introduced the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act, which would round cash transactions to the nearest five cents. This act would effectively remove the penny from circulation. Kolbe argues that, because of inflation, the penny is virtually worthless, and that the U.S. should stop using the penny now that the costs of penny production exceed its value. Kolbe has received some media attention as one of the foremost promoters of eliminating the penny from circulation.
In 2004, when State House Majority Whip Randy Graf
Randy Graf
Randy J. Graf is a former member of the Arizona State House. He was the Republican nominee for in 2006. The district occupies most of Tucson, all of Cochise County, and parts of Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties.- Background :...
challenged Kolbe for the Republican nomination. It was the first substantive primary challenge Kolbe had faced since his initial run for the seat in 1982. Graf ran well to Kolbe's right, but was best known for his hardline approach to illegal immigration. In contrast, Kolbe was a strong supporter of guest worker program
Guest worker program
The Guest Worker Program is a program that has been proposed many times, including by U.S. President George W. Bush's administration as a way to permit U.S. employers to sponsor non-U.S. citizens as laborers for approximately three years, to be deported afterwards if they have not yet obtained a...
s for immigrants. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the 8th, which takes up about half of Arizona's share of the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
border. Kolbe managed to fend Graf off. He easily won an 11th term in November.
On November 23, 2005, Kolbe announced that he would not seek a 12th term in 2006. His exit left the district open. While Kolbe had been re-elected with almost no difficulty, it had been expected to be very competitive if he ever retired. (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...
had narrowly won the district in 1996, and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
narrowly edged out Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
and John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
in both of his presidential bids.) Graf won the five-candidate primary on September 12, 2006. Kolbe refused to endorse Graf, who lost to Democrat Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
in the November 2006 election.
Kolbe endorsed State Senate President Tim Bee
Tim Bee
Timothy S. Bee is a Republican politician and business owner who served in the Arizona State Senate from 2003 to 2007. He was first elected to the Arizona Senate in 2001, and left in 2009 due to term limits. In 2008, he was the Republican candidate for Arizona's 8th congressional district seat in...
's bid to unseat Giffords in 2008. His support was subsequently withdrawn in July 2008.
Sexual orientation
Kolbe came outComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
in August 1996 after his vote in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
spurred efforts by some gay rights activists to out
Outing
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
him. He won re-election that year. In 2000, he became the first openly gay person to address the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, although his speech did not address gay rights. He is the second openly gay Republican to serve in Congress, the other being Steve Gunderson
Steve Gunderson
Steven Craig "Steve" Gunderson is the President and CEO of the Council on Foundations and a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin.-Early years:Gunderson grew up near Whitehall, Wisconsin...
of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Even after coming out, Kolbe's record on gay rights was somewhat mixed. He was lukewarm in his support of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and voted in support of the Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
. However, he strongly supported the availability of universal civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s.
Mark Foley scandal
In 2000, when Kolbe found out about former Congressman Mark FoleyMark Foley
Mark Adam Foley is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party....
's "Internet communications with teenagers" who were subordinate to Foley, he informed the office that oversaw the page program. He assumed the matter had been taken care of, although this was not brought to the public's attention until September 29, 2006 when it became public that Foley had sent sexually explicit and solicitative e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
s and instant messages to young adult male pages. Republican leaders had claimed that they had only recently been made aware of Foley's actions, despite Kolbe's actions.
In October 2006, federal prosecutors in Arizona opened a preliminary investigation into a camping trip that Kolbe took in July 1996 that included two teenage former congressional pages, as well as National Park officials, then-current staff, and Kolbe's sister. During that trip to the Grand Canyon, he was accused of "acting inappropriately"; NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
interviewed several people who were on the trip, and their accounts vary. One participant, who requested anonymity, said he was uncomfortable with the attention Kolbe paid to one of the former pages. He was "creeped out by it," he said, adding that there was a lot of "fawning, petting and touching" on the teenager's arms, shoulders and back by Kolbe. On June 5, 2007, federal investigators absolved Kolbe of any wrongdoing in the case. In a statement released by the Justice Department, "investigators have completed their work on the preliminary inquiry opened by federal prosecutors last fall, and see no reason to pursue it further."
Current employment
Kolbe is now a fellow at the German Marshall FundGerman Marshall Fund
The German Marshall Fund of the United States is a nonpartisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between North America and Europe....
think tank and a consultant at Kissinger McLarty Associates. He focuses on issues that were his priorities when he was in Congress — trade, aid and migration. In the fall semesters 2007 to 2009, he taught a class on trade and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
James E. Rogers College of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law is the law school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona and was the first law school founded in the State of Arizona, opening its doors in 1915. Formerly known as University of Arizona College of Law, it was renamed in 1999 in honor of noted...
in Tucson. He is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute
International Republican Institute
Founded in 1983, the International Republican Institute is an organization, funded by the United States government, that conducts international political programs, sometimes labeled 'democratization programs'....
. During the 2010 election he broke from the Republican Party to endorse the candidacy of Democrat Andrei Cherny for state treasurer.
In September 2010, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
appointed Kolbe to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.