Louie Gohmert
Encyclopedia
Louis Buller Gohmert, Jr. (born August 18, 1953) is an American
politician and current Republican
U.S. Representative
from Texas
's 1st congressional district
.
. He received his B.A.
from Texas A&M University
in 1975. At A&M, he was a Brigade Commander of the Corps of Cadets
and class president. He later received his Juris Doctor
from Baylor University
in Waco
in 1977 where he also served as class president. Gohmert served in the United States Army
Judge Advocate General's Corps, at Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1978 to 1982. The majority of his U.S. Army legal service was as a defense attorney.
Gohmert was elected as a state district judge for Texas's 7th Judicial District comprising Smith County
(Tyler
) in 1992 and was reelected two times before being appointed by Governor
Rick Perry
to fill a vacancy as Chief Justice on Texas's 12th Court of Appeals, where he served from 2002 to 2003. After Texas' 2003 mid-decade redistricting process, he successfully defeated Democratic
incumbent 1st District Congressman Max Sandlin
for his seat in Congress, becoming the first Republican since Reconstruction to represent the 1st District of northeast Texas. In the Republican primary, Gohmert defeated State Representative
Wayne Christian
of Center
, who thereafter returned to the state legislature.
Gohmert serves on two House committees: Judiciary (because of his judicial background) and Natural Resources (as his district sits on top of the East Texas oil field
).
In 2006, Gohmert won his second term by defeating independent Roger L. Owen, a swimming pool
builder from Hallsville
. He faced no major-party opposition in 2008.
On July 29, 2009, Gohmert signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1503. This bill would "amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of president to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the office of president under the Constitution".
Gohmert is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
on grounds it did not do enough to deal with the government's growing debt.
to defend recent comments he made on the floor of the House regarding "terror babies". Initially, Gohmert had claimed (in a speech made on the House floor in June 2010) that an ex-FBI agent had told him about "terror baby" plots. On Fox Business News, Gohmert had later claimed that an airline passenger with a relative in Hamas
had a grandchild who was to be intentionally born in the United States. In the interview, Gohmert asserted that pregnant women from the Middle East are traveling to the US on tourist visas, planning to deliver the child there. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, this automatically grants citizenship to the child. Gohmert asserted that the child would then be returned to the mother's home country and be submitted to a life of terrorist training. When repeatedly asked by the host for any evidence of this, Gohmert did not provide substantiation for either the ex-FBI agent story or the airline passenger story, but gave a description of a Washington Post article, which described so-called "birth tourism
" packages, mainly directed at Chinese tourists. These packages, (one was described in the article for $14,750), were described by Gohmert as a "gaping hole in the security of our country". When asked several times by Cooper for the connection and any corroborating evidence, Gohmert responded "If you don't think this is evidence, you have to believe that the terrorists are more stupid than these enterprising people". The Daily Show
later parodied this incident.
Committee on Natural Resources
In addition Gohmert is a member of the Republican Study Committee
and the Tea Party Caucus
.
Articles
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and current 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...
U.S. Representative
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 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...
's 1st congressional district
Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the First District represents 651,619 people...
.
Life and career
Gohmert was born in Pittsburg, TexasPittsburg, Texas
Pittsburg is a city located in Camp County, Texas. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 4,347. It is the county seat of Camp County. It is best known as the home of the giant poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride and the home of racing legend Carroll Shelby...
. He received his B.A.
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...
from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in 1975. At A&M, he was a Brigade Commander of the Corps of Cadets
Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets
The Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets is a student military organization at Texas A&M University...
and class president. He later received his 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...
from 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:...
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....
in 1977 where he also served as class president. Gohmert served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Judge Advocate General's Corps, at Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1978 to 1982. The majority of his U.S. Army legal service was as a defense attorney.
Gohmert was elected as a state district judge for Texas's 7th Judicial District comprising Smith County
Smith County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 174,706 people, 65,692 households, and 46,904 families residing in the county. The population density was 188 people per square mile . There were 71,701 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile...
(Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
) in 1992 and was reelected two times before being appointed by Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
to fill a vacancy as Chief Justice on Texas's 12th Court of Appeals, where he served from 2002 to 2003. After Texas' 2003 mid-decade redistricting process, he successfully defeated Democratic
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...
incumbent 1st District Congressman Max Sandlin
Max Sandlin
Max Sandlin , is a lawyer, lobbyist, American politician, and former Democratic Congressman who served eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Texas District 1....
for his seat in Congress, becoming the first Republican since Reconstruction to represent the 1st District of northeast Texas. In the Republican primary, Gohmert defeated State Representative
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
Wayne Christian
Wayne Christian
Wayne Christian is a businessman from Center, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 9, which includes Jasper, Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine, and Shelby counties in East Texas....
of Center
Center, Texas
Center is a city in Shelby County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,678 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County...
, who thereafter returned to the state legislature.
Gohmert serves on two House committees: Judiciary (because of his judicial background) and Natural Resources (as his district sits on top of the East Texas oil field
East Texas oil field
The East Texas Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in east Texas. Covering and parts of five counties, and having 30,340 historic and active oil wells, it is the largest oil field in the United States outside of Alaska, both in extent and in total volume of oil recovered since its discovery in...
).
In 2006, Gohmert won his second term by defeating independent Roger L. Owen, a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
builder from Hallsville
Hallsville, Texas
Hallsville is a city in Harrison County, Texas, United States, located west of the county seat, Marshall on U.S. Highway 80. The population was 2,772 at the 2000 census.-Early history:...
. He faced no major-party opposition in 2008.
2008-2009
He offered an alternative plan to kick-start the economy with his tax holiday bill that would allow taxpayers to be exempt for two months from having federal income tax taken out of their paychecks.On July 29, 2009, Gohmert signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1503. This bill would "amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of president to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the office of president under the Constitution".
Political Positions
TaxesGohmert is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
Abortion
Gohmert has a Pro-Life voting record. He has stated that he believes that life begins at conception. Gohmert sponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act. Gohmert voted for the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, a bill that prohibits the transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of an abortion without the consent of the minor's parents. He has 100% Pro-Life voting record rating from the NRLC.Energy and the Environment
Gohmert doesn't believe that climate change is man made, and he has likened the falsification of data to what he believes is fraud. Gohmert has opposed cap-and-trade legislation, such as the one that was passed in the US House when it was Democratic controlled. Gohmert supports expanding drilling, and exploration and drilling in ANWR. .Education
Gohmert has made statements and voted for legislation that support the use of school vouchers.Debt
Gohmert was one of a number of Republicans who voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011Budget Control Act of 2011
The Budget Control Act of 2011 was passed by the 112th United States Congress signed into law by President Barack Obama. It brought conclusion to the 2011 United States debt ceiling crisis, which had threatened to lead the United States into sovereign default on or about August 3, 2011.The law...
on grounds it did not do enough to deal with the government's growing debt.
Comments on "Terror Baby" Plots
On August 12, 2010, Gohmert appeared on Anderson Cooper 360°Anderson Cooper 360°
Anderson Cooper 360° is a one-hour television news show on CNN, hosted by the American journalist Anderson Cooper. It is also broadcast around the world on CNN International....
to defend recent comments he made on the floor of the House regarding "terror babies". Initially, Gohmert had claimed (in a speech made on the House floor in June 2010) that an ex-FBI agent had told him about "terror baby" plots. On Fox Business News, Gohmert had later claimed that an airline passenger with a relative in Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
had a grandchild who was to be intentionally born in the United States. In the interview, Gohmert asserted that pregnant women from the Middle East are traveling to the US on tourist visas, planning to deliver the child there. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
, this automatically grants citizenship to the child. Gohmert asserted that the child would then be returned to the mother's home country and be submitted to a life of terrorist training. When repeatedly asked by the host for any evidence of this, Gohmert did not provide substantiation for either the ex-FBI agent story or the airline passenger story, but gave a description of a Washington Post article, which described so-called "birth tourism
Birth tourism
"Birth tourism" is a term for travelling to a country that practices birthright citizenship in order to give birth there, so that the child will be a citizen of the destination country.-United States:...
" packages, mainly directed at Chinese tourists. These packages, (one was described in the article for $14,750), were described by Gohmert as a "gaping hole in the security of our country". When asked several times by Cooper for the connection and any corroborating evidence, Gohmert responded "If you don't think this is evidence, you have to believe that the terrorists are more stupid than these enterprising people". The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
later parodied this incident.
Congressional committee assignments
Committee on the JudiciaryUnited States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
- Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil LibertiesUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil LibertiesThe Subcommittee on the Constitution is one of five subcommittees of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary.-Jurisdiction:According to the official website:...
- Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland SecurityUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland SecurityThe House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee.-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...
- Task Force on Judicial Impeachment
Committee on Natural Resources
- Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral ResourcesUnited States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral ResourcesThe United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources is one of the five subcommittees within the House Natural Resources Committee-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:*...
- Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public LandsUnited States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public LandsThe United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands is one of the five subcommittees within the House Natural Resources Committee-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:*...
In addition Gohmert is a member of the Republican Study Committee
Republican Study Committee
The Republican Study Committee [RSC] is a caucus of over 170 conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives...
and the Tea Party Caucus
Tea Party Caucus
The Tea Party Caucus is a caucus of the United States House of Representatives and Senate launched and chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on July 16, 2010. The caucus is dedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the movement's interpretation of...
.
Caucus memberships
- Israel Allies CaucusIsrael Allies CaucusThe Israel Allies Caucus is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives made up of members who strongly support Israel. It was formed on July 27, 2006 to affirm United States support for Israel amidst growing international pressure for Israel to implement an immediate and unreciprocated...
- International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- Tea Party CaucusTea Party CaucusThe Tea Party Caucus is a caucus of the United States House of Representatives and Senate launched and chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on July 16, 2010. The caucus is dedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the movement's interpretation of...
Personal Life
Gohmert and his wife Kathy are parents to three daughters. Gohmert attends Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, where he has served as a deacon and teaches Sunday school.External links
Articles
- "Nine New Veterans Join Congress", Veterans of Foreign WarsVeterans of Foreign WarsThe Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
Magazine - Video of Gohmert Criticizing Rep. John Murtha
- Video of Gohmert Blaming Stock Market Failures on Democrats and Murtha