Current Position: U.S. Representative (since January 1993)
Credit: Congress Bio Directory
Why He Matters
While the rest of his party seems to question how they can return to their former prominence, King is flourishing as the lone Republican congressman standing in Long Island. With every election he grabs a larger chunk of the Democratic-leaning New York congressional district, winning the 2008 general election by a 28-point margin.
The colorful lawmaker attributes his appeal to his strange mix of politics: conservative on foreign policy, national security and social issues while a friend of labor unions. “I call myself a blue-collar conservative,” King sums up.
After the Sept. 11 attack killed over 150 residents in Eastern Nassau County, which King represents, the congressman became a proponent of George W. Bush’s war on terror, landing him the chairmanship of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Now the panel’s ranking member since Democrats retook the House majority in 2007, King appears to be eyeing the Senate in 2010 or 2012, although he has flirted openly with Senate contests previously. When then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was named to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton he said, “I think she's very vulnerable and I would love to make that run, yes.”
At a Glance
Current Position: U.S. Representative (since January 1993)
Career History: Comptroller, Nassau County (1981-1993); Hempstead Town Council (1978-1981); general counsel, Nassau Off-Track Betting Corporation (1977); Nassau County Executive Assistant (1974-1976); Deputy Nassau County Attorney (1972-1974)
Birthday: April 5, 1944
Hometown: Seaford, N.Y.
Alma Mater: St. Francis College, B.A., history, 1965; Notre Dame, J.D., 1968
Spouse: Rosemary
Religion: Catholic
Committees: Committee on Homeland Security (Ranking); Committee on Financial Sevices
DC Office: 339 Cannon House Office Building
(202) 225-7896
District Office: Massapequa Park, (516) 541-4225
Email
Website
Path to Power
King was born in Sunnyside, Queens, to Democratic Irish-American parents, including an NYPD detective. He graduated from St. Francis College and Notre Dame Law School.
King spent his first several years after graduation practicing law for the Nassau County government, becoming part of the Republican tradition there. After serving on the Hempstead Town Council for four years, he became the Nassau County Comptroller in 1981, serving three terms. He ran in 1986 for New York attorney general, but lost by a considerable margin to incumbent Robert Abrams (D).
In 1992, 10-term. Rep. Norman Lent (R-N.Y.) decided not to seek re-election and King was anointed by local Republican leaders as the handpicked successor and ran on a fiscally conservative platform.After an easy primary win, King faced stiff Democratic opposition and attacks for his opposition to abortion rights and support for the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland. King eked out a narrow victory against Democratic millionaire Steve Orlins, winning 50 to 46 percent, his only tough congressional election to date.
Post 9/11
King considered running for the 2000 Republican Senate nomination, but chose to defer to fellow Long Islander and then-Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) after New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dropped out of the race to Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
The Long Island Republican supported Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2000 race for the Republican presidential nomination instead of George W. Bush because of concerns that the Texan, a United Methodist, was biased against Catholics.
Early in his congressional career, King was known both for his conservative stances on issues such as abortion rights, affirmative action and gun ownership, while cooperating with Democrats and labor leaders. But after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, his loyalty to the Republican platform became clear and he aligned himself with the Bush Administration on security and foreign policy.
Because of his prominent focus on avoiding another Sept. 11 attack, King was tapped to head the Homeland Security Committee in 2005, after his predecessor, Christopher Cox, became head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Issues
King is among the more independent-minded members in the House, voting with his party 88.8 percent of the time during the 110th Congress. Still, in recent years, he’s established himself as foreign policy hawk, agreeing with George W. Bush on the Iraq war and opposing President Obama’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Economically, King takes a nuanced approach, pushing for tax cuts while also advocating targeted spending.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland peace process loomed large during the 1990s in King’s district, and the congressman , who is from Irish stock and whose constituents are 17.7 percent Irish-American , was among the most vocal supporters of the IRA and a united Ireland. Three days after his election, the Long Island Republican flew to Belfast to meet with Gerry Adams, the head of IRA political arm Sinn Fein. The Irish peace process even formed the backdrop of Terrible Beauty and Deliver Us From Evil, two of the three novels penned by King.
King worked with President Bill Clinton on Northern Ireland peace negotiations and supported the president’s decision to grant Adams an American visa in 1994. At a public event ahead of the 1996 elections, King said, “It would hurt the peace process if Bill Clinton were defeated.”
The relationship King and Clinton forged over the Northern Ireland issue appears to have come into play during Clinton’s impeachment proceedings in 1998. Amidst reports of threats him from party elders, King was one of four Republicans who voted against impeaching Clinton on all four articles presented. But then again, King could have been punished politically for the tricky vote in his swing district.
By 2008, his support of the IRA waned claiming a spread of “knee-jerk anti-Americanism” in Ireland after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Homeland Security and Immigration
King has used his position overseeing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to bolster and create new programs aimed at protecting the New York City metropolitan area from terrorist attacks. King has criticized the Bush administration for sticking to formulas to distribute homeland security grants, thus shortchanging high-risk areas like New York City.
A new formula passed in a 2007 bill implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission was created with ranking Homeland Security member King’s guidance, along with input from Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and their Senate counterparts, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). But while grants to New York have increased under the new legislation, King has said the city “will never get enough money.”
Additionally, King is a vocal defender of his earmarking and hasn’t shied away from seeking additional security funds for New York. His focus has been on nabbing funds for local responders and building security for the New York region’s transit system. For 2010, King requested $200 million for terrorism security for the PATH commuter train transit system.
In 2006, King came out against a Bush administration-approved plan to transfer ownership of major American ports, including those located in New York and New Jersey. King claimed that ownership by to Dubai-based Dubai Ports World “raises a lot of red flags.”
King was a lead proponent of the 2006 Security and Accountability for Every Port Act, which was a result of the sunken Dubai deal. The legislation provided $400 million in security grants for ports, provided for training of port workers and set up a timetable for radiological cargo screenings.
Controversies
The Long Island Republican is also known for his political incorrectness. In 2007, King introduced legislation bolstering border security, penalizing employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and making English the official U.S. language. The bill made little headway.
King made headlines after he released a July 2009 YouTube video that criticized the media attention to the death of Michael Jackson and his funeral. The video showed King in front of the Wantagh American legion (after a close-up of a gravestone and an American flag) and said the media had "disgraced itself" with its incessant coverage of Jackson. "Let's knock out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert, a child molester, he was a pedophile...I think that we're too politically correct. Nobody wants to stand up and say that we don't need Michael Jackson."
King has opposed ads in New York subway cars promoting Islam, accusing some of those funding the ads to supporting extremism, and endorsed ethnic profiling by airport screeners., Following the release of his 2004 novel about terrorism ,“Vale of Tears,” King claimed that 85 percent of leaders in the nation’s mosques are involved in terrorist attacks.
The Economy
King, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, voted for both versions of the $700 billion financial bailout package introduced in fall 2008. In March 2009, King introduced a bill with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) seeking to build a public database tracking how banks use bailout funds, but the bill hasn’t made it past committee.
In February 2009, King opposed against President Obama’s economic stimulus package, saying it did not have enough tax-credit provisions or enough spending on transit and highway-related infrastructure.
Labor unions have contributed tens of thousands to King’sKing throughout his congressional career, but in recent years labor support for the Republican has waned. An original co-sponsor in 2003 of the Employee Free Choice Act, which aims to make labor organizing easier, King dropped his support of the pending legislation in 2009 saying it “would be too severe a shock to our economy at this time.”
The Network
For King, the most important political ties are local. King was among Rudy Giuliani’s more high-profile backers in the former mayor’s 2008 presidential bid. He is also close to former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.), who is a product of the same Nassau County Republican machine and employs King’s son, Sean, at his consulting firm.
.jpg?size=thumb)
