Information about Walter B. Jones

For other people named Walter Jones, see Walter Jones (disambiguation).

Walter Jones, Jr.
Walter B. Jones
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 3rd district
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Born	January 10 1943 (1943--) (age 64) Farmville, North Carolina
Political party	Republican
Spouse	JoAnne Jones
Religion	Roman Catholic

Walter Beaman Jones, Jr. (born February 10, 1943, in Farmville, North Carolina) is an American politician; a Republican, he currently represents North Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The district encompasses the Outer Banks and areas near the Pamlico Sound.

Jones' father was Walter B. Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st district. The younger Jones has long since dropped the "Jr." from his name, much like John Dingell of Michigan.

Background

Jones attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina before serving four years (1967–1971) in the North Carolina National Guard.

Jones is a convert to Catholicism.^[1]

Political career

An executive with his family's business supply company, Jones was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1983 and served for five terms, until 1992. Shortly after his father died, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for his father's seat in the 103rd United States Congress of 1992 (losing to Eva Clayton in a primary runoff).

He switched parties and won in the 3rd District in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, defeating incumbent Democrat Martin Lancaster, becoming the first (and as of the 2006 elections, only) Republican to represent a significant portion of eastern North Carolina in the House. The 3rd had incorporated a large amount of his father's former territory. Jones has been re-elected every two years since, largely due to his father's popularity in the region.

His most serious re-election challenge came in 2000, when his opponent spent well in excess of $1.4 million dollars in attempting to unseat him. Jones garnered some 63% of the vote in that contest, largely helped by George W. Bush's performance in the district; the 3rd gave Bush his highest victory margin in the state. He was easily reelected to a 7th term in 2006, receiving 69% of the vote against Democrat Craig Weber.

Jones serves on the Armed Services and Financial Services Committees.

Unlike Walter, Sr., a moderate Democrat, Walter, Jr. has a fairly conservative voting record. He has a lifetime rating of 91.9 from the American Conservative Union. However, his voting record has drifted more toward the center in recent years. In 2006 he only received a rating of 79, the lowest of any Republican in the state. ^[2] He also serves on the Liberty Caucus (sometimes called the Liberty Committee), a group of libertarian-minded congressional representatives from both sides of the aisle.^[3] Congressman Ron Paul hosts a luncheon for the Liberty Caucus every Thursday. Other members include Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, Virgil Goode of Virginia, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Zach Wamp of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona.^[4] He has endorsed Paul for president

Jones is best known for leading the effort, along with GOP Rep. Bob Ney to have french fries renamed "freedom fries" in House cafeteria menus as a protest against French opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[5] Jones later modified his stance on the war to a considerable extent. In 2005, he stated that he had come to believe that there had been little reason to go to war, despite his earlier support, which had been based upon selective intelligence supplied to Congress. He said of his previous position on the fries, "I wish it had never happened."^[6] In July 2006, the names were quietly changed back.^[7]

Jones is also very active on issues of religious freedom.

Jones has sided with the Democrats on economic issues such as raising the minimum wage.

Jones endorsed Ron Paul in the 2008 race for president of the United States.^[8]

Iraq war

Jones was initially a strong supporter of the conflict in Iraq. More recently, however, Jones called on President George W. Bush to apologize for misinforming Congress to win authorization for the war. Jones said, "If I had known then what I know today, I wouldn't have voted for that resolution."^[9]

He contends that the United States went to war "with no justification."^[10][11] On the subject, he said, "I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there." He added that his change of opinion came about from attending the funeral of a sergeant killed in Iraq, when his last letter to his family was being read out. On June 16, 2005, he joined with three other members of Congress (Neil Abercrombie, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul) in introducing a resolution calling for the start of a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to begin by October 2006.^[12]

On January 12, 2007 he introduced H. J. Res. 14: Concerning the use of military force by the United States against Iran in the 110th congress.^[13] According to Jones on his web site, The resolution requires that — absent a national emergency created by an attack, or a demonstrably imminent attack, by Iran upon the United States or its armed forces — the President must consult with Congress and receive specific authorization prior to initiating any use of military force against Iran.^[14] This resolution was removed from a military spending bill for the war in Iraq by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on March 13, 2007.^[15]

On March 17, 2005, he sponsored a bill endorsing the conduct of controversial Marine Corps Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, who faced charges (subsequently dropped) for having shot two Iraqis (allegedly unarmed civilians) on April 15, 2004.

On March 23, 2007, Jones was one of two Republicans to vote for a bill that would require President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq by September 1, 2008. The other Republican was Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland's 1st congressional district.^[16]

Jones's views on the war in Iraq may prevent him from succeeding the late Jo Ann Davis as ranking Republican on the Readiness Subcommittee of the Armed Forces Committee. He was passed over for the ranking member's slot when the 110th Congress convened because the full committee's ranking member, Duncan Hunter of California, didn't agree with his change of heart on the war.^[17] He has been approached by some Democrats about bolting the GOP and either becoming an independent caucusing with the Democrats or joining the Democrats outright.^[18]

Additionally, Jones' views on the war has led to anger among some Republicans in his district. For the first time since his initial run for Congress, he faces a primary opponent in Onslow County commissioner Joe McLaughlin. Jones also has a Democratic opponent, Marshall Adame. ^[19]

Proposed ban on showing films in designated areas of commercial aircraft

In 2007, Jones cosponsored legislation with fellow North Carolina congressman Heath Shuler to require airlines to have sections of the aircraft where large movie screens were not visible. This was to avoid the situation where children could watch films potentially objectionable by their parents. ^[20] No mention was made regarding airlines who use a safety video for In-flight safety demonstration.

References

• Official website* http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000255

External links

• U.S. Congressman Walter Jones official House site
• Walter B. Jones at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Walter B. Jones campaign finance reports and data
• NNDB — Walter B. Jones
• On the Issues — Walter Beaman Jones issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Walter Jones campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Walter Beaman Jones Jr. (NC) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Walter Jones profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Walter Jones voting record

Preceded by Martin Lancaster

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's At-large congressional district 1995 – present

Incumbent

•  • [ e] North Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators	Elizabeth Dole (R), Richard Burr (R)
Representative(s)	G. K. Butterfield (D), Bob Etheridge (D), Walter B. Jones (R), David Price (D), Virginia Foxx (R), Howard Coble (R), Mike McIntyre (D), Robin Hayes (R), Sue Myrick (R), Patrick McHenry (R), Heath Shuler (D), Mel Watt (D), Brad Miller (D) |
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