Bradley Roberts Byrne (born February 16, 1955) is an American business attorney and Republican congressman for Alabama's 1st congressional district. He served as chancellor of the Alabama Community College System from 2007 until his resignation in 2009 to run for the 2010 Republican nomination for Governor of Alabama. He was also a member of the Alabama State Senate from 2003 to 2007. He holds a degree from Duke University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, and he also attended the University of Alabama. In December 2013, he won a special election to represent Alabama's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Video Bradley Byrne
Political background
Byrne's first run for elective office was in 1994 was a success when he ran for the Alabama State Board of Education as a Democrat. During his term on the State Board of Education, Byrne supported a science curriculum that was opposed by many religious leaders in Alabama. He later voted with the Board to support a compromise that said, "Explanations of the origin of life and major groups of plants and animals, including humans, shall be treated as theory and not as fact. When attempting to apply scientific knowledge to world problems, no social agenda shall be promoted." In 1996 Byrne voted with the majority of Board members to reject $18 million in federal education funds because it was feared the money would allow greater federal control of schools. The vote was seen as a nod to the growing conservative influence in his south Alabama district. However Byrne later changed his mind and convinced the Board to allow the money.
In 1997 Byrne left the Democratic party and became a Republican.
In 2002 Byrne ran for an Alabama State Senate seat, representing part of Baldwin County. He won with 91% of the vote over his Democratic challenger.
Maps Bradley Byrne
Efforts against corruption
In May 2007, Byrne took the position of community college chancellor and oversaw a controversial reordering of much of the system. Bishop State Community College in Mobile was the target of investigators who found both financial and academic issues at the school in 2006 and 2007. Byrne ordered an audit of the school which demonstrated many deficiencies. At the time, about 2 dozen people were charged with criminal fraud and theft charges. A total of 27 would be charged before the probe ended in May 2007
Byrne also worked with Alabama Attorney General Troy King to recover monies stolen from the community college system.
2010 gubernatorial campaign
During the campaign, he was accused by his opponents in the Republican primary of supporting evolution and of doubting that the Bible was infallible. "As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God ... As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state." He also added that he believed "every single word" of the Bible was true.
Post-election activity
Following the run-off, Byrne went back to practicing business law, joining the Jones Walker law firm on August 16, 2010.
Reform Alabama
On February 23, 2011, Byrne announced he was partnering with other prominent Alabamians to create a nonprofit organization that would push for reforms in state government. Named "Reform Alabama", the organization actively supported legislation in the 2011 Alabama Regular Legislative Session.
Possible Supreme Court run
A May 25, 2011 Mobile Press-Register article reported that Byrne was considering the possibility of running for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in the upcoming 2012 election. "I've been encouraged to look at it, and I'm doing that. But I've made no decision, and frankly I'm no where near a decision at this point," Byrne said.
United States House of Representatives
Elections
2013 special election
On May 23, 2013, U.S. Representative Jo Bonner announced that he would resign, effective on August 15, 2013.
Byrne finished first in the Republican primary--the real contest in this heavily Republican district--and faced Tea Party candidate Dean Young in the runoff election. Byrne won the runoff, but Young refused to endorse him, which led to rumors of a rift within the Republican Party. But Byrne subsequently gained the endorsement of Alabama Patriots, a Tea Party affiliated organization. Byrne won the Republican nomination for the congressional seat and faced Democratic Party nominee Burton LeFlore on December 17, 2013. Byrne won the election with 71% of the vote. He is only the sixth person to represent this Mobile-based district since 1919, and continues an unbroken run of Republican control in the district dating to 1965.
2014
Byrne was originally believed to be running for re-election unopposed, but Burton LeFlore, his Democratic opponent in the 2013 special election, managed to qualify.
Byrne won re-election with 68% of the vote.
Tenure
Byrne supported the Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014 (H.R. 3973; 113th Congress), a bill that would direct the United States Department of Justice to report to the United States Congress whenever any federal agency refrains from enforcing laws or regulations for any reason. In the report, the government would have to explain why it had decided not to enforce that law. Byrne spoke out in favor of the bill saying, "the Obama Administration has been open and honest about one thing in particular: they have no problem making an end-run around Congress to achieve through administrative means what they cannot legislatively. Placing political convenience above the United States Constitution goes against everything the Founding Fathers intended, and it's time we put a stop to this practice."
Legislation
Byrne has sponsored two bills of his own:
- H.R. 4465, a bill to set catch limits for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery, introduced April 10, 2014
- H.R. 5510, a bill to require recognized accrediting agencies or associations that evaluate the quality of distance or correspondence education programs to require those programs to have a secure login and passcode for Internet coursework, introduced September 17, 2014
Committee assignments
- Armed Services Committee
- Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
- Subcommittee on Seapower & Projection Forces
- House Education and Workforce Committee
- House Rules Committee
- Republican Study Committee
Political stances
Guns
In the wake of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Byrne called it "a strike at every American." He offered thoughts to the victims and their families. He stated in a press release that "There is no room for hate in America."
National security
Byrne supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that "I appreciate President Trump's efforts to address these issues as he works to keep the American people safe. While there have been some issues with the order's implementation, I look forward to working with the Trump Administration to make sure their efforts to protect the American people succeed in a timely and effective manner."
Marijuana
Byrne has a "D" rating from NORML regarding his voting record on cannabis-related matters. He does not support the legalization of marijuana. He has voted against allowing veterans access to medical marijuana, if legal in their state, per their Veterans Health Administration doctor's recommendation.
Roy Moore endorsement
During the 2017 Alabama special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to the position of Attorney General of the United States, Bradley Byrne endorsed the Republican nominee, Roy Moore. During the campaign at least nine women made allegations that Roy Moore had either sexually assaulted them or made inappropriate romantic or sexual advances towards them while he was an assistant DA and the girls were teenagers as young as 14 or he was a lawyer and the women were clients. Following the original allegations of sexual impropriety, additional allegations were made including attempted rape of a 16-year-old. Moore denied the allegations and his campaign and supporters began a process of questioning the victims' motives and veracity and claimed they would mount an "investigation" of the women's motives. Immediately following the allegations and instances of victim intimidation, numerous Republicans withdrew endorsements of Moore. Byrne's endorsement of Moore was not withdrawn and no condemnation was made by Byrne of the victim intimidation threats made by Moore and the Moore campaign. On November 15, 2017, Byrne stated that "I have no reason to doubt the stories that have been told [by the victims]" but did not rescind his endorsement or call on Judge Moore to drop out of the race. On November 16, Byrne was given the opportunity to withdraw his endorsement of Roy Moore but he neither withdrew his endorsement nor condemned Moore's attack on his victim noting that it was Byrne's belief that it was up to the citizens of Alabama to make a decision about whom they should vote for. In response to Byrne's continuing support of Judge Moore in the face of 9 accusers, on 28NOV17 the statewide newspaper group in Alabama (Al.com) began running editorial cartoons titled "I am Roy Moore" with a picture of Bradley Byrne and a statement saying "You condone it you own it."
After Moore's loss to Democrat Doug Jones, Byrne hinted that he may run in the next regular election in 2020.
Tax reform
Byrne voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. During the bill's debate, Byrne stated that "It will lead to greater economic growth, higher wages, and more jobs, which is exactly what the American people sent President Trump and the Republican Congress to Washington to do." Byrne voted for the bill believing it will lower taxes for all Americans and that it will "pump up wage growth and that'll help wage growth." He said that individual incomes will increase as a result of the legislation.
Electoral history
References
External links
- Congressman Bradley Byrne official U.S. House site
- Bradley Byrne for Congress
- Bradley Byrne at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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