A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members, such as "senators".

Members of parliament tend to form parliamentary groups (also called parliamentary parties) with members of the same political party. In everyday use, the term Member of Parliament is almost always shortened to the initialism "MP", and this is also common in the media.

Westminster system[link]

Australia[link]

In Australia, the term "MP" refers to a Member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Commonwealth (i.e. federal) parliament. Members may use "MP" after their names; "MHR" is not used, although it was used as a post-nominal in the past. A member of the upper house of the Commonwealth parliament, the Senate, is known as a "Senator".

In the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) may also use the post-nominal "MP". Members of the Legislative Council (upper house) use the post-nominal "MLC".

Bangladesh[link]

In Bangladesh members of the Jatiyo Sangshad, or National Assembly, are elected every five years and are referred to in English as Members of Parliament. The assembly has 345 seats, including 45 reserved for women.

List of 9th Parliament Members: http://www.parliament.gov.bd/MP%20List%20Partywise_9th%20Edition.pdf

List of 8th Parliament Members: http://www.parliament.gov.bd/M_P%20List-300.pdf

Canada[link]

In Canada, the Parliament of Canada consists of the upper house, the Senate of Canada, and the lower house, the Canadian House of Commons. Theoretically, members of both houses could be termed as "Member of Parliament"; however, in practice, only members of the lower house are referred to as Members of Parliament (French: député), while members of the upper house are called Senators (French: sénateur).^[1] There are 105 seats in the Senate and 308 in the House of Commons; this will increase to 338 in the next election scheduled for 2015.^[2] Members of the lower house are elected, while members of the Senate are appointed by the governor-general at the direction of the prime minister. Mandatory retirement for Senators is at age 75.

Each province has its own unicameral legislature, with each member usually known as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), although in certain provinces they carry other titles: Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario; Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in Quebec (French: député); or Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) in Newfoundland and Labrador.

India[link]

In India, the term Member of Parliament refers to all the members of the Sansad, the Indian Parliament, whether in the Lok Sabha or in the Rajya Sabha.

The members of the Lok Sabha are elected popularly by constituencies in each of the Indian states and Union territories, while members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the State legislatures. Each state is allocated a fixed number of representatives in each chamber, in order of their respective population. The state of Uttar Pradesh has the greatest number of representatives in both the houses. Some members are appointed to represent the Anglo-Indian community by the President of India. The political party with the highest representation in the Lok Sabha shall form the Government. In case, any political party fails to form a government, a Coalition Government is formed.

Ireland[link]

In Ireland, the term Member of Parliament can refer to the members of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. It can also refer to Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922.

Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to the modern Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Following the formation of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, members of the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), Dáil Éireann (or "the Dáil") are termed Teachtaí Dála (Teachta Dála singular) or TDs. The upper house is called Seanad Éireann and its members are called Senators.

Kenya[link]

The National Assembly of Kenya consists of 210 elected members and twelve who are nominated, all being called Members of Parliament.^[3]

Malaysia[link]

The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the Parliament of the United Kingdom and consists of two houses, known as the Dewan Rakyat, which is the House of Representatives, and Dewan Negara, the Senate.

The members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected in general elections or by-elections, whereas the members of the Dewan Negara are either appointed by the king, in recognition of outstanding service to their country or chosen by the states. Each state appoints a number of senators proportional to its size.

Members of Parliament are styled Yang Berhormat ("Honourable") with the initials Y.B. appended prenominally. A prince who is a Member of Parliament is styled Yang Berhormat Mulia.

Malta[link]

The Parliament of Malta consists of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives currently made up of 69 members (article 51 of the Constitution). Only these members of the House are referred to as "Members of Parliament" (article 52(1) of the Constitution). When appointed from outside the House, the Speaker is also considered a member of the Parliament. The Constitution lists the qualifications and disqualifications from serving as a Member of Parliament.^[4]

Privileges of Members of Parliament as well as their Code of Ethics are laid out in the House of Representatives (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance.^[5]

Nauru[link]

The Parliament of Nauru consists of 18 seats. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the prefix The Honourable.

New Zealand[link]

The Parliament of New Zealand is formally made up of the monarch and the unicameral House of Representatives. Member of Parliament is now the term for a member of the House of Representatives, which normally has 120 members, elected at a general election every three years. There are 69 constituency members, seven of whom are elected by the Māori who have chosen to vote in special Māori seats, while the remaining 51 members are elected by proportional representation from party lists.

Before 1951, New Zealand had a bicameral (or two-chamber) parliament. Members of the Legislative Council, abbreviated MLC, were appointed. Members of the lower house, the body which still exists today, have always been elected. Since 1907, elected members have been referred to as 'Members of Parliament', abbreviated MP. Since the 1860s until 1907, they were designated as Members of the House of Representatives, abbreviated MHR. Between 1853 (the year of the first general election) and the 1860s, the designation was Members of the General Assembly, abbreviated MGA.^[6]

Pakistan[link]

In Pakistan, Member of Parliament refers to a member of Parliament (National Assembly of Pakistan, Qaumi Assembly). The National Assembly is based in Islamabad.

Singapore[link]

In Singapore, Members of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Singapore, the appointed Non-Constituency Members of Parliament from the opposition, as well as the Nominated Members of Parliament, who may be appointed from members of the public who have no connection to any political party in Singapore.

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka, Member of Parliament refers to a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (since 1978), the National State Assembly (1972–78) and the House of Representatives of Ceylon (1947–72), the lower house of the Parliament of Ceylon.

United Kingdom[link]

The United Kingdom contains members of three different parliaments:

• the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which only members elected at irregular intervals to the (lower) House of Commons are referred to as Members of Parliament, abbreviated to MP(s)
• the European Parliament, in which members representing the whole of the UK are elected every five years and are called Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
• the Scottish Parliament, in which members representing the whole of Scotland are elected every four years and are called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
• the present Northern Ireland Assembly's members are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).Between 1921 and 1973, Northern Ireland was governed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, a devolved assembly whose members were known as Members of Parliament.
• the National Assembly for Wales consists of sixty elected members, but it is not called a parliament, its members instead being referred to in English as Assembly Members (AMs) or in Welsh as Aelod y Cynulliad (AC).^[7]

Members of the House of Commons are elected in general elections and by-elections to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system of election, and may remain Members until Parliament is dissolved, which must occur within five years of the last general election, as laid down in the Parliament Act 1911.

A candidate to become a Member of Parliament must be a British or Irish or Commonwealth citizen, must be over 18, and must not be a public official or officeholder, as set out in the schedule to the Electoral Administration Act 2006^[8] (this was a reduction in the lower age limit, as candidates needed to be 21 until the law came into effect in 2006).

Members of Parliament are technically forbidden to resign their seats (though they are not forbidden from refusing to seek re-election). To leave the house between elections voluntarily, a Member of Parliament must accept a "paid office under the Crown". Two nominally paid offices under the Crown – the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead – exist to allow members to apply for a paid office under the Crown and thereby to achieve a resignation from the House. Accepting a salaried Ministerial office does not amount to a paid office under the Crown for these purposes.^[9]

The basic salary of a member of the House of Commons was increased to £64,766 with effect from 1 April 2009.^[10] Some MPs (ministers, the Speaker, senior opposition leaders etc.) receive a supplementary salary for their specific responsibilities. As of 1 April 2008 these increments range from £14,039 for Select Committee Chairs to £130,959 for the Prime Minister. Members also receive expenses, including paying for buying and furnishing accommodation required when away from their main homes.^[11] The pension arrangements of UK MPs are equally generous. The Member will normally receive a pension of either 1/40th or 1/50th of their final pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service depending on the contribution rate they will have chosen. Members who make contributions of 10% of their salary gain an accrual rate of 1/40th.^[12] An MP who has served 26 years and retiring today could look forward to receiving an annual inflation-proof payout of £40,000 from their pension. State contributions for British Members of Parliament are more than four times higher than the average paid out by companies for final-salary schemes, although they are not significantly more generous than most public sector pensions.^[13]

Members of the House of Lords, however their membership comes about, are members of a legislative chamber which is part of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although technically they are part of the parliament, they are never referred to in the United Kingdom as members of parliament but as peers, or more formally as Lords of Parliament. They sit either for life, in the case of the Lords Temporal, or so long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions in the case of the Lords Spiritual. Hereditary peers may no longer pass on a seat in the House of Lords to their heir automatically. The ninety-two who remain have been elected from among their own number, following the House of Lords Act 1999 and, paradoxically, are the only elected members of the Lords.^[14]

Zimbabwe[link]

In Zimbabwe, the title "Member of Parliament" is used by members of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. Members of the upper house of Parliament are instead referred to as Senators.

Other systems[link]

Member of Parliament can be used to translate the term used to describe representatives in other parliamentary democracies that do not follow the Westminster system, who are usually referred to in a different fashion such as Deputé in France, Diputado, Deputado in Portugal and Brazil, Mitglied des Bundestages (MdB) in Germany. However, better translations are often possible.

Afghanistan[link]

In Afghanistan the term Member of Parliament refers to the members of both chambers of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, the 249 members of the lower Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and the 102 members of the upper Mesherano Jirga (House of Elders).

Austria[link]

In Austria, the term Member of Parliament refers to the members of the two chambers of the Parliament of Austria (Chesterfields Parliament). The members of the Nationalrat are called Abgeordnete zum Nationalrat. The members of the Bundesrat, elected by the provincial diets (Landtage) of the nine federal States of Austria, are known as Mitglieder des Bundesrats.

Bulgaria[link]

In Bulgaria there are 240 MPs in the normal parliament and 400 in the "Great Parliament". The Great Parliament is elected when a new constitution is needed. There have been seven Great Parliaments in modern Bulgarian history, in 1879, 1881, 1886, 1893, 1911, 1946 and 1990.

Germany[link]

In Germany, Member of Parliament refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In German a member is called Mitglied des Bundestages (Member of the Federal Diet) or officially Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages (Member of the German Federal Diet), abbreviated MdB.^[15]

The 16 federal States of Germany (Länder) are represented by the Bundesrat at the former Prussian House of Lords, whose members are representatives of the respective Länder's governments and not directly elected by the people. In accordance with article 38 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which is the German constitution, "[m]embers of the German Bundestag shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal, and secret elections. They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions, and responsible only to their conscience."

Iceland[link]

Israel[link]

In Israel, the term Member of the Knesset (Hebrew: חבר הכנסת‎) refers to one of the 120 Members of the Knesset. The title is almost always shortened to the initialism "MK".

Italy[link]

In the Republican Italian Parliament the current term is Deputato (that is deputy as appointed to act on people's behalf) and so the Lower House takes the name of Camera dei Deputati. Similarly to other countries, the Upper House is called Senato and its members are the Senatori. The Deputati are known by the title onorevole (honorable).

Lebanon[link]

The Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Its major functions are to elect the President of the Republic, to approve the government (although appointed by the President, the Prime Minister, along with the Cabinet, must retain the confidence of a majority in the Parliament), and to approve laws and expenditure. The name of a deputy in Arabic is Naeb (نائب). The plural of Naeb is Nuwab (نواب).

Republic of Macedonia[link]

In the Republic of Macedonia there are 120 Members of Parliament (Macedonian: Sobranie) which are called 'Pratenici' (singular Pratenik).

The Netherlands[link]

The parliament of the Netherlands is known as the Staten-Generaal, literally States-General. It is bicameral, divided in two Kamers (Chambers). The Senate is known in Dutch as the Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) and its members as "senatoren", senators. The House of Representatives, known in Dutch as the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber), is the most important one. The important debates take place here. Also, the Second Chamber can edit proposed laws with amendments and it can propose laws itself. The Senate does not have these capabilities. Its function is more a technical reviewing of laws. It can only pass a law or reject it. Both chambers are in The Hague which is the seat of parliament but not the official capital of the Netherlands, which is Amsterdam.

The 150 members of the House of Representatives are elected by general elections every 4 years (unless the government falls). The 75 members of the Senate are elected indirectly. The members of the 12 provincial parliaments elect the senators. The value of a vote of a member of a provincial parliament is relative to the population of the province. Provincial parliaments, the States-Provincial, are elected by general elections every four years.

Norway[link]

In Norway, the term Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget. These members are called stortingsrepresentanter (literal translation: Representatives of the Storting). Since 2009, Norway has had a unicameral parliament, which previously consisted of Odelstinget and Lagtinget, Odelstinget with three quarters, or 127, of the total 169 members, Lagtinget with the remainder. The dividing of the parliament into chambers was only used when dealing with passing regular laws and in cases of prosecution by the national court (riksrett). In other matters, such as passing the national budget or changing the constitution (the latter requiring a majority of two-thirds), the chambers were united.

The members of the present unicameral Parliament of Norway are chosen by popular vote at the beginning of each parliamentary period of four years.

Poland[link]

Portugal[link]

In Portugal a Member of the Portuguese Parliament is known as deputado, a person who is appointed after democratic election to act on people's behalf. The parliament takes the name of Assembleia da República.

Spain[link]

In Spain the word parlamento -of the same origin as Parliament in English- is used as a common name for all legislative assemblies, and hence parlamentario for the member of any of them, which can usually refer:

• To members of both chambers of the national legislature (Cortes Generales), that is the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.
• To members of the regional devolved legislatures of the Autonomous Communities.
• To members of the European Parliament.

Members of the Congress of Deputies, as can be implied from its name, are called diputados (deputies), impliying that they are elected to act in the name and on behalf of the people they represent. It is also usual to mention the members of the European Parliament as eurodiputados.

Sweden[link]

In Sweden, Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Parliament of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges riksdag). In Swedish, an MP is usually referred to as a riksdagsledamot or a riksdagsman (the former is in more common use today, especially in official contexts, due its status as a unisex word, while the latter was used more often historically and literally refers to a male MP exclusively).

The parliament is a unicameral assembly with 349 members who are chosen every four years in general elections. To become an MP, a person must be entitled to vote (i.e. be a Swedish citizen, be at least 18 years old and be or have been resident in Sweden) and must be nominated by a political party.^[16]

The salaries of the MPs are decided by the Riksdag Pay Committee (Riksdagens arvodesnämnd), a government agency under the parliament. Since 1 November 2007, the basic monthly pay of an MP is SEK52,900 (ca. US$8,300). The pay of the Speaker is SEK126,000 a month (ca. US$20,000), which is the same as that of the Prime Minister.^[17] The Deputy Speakers receive an increment of 30 % of the pay of a member. The chairs and deputy chairs of the parliamentary committees receive a similar increment of 20 % and 15 % respectively.^[18]

According to a survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson,^[19] Swedish national parliamentarians have an average work week of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average Swedish national parliamentarian sleeps 6.5 hours per night.

Thailand[link]

In the Kingdom of Thailand, Members of Parliament (สมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร or ส.ส.) refers to the elected members of the National Assembly of Thailand. Following the military coup d'état on 19 September 2006, all its 500 members are suspended from duty until the next election. The House of Representatives of Thailand was fully reconvened after the general elections under a new constitution. Under the 2007 Constitution there are 500 Members of Parliament, 375 elected from constituencies and the other 125 through party-list.

Turkey[link]

In the Republic of Turkey, the term member of parliament refers to the elected members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, or TGNA (Turkish: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi, TBMM), which has 550 members elected at a general election for a term of office of four years.

See also[link]

• Deputy (legislator)
• Member of Congress

Footnotes[link]

Steven Knight (born 1959) is a British screenwriter. Knight has written scripts for numerous British television programmes such as the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, BBC's Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives and others. However, he is best known for screenplays he wrote for films Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises. His work on the screenplay for Dirty Pretty Things earned him the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay and London Film Critics Circle award for British Screenwriter of the Year.^[1] The screenplay was also nominated for several other awards including the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay^[2] and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.^[3]

Knight wrote a draft of a screenplay based on the book Shutter Island written by Dennis Lehane, but the draft that was used for the movie of the same name was written by Laeta Kalogridis.^[4]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steven Knight at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a writer or poet from the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article about a screenwriter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Hakeem Jeffries (born 1970)^[1] is the Assemblyman in New York's 57th Assembly District.

Early life, education, and law career[link]

Jeffries holds a degree from New York University School of Law as well as a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's in Political Science from Binghamton University where he graduated with honors for outstanding academic achievement.^[1] He served as litigation counsel for a media and entertainment company, and worked in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and as a clerk for Judge Harold Baer, Jr.. He is nephew to CUNY professor Leonard Jeffries^{[citation needed]}.

New York Assembly[link]

Elections[link]

2000

He challenged incumbent Democrat Assemblyman Roger Green in the primary. Green defeated him 59%-41%.^[2][3] In the general election, Jeffries ran on the Independence Party line. Green defeated him again 90%-7%.^[4]

2002

After redistricting, his residence was put out of the 57th Assembly District. He claimed in the 2010 documentary film Gerrymandering that it was a retaliatory move (a charge denied by Green).^[5][6] Nevertheless, Jeffries decided to primary Green again and lost again 62%-38%.^[7][8]

2006

Green decided to retire from the Assembly in order to run for New York's 10th congressional district against incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Ed Towns. Jeffries ran for the 57th district again and won the Democratic primary, defeating Bill Batson and Freddie Hamilton 64%-25%-11%.^[9][10][11] In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Henry Weinstein 97%-3%.^[12]

2008

He won re-election to a second term with 98% of the vote.^[13]

2010

He won re-election to a third term with 98% of the vote.^[14]

Tenure[link]

During his three years in the legislature he has introduced over 70 bills during his service in legislative session^[15] including measures designed to assist residents in foreclosure,^{[citation needed]} protect tenants from landlord harassment,^{[citation needed]} reduce property taxes on homeowners^{[citation needed]} and reform of prison-based redistricting.^[16] In response to a series of toy recalls, he introduced bill A02589, which would penalize retailers and wholesalers who knowingly sell to the public hazardous or dangerous toys that have been the subject of a recall. Assemblyman Jeffries also co-sponsored bill A03300^{[citation needed]}, which increased the New York State tax on cigarettes.

He co-sponsored a reform bill to the 421a tax exemption program that requires developers who receive tax breaks to build affordable housing in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhoods that he represents.^{[citation needed]} At least fifty percent of the affordable housing must go to people who live in the community. Along with his colleagues in the legislature, Assemblyman Jeffries enacted a state budget that provides an additional one billion dollars in funding for public schools.^{[citation needed]} He recently co-sponsored a bill that would make the public display of a noose with the intent to racially intimidate a felony hate crime.^{[citation needed]} Jeffries also wrote and sponsored the hotly contested house bill A. 11177-A (now law) that eliminated the stop and frisk database used by police forces in New York City.^[17][18] He is a cautious supporter of Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards project.^[10]

Committee assignments[link]

• House Committee on Banks
• House Committee on Codes
• House Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions
• House Committee on Correction
• House Committee on Housing
• House Committee on Judiciary
  • House Subcommittee on Banking in Underserved Communities
  • House Subcommittee on Mitchell-Lama
  • House Subcommittee on Transitional Services
  • House Subcommittee on Trust and Estates^[19]

2012 congressional election[link]

Jeffries announced he will give up his seat to run in New York's 8th congressional district in 2012. The district had previously been the 10th, represented by 30-year incumbent Democrat Edolphus Towns. Jeffries expected to give Towns a strong challenge in the Democratic primary--the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district.^[20][21][22] However, Towns announced his retirement on April 16, leaving Jeffries to face city councilman Charles Barron in the Democratic primary.^[23] Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be all but assured of election in November.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hakeem Jeffries Official website.
• NYS Assembly Member - Hakeem Jeffries - 57th Assembly District
• A Lawyer Eyes Lawmaking A Crain's New York Business profile.
• Hakeem Jeffries Mum on Atlantic Yards

Bob Wieckowski is an American attorney and politician in California. He was elected November 2, 2010 to the California State Assembly to represent the 20th District, which includes the cities of Fremont, Newark, Union City, and Milpitas, as well as portions of San Jose, Pleasanton, Hayward, and Castro Valley. Wieckowski previously served as vice-mayor of Fremont, and was a member of their city council.

Wieckowski attended the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a bachelor of art before attended law school at Santa Clara University School of Law where he earned a juris doctorate. Following law school he worked in bankruptcy law at The Law Offices of Robert A. Wieckowski. He also worked as a legislative aide to United States Congressman Don Edwards. Wieckowski resides in Fremont with Sue Lemke, and her two sons, Evan and Luke.

References[link]

• California State Assembly

v t e Members of the California State Assembly Speaker of the Assembly: John Pérez (D) Speaker Pro Tempore: Fiona Ma (D) Majority Leader: Charles Calderon (D) Minority Leader: Connie Conway (R)        Wesley Chesbro (D)    Jim Nielsen (R)    Dan Logue (R)    Beth Gaines (R)    Richard Pan (D)    Jared Huffman (D)    Michael Allen (D)    Mariko Yamada (D)    Roger Dickinson (D)    Alyson Huber (D)    Susan Bonilla (D)    Fiona Ma (D)    Tom Ammiano (D)    Nancy Skinner (D)    Joan Buchanan (D)    Sandré Swanson (D)    Cathleen Galgiani (D)    Mary Hayashi (D)    Jerry Hill (D)    Bob Wieckowski (D)    Rich Gordon (D)    Paul Fong (D)    Nora Campos (D)    Jim Beall (D)    Kristin Olsen (R)    Bill Berryhill (R)    Bill Monning (D)    Luis Alejo (D)    Linda Halderman (R)    David Valadao (R)    Henry Perea (D)    Shannon Grove (R)    Katcho Achadjian (R)    Connie Conway (R)    Das Williams (D)    Steve Knight (R)    Jeff Gorell (R)    Cameron Smyth (R)    Felipe Fuentes (D)    Bob Blumenfield (D)    Julia Brownley (D)    Mike Feuer (D)    Mike Gatto (D)    Anthony Portantino (D)    Gil Cedillo (D)    John Pérez (D)    Holly Mitchell (D)    Mike Davis (D)    Mike Eng (D)    Ricardo Lara (D)    Steven Bradford (D)    Isadore Hall (D)    Betsy Butler (D)    Bonnie Lowenthal (D)    Warren Furutani (D)    Tony Mendoza (D)    Roger Hernandez (D)    Charles Calderon (D)    Tim Donnelly (R)    Curt Hagman (R)    Norma Torres (D)    Wilmer Carter (D)    Mike Morrell (R)    Brian Nestande (R)    Paul Cook (R)    Kevin Jeffries (R)    Jim Silva (R)    Allan Mansoor (R)    Jose Solorio (D)    Don Wagner (R)    Jeff Miller (R)    Chris Norby (R)    Diane Harkey (R)    Martin Garrick (R)    Nathan Fletcher (I)    Toni Atkins (D)    Brian Jones (R)    Marty Block (D)    Ben Hueso (D)    V. Manuel Perez (D)    Democratic (52)    Republican (27)    Independent (1) California State Legislature California State Assembly California State Senate

Dov Hikind (born June 30, 1950) is an American politician in the state of New York. He is a Democratic New York State Assemblyman. Hikind is an Orthodox Jew representing Brooklyn's Assembly district 48. He has held this position since 1983 and has been very vocal about racial profiling, terrorism, and antisemitism in his district, which includes Borough Park, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities outside of Israel. Hikind hosts a weekly talk radio show every Saturday night, which discusses various local, national, and international concerns.

Family[link]

Hikind is married and has three children. His three childen are Yoni, Shmuel, and Dina. Yoni and Shmuel both work as LMSW's in the Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY. Dov's two sons are avid sports fans and are part of the Kobe Bryant fan club.

Politics[link]

Hikind is a Democrat and a member of the Assembly of New York. He endorsed Mayor Bloomberg for mayor the first two times, but endorsed Bill Thompson for Mayor in 2009.^[1] Hikind has broken ranks with his party before, most notably in his endorsement of Republican candidates George Pataki for governor in 1994, and George W. Bush for president. His endorsements have drawn criticism from Democratic voters who question his political stance as Hikind has grown increasingly conservative. Hikind has been a guest in many right-wing radio show programs.^[2] Hikind expressed interest in the special election for the New York's 9th congressional district seat vacated by Anthony Weiner; Hikind did not expect the Democrats to nominate him and considered running as a Republican.^[3]

Views on issues[link]

Racial profiling[link]

Hikind has urged the New York Police Department to implement a policy of racial profiling in subway bag searches, which would affect individuals who appear to come from Muslim backgrounds. Hikind defends this policy on the grounds that it would work far more effectively to combat terrorism than the current policy, instituted in 2004, which uses random bag searches. (Searches based on racial profiling have been called racist and demeaning by civil rights groups. The NYPD released a statement against Hikind's proposal of racial profiling for terrorists).^{[citation needed]}

Subway security[link]

He was responsible for bringing the allocation of $1.2 million in a project that helped to provide 120 closed-circuit television cameras to nine subway stations along the D, F, and N lines. These funds, which would provide lavish camera security in contrast to many other stations in the five boroughs, were granted because the neighborhoods they were installed in, that being Borough Park, Midwood, Kensington, and Parkville, all had large Jewish populations, which he claimed were "being targeted" by terrorists.^[4] Hikind encouraged politicians to do the same in other subway stations, which now lag behind those of his community. A New York Times article ^[5] revealed that the MTA had granted close to $600 million in funds for security to stations in New York City in late 2002; however, only a small fraction of it had been used productively by 2005.^[5]

[edit] The Passion of the Christ

In 2003, Hikind and a group of supporters protested Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. He led about 50 Jewish leaders and supporters to the Fox News offices in Manhattan in a demonstration, chanting "The Passion is a lethal weapon against Jews."^[6] Hikind was vocal in his anger against the movie, stating: "It will result in anti-Semitism and bigotry. It really takes us back to the Dark Ages ... the Inquisition, the Crusades, all for the so-called sin of the Crucifixion of Jesus."'^[7]

Yassir Arafat[link]

In 2001, Dov Hikind argued that Madame Tussauds Wax Museum should remove its wax statue of the Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, claiming that he was a terrorist whose image should not be in New York.^[8]

Zionism[link]

As the son of Holocaust survivors, Hikind considers their experiences to be an important component of his Zionist views. Hikind was a follower of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League, which has been identified as "a right wing terrorist group" by the FBI,^[9] knew Rabbi Kahane very well, and is active in right-wing Jewish causes. Among his early activities were demonstrations demanding the right to emigrate for Soviet and Syrian Jews. In the summer of 2005, Hikind visited the settlements of Gush Katif to express his concern for the residents who were slated to be expelled from their homes. In the summer of 2006, along with a group of fellow legislators and community leaders, Hikind visited northern Israeli communities during the time of the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel. He and his group spent the time there distributing funds and material aid.^{[citation needed]}

United Nations[link]

Hikind is part of a group of New York state legislators that has consistently blocked plans to renovate United Nations headquarters, calling the UN anti-American and anti-Israel.^[10] In spite of such calls, the UN recently announced that it will undergo a $1 billion dollar makeover.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Same-sex marriage[link]

After voting against a same-sex marriage bill in the New York State Assembly, Hikind noted that same-sex marriage can lead to the acceptance of incest, maintaining that, "If we authorize gay marriage in the state of New York, those who want to live and love incestuously will be five steps closer to achieving their goals as well."^[15] On June 15, 2011, after the New York State Assembly passed a bill to legalize gay marriage, Hikind said gay marriage is wrong in the eyes of God.^[16]

Federal investigation[link]

Hikind was charged by federal authorities after multiple Jewish organizations were charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funds which were supposed to be used for children's services.^[17] Some of this money, investigators maintained, was used to pay for Hikind's personal expenses. According to documents, the organizations' funds were diverted to pay for Hikind's trip to Israel, and the school tuition for his daughter and niece.^[17] The United States Attorney in Brooklyn charged Hikind and several other defendants with various felonies and misdemeanors in connection with the investigation, but Hikind was subsequently acquitted of all charges by a jury.^[18]

Views on a criminal incident[link]

Hikind voiced support for five Jewish teenagers who were charged with hate crimes for allegedly beating a Muslim man while shouting racial slurs at him. Hikind insisted that it was actually the victim who provoked the teenagers.^[19] The Muslim community later organized an event that emphasized unity, and invited Hikind to the gathering.^[19]

David Irving letter[link]

On October 20, 2009, at the insistence of Hikind and twelve other New York State and City officeholders led by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind to American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, American Express rescinded its Merchants Agreement with prominent Holocaust denier David Irving.^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Assemblyman Dov Hikind's Official blog
• Assemblyman Dov Hikind's Official New York Assembly member website
• "Same as the Old Dov"
• "Hikind Stands By Call To Employ Racial Profiling In Subway Searches"
• "Opinion Article About Israelis In School Paper Is Denounced"