Brian Bilbray
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 50th district
Incumbent
Assumed office June 6, 2006
Preceded by	Duke Cunningham
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th district
In office January 4, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Lynn Schenk
Succeeded by	Susan Davis
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-28) January 28, 1951 (age 61) Coronado, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Karen Bilbray
Residence	Imperial Beach, California (1995-2006) Carlsbad, California (2006-2010) San Diego, California (2010-present)
Alma mater	Southwestern College
Occupation	Tax consultant
Religion	Roman Catholic

Brian Phillip Bilbray (born January 28, 1951) is the U.S. Representative for California's 50th congressional district, serving since 2006, and previously for the 49th district from 1995 to 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. Bilbray is Chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and a member of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee.^[1] His subcommittee assignments on the Energy and Commerce Committee are as follows: Oversight and Investigations, Communication and Technology, and Energy and Power.

On June 6, 2006, Bilbray won a special election as representative for California's 50th congressional district to serve out the remaining seven months of the term of fellow Republican former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes. Bilbray won re-election in the November 2006 general election and has been representing the 50th district ever since. Due to district realignment he is running as the incumbent in the 52nd district in 2012.

Personal life[link]

Bilbray was born in Coronado, California, and grew up in Imperial Beach, California. He graduated from Mar Vista High School and attended Southwestern College, a community college in Chula Vista, California. He worked as a tax consultant before entering politics. He is a Roman Catholic.

He and his wife, Karen Walker Bilbray, have five children. One of his sons, Brian Jr., is a current member of the Imperial Beach city council. He is a cousin of former Nevada Democratic Representative James Bilbray.

Bilbray is an avid surfer, who compares surfing to politics.^[2][3][4]

Mayor and supervisor[link]

Bilbray became interested in politics when an extensive program of eminent domain was proposed for Imperial Beach. He ran successfully for the city council as a populist, serving during 1976–1978, and was mayor during 1978–1985.

As mayor, Bilbray attempted to build a yacht marina in the Tijuana Estuary and to build a 1.5 mile breakwater off the beach of Imperial Beach.^[5] Both projects were stopped by the opposition of local surfers and environmentalists. The Tijuana River Estuary is now a National Estuarine Research Reserve and California State Park. The breakwater project was halted with the help of the then fledgling Surfrider Foundation.

From 1985 to 1995, Bilbray was a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

Member of Congress, 1995–2001[link]

In 1994, Bilbray won the Republican nomination for the 49th district, now the 53rd district, which included most of San Diego, and defeated freshman Democrat Lynn Schenk in the Republican landslide of that year. The 53rd was one of several marginal districts to go Republican in that cycle.

Bilbray was reelected in 1996 and 1998. In 2000, he was defeated by State Assemblywoman Susan Davis.

Lobbyist activities[link]

In 2001, Bilbray registered as a federal lobbyist. His clients included San Diego Gas and Electric Company; the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians; the San Diego Regional Airport Authority; Conquer Cancer and Alzheimer's Now; Los Angeles County; and Federation for American Immigration Reform.

From May 2002 until July 2005, Bilbray was a consultant for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a conservative anti-immigration lobbying group founded by John Tanton. He is currently on the federation's board of advisers. In 2006, Bilbray received nearly $10,000 in campaign contributions from members of the federation's board of directors: Nancy Anthony, Sharon Barnes, General Douglas E. Caton, Sarah Epstein, Stephen Swensrud and Alan Weeden.^[6]

Elections[link]

2006 special congressional election[link]

Bilbray ran in the 2006 special election to fill the vacancy in California's 50th congressional district caused by the resignation in December 2005 of fellow Republican Duke Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy and tax evasion, and subsequently went to jail. In March 2005, Bilbray moved to Carlsbad, California, to take care of his mother, who owns a home there.^[7]

The race to assume Cunningham's seat was highly contested, especially on the Republican side, with 14 Republicans (compared with only 2 Democrats) officially running for the position. Leading up to the initial all-candidate election that would determine the parties' candidates in a runoff election, Bilbray was in a virtual tie with Republican businessman Eric Roach,^[8] slightly ahead of former State Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian. Four days prior to the election, businessman Alan Uke, one of the major Republican candidates, ran an attack ad accusing Roach of outsourcing thousands of jobs at the expense of American workers.^[9] In the initial all-party special election on April 11, 2006, Bilbray was the Republican candidate with the most votes, receiving 15.26% of the total vote to Roach's 14.50%. He then faced the top vote getters of all the other parties in a runoff election on June 6, 2006: Democrat Francine Busby, Libertarian Paul King, and William Griffith, an independent.

During the campaign, Arizona Senator John McCain canceled a planned fundraiser for Bilbray at the last minute, after Bilbray called McCain's immigration bill "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.^[10] McCain later contributed money to Bilbray's campaign and voiced a radio commercial for the National Republican Congressional Committee in support of Bilbray's race against Busby.^[11]

Bilbray won the runoff with 49% of the vote, and was sworn in on June 13, 2006 as a member of the Congress. The Republican Party considered this a bellwether race because this district had "the perfect storm in favor of the Democrats" according to Ken Mehlman, the RNC Chairman at the time of the special election. The Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute raised several concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the vote count.^[12] An election contest lawsuit sought a hand recount. However, Bilbray was sworn in before the vote count was official.^[13] The court dismissed the suit on the basis that, once the House of Representatives had sworn in Bilbray, the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the challenge.^[14]

2006 general election[link]

Bilbray and Busby each won their party's primary, and faced each other again in the November general election. Bilbray defeated Busby by a margin of 54.2%-43.5%. Bilbray ran as an opponent of illegal immigration.

With the advantage of incumbency and the Republican edge in registrations in the district, Bilbray was initially a clear favorite to win in November. Both the Cook Political Report and CQPolitics first rated the race as Republican Favored. But Busby gained in October, with a late-October poll by SurveyUSA showed Bilbray ahead by just 3 points, for a number of reasons: the general political climate seen as disadvantageous to the GOP, Busby's outraising Bilbray, and Bilbray's low profile campaign. On October 23, CQPolitics changed their rating to Leans Republican.^[15]

2008 general election[link]

Running unopposed in the June primary, Bilbray overcame a strong challenge from Democrat Nick Leibham in the November 2008 general election. With help from the DCCC^[16] and $1 million in donations,^[17] Leibham ran a string of TV attack ads against Bilbray. Democrats thought they had a chance at winning the district due to the hostile environment plaguing Republicans in general, and shifting demographics locally. Bilbray won, 50% to 46%, with 4% of the vote going to Libertarian candidate Wayne Dunlap.

2012 general election[link]

Due to district realignment after the 2010 census, Bilbray is running as the incumbent in the 52nd congressional district in 2012. There will be an all-parties primary on June 5, followed by a runoff between the two top vote-getters regardless of party on November 6.

Residency[link]

Since his loss to Congresswoman Susan Davis in 2001, Bilbray has maintained residences and properties in Imperial Beach, California; Alexandria, Virginia; and Carlsbad, California. In response to requests to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, by the local Democratic Party and neighbors of the congressman, a San Diego County grand jury was convened to investigate claims against Bilbray's declared residency for the special and general elections in 2006.^[18] The investigation was dropped in May 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Questions about Bilbray's residency again arose after his reelection on November 6, 2010, when he personally, as well as his children Briana and Patrick, claimed to not live in California and not qualify for in-state tuition in a class-action lawsuit against the University of California. Brian Bilbray appeared as a named plaintiff residing in Virginia.^[19]

Political positions[link]

This section requires expansion.

During the 109th Congress Bilbray served on the House Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Government Reform Committees. During his first term Bilbray co-authored legislation that led to the transfer of the Mount Soledad Veteran's Memorial from the City of San Diego to the federal government. He also authored legislation that would have reformed the federal budget process.

Bilbray positioned himself as moderate on some social issues while conservative on immigration and fiscal matters.^[20][21] He is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.^[22]

During his second run for Congress in the 50th district, Bilbray won over many of the district's most conservative voters with his hard line stance on illegal immigration. Since then Bilbray's voting record has been considerably more conservative than it was during his first term. He is a member of both the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership and the conservative Republican Study Committee, two groups with conflicting positions on policy. For example, the RMSP supports embryonic stem cell research and opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, while the RSC opposes embryonic stem cell research and supports the FMA. He is also a member of Republicans for Choice.

Bilbray voted in agreement with President George W. Bush 93% of the time, and as a result was given a 93% Presidential Support Score by CQ Politics in 2006.^[23]

In October 2011, Bilbray voted for a bill that would prohibit public funding for abortions. It passed 251-172 in the House. Bilbray almost always has voted for free trade agreements in the past years, specifically with Korea, Columbia, and Panama, all of which passed. He is also a strong believer in pro-life policy, as well is the traditional American family.^[24][25]

Bilbray in November 2011 introduced a new bill which would benefit veterans. It provides job training and internships paid for by federal grants.^[26]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Power
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

References[link]

External links[link]

• U.S. Congressman Brian Bilbray official U.S. House site
• Bilbray for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Surfing Congressmen Gut Environmental Laws Swing magazine, March 1996
• http://www.republicansforchoice.com/
• http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/index.php/ElectedMembers

Brian Williams
Williams at the 2011 Time 100 gala
Born	Brian Douglas Williams (1959-05-05) May 5, 1959 (age 53) Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Brookdale Community College George Washington University The Catholic University of America
Occupation	News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
Years active	1981–present
Notable credit(s)	NBC News reporter (1993–2004) NBC Nightly News weekend anchor (1993–1999) NBC Nightly News anchor (2004–present)
Salary	$10 million annually[1]
Spouse	Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams[2]
Website
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004.^[2] Williams was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007,^[3] and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."^[4]

Early life[link]

Williams was reared in a middle-class Irish Catholic home.^[5] His father, Gordon L. Williams, was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York.^[6] During childhood, his family moved from his birthplace, Ridgewood, New Jersey,^[7] to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years before moving to Middletown, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.^[8]

He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown.^[9] While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.^[10]

After high school Wiliams attended Brookdale Community College, after which he transferred to The Catholic University of America, and then The George Washington University.^[11] He did not graduate, and instead interned with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He now calls leaving college one of his "great regrets".^[12] Brian Williams completed a total of 18 college credits."^[13]

Early career[link]

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Joplin, Missouri in 1981.^[14] A year later he moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG as general assignment reporter. Williams joined NBC News from WCBS-TV in New York in 1993 and became the network's chief White House correspondent in 1994. In 1996, Williams began anchoring The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC and rebroadcast on CNBC.

[edit] Nightly News

Williams became anchor of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004, and his first year in that post was marked by coverage of two disasters: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. NBC personnel felt that the program became his program (rather than predecessor Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami,^[15] and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was given praise by industry observers.^[16] His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award,^[17] the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the Nightly News staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."^[18]

Nightly News fell behind ABC's World News in the first half of 2007. Nightly News regained the lead later in the year^[19] and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008.^[20] Williams was compared by Jon Friedman of Marketwatch to Walter Cronkite.^[4]

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, his annual salary was reported to be $8 million,^[21] and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million.^[1] He occasionally fills in for Lester Holt on weekends when needed.

On Sunday, May 1, 2011, Williams anchored a simulcast between all NBC affiliates and MSNBC covering the death of Osama bin Laden, going on air before 11:30 pm and continuing coverage until at least 2:00 am.

[edit] Rock Center with Brian Williams

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be the host of Rock Center with Brian Williams, a newsmagazine program premiering on Monday, October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the cancelled drama series The Playboy Club.^[22] Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center, the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades.^[23]

Appearances[link]

Williams frequently appears on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. He appeared on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live before hosting the program on November 3, 2007.^[24]

Williams regularly appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Williams says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. He has also made numerous appearances on Late Show with David Letterman despite its being on CBS, a competing network. During an appearance on July 26, 2011, Williams demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. Williams has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.

Williams also frequently makes guest appearances on NBC's television comedy 30 Rock as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode The Ones, he's seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In Audition Day, he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting a CNBC news host. In April 2012, on the West Coast installment of the 30 Rock season 6 live show, Williams portrayed a news anchor covering the Apollo 13 story.

Williams appeared on Sesame Street in a 2007 episode, announcing the word of the day, squid, in a special broadcast. Williams appeared on Sesame Street again in a 2008 episode reporting for Sesame Street Nightly News about the Mine-itis outbreak where he becomes a victim of it. He also was the host of the 2009 Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala.

In May 2012, Williams spoke at The George Washington University commencement on the National Mall.

Personal life[link]

He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams, two children, Allison and Douglas Williams, and two dogs.^[26]

NASCAR[link]

Williams is an avid fan of NASCAR in both the local and national levels. He was first exposed to auto racing as a child attending races on dirt tracks all over upstate New York. In 1999, Williams was the studio host of the first NASCAR race ever shown on NBC, the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two years later, at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City, he introduced a videotaped tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who had died at the Daytona 500 some months earlier. Earnhardt and Williams had become close friends.

A 2012 promo for Rock Center with Brian Williams features a baseball motif, with the journalists' jerseys. Williams' jersey, similar to Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost, in honor of his Earnhardt friendship, carried #3.

New York Giants[link]

Brian Williams has shown himself to be a fan of the New York Giants NFL franchise. This became noticeable publicly during the Giants 2011 Super Bowl run during which Williams was noted for not only openly discussing his fandom, but also wearing a New York Giants jersey underneath his sports jacket and over his dress shirt and tie, similar to a sweater.^[27]

Career timeline[link]

• 1981: KOAM-TV
• 1982–1984: WTTG-TV correspondent
• 1985: Panorama Host
• 1985–1987: WCAU-TV New Jersey correspondent
• 1987–1993: WCBS-TV Anchor of weekday noon and weekend night newscasts; reporter
• 1993–1994: NBC News correspondent
• 1994–1996: NBC News White House correspondent
• 1996–2004: The News with Brian Williams anchor
• 2004–present: NBC Nightly News anchor
• 2011–present: Rock Center with Brian Williams host

References[link]

External links[link]

• NBC News Bio
• The Daily Nightly - Brian Williams's blog
• Bio and photo of Brian Williams — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1998^{[dead link]}
• Video of talk to journalists group - from SAJAforum.org
• Men's Vogue profile of Brian Williams
• Chmiel, David, "His Heart Belongs to Jersey", New Jersey Monthly, June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Williams, December 26, 2004