- Corrine Brown
-
Corrine Brown 
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 3rd districtIncumbent Assumed office
January 3, 1993Preceded by Charles Bennett Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 17th districtIn office
1985–1991Preceded by John Thomas Succeeded by Jim King Personal details Born November 11, 1946
Jacksonville, FloridaPolitical party Democratic Children Attorney Shantrel Brown Residence Jacksonville, Florida Alma mater Florida A&M University(B.S.),
University of Florida(M.A.), (Ed.S.)Occupation Politician, College professor Religion Baptist Corrine Brown (born November 11, 1946) is an U.S. Representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
The district includes parts of Duval, Clay, Putnam, Alachua, Volusia, Marion, Lake, Seminole, and Orange Counties.
Contents
Early life, education and career
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Brown earned a bachelor of science from Florida A&M University in 1969[1][2] In college she became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, one of four African American Greek letter sororities in the United States. She earned a master's degree in 1971 and an educational specialist degree from the University of Florida in 1974. She received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, and has been on the faculty at the latter two schools and at Florida Community College at Jacksonville.[3]
Florida legislature
Brown served in the Florida House of Representatives for ten years beginning in 1982.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
Tenure
Brown has received some of her strongest support from religious leaders, organized labor and the sugar industry.[4][5][6]
In 2003-2005, Brown cosponsored legislation regarding civil rights and foreign relations. She also participated in Michael Moore's "Slacker" college voter drive tour.
Brown was one of the 31 representatives who voted against counting the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004.[7] In 2006, she voted "no" on the Child Custody Protection Act, Public Expression of Religion Act, Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act, Military Commissions Act, and Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006. She voted "yes" on the SAFE Port Act.[2] On September 29, 2008, Brown voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[8][9]
On her 2010 political courage test at www.votesmart.org, Corrine stated that she supports decriminalization of marijuana (moving from schedule 1 to presumably a lower schedule). This means if someone is caught with small personal amounts it would presumably be a fine instead of an arrest. She supports increasing funding for drug treatment programs; rather than building more prisons. If a doctor says that a patient can benefit from marijuana, she supports we listen to the doctor rather than listening to the police.[10]
Controversies
In 1998, Brown was questioned by the House Ethics Committee about receiving a $10,000 check from National Baptist Convention leader, and long-time associate, Henry Lyons.[4] Brown confirmed receiving the check and denied she had used the money improperly.[4] Brown said that she had taken the check and converted it into another check made out to Pameron Bus Tours to pay for transportation to a rally she organized in Tallahassee. She said that she didn't have to report the money, and that she had been cleared, explaining the rally was to protest the reorganization of her district lines, and she did not use it for herself.[4]
The Federal Election Commission admonished Brown and Brown's former campaign treasurer quit after he discovered that his name had been forged on her campaign reports. The staffer alleged to have forged the treasurer's signature stayed with Brown and as of 1998 was her chief of staff.[5]
On June 9, 1998, the Congressional Accountability Project voted to conduct a formal inquiry regarding Brown. The Project called for the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to determine if Brown had violated House Rule 10.[11] One of the complaints was that Brown's adult daughter, Shantrel Brown, had received a luxury automobile as a gift from an agent of a Gambian millionaire named Foutanga Sissoko. Sissoko, a friend of Congresswoman Brown, had been imprisoned in Miami after pleading guilty to charges of bribing a customs officer. Brown had worked to secure his release, pressuring U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to deport Sissoko back to his homeland as an alternative to continued incarceration. The Project held this violated the House gift rule, but Brown denied she had acted improperly. The congressional subcommittee investigating Brown found insufficient evidence to issue a Statement of Alleged Violation, but said she had acted with poor judgment in connection with Sissoko.[12][4][13]
On February 25, 2004 Brown referred to the Bush administration policies on Haiti as "racist", and called his representatives as a "bunch of white men" during a briefing on the Haiti crisis with senior State Department officials and several members of Congress.[14][dead link] Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, said that, as a Mexican American, he deeply resented "being called a racist and branded a white man," to which Brown replied, "you all look alike to me." Brown initially refused to consider apologizing, but later issued a statement saying, "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," she said. "However people read it, it wasn't meant that way," she said, noting that she was personally insulted by the "anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table" by the officials in attendance. Hispanic representatives in Florida were more ambivalent than scornful, with Mike Cordero of the Hispanic Organization of North Florida saying, "We're not taking this as Mrs. Brown is necessarily against us. She just took a poetic license. To us, it doesn't hold any charge. It's kind of funny."[15][16]
In July 2004 Brown was rebuked by the House of Representatives after she referred to the disputed 2000 presidential election in Florida as a "coup d'état". This comment came during floor debate over HR-4818, which would have provided for international monitoring of the 2004 U.S. presidential election.[17]
In June 2007, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released a report listing Brown's daughter Shantrel Brown-Fields as a congressional lobbyist; the organization maintains that Congressional relatives working as lobbyists for special interests are a conflict of interest for lawmakers. Brown-Fields is employed by Alcalde & Fayte, with clients including ITERA, Miami-Dade County Commission, and Edward Waters College. In 2006, Brown's campaign committee paid her daughter's husband, Tyree Fields, $5,500 for political consulting work. Rep. Brown has earmarked millions of dollars in federal funding for her daughter's client Edward Waters College.[18][dead link]
Political campaigns
1992
After the 1990 census, the Florida legislature carved out a new Third Congressional District in the northern part of the state. This district was designed to enclose an African-American majority within its boundaries. A horseshoe-shaped district touching on largely African-American neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, and Ocala,[4] the Third District seemed likely to send Florida's first African-American to Congress since Reconstruction, and Brown decided to run.[19]
Brown faced several candidates in the 1992 Democratic primary, but the strongest opponent to emerge was Andy Johnson, a white talk radio host from Jacksonville. Brown defeated Johnson in the primary and in a two-candidate runoff, and went on to win the general election in November 1992.[20]
In 1995, the boundaries of the Third District were struck down by the Supreme Court due to their irregular shape.[21] One of the main instigators of the lawsuit that led to the redistricting was Brown's old political rival, Andy Johnson. Brown railed against the change, complaining that "[t]he Bubba I beat [Johnson] couldn't win at the ballot box [so] he took it to court," as she was quoted as saying in the New Republic. Although the district lines were redrawn, Brown still won the 1996 election.[22]
2010
On June 1, 2009, Brown announced she would form an exploratory committee for a possible run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez saying, "These are challenging times for Florida. Our economy is in a shambles and our families are hurting. Charlie Crist may be good at taking pictures and making promises, but what has he actually accomplished?" [23][24] In October 2009, it was announced that Brown will not run for Senate, and will seek re-election in the House of Representatives.[25]
References
- ^ Corrine Brown Biography, accessed Oct 10, 2009
- ^ a b Votes Database, Washington Post, accessed Oct 10 2009
- ^ Brown, Corrine, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ a b c d e f Bill Adair and Monica Davey "Rep. Brown explains check from Lyons", St. Petersburg Times, Jul 28, 1998
- ^ a b Monica Davey, David Barstow and David Dahl "Lawmaker got $10,000 from Lyons fund" St. Petersburg Times, Apr 14, 1998
- ^ Corrine Brown PAC contributions 2007-8, Congress.org
- ^ Final vote results for roll call 7, Jan 6, 2005
- ^ Bailout roll call, Sep 29, 2008, retrieved on Sep 29, 2008
- ^ What has Corrine Brown done for the middle class, accessed Oct 10, 2009
- ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Corrine Brown - Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)". Votesmart.org. http://votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=26797. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Ethics complaint. Congressproject.org.
- ^ Ethics Report Press Release; House.Ethics.Gov; September 21, 2000
- ^ "Statement of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in the Matter of Representative Corrine Brown" (September 21, 2000). House.gov.
- ^ "Congresswoman Brown Calls Bush's Haiti Policy Racist". Associated Press. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=15349.
- ^ Rep. Brown apologizes to official; The Florida Times-Union; February 27, 2004
- ^ Bonilla: Muted Reaction to Brown Shows Double Standard. Foxnews.com. February 27, 2004. Accessed December 2, 2010
- ^ David Decamp [1], The Florida Times-Union, July 16, 2004
- ^ "Family Affair" (June 2007). Citizens for Ethics.
- ^ Resolution of the State Senate of Alabama Commending Congresswoman Corrine Brown, Alabama State Legislature, 2000.
- ^ "Concentrating Minority Voters Builds Liberal Strength in the South", Stanford University Graduate School of Business News, Apr 11, 2004
- ^ "The shape of things to come: Cleo Fields is the first to fall as redistricting changes the political map — Blacks in Congress are threatened — Elections '96", Black Enterprise, Oct 1996.
- ^ "Testimony of Professor David Canon " (June 21, 2006). Senate testimony.[dead link]
- ^ U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown joins race for Senate seat, The Miami Herald, Jun 3, 2009, accessed Aug 23, 2009
- ^ Simmons, Ronnie Rep. Corrine Brown announces Senate Exploratory Committee, Westside Gazette, Jun 3, 2009, accessed Aug 23, 2009
- ^ Kurtz, Josh (October 16, 2009). "Corrine Brown Chooses Re-Election Over 2010 Senate Race". Roll Call. http://www.rollcall.com/news/39579-1.html. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- Corrine Brown Quotes, BrainyQuotes.com, accessed Oct 10, 2009.
- Brown issues apology to Asst. Secretary of State Florida Times-Union, Feb 26, 2004
- Bonilla: Muted Reaction to Brown Shows Double Standard FoxNews.com, Feb 27, 2004
- Rep. Corrine Brown and her long trail of lies, deceit and unpaid bills, Capitol Hill Blue, August 1999
- Doug Thompson, The most corrupt member of Congress?" Capitol Hill Blue, May 17, 2005
- Ken Silverstein, "The ITERA/Weldon Link: Congressman flacked for daughter's client despite being briefed on its shady practices", Harper's Magazine, October 24, 2006
- Anthony Gancarski, "Rep. Corrine Brown: A Good Fit for Her District?", CounterPunch, January 31, 2003
- "Ethics finds troubling conduct by Rep. Corrine Brown"[dead link], CNN.com, September 21, 2000
External links
- U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown official U.S. House site
- Corrine Brown for Congress[dead link] 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
United States House of Representatives Preceded by
Charles E. BennettMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 3rd congressional district
1993–PresentSucceeded by
IncumbentUnited States order of precedence Preceded by
Sanford Bishop
D-GeorgiaUnited States Representatives by seniority
70thSucceeded by
Ken Calvert
R-CaliforniaCategories:- 1946 births
- African American members of the United States House of Representatives
- Baptists from the United States
- Censured or reprimanded United States Representatives
- Female members of the United States House of Representatives
- Florida Democrats
- Living people
- Members of the Florida House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
- People from Jacksonville, Florida
- University of Florida alumni
- Women state legislators in Florida
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