Jeff Fortenberry

Infobox_Congressman
name =Jeff Fortenberry


width=175
date of birth= birth date and age|1960|12|27
place of birth= Baton Rouge, Louisiana
occupation= publishing executive, economist
residence= Lincoln, Nebraska
alma_mater= Louisiana State University, Georgetown University, Franciscan University
state = Nebraska
district = 1st
term_start=January 3, 2005
preceded = Doug Bereuter
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
religion = Roman Catholic
spouse = Celeste Gregory Fortenberry

Jeffrey Lane "Jeff" Fortenberry, born December 27, 1960 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a Republican U.S. Representative from the First Congressional District of Nebraska. He was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, succeeding Doug Bereuter, the longest serving congressman in Nebraska history, who resigned earlier that year to become president of the Asia Foundation. He was re-elected to a second term in 2006. He is married to the former Celeste Gregory, and they have five children. He is a devout Roman Catholic and is strongly pro-life.

Prior to being elected to the United States Congress, Fortenberry was an at-large member of the Lincoln City Council from 1997 to 2001. His main commitments in this role were community revitalization and increasing public safety, but doing both without raising taxation.

Fortenberry was a congressional intern while in college. He has previously worked as an economist, and he has served as a salesman and publishing executive for Truck Paper. He holds a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University. He also received a masters degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. He graduated from Catholic High in Baton Rouge. Fortenberry ran in 2004 for the seat being vacated by Bereuter. He won the Republican primary in a field of seven candidates with 39% of the vote. [http://www.sos.state.ne.us/elec/canvass/primary2004/HOUSE.htm#Republican1] He defeated State Senator Matt Connealy in the general election by 11 percentage points. [http://www.sos.state.ne.us/elec/canvass/general2004/HOUSE.htm]

In the 2006 congressional election, Fortenberry was challenged by former Democratic Lieutenant Governor Maxine Moul. Fortenberry defeated Moul by 18 percentage points. [http://www.sos.state.ne.us/elec/ElectNight/general.htm]

Issues

Fortenberry supported President George W. Bush’s tax cuts and has said he wants to reduce the deficit. He has also expressed interest in creating a "business investment account" that would give tax breaks for the formation or expansion of small businesses.

Fortenberry is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04411: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411] ] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ]

Committee Assignments

*Agriculture Committee
**Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
**Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture
*Foreign Affairs Committee
**Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
**Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
*Small Business Committee
**Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship (Ranking Member)

Agriculture Committee

From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Fortenberry is reported to have brought $660 million to his District. [Dilanian, Ken, [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-25-farmbill_N.htm#subsidies" Billions go to House panel members' districts"] , USA Today. July 26, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://fortenberry.house.gov/ Congressman Jeff Fortenberry] official U.S. House website
* [http://www.supportfort.com Jeff Fortenberry for U.S. Congress] official campaign website
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Fortenberry Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia