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David Wu 吳振偉
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Elizabeth Furse
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Michelle Wu
Residence	Portland, Oregon
Alma mater	Stanford University, Yale University
Occupation	attorney

David Wu (Chinese: 吳振偉; pinyin: Wú Zhènwěi; born April 8, 1955) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Oregon's First Congressional District. The first district includes part of western Multnomah County and all of Yamhill, Columbia, Clatsop, and Washington Counties. As an ethnic Han Chinese from Taiwan, Wu is the first Chinese American and the first Taiwanese American member of Congress.

Background

Wu was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan to mainland Chinese parents who had settled in Taiwan due to the Chinese Civil War and in the United States with his family in 1961. He spent his first two years in the U.S. in Latham, New York where his family were the only Asian Americans in town.

Wu received a bachelor of science degree from Stanford University in 1977, and attended Harvard Medical School (where he shared an apartment with Bill Frist), but dropped out. Instead, Wu received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1982. He is married to Michelle Wu, and has one son, Matthew, and a daughter, Sarah.

Prior to being elected a U.S. Representative, Wu served as a clerk for a federal judge and co-founded a law firm, Cohen & Wu, which primarily served the high tech sector in Oregon's "Silicon Forest."

U.S. Congress

Wu was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, replacing fellow Democrat Elizabeth Furse, and began serving in 1999 with the 106th Congress.

He won re-election in 2000, defeating state senator Charles Starr in the November election with 58% of the vote to 39% for Starr. Wu won re-election in 2004 over Republican Goli Ameri, in 2006 over Oregon state representative Derrick Kitts and two minor party candidates, and in 2008 with no Republican candidate running, he captured 71% of the vote to win a sixth term over four minor party candidates.

He is a member of the Executive Board for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as Chair from January 2001 to January 2004. He is also a member of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), a group of moderate Democrats in the House.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Controversy

In October 2004, The Oregonian reported in a front-page article an incident from 1976, in which no arrest or charges were made, alleging that Wu had attempted to force an ex-girlfriend to have sex with him. Wu had just completed his junior year at Stanford University at the time. According to the article, Wu, then 21, was questioned by Police Capt. Raoul K. Niemeyer after the incident. Niemeyer reported that Wu had scratches on his face and neck, and wore a stretched T-shirt. The story became public in the midst of a contentious race for Congress. Wu's Republican challenger, Goli Ameri, then criticized Wu about the incident during the campaign.. Wu won the election handily with 58% of the vote to Ameri's 38%.

"Klingons in the White House" speech

On January 10, 2007, Wu made a speech on the House floor referring to people in the White House as Klingons with regard to the war in Iraq. Wu, a fan of Star Trek, said he was making a reference to a book by James Mann. Mann wrote that the foreign policy advisory team of George W. Bush's 2000 campaign gave itself the nickname "Vulcans," originating from the large statue of the Roman god in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

Wu said that unlike "the Vulcans of Star Trek," who "make decisions based on logic and fact," Rice and her cadre behave more like the warlike Klingons, saying, "there are Klingons in the White House." Wu continued that unlike "real Klingons," who are also known for their courage and code of honor, those in the White House "have never fought a battle of their own." He concludes, "don't let faux Klingons send real Americans to war."

On January 16, 2007, comedian Jon Stewart dedicated a short segment of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about this speech. He was joined in this discussion by Star Trek actors Leonard Nimoy and George Takei (Spock and Hikaru Sulu respectively). In the discussion, Nimoy stated that the analogy was weak, citing that while Klingons are warlike, they adhere to a strict code of honor. However, this did not actually contradict what Wu said, as stated above.

Environmental controversy

In 2009, a Republican staffer recorded Wu driving his GMC Yukon to call attention to the discrepancy between Wu's voting record, which included a vote in favor of requiring fuel efficiency standards of 26 mpg in 2005 and of 27.5 mpg in 2007 for passenger automobiles and sport utility vehicles, and Wu's actions driving the Yukon, which gets 21 mpg.

References

1. Tyler, Christina (June, 1999). "To Make a Broader Difference". The Library of Congress Information Bulletin. Retrieved 2006-09-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Schmitt, Eric (1999-07-28). "House Renews China's Trading Benefits". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
3. Lydgate, Chris (1999-08-11). "A Question of Conscience". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
4. Nishioka, Joyce (1999-07-15). "David Wu in the House!". Asian Week. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. http://www.nationaljournal.com/pubs/almanac/2008/people/or/rep_or01.htm
6. 2000 U.S. House of Representatives Results. U.S. Federal Election Commission. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
7. Laura Gunderson, Dave Hogan and Jeff Kosseff (2004-10-12). "Allegation of assault on woman in 1970s shadows Wu". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
8. Hamilton, Don (2004-10-22). "Ameri pummels Wu over incident". Portland Tribune. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
9. Mann, James. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet (ISBN 0670032999)
10. Kosseff, Jeff (2007-01-13). "Where no congressman has gone before". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
11. Video at YouTube
12. OnTheIssues.org, linked from Wu's website
13. GMC Website
14. Cain, Brad (October 8, 2009). "Republicans take aim at Ore. congressman over SUV". Seattle Times.

External links

• U.S. Congressman David Wu official U.S. House site
• David Wu for Congress official campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Bush: Admit Your Mistake, End This War. David Wu, BlueOregon, January 9, 2007, commentary on Bush's Iraq policy
• David Wu's "Klingon" speech on the House floor — video on YouTube

• 1955 births
• American Presbyterians
• Chinese American politicians
• Chinese immigrants to the United States
• Delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention
• Harvard University people
• Living people
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• Oregon Democrats
• Stanford University alumni
• Americans of Taiwanese descent
• Taiwanese immigrants to the United States
• Yale Law School alumni
• Science fiction fans