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Bill Nelson

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Bill Nelson
United States Senator
from Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2001–Serving with Mel Martinez
Preceded byConnie Mack III
Succeeded byIncumbent (2013)
Personal details
Nationalityamerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseGrace Cavert Nelson
Clarence William "Bill" Nelson
NationalityAmerican
Space career
Astronaut
Current occupationU.S. Senator
Previous occupationRepresentative, U.S. House
RankPayload specialist
Time in space6d 02h 03m
Selection1985
MissionsSTS-61-C
Mission insigniaFile:61-c-patch.jpg
For other people named Bill Nelson, see Bill Nelson (disambiguation).

Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior U.S. Senator from Florida. Nelson is a Democrat. Nelson became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-61-C (January 12-18, 1988).

Bill Nelson was born in Miami in 1942 to English-American parents. He attended the University of Florida for three years, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and then transfered to Yale University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1965. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1965 to 1971. During this time, Nelson studied at the University of Virginia, where he received his law degree in 1968.

Nelson married Grace Cavert in 1972; they have two children: Bill Nelson, Jr. and Nan Ellen Nelson.

Early career

Nelson worked as a fire marshal and later as a lawyer before beginning his political career in the Florida House of Representatives. Nelson served in the state house from 1972 to 1979.

U.S. House of Representatives

Nelson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He served in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1991.

In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress (and the first from the House) to travel into space. He went through NASA training, along with Senator Jake Garn, of Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-61-C mission, with six other astronauts, from January 12-18. Ten days after his return, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off.

1990-2000

In 1990, Nelson ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida. He lost to former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, who went on to win the general election. During the primary campaign, Nelson tried to make an issue out of Chiles' health and age, a strategy that backfired on him in a state with a large population of retirees and senior citizens.

From 1995 to 2000, Nelson was the Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida.

U.S. Senate

Election

In 2000, Nelson won the election for U.S. Senator from Florida, defeating then-Representative Bill McCollum, the Republican candidate. The election was to replace retiring Republican Senator Connie Mack.

Political actions and positions

Nelson has been a vocal opponent of oil drilling off Florida's coast. He supports allowing the government to negotiate for lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies in the Medicare prescription drug program. He is generally regarded as a moderate, and was among the few Democrats to vote in favor of CAFTA. He has also voted in favor of tighter bankruptcy restrictions and abolishing the estate tax. Nelson has received a 75% rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League from the National Abortion Rights Action League and voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act as it had no exception for the life or health of the mother. (this act was ruled unconstitutional for this reason among others) He voted in favor a bill providing for criminal penalties for anyone harming an unborn child during the commission of a crime. . In general, Nelson has high ratings from other left-of-center political action groups, indicating a liberal voting record in Congress. .

2006 re-election campaign

Sen. Nelson works with government storm trackers during a hurricane-hunter flight into the center of Hurricane Charley in August 2004
Main article: Florida United States Senate election, 2006

Nelson's job approval ratings were 49 percent during the 2006 campaign, three percentage points higher than fellow Florida senator Mel Martinez, a Republican in a nominally red state.

Republican Representative Katherine Harris won the Republican primary, and faced Nelson in the November general election. In an interview with Sean Hannity on March 15, 2006, Harris claimed that Nelson was a member of the ideological far-left and had taken bribes. She did not state from whom, nor did she give any other specifics as to these allegations. Nelson is generally regarded as a moderate in Florida.

James Dobson promised to launch "a battle from sea to shining sea" against Nelson's reelection if he participated in a filibuster of Bush's "strict constructionist" court nominees. Dobson has been joined by other Republican activists, such as Randall Terry, because of his opposition to Samuel Alito and his refusal to join what were largely Republican efforts to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. The Schiavo incident prompted Brian Darling, a strategist in Mel Martinez's staff, to write the Schiavo memo that articulated a plan to use the Schiavo controversy as a campaign tool against Nelson in 2006. Darling resigned when it was traced to him, and Martinez apologized publicly to Nelson.

Nelson was reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006 with 60 percent of the vote. His victory is the largest margin by a Democratic candidate in the state in many years.

Trip to Damascus

On December 13, 2006, Nelson went to Damascus and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This came following his appointment to the Senate Intelligence Committee. "He (Assad) stated that we in fact, have an interest, common interest, to stabilize Iraq. I think it is a crack in the door, and it is for discussions to continue," he said in a conference call from Amman, Jordan after meeting Assad in Damascus. The White House said that members of congress should not be going to Syria. "I think it is a real stretch to think that the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think. We have made it clear and we will continue to make it clear," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

References

  1. http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2006/100USSenator060221State.htm
  2. http://web.archive.org/web/20050311175154/http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050101-091244-8539r.htm
  3. http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11385.xml?ReleaseID=942
  4. http://www.mason-dixon.com/news_text.cfm?news_id=237
  5. http://strategicvision.biz/political/florida_poll_072606.htm

External links

Template:Incumbent U.S. Senator box
Political offices
Preceded byLouis Frey, Jr. United States Representative for the 9th Congressional District of Florida
1979–1983 		Succeeded byMichael Bilirakis
Preceded byDaniel A. Mica United States Representative for the 11th Congressional District of Florida
1983–1991 		Succeeded byJim Bacchus
Preceded byTom Gallagher Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida
1995–2001 		Succeeded byTom Gallagher
Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Representatives
(ordered by district)
Current United States senators
President: ▌ Kamala Harris (D) ‧ President pro tempore: ▌ Chuck Grassley (R)
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