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Biography
of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
Russ
Feingold is an independent voice for Wisconsin and the nation
in the United States Senate - an effective legislator who
works across party lines, and a respected leader in both domestic
and foreign policy.
Fighting
for Wisconsin
"We’ve
come to rely upon Senator Russ Feingold’s appreciation for
the fact that government is run for the people." –
Wausau Daily Herald, September 30, 2006
Growing
up in Janesville, Wisconsin, Feingold learned the values that
guide his work in the Senate: a commitment to fiscal responsibility,
honest and responsive government, and standing up for hardworking
families.
Senator
Feingold is proud to represent Wisconsin, and carry forward
the state's progressive tradition, in the U.S. Senate. In
order to make sure he knows what Wisconsinites are thinking,
Feingold holds open meetings, known as listening sessions,
in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties every year.
What
Feingold hears in these sessions informs every issue he works
on in the Senate, from his bipartisan efforts to eliminate
wasteful spending and reform our health care system, to protecting
our Great Lakes and strengthening our national security.
Since
he was first elected to the Senate in 1992, Russ Feingold
has built a record as a staunch advocate for Wisconsin’s families.
He has fought the unfair trade agreements that have sent our
manufacturing jobs overseas, and he is working to support
new job growth. Feingold’s E4 Initiative -- dubbed E4 for
its focus on the economy, employment, education and energy
– is designed to support Wisconsin’s economy by boosting job
creation, strengthening workforce development, and preparing
our students to work in emerging industries. Feingold is also
committed to strengthening public education, protecting our
environment, helping military families, and supporting Wisconsin’s
farmers and rural communities.
Feingold
also works for Wisconsin by helping people cut through government
red tape. Senator Feingold’s office has helped Wisconsinites
with everything from getting federal benefits they are owed
to finally getting a Purple Heart they earned, but never received,
decades earlier. In addition, Feingold strongly supports FIRE
Grants to assist Wisconsin fire departments, and a wide array
of other grants that help Wisconsin communities.
Some
of Feingold’s recent legislative achievements include:
Supporting
Wisconsin’s Economy: Feingold helped lead the Green
Collar Jobs Initiative to create jobs in the energy sector
by establishing and funding new renewable energy and energy
efficiency programs, and supporting the extension of vital
tax credits to spur energy efficient buildings, solar and
wind energy and manufacturing, advanced technology vehicles,
and renewable biofuels and energy. Feingold also helped provide
$3.8 million to Wisconsin to fund education and job retraining
programs for GM, Lear, Logistics Services, and United Industries
employees.
Reforming
Health Care: Feingold led efforts to reauthorize the Dental
Health Improvement Act expanding dental care for underserved
areas of our country. With Feingold’s support, Congress passed
a mental health parity measure helping those dealing with
mental illness get access to medical benefits and treatment.
Feingold continues to press for fundamental health care reform
with his bipartisan State-Based Health Care Reform Act, which
would promote state-based ways of developing effective and
responsive health care policies.
Strengthening
National Security: Feingold successfully passed a requirement
that the administration report on its global strategy to combat
and defeat al Qaeda.
Working
for Service members: A version of Feingold’s Cellular
Phone Fairness Act was signed into law by the President in
October, allowing service members to suspend cell phone contracts
without charge when deployed overseas. Feingold was also part
of a successful push to provide adequate funding for Army
barracks after a Wisconsin father brought alarming conditions
in some Army barracks to light.
Standing
Up for Veterans: Feingold also supported our nation’s
veterans when he led an effort in Wisconsin to request new
community counseling centers, or Vet Centers, be opened in
Wisconsin. The VA later announced that it will open a new
Vet Center in Brown County as Feingold requested.
Protecting
the Great Lakes: Thanks in part to Feingold’s leadership,
the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources
Compact was signed into law in October, only a few months
after Feingold helped move it through the Senate by calling
for and chairing a key Judiciary Committee hearing on the
Compact.
Helping
Wisconsin Farmers: In June, Congress passed and the President
signed into law a Farm Bill that contained many provisions
Feingold authored and supported, including an improved safety
net for family dairy farmers, an improved program to expand
rural broadband service, and safeguards against energy market
manipulation that contributes to increased costs. Feingold
also took a lead role in successful efforts to include a tax
provision to ensure farmers have an option to remain eligible
for Social Security benefits.
Supporting
Wisconsin’s Two-Year Colleges: A modified version of a
Feingold measure was signed into law to ensure college systems
with two-year branch campuses, like the UW System, are eligible
to receive TRIO awards that provide programming to low income
students and underrepresented minorities.
A Record
of Bipartisanship and Reform
"Feingold
shows a knack for thinking through issues on a case-by-case
basis instead of marching in a partisan parade." -
The Door County Advocate, June 28, 2002
In addition
to the landmark Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known
as the McCain-Feingold bill, Feingold's long record of accomplishment
on reform issues includes his key leadership role in the enactment
of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, the strongest
lobbying and ethics reform bill in congressional history,
as well as work on many other reform initiatives.
"Feingold
has distinguished himself nationally by working hard to
impose fiscal controls." – Wisconsin State Journal
March 22, 2006
"If
you are looking for serious budgeters, Sen. Russ Feingold
ought to qualify." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March
15, 2004
Feingold
is leading a new effort with Senator John McCain to cut wasteful
spending by ending the unauthorized earmarks that amount to
billions of taxpayer dollars a year. As a member of the Senate
Budget Committee, he has worked with Republican colleagues
to reform budget rules and restore fiscal sanity to the congressional
budgeting process. Feingold has also been a tireless advocate
for restoring fiscal discipline in Congress and reducing the
federal deficit. A ten-time winner of the Concord Coalition's
deficit hawk award, he is the lead author of legislation to
eliminate unauthorized earmarks, and has worked to re-institute
Pay-As-You-Go requirements on new mandatory or entitlement
spending in Congress.
Protecting
National Security and Americans’ Rights and Freedoms
"Feingold
is right. This country’s war is with al Qaeda, its outlaw
network around the world and state sponsors of terrorism.
That war is not being prosecuted with the vigor and relentlessness
it deserves, because U.S. boots are stuck in the Iraqi sands."
– Beloit Daily News, September 13, 2007
A member
of both the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees,
Feingold has worked to make sure the government focuses on
our top national security policy -- combating the global threat
of al Qaeda. He has been a leading voice for redeploying from
Iraq to focus our resources and attention on that global threat.
Feingold is also spearheading a Senate effort to ensure that
the U.S. has better information and intelligence gathering
around the world.
As chair
of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa, Feingold is the Senate’s
top expert on Africa issues, and has called for directing
critical attention and diplomatic resources to African countries,
including those that are havens for terrorist activity. He
is also an advocate for making human rights and the rule of
law a priority in our foreign relations, in Africa and around
the world.
"Feingold…now
seems prescient with his reservations about whether Congress
should have been more cautious about writing and passing
The USA Patriot Act." – Green Bay Press Gazette, January
14, 2009
"[Feingold]
showed a willingness to stand up for the rule of law and
for the American people." – The Monroe Times, July
10, 2008
Feingold
is also strong advocate for the rule of law through his service
on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He cast the Senate's lone
vote against the USA PATRIOT Act, and has fought to change
the Act, as well as recent wiretapping legislation, to protect
the freedoms of law-abiding Americans. Feingold also has played
a lead role in protecting the rights of consumers and preserving
access to the courts. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee
on the Constitution, Feingold works to protect the civil rights
of all Americans, including fighting against discrimination
in the workplace and in the criminal justice system.
Background
In 1917,
Feingold's family settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, where
he was born to parents Leon and Sylvia on March 2, 1953. Feingold
graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975,
received a degree from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar
in 1977, and then went on to Harvard Law School, where he
earned his degree in 1979.
In 1982,
in his first try for elective office, Feingold defeated a
longtime incumbent and was elected to the Wisconsin State
Senate for the 27th District. Feingold was re-elected in 1986
and 1990. When Feingold first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992,
he won a tough three-way primary, and went on to defeat a
two-term incumbent. Feingold was reelected to the Senate in
1998 and 2004.
Senator
Feingold has two daughters, Jessica and Ellen. Feingold is
a member of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He lives
in Middleton, Wisconsin. |
