Walter B. Jones
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Walter Beaman Jones (born 10 February 1943) is an American politician; a Republican, he currently represents North Carolina's 3rd congressional district (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/nc03_109.gif)) in the United States House of Representatives. Born Walter Beaman Jones, Jr. in Farmville, North Carolina (he has since dropped the "Jr." from his name), his father was Walter Beaman Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party Representative from the neighboring 1st Congressional district of North Carolina.
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Background
Jones, Jr. attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina before serving four years (1967–1971) in the North Carolina National Guard.
Jones is a convert to Catholicism. [1] (http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/2408783p-8786693c.html)
Political career
An executive with his family's lighting company, Jones was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1983 and served for five terms, until 1992. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Congressional nomination for his father's seat in the 103rd United States Congress of 1992 (losing to Eva Clayton) before switching parties and winning in the 3rd district in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, defeating incumbent Democrat H. Martin Lancaster. Jones has been reelected every two years since. He has never faced a serious or well-funded opponent, largely because his father was a legend in Eastern North Carolina.
His successful campaign for a sixth consecutive term in the 2004 Congressional elections earned him 71% of the popular vote while defeating Democrat Roger Eaton. Jones serves on the Armed Services, Financial Services, and Resources Committees.
Iraq war
Unlike his father, who was a fairly moderate Democrat, Jones is one of the most conservative members of the House. He is best known for having French fries referred to as "freedom fries" in House cafeteria menus as a protest against French opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Subsequently, however, he called on President George W. Bush to apologize for misinforming Congress to win authorization for the war. Jones said, "If I had known then what I know today, I wouldn't have voted for that resolution." [2] (http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13180) He contends that the United States went to war "with no justification". [3] (http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/2408783p-8786693c.html), [4] (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1491567,00.html) On the subject, he said, "I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there." He added that his change of opinion came about from attending the funeral of a sergeant killed in Iraq, when his last letter to his family was being read out. On June 16, 2005, he joined with three other Congressmembers (Neil Abercrombie, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul) in introducing a resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to begin by October 2006. [5] (http://news.yahoo.com/s/krwashbureau/_bc_usiraq_pullout_wa)
On March 17, 2005, he sponsored a bill endorsing the conduct of controversial USMC Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, who shot two unarmed Iraqi civilians on April 15, 2004.
References
- Official website (http://jones.house.gov/)
- This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. [6] (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000255)