Jeff Fortenberry
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Doug Bereuter
Born	December 27, 1960 (1960-12-27) (age 48) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Celeste Gregory Fortenberry
Residence	Lincoln, Nebraska
Alma mater	Louisiana State University, Georgetown University, Franciscan University
Occupation	publishing executive, economist
Religion	Roman Catholic

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. The district is based in Lincoln and includes most of the eastern third of the state outside the immediate Omaha area. 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 anti-abortion.

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. His most prominent opponent in the primary was Curt Bromm, the speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and a moderate Republican in Bereuter's mold. [1] He defeated State Senator Matt Connealy in the general election by 11 percentage points. [2]

In the 2006 congressional election, Fortenberry was challenged by former Democratic Lieutenant Governor Maxine Moul. Fortenberry defeated Moul by 18 percentage points. [3]

[edit] Issues

Unlike Bereuter, a leading moderate Republican, Fortenberry is one of the most conservative members of the House. He is a member of the Republican Study Committee.

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^[1] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.^[2]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Policy
  • Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
  • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere

[edit] 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. ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Jeff Fortenberry official U.S. House website
• Jeff Fortenberry for U.S. Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia