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EspañolSPENCER ABRAHAM
'Edward Spencer Abraham' (born June 12, 1952 in East Lansing, Michigan) is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He had served as the 10th United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. In July of 2007, though he has been reported to have been named Campaign Manager for GOP Presidential candidate Fred Thompson,[1] the campaign contends that Abraham is serving as a Campaign Chair with no official duties except to serve as its "ambassador to official Washington".[2] He is of Lebanese descent.
Education and family
Spencer Abraham and his wife, Jane (current co-chairmen of the Michigan Republican Party), have three children, a son and twin girls. He holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard University, and is a 1974 Honors College graduate of Michigan State University and is a native of East Lansing, Michigan. While at Harvard Law School, Abraham founded the official journal of the Federalist Society, the Harvard ''Journal of Law & Public Policy''.[3]
Political career and background
Before his election to the Senate, Abraham was a law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Republican Party service
He was elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1983 to 1990. He was deputy chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He later served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993.
United States Senate
Abraham was elected to represent Michigan in the United States Senate in, 1995 and served until to 2001 when he was defeated for reelection to the Senate in 2000 for a second term by Debbie Stabenow.
He was the only Arab American in that chamber. According to the New York Times State Republicans attributed the loss (defeat by Debbie Stabenow) to "often scathing advertisements by a wide range of special interest groups, including advertisements that criticized Mr. Abraham's support for a relaxation of some immigration restrictions"[1]. During the campaign the Federation for American Immigration Reform ran ads asking: "Why is Senator Spencer Abraham trying to make it easier for terrorists like Osama bin Laden to export their war of terror to any city street in America?" [2][3][4]. The media denounced these commercials as "vengeful" [5]. Abraham was a consistent advocate of large-scale immigration and worked relentlessly to lessen immigration controls and regulations. In 1997 he received the "Defender of the Melting Pot" award from the National Council of La Raza [6].
Additionally, Abraham was one of only two Senators in the entire U.S. Senate who refused to sign a letter calling on President Clinton to condemn Palestinian terrorism and Yasser Arafat. This was at the height of a series of bombings in Israel in 1999 and 2000. [7]
Committee service and legislation
He served on the Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Judiciary, and Small Business Committees. He also chaired two subcommittees: Manufacturing and Competitiveness, and Immigration. Abraham authored the "H1B Visa in Global and National Commerce Act", establishing a federal framework for on-line contracts and signatures; the "Government Paperwork Elimination Act", and the "Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act", which protects Internet domain names for businesses and persons against copyright and trademark infringements. In 1999, Sen. Abraham co-sponsored S.896, A bill to abolish the Department of Energy, which would have transferred control of the The Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Defense Department.
U.S. Energy Secretary
Abraham was appointed Secretary of Energy by the incoming Bush administration, a post he maintained for the first Bush term. On November 15, 2004, Abraham announced that he would resign from the position of Secretary of Energy, which took effect with the swearing in of his successor Samuel W. Bodman on February 1, 2005.
On February 14, 2005 The ''Toronto Star'' reported that Abraham was on a short list of candidates for American ambassador to Canada to replace Paul Cellucci.
In July 2005, Abraham's wife, Jane, announced that after some consideration she would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate to challenge Debbie Stabenow. Michigan Republicans had attempted to recruit Mrs. Abraham to run against the first-term Stabenow, who had defeated her husband in 2000.
Hoover Institution
Abraham is now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an influential conservative think tank based at Stanford University. After leaving office, Abraham opened The Abraham Group, a Washington DC based international strategic consulting firm. In 2006, Spencer Abraham was named director of Areva Inc., the US subsidiary of the French nuclear energy company[4].
Thompson for President
On July 24, 2007, Republican Fred Thompson announced the selection of Abraham and Florida GOP strategist Randy Enright as campaign managers for his presidential bid.
Electoral history
★ '2000 Race for U.S. Senate'
★
★ Debbie Stabenow (D), 49%
★
★ Spencer Abraham (R) (inc.), 48%
★ '1994 Race for U.S. Senate'
★
★ Spencer Abraham (R), 52%
★
★ Bob Carr (D), 43%
★
★ Jon Coon (Lib.), 4%
Notes
1. 'Associated Press', ''Thompson Shakes Up Staff'', by LIBBY QUAID, July 24, 2007.
2. 'The Politico', ''F. Thompson shakes up pre-launch campaign'', by Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen, July 24, 2007.
3. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
4. Spencer ABRAHAM nommé Président du conseil d’administration d’AREVA Inc.
External links
★ Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
★ Presidential Profile: George W. Bush's Cabinet
★
★ Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
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