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Justin Amash 1

Justin Amash

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd district

Incumbent

Assumed office January 3, 2011

Preceded by Vern Ehlers

Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 72nd district

In office January 1, 2009 – January 1, 2011

Preceded by Glenn Steil

Succeeded by Ken Yonker

Personal details

Born Justin A. Amash April 18, 1980 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.

Political party Republican

Spouse(s) Kara Amash

Children 3

Alma mater University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Religion Greek Orthodoxy

[1] Website Government website

Justin A. Amash (/əˈmɑːʃ/; born April 18, 1980) is an American attorney, Republican politician, and . In January 2011, he began serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 3rd congressional district, which includes Grand Rapids. Justin Amash 2

Amash was first elected to the House in the 2010 election. Previously he was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives representing the 72nd District, which consisted of the city of Kentwood and the townships of Caledonia, Cascade, and Gaines. At the age of 30, Amash assumed office as the second youngest sitting U.S. Representative, behind 29-year-old Aaron Schock of . As of 2013, Amash is the 6th youngest U.S. Representative.[2] He is Chairman of the House Liberty Caucus.[3]

Early life and career Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in Kentwood, Michigan, Amash is a second generation Arab-American of Palestinian Christian and Syrian Greek Orthodox descent. His father is a Palestinian business owner, whose family emigrated to the United States in 1956 through the sponsorship of a Christian pastor and his family. Amash attended Kelloggsville Christian School in Kelloggsville and graduated as class valedictorian from Grand Rapids Christian High School. He graduated from the University of Michigan magna cum laude with an B.A. in Economics and earned his J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School in 2005. Amash admires economists F. A. Hayek and Frédéric Bastiat. Amash is married and the father of three children. He belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.[4] After graduating from the University of Michigan, he became a consultant to his family's tool business. He served as a corporate lawyer for a year before being elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2008.

Michigan House of Representatives

Election Amash ran for the Michigan House of Representatives in 2008 in Michigan's 72nd House District. During this time, he donated to the campaigns of Congressman and John McCain. In the Republican primary, he won a five candidate election with 42% of the vote, defeating opponent Ken Yonker by 723 votes, a 6.3% margin. The incumbent, Glenn D. Steil, Jr. [5], did not run because of term limits. In the general election, Amash defeated Democrat Albert Abbasse 61%–36%.

Tenure During his initial tenure in the State House, Amash sponsored 5 resolutions and 12 bills, but none of them passed.[6] He used his social media page to report on his floor votes and explain his reasoning. Amash was noted for his attendance record.[7]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections In its October 25, 2010, issue, Amash was named one of Time magazine's "40 under 40 – Rising Stars of U.S. Politics".[8] At the age of 30, Amash was the youngest federal candidate in the United States on the list of new civic leaders. On August 3, 2010, Amash won the five-way Republican primary for the seat vacated by retiring Republican Vern Ehlers with over 40% of the vote. Amash was a favorite of the , having been endorsed by iCaucus. He was also endorsed by the , Rep. Ron Paul,[9] and FreedomWorks PAC during his primary campaign. During general elections, Amash campaigned on a conservative platform. Amash defeated Democrat Patrick Miles Jr. 60%–37% in 2010, and holds in U.S. House of Representatives for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District. Amash won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012 for his second term, defeating Steve Pestka 53%–44%.[10] Justin Amash 3

Tenure Amash has been noted for his attendance. Through May 26, 2013, he made every Congressional vote. Amash supports free markets with regulation. He advocates for economic freedom and believes that stimulus programs and government bailouts are ineffective ways to energize the economy. He also supports adopting a flat tax instead of having targeted tax breaks and subsidies.[11] Amash opposes central economic planning which he believes contributes to unemployment, inflation, and dangerous business cycles. Amash was one of four Republicans who joined 161 Democrats to oppose a Constitutional amendment that would require a yearly balanced budget.[12] Amash supports decreased U.S. military spending to help balance the federal budget. He believes there is significant waste in the military spending of the U.S. Department of Defense. He believes health insurance should not be mandatory, and he supports health care reforms that include interstate competition among insurance companies and increased access to health savings accounts. He considers the Patient Protection and to be an overreach of the federal government's powers and supports efforts to repeal it. He believes that only Congress has the power to declare war. He supports a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He opposes restrictions on gun ownership, believing that they violate the Second Amendment. He believes that schools should be managed locally. He believes that the federal government is improperly expanding its powers using the General Welfare, Commerce, or Necessary and Proper clauses. Amash wants decreased federal intervention in energy-related issues. He wants to eliminate government-sponsored subsidies for energy production and decrease overall regulation. He believes that no form of energy production should be specially favored or restricted. In addition, Amash supports minimizing federal environmental regulations. He voted in favor of the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 which would have prevented the EPA from putting taxes on greenhouse gases.[13] Amash is considered pro-life, and generally opposes abortion and the use of federal funding for abortion.[14] He supports a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act as per his Twitter account, stating that the "real threat" to traditional marriage and religious liberty is government, and not couples.[15] Although Amash opposes government funding for abortion, he voted "present", rather than "yes" or "no" on the 2011 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood. He explained, “Legislation that names a specific private organization to defund (rather than all organizations that engage in a particular activity) is improper and arguably unconstitutional”.[16] When asked him to explain his approach to voting on legislation, he replied, “I follow a set of principles, I follow the Constitution. And that's what I base my votes on. Limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty.” He endorsed Ron Paul for President in 2012. Paul's brother, David, was an assistant pastor in Amash's district and endorsed Amash, saying the Michigan congressman shares common ground with Paul. Some Congressional Republicans have accused Amash of grandstanding. Amash joined 104 Democrats and 16 Republicans in voting against the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Amash called it “one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime”. Amash has co-sponsored an amendment to the NDAA that would ban indefinite military detention and military trials so that all terror suspects arrested in the United States would be tried in civilian courts. He expressed concern that individuals charged with terrorism could be jailed for prolonged periods of time without ever being formally charged or brought to trial.[17] Justin Amash 4

Committee assignments • Committee on the Budget • Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy (Vice Chair) • Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management • Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs On December 3, 2012, Amash was removed from the Budget Committee. quoted a Republican Steering Committee member as saying that Amash, along with colleagues and David Schweikert, who were also stripped of committee assignments, were "the most egregious assholes" in the House Republican Conference.[18]

Caucus memberships • Liberty Caucus • Republican Study Committee.

References

[1] http:/ / amash. house. gov/ [2] Current members of the United States House of Representatives by age

[3] http:/ / houselibertycaucus-amash. house. gov/ membership

[4] Justin Amash (https:/ / www. facebook. com/ repjustinamash?sk=info). The Facebook.

[5] http:/ / www. votesmart. org/ candidate/ biography/ 8758/ glenn-steil-jr

[6] Justin Amash sponsored legislation 2009–2010 (http:/ / www. legislature. mi. gov/ (S(xtlcqu45kqhlrnvgp4q2duqx))/ mileg.

aspx?page=ExecuteSearch& legislativesession=2009-2010& chamber=House& =Justin Amash). Legislature.mi.gov.

[7] Missed Votes (http:/ / michiganvotes. org/ MissedVotes. aspx). Michiganvotes.org (June 19, 2008).

[8] TIME Magazine, "40 under 40 – Rising Stars of U.S. Politics – Justin Amash (http:/ / www. time. com/ time/ specials/ packages/ article/

0,28804,2023831_2023829_2025197,00. html), Time

[9] Ron Paul Endorses Justin Amash for Congress (http:/ / eon. businesswire. com/ news/ eon/ 20100621006749/ en), EON, June 21, 2010

[10] 2012 Election Results Map by State – Live Voting Updates (http:/ / www. politico. com/ 2012-election/ map/ #/ House/ 2012/ MI). Politico.Com (June 21, 2013).

[11] Issues | Congressman Justin Amash (http:/ / amash. house. gov/ issues). Amash.house.gov.

[12] "House rejects balanced budget amendment" (http:/ / usatoday30. usatoday. com/ news/ washington/ story/ 2011-11-18/

balanced-budget-amendment-house-vote/ 51297960/ 1). USA Today.

[13] Justin Amash – Energy and the Environment (http:/ / www. thepoliticalguide. com/ Profiles/ House/ Michigan/ Justin_Amash/ Views/

Energy_and_the_Environment/ )). Thepoliticalguide.com (June 13, 2012).

[14] On the Issues (http:/ / www. ontheissues. org/ MI/ Justin_Amash. htm). On the Issues (June 21, 2013).

[15] Justin Amash Backs DOMA Repeal On Twitter (http:/ / www. huffingtonpost. com/ 2013/ 03/ 29/ justin-amash-doma-repeal_n_2981622. html). Huffington Post.

[16] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2011/ 04/ 15/ us/ politics/ 15freshman. html

[17] How Smith-Amash NDAA Amendment Bans Indefinite Detention (FACT SHEET) (http:/ / www. humanrightsfirst. org/ 2012/ 05/ 11/

the-smith-amash-amendment-what-it-says-and-means/ ). Human Rights First (November 5, 2012).

[18] Allen, Jonathan, "'The a—hole factor'" (http:/ / www. politico. com/ story/ 2012/ 12/

house-leaders-make-examples-of-obstinate-members-85034. html), Politico, December 13, 2012. Justin Amash 5

External links

• Congressman Justin Amash (http:/ / amash. house. gov/ ) official U.S. House website

• Justin Amash for Congress (http:/ / amashforcongress. com/ )

• Biography (http:/ / bioguide. congress. gov/ scripts/ biodisplay. pl?index=A000367) at the Biographical Directory of the

• Biography (http:/ / ballotpedia. org/ wiki/ index. php/ Justin_Amash) at Ballotpedia

• Biography (http:/ / www. nndb. com/ people/ 522/ 000266721) at NNDB

• Biography (http:/ / www. votesmart. org/ candidate/ 105566), voting record (http:/ / www. votesmart. org/

candidate/ key-votes/ 105566), and interest group ratings (http:/ / www. votesmart. org/ candidate/ evaluations/ 105566) at Project Vote Smart

• Congressional profile (http:/ / www. govtrack. us/ congress/ members/ 412438) at GovTrack

• Congressional profile (http:/ / www. opencongress. org/ people/ show/ 412438) at OpenCongress

• Congressional profile (http:/ / www. rollcall. com/ members/ 31947. html) at

• Financial information (federal office) (http:/ / images. nictusa. com/ cgi-bin/ can_detail/ H0MI03126) at the Federal Election Commission

• Financial information (federal office) (http:/ / www. opensecrets. org/ politicians/ summary. php?cid=N00031938) at OpenSecrets.org

• Financial investments (personal) (http:/ / apps. washingtonpost. com/ politics/ capitol-assets/ member/ justin-amash) at

• Financial information (state office) (http:/ / www. followthemoney. org/ database/ uniquecandidate. phtml?uc=9740) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics

• Issue positions and quotes (http:/ / www. ontheissues. org/ MI/ Justin_Amash. htm) at On the Issues

• Legislation sponsored (http:/ / beta. congress. gov/ member/ justin-amash/ 2029) at The

• Voting record (http:/ / projects. washingtonpost. com/ congress/ members/ A000367) at The Washington Post

• Appearances (http:/ / www. c-spanvideo. org/ justinamash) on C-SPAN programs

• Collected news and commentary (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ politics/ gIQAMkzZKP_topic. html) at The Washington Post

• Justin Amash (http:/ / www. michiganvotes. org/ Legislator. aspx?ID=16745) at MichiganVotes.org

• Voting record: 2009–2010 (http:/ / www. michiganvotes. org/ SearchVotes. aspx?EntityID1=16745&

CategoryID=0& Keywords=& StartDate3=1/ 1/ 2009& EndDate3=12/ 31/ 2010& Results=10& op=Search)

• Campaign contributions (http:/ / miboecfr. nicusa. com/ cgi-bin/ cfr/ contrib_anls_res. cgi?can_last_name=Amash

& sched=*& sort_1=common_name& sort_2=amount& sched) and reports (http:/ / miboecfr. nictusa. com/

cgi-bin/ cfr/ com_det. cgi?com_id=513573) from the Michigan Secretary of State

United States House of Representatives Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Incumbent Vern Ehlers Representatives from Michigan's 3rd congressional district 2011–present United States order of precedence (ceremonial) Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority Succeeded by 276th Lou Barletta Article Sources and Contributors 6 Article Sources and Contributors

Justin Amash Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=578659593 Contributors: Adam9389, Aldanga, Americus55, Arbor to SJ, Autumn Hawk, B.Andersohn, Biruitorul, Canuckian89, Cat spasms, Cgc1000, Chicopadilla, Coemgenus, Connormah, Cruffulous, Cssiitcic, CurranH, DarKiska, Daveswagon, David the Aspie, Deflective, Delaywaves, Eauchbaudly, Edward, EmausPriester, Epeefleche, Eristalis, FSUDavid5, Flatterworld, Freddiem, Freejohn, GageSkidmore, Gobonobo, Ground Zero, Haeinous, Hekerui, Hpruxpbvm, IgnorantArmies, JBlak788687, Jabiles, JayJasper, Jerzeykydd, Jorgenev, Kaltenmeyer, Keljkarp, KeptSouth, Kevin Gorman, Koavf, Kudzu1, KuwarOnline, Kwamikagami, Lincolnite, Malcolmxl5, MaxMercy, McSaddle, Metallurgist, Michipedian, Muboshgu, Mutt Lunker, Neutrality, Nevermore27, Ohconfucius, PM800, Paidiskay, Patbahn, Paterakis, Patriotact1776, PaulinSaudi, Piratey2004, Psiphiorg, Puellanivis, Racingstripes, Rjwilmsi, Roscelese, SMasters, Safehaven86, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Sisong, Skizzik, Sonofshamwow, Sonofshamwowjr, Tarheel95, Thepamplemousse, Therequiembellishere, Thirdeye616, Thomas Paine1776, Tiller54, Tktru, Treybien, Truthsort, WOSlinker, Wasbeer, WhisperToMe, Wordofi, Yworo, Zackbrown1, ZaneMichigan, 129 anonymous edits Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Justin Amash, official portrait, 112th Congress.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Justin_Amash,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Rep. Justin Amash License

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