Al Green (D-Texas)

U.S. Representative (since January 2005)

(Green web site)

Why He Matters

A lifelong civil-rights advocate who has railed against racial profiling and discriminatory housing practices, Green seated Rep. Chris Bell, a white Democrat, in a nasty 2004 primary orchestrated by clever redistricting in Texas' Republican-led legislature.

Since winning that nomination in a landslide, Green has comfortably held the the safe Democratic, multiracial Houston-area 9th district. Well-known in his district, but rarely garnering the national limelight, Green has authored legislation focused on housing issues and veterans. He has also come out against racial profiling, particularly at airports where he says he had been targeted because of his looks.

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Corrections?

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Founder/Partner, Green, Wilson, Dewberry and Fitch; Instructor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7, Texas (1977-2004)
Birthday: September 1, 1947
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Alma Mater: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, 1971; Tuskegee Institute of Technology; Texas Southern University, JD, 1974
Spouse: Single

Religion: Baptist
Committees: Financial Services Committee ; Homeland Security Committee
DC Office: 236 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515-4309, (202) 225-7508
State/District Office: 3003 South Loop West, Suite 460, Houston, TX 77054, (713) 383-9234
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Path to Power

Born in 1947 in New Orleans, Green grew up in the segregated Florida panhandle. His mother was a domestic worker and his father worked at a white-owned garage where mechanics called him "Secretary," making fun of his illiteracy.

After attending Florida A&M University, Green earned his bachelor's degree from Tuskegee University. In 1974, he earned his law degree from Texas Southern University and would settle in Houston.

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The Issues

Green is among the most loyal House Democrats, voting with the majority of his party more than 99 percent of the time during the 111th Congress.

After being pulled out of an airport security line in 2005 for questioning and a search, Green claimed he was targeted and had "been accosted for looking Muslim" on previous occasions. Green has taken to he House floor to denounce the profiling of suspected terrorists on the basis of their religion.

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Following the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, Green was among a group of lawmakers who successfully requested the Department of Homeland Security grant Haitians already in the United States the right to remain in the country up to 18 months beyond their visa expirations.

Housing

On the House Financial Services panel, Green has focused on housing issues.

Green authored a 2005 amendment to an appropriations bill increasing funding to combat housing discrimination.

In 2007, the House passed a housing-recovery bill that would extend emergency subsidies for those who lost homes during 2005's Hurricane Katrina and later transfer them to the Section 8 housing program.

Green has also pushed his Homes for Heroes legislation, which would create a $200 million program aimed at housing homeless veterans and create a special position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development focused on veterans' homelessness. The legislation was twice passed by the House, but never voted on by the Senate.

Energy

Green has bucked the traditional party line on energy, a prominent industry in his part of Texas. Green has joined other Gulf region representatives in opposing the Obama administration's proposals to raise taxes and fees on oil-and-gas producers.

In 2010, he joined other area lawmakers calling on the Obama administration to expedite issuing of offshore-drilling permits after a moratorium was lifted.

Fiscal Policy

Green voted for the 2010 tax compromise bill, saying he supported the extension of tax breaks for everyone, particularly those in the lowest tax bracket, as well as the extension of unemployment benefits.

With a highlight of Green's first House campaign being his support of Social Security, Green specifically targeted his district's many ethnic communities to oppose President George W. Bush's proposal to allow younger wage earners to divert payroll taxes into private accounts. In a fact sheet his office handed out solely to Asian constituents, he wrote: "honoring our elders means not gambling with their financial security."

Health-Care Reform

A supporter of the 2010 health-care reform bill, Green backed several measures in the bill, including allocating funds for community health-centers and making it illegal to deny coverage for those with preexisting conditions.

The Network

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was the most visible of Congressional Black Caucus members to back Green's 2004 primary challenge, despite the group's publicly neutral stance on the race.

Waters stumped for Green and cut the candidate a $5,000 check from the caucus' political action committee. Other currently active CBC members who either campaigned for or contributed to Green's campaign includes Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), Donald Payne (N.J.), Sanford Bishop (Ga.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas).

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Additional Resources