|
Florida Delegation Freshmen
|
|
Kathy Castor,
D-Tampa
|
Gus Bilirakis,
R-Palm Harbor |
Vern Buchanan,
R-Longboat Key |
Ron Klein,
D-Boca Raton |
Tim Mahoney,
D-Venus |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Age |
40 |
43 |
55 |
49 |
50 |
| Washington Home |
Renting an
apartment |
Renting his parents' townhouse on Capitol Hill |
Bought Capitol Hill townhouse of former Florida Rep. Clay Shaw |
Renting apartment with two other members |
Renting Capitol Hill apartment |
| Family |
Husband, William Lewis, and two daughters, 9 and 7 |
Wife, Eva, and four sons, ages 3 to 13 |
Wife, Sandy, and two grown children, 22 and 25 |
Wife, Dori, 21-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter |
Wife, Terry, and 20-year-old daughter |
| Where will family live? |
Tampa |
Palm Harbor during the school year; probably in Washington during the summer |
Both Washington and Longboat Key |
Boca Raton |
Venus (near Lake Okeechobee) |
| Biggest surprise? |
Being asked to make
life-and-death decisions as a member of the Armed Services Committee |
The members' access to first-hand information via the Congressional Research Service and other resources |
The sheer magnitude of voting and rules procedures |
"The amount of walking you do. It's 10-times as much as Tallahassee" |
How nicely Democratic leaders have treated freshman. "They've treated us like gold" |
| Most exciting thing yet about being in Congress? |
Being sworn into office by the first female House speaker while her two daughters stood next to her and her mother watched from the audience |
Being sworn in while accompanied by his children and his father, Mike Bilirakis, who held the seat for 24 years |
Watching President Bush deliever his State of the Union address from the House floor, alongside his colleagues, senators, Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices |
"The feeling you can change people's lives" |
"Having my daughter see me sworn in and see a woman become Speaker" |
| Committee Assignments |
Armed Services; Rules; Steering and Policy |
Veterans Affairs; Homeland Security |
Transportation and Infrastructure; Small Business |
Financial Services, Foreign Affairs |
Financial Services, Agriculture |
| Who did you replace? |
Jim Davis served a decade in the House, often working behind the scenes on educational and environmental issues, including fighting oil drilling off Florida's coasts. |
His father, Mike Bilirakis, a 24-year veteran of the House and a top Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee |
Katherine Harris, who served four years, was known as an aggressive deputy whip on the leadership team and focused on national security and economic issues |
Clay Shaw, a 26-year veteran and senior member of Ways and Means Committee |
Mark Foley, who served a dozen years, was a member of the House tax-writing committee and focused on child protection. He resigned after revelations that he sent explicit emails to teenage pages. |
| Top Issues |
Healthcare,
healthcare and
more healthcare |
Establish federal catastrophic insurance fund; improve certain veterans' benefits; allow tax deductions for health insurance |
Get Florida more transportation money, establish federal catastrophic insurance fund, balance budget |
Homeowners insurance, energy independence |
Homeowners insurance, water projects, farm bill reauthorization |
| Profession, past political experience |
Attorney; Hillsborough County Commission, 2002-2006 |
Lawyer; Florida House, 1998-2006 |
Owner of car dealerships; no previous political office |
Lawyer; Florida Legislature, 1992-2006 |
Runs financial business, no previous political office |
