29 Facts About Buck McKeon

Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon was born on September 9,1938 and is an American politician who served as a US representative from California's 25th congressional district from 1993 to 2015.

Buck McKeon is a former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Education Committee.

Buck McKeon spent two years as a Mormon missionary before enrolling at Brigham Young University.

Buck McKeon later received his Bachelor of Science degree in animal husbandry in 1985, after previously putting his studies on hold to raise a family and establish his early business career.

Buck McKeon had worked as the chairman of a small, regional bank.

Buck McKeon was a one-term councilman of Santa Clarita, being one of the first to hold that post after the city incorporated in 1987.

In 2009, Buck McKeon served as ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Under rules of the House of Representatives, Buck McKeon was required to step down from his position as ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee, though he continued to serve on the committee.

Buck McKeon was named chairman of the Committee on Armed Services in January, following the Republican takeover of the House in the November 2010 elections.

Buck McKeon was greatly involved in the reform of the Student Loan Aid Program, which reduced interest rates but controversially increased federal control over education policy, such as teacher training.

Buck McKeon was thus the first congressman to represent the new district.

Buck McKeon's campaigns received the greatest financial support from the defense industry, especially aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing.

Buck McKeon served as the chairman on the Armed Services Committee.

Buck McKeon held the position from January 2011 to January 2015.

Buck McKeon was previously the ranking member of the committee.

Buck McKeon voted in favor of American military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as Barack Obama's Afghanistan "surge" strategy, and has voted for increasing money and supplies to troops there.

Buck McKeon has gone on record saying that withdrawal from Afghanistan should be conditions-based, and done with full consultation with senior military leadership.

Buck McKeon has called on Congress to "embrace and build on" Robert Gates' plan to find $100 billion in savings in the defense budget.

In 2011 Buck McKeon organized a fundraiser for the "Lucky 13" Republican freshmen on the House Armed Services Committee to get contributions from defense contractor political action committees.

Buck McKeon said if forced to choose between tax increases and cuts to the Pentagon budget, he would choose tax increases.

In 2012, Buck McKeon sought a one-year fix to stave off the defense budget cuts from sequestration, although he had previously voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included sequestration.

Buck McKeon led efforts by some Republicans that contributed to replacement of the sequester cuts for 2014 and 2015 with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

In 2014 Buck McKeon said of Obama's plan to raise taxes on banks and millionaires, "I think that would be wonderful but it's not going to happen".

Buck McKeon dismissed calls to replace USMC jet fighters destroyed by the Taliban in the September 2012 Camp Bastion raid.

Buck McKeon opposed "amnesty for those who have entered the country illegally" and emphasized border security.

Buck McKeon introduced the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, a bill that the House Armed Services Committee renamed in his honor.

In January 2012, it was reported that Buck McKeon received a so-called "VIP" or "Friends of Angelo" loan from troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, in which loans were granted at lower interest rates than were available to the public.

Buck McKeon denied knowing that he was part of Countrywide Financial's special loan program.

Patricia Kunz Buck McKeon was active in her husband's political campaigns, serving as treasurer and drawing a salary, which has been the subject of controversy.