43 Facts About Jim Sensenbrenner

Jim Sensenbrenner is the former chairman of the House Science Committee and the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; when the Republicans lost control of the House, he finished his six-year term as chairman and was not chosen as the Judiciary Committee's ranking minority member.

Jim Sensenbrenner served as the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2011 before Republicans abolished the committee after regaining control of the House.

At the time of his retirement, Sensenbrenner was the most senior member of the Wisconsin delegation and the second most senior member in the House.

Jim Sensenbrenner announced in September 2019 that he would not run for re-election in 2020.

Jim Sensenbrenner was raised in Shorewood, Wisconsin, and attended the private Milwaukee Country Day School, from which he graduated in 1961.

Jim Sensenbrenner received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1968.

Jim Sensenbrenner was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1968, the same year he graduated from law school.

Jim Sensenbrenner served in the State Assembly until 1975, and in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1975 to early 1979.

When 9th District Congressman Bob Kasten vacated his seat to run for governor in 1978, Jim Sensenbrenner ran in the election to succeed him in what was then the 9th District, which covered most of Milwaukee's northern and western suburbs.

Jim Sensenbrenner's district was renumbered as the 5th after the 2000 census, when Wisconsin lost a district.

In 1998, Jim Sensenbrenner was one of the House managers in the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

Jim Sensenbrenner was one of the impeachment managers for three other impeachment trials : the 1989 trial of Walter Nixon, the 2009 trial of Samuel B Kent, and the 2010 trial of Thomas Porteous.

Jim Sensenbrenner introduced the USA PATRIOT Act to the House on October 23,2001.

In 2006, the NRA successfully lobbied Jim Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act re-authorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees.

In 2005, Jim Sensenbrenner authored the Real ID Act, which requires scrutiny of citizenship before issuing drivers' licenses to make it more difficult for terrorists and criminals to alter their identities by counterfeiting documents.

Jim Sensenbrenner attached the controversial act as a rider on military spending bill HR418, which the Senate passed without debate.

Jim Sensenbrenner ordered the court reporter to halt transcription of the proceedings and C-SPAN to shut off its cameras.

Jim Sensenbrenner defended his actions by stating that the Democrats and witnesses had violated House rules in discussing issues unrelated to the subject of the meeting.

In June 2013, Jim Sensenbrenner objected to the FBI and NSA's use of the PATRIOT Act to routinely collect phone metadata from millions of Americans without any suspicion of wrongdoing.

Jim Sensenbrenner criticized the PRISM program, stating that the Patriot Act did not authorize the program.

In March 2005, Jim Sensenbrenner sided with the parents and siblings in the Terri Schiavo case, who fought unsuccessfully in federal court to block the withdrawal of her feeding tube.

Jim Sensenbrenner, in spite of unanimous Congressional support, attempted to delay a bill in December 2010 that would have been benefited Hotaru Ferschke, the Japanese-born widow of a United States Marine killed in combat.

On May 9,2019, Jim Sensenbrenner was one of four Republicans who voted for HR 986, a measure supported by all voting House Democrats intended to maintain protections of those with pre-existing medical conditions to have continued access to affordable medical insurance under the existing provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

On September 8,2005, Jim Sensenbrenner voted against a bill to provide $50 billion in emergency aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

On December 16,2005, Jim Sensenbrenner introduced the Digital Transition Content Security Act.

Jim Sensenbrenner helped lead the effort to pass the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006, which was supported by large copyright holders and opposed by fair use activists.

In 2006, Sensenbrenner expressed outrage at the FBI raid of the congressional office of Democratic Representative William J Jefferson, asserting constitutional concerns over separation of powers.

Jim Sensenbrenner held Judiciary Committee hearings in May 2006 on this issue.

In fall 2006, the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act unanimously passed the Senate, but Jim Sensenbrenner used his position to block final House consideration of the legislation, even though the bill had 324 co-sponsors.

Jim Sensenbrenner was the only Republican to join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Congressional delegation to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India during the March 2008 protests against China by Tibetans.

Jim Sensenbrenner stated it was his belief that the American flag should only be flown at half-staff for Americans.

Jim Sensenbrenner believes in criminal prosecution of broadcasters and cable operators who violate decency standards, in contrast to the FCC regulatory methods.

In July 2012, Jim Sensenbrenner advocated amending the Espionage Act of 1917 to enable the prosecution of journalists involved in publishing leaks of state secrets.

In December 2011, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Jim Sensenbrenner referred to First Lady Michelle Obama's "big butt" while talking to church members at a Christmas bazaar at St Aidan's church in Hartford.

Jim Sensenbrenner has received high marks from the National Taxpayers Union, a non-profit organization that supports low taxes.

Jim Sensenbrenner was named the 2006 "Man of the Year" by the conservative publication Human Events because of his immigration policies.

Also in 2006, the NRA lobbied Jim Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act re-authorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees.

In 1977, Sensenbrenner married Cheryl Warren, daughter of former state attorney general and US District Court Judge Robert W Warren.

Jim Sensenbrenner is currently a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, his research focusing on Eurozone financial markets, and has blogged for the Huffington Post on Italian politics and the Vatican.

Jim Sensenbrenner is an heir to the Kimberly-Clark family fortune, but no longer owns any Kimberly-Clark stock.

Jim Sensenbrenner has put his money into stocks, as detailed in the Congressional Record.

Jim Sensenbrenner has won lottery prizes three times, the largest, $250,000, in 1997.

Jim Sensenbrenner's doctor said the cancer was caught in the early stages when the cure rate is between 85 and 95 percent.