1. William McClellan "Mac" Thornberry was born on July 15,1958 and is an American politician who served as the US representative for Texas's 13th congressional district from 1995 to 2021.
27 Facts About Mac Thornberry
1. 2.
In September 2019, Mac Thornberry announced that he would not run for reelection in 2020, and former Physician to the President Ronny Jackson was elected to succeed him.
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Mac Thornberry is a lifelong resident of Clarendon, 60 miles east of Amarillo in the heart of the 13th.
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Mac Thornberry's family has operated a ranch in the area since 1881.
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Mac Thornberry received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
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Mac Thornberry then obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.
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Mac Thornberry served as a staffer to two other Texas Republican congressmen, Tom Loeffler and Larry Combest, and as deputy assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Ronald Reagan before joining his brothers on the family ranch.
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Mac Thornberry is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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From 2015 to 2019, Mac Thornberry served as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, the first Texan of either party to hold this position.
10.
Mac Thornberry lost his 2009 bid to chair the full Armed Services Committee to Buck McKeon, R-Calif.
11.
Mac Thornberry served as vice chair of the full committee during McKeon's time as chairman.
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Mac Thornberry previously served on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Mac Thornberry was critical of President Barack Obama's 2010 arms control deal with Russia for precluding the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations.
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Mac Thornberry served on a bipartisan commission in 2007 that drew up recommendations for winning the war in Iraq with both lethal and non-lethal approaches, such as diplomacy and foreign aid.
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On domestic issues, Mac Thornberry pressed for repeal of the estate tax and for tax credits to encourage production of oil in marginal wells.
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In 2010 Mac Thornberry sponsored a bill to expand access to state veterans' homes to parents whose children died while serving in the military.
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Mac Thornberry consistently voted for term limits for US Representatives, but did not intend to term-limit himself unless a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on all members of Congress had passed.
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Mac Thornberry pressed the House to pass a farm bill every five years in order to give farmers and ranchers more stability.
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In 2012 Mac Thornberry introduced the Smith-Mundt Modernation Act of 2012 to amend the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act prohibiting the domestic dissemination of propaganda produced for foreign audiences.
20.
Mac Thornberry voted to open the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.
21.
Mac Thornberry voted to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and voted against tax credits for renewable electricity.
22.
Mac Thornberry defeated Democratic Congressman Bill Sarpalius in the 1994 general election, a heavily Republican year nationwide.
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Mac Thornberry polled 79,416 votes to Sarpalius's 63,923 votes.
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Mac Thornberry's win began a wave of Republican victories in this region, and it is reckoned as one of the most Republican districts in the nation.
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Mac Thornberry is only the third Republican to represent the district for a full term since Reconstruction.
26.
In October 2022, Mac Thornberry was appointed to the Defense Innovation Board.
27.
In March 2024, Mac Thornberry was appointed to the board of directors at Booz Allen Hamilton.