74 Facts About Tom DeLay

Thomas Dale DeLay is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006.

Tom DeLay was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005.

Tom DeLay began his career as a politician in 1978 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

Tom DeLay was elected House Majority Leader after the 2002 midterm elections.

Tom DeLay was known as a staunch conservative during his years in Congress.

In 2005, Tom DeLay was indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy to violate election law by campaign money laundering in 2002 by a Travis County grand jury after he waived his rights under the statutes of limitations.

Tom DeLay resigned his seat in Congress in June 2006.

Tom DeLay was convicted in January 2011 and sentenced to three years in prison but was free on bail while appealing his conviction.

Tom DeLay was born in Laredo, Texas, one of three sons of Maxine Evelyn and Charles Ray Tom DeLay.

Tom DeLay spent most of his childhood in Venezuela due to his father's work in the petroleum and natural gas industry.

Tom DeLay attended Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he both played football and was the lead dancer in school productions.

The Washington Post reported that Tom DeLay obtained student deferments from military service while in college and that he received a high draft lottery number in 1969 which ensured that he would not be drafted for the Vietnam War.

Tom DeLay graduated from the University of Houston in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in biology.

Tom DeLay did not serve in the military during the Vietnam War era.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency's ban on Mirex, a pesticide that was used in extermination work, led Tom DeLay to oppose government regulation of businesses, a belief that he has carried with him throughout his political career.

In 1978, Tom DeLay won the election for an open seat in the Texas House of Representatives.

Tom DeLay was the first Republican to represent Fort Bend County in the state House.

Tom DeLay ran for Congress in 1984 from the 22nd District, after fellow Republican Ron Paul decided to run in the Republican primary for the 1984 US Senate race instead of for reelection.

Tom DeLay was one of six freshmen Republican congressmen elected from Texas in 1984 known as the Texas Six Pack.

Tom DeLay was reelected 10 times, never facing substantive opposition in what had become a solidly Republican district.

Tom DeLay was reappointed to the committee in 2006 after leaving his position as Majority Leader.

Tom DeLay served for a time as chairman of a group of conservative House Republicans known as the Republican Study Committee, and as Secretary of the House Republican Conference.

Tom DeLay was appointed as a deputy Republican whip in 1988.

Tom DeLay explained that under no circumstance would he step down.

Tom DeLay has expressed a liking for his nickname, pointing out that the hammer is one of a carpenter's most valuable tools.

In 1998, Tom DeLay worked to ensure that the House vote on impeaching President Bill Clinton was successful.

Tom DeLay posited that the US Constitution allowed the House to punish the president only through impeachment.

Tom DeLay called on Clinton to resign and personally compelled enough House members to vote to approve two articles of impeachment.

However Tom DeLay concluded that he would be "too nuclear" to lead the closely divided House that had resulted from the Republican House losses in 1996 and 1998.

Tom DeLay was the first congressional leader ever to be indicted.

Tom DeLay was noted for involving lobbyists in the process of passing House bills.

An arrest warrant was issued on October 19,2005, and Tom DeLay turned himself in the next day to the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston.

Tom DeLay refused to allow a change of venue from Travis County, which the defense argued could not be the site of an impartial trial, to Fort Bend County, in which DeLay resided.

On November 24,2010, Tom DeLay was found guilty by a Travis County jury on both counts.

Tom DeLay appealed his conviction to the Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District at Austin, which heard oral arguments on October 10,2012.

Tom DeLay was joined in the opinion by visiting Justice David Galtney, a Republican.

Tom DeLay had three years from that date to file any lawsuits for wrongful action.

Firms that had Democrats in positions of authority, Tom DeLay suggested, would not be granted the ear of majority party members.

In 1999, Tom DeLay was privately reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee after he pulled an intellectual property rights bill off the House floor when the Electronic Industries Alliance hired a former Democratic Congressman, Dave McCurdy.

Tom DeLay has long been a strong critic of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's regime, which Tom DeLay has called a "thugocracy", and a supporter of the US trade embargo against Cuba.

However, in April 2005, Time Magazine published a photo from a government-funded July 2003 trip to Israel, in which Tom DeLay is seen smoking a Cuban cigar.

Tom DeLay's staff contacted the Federal Aviation Administration for assistance in tracking down a plane that one of the legislators was flying to Oklahoma, an action that the FAA believed to be a result of safety concerns about the aircraft.

Tom DeLay contacted United States Marshal and United States Attorney's offices in Texas, as well as the Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center, an agency that deals with smuggling and terrorism.

Tom DeLay called the Terri Schiavo case "one of my proudest moments in Congress".

Tom DeLay made headlines for his role in helping lead federal intervention in the matter.

Tom DeLay called the removal of the feeding tube "an act of barbarism".

Tom DeLay was accused of endorsing violence in the wake of a series of high-profile violent crimes and death threats against judges when he said, "The men responsible [for Terri Schiavo's death] will have to answer to their behavior".

Tom DeLay's comments came soon after the February 28,2005, homicide of the mother and husband of Chicago Judge Joan Lefkow, and the March 11,2005, killing of Atlanta Judge Rowland Barnes.

Tom DeLay's opponents accused him of rationalizing violence against judges when their decisions were unpopular with the public.

Ralph Neas, President of People for the American Way, said that Tom DeLay's comments were "irresponsible and could be seen by some as justifying inexcusable conduct against our courts".

In early 1999, The New Republic picked up a story, first reported by Houston-area alternative weeklies, alleging that Tom DeLay had committed perjury during a civil lawsuit brought against him by a former business partner in 1994.

Tom DeLay was the target of the Justice Department investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's actions.

Tom DeLay received gifts from Abramoff, including paid golfing holidays to Scotland, concert tickets, and the use of Abramoff's private skyboxes for fundraisers.

Tom DeLay denied knowing that lobbyists had paid for travel expenses.

In July 2000, Tom DeLay voted against a bill that would have restricted Internet gambling.

In January 2006, The Associated Press reported that in 2001, Tom DeLay co-signed a letter to US Attorney General John Ashcroft calling for the closure of a casino owned by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.

Tom DeLay was rated a 2.77 out of 100 by Progressive Punch, a leftist affiliation, for his votes regarding corporate subsidies, government checks on corporate power, human rights and civil liberties, labor rights and environmental policy.

On economic policy, Tom DeLay was rated 95 out of 100 by Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative anti-tax group, and 95 to 100 by the United States Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business lobby.

Tom DeLay has been a fervent critic of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which he has called the "Gestapo of government".

Tom DeLay received a grade of "A+" from the National Rifle Association, the nation's largest pro-gun rights lobby.

In 1995, Tom DeLay introduced a bill to revoke the CFC ban and to repeal provisions of the Clean Air Act dealing with stratospheric ozone, arguing that the science underlying the ban was debatable.

In 2003, Tom DeLay blamed Senate Democrats and what he called "BANANA environmentalists" for blocking legislative solutions to problems such as the 2003 North America blackout.

Tom DeLay maintained public silence on Houston's 2003 METRORail light rail initiative, though in the past, he had opposed expanding light rail to Houston.

Public filings later showed that Tom DeLay had his Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee and his congressional campaign committee sent money to Texans for True Mobility, an organization that advocated against the initiative.

In 2005, Tom DeLay, acting against the president's wishes, initiated the "safe harbor" provision for MTBE in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, together with Rep.

Tom DeLay supported the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

In 2005, in a snub to the Bush administration, Tom DeLay was the "driving force behind the rejection of direct aid" to the Palestinian Authority.

Tom DeLay has long been a strong critic of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's regime, which Tom DeLay has called a "thugocracy", and a supporter of the US trade embargo against Cuba.

Since leaving Congress, along with tending to his legal troubles, Tom DeLay has co-authored a political memoir, No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight, given media interviews, begun a personal blog, opened an official Facebook page, become active on Twitter, and appeared on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, the highly watched ABC television reality show.

In March 2007, Tom DeLay published No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight, co-authored with Stephen Mansfield.

Tom DeLay was a participant on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, a reality-TV dance competition show in which celebrities such as Tom DeLay are paired with professional dancers.

Tom DeLay made political news, when, during the interview, he became the most famous Republican yet to give voice to the so-called birther conspiracy theory about President Barack Obama.

Tom DeLay married Christine Furrh, whom he had known since high school, in 1967.

Tom DeLay declined to comment on a 1999 report in The New Yorker that he was estranged from much of his family, including his mother and one of his brothers.