When was kay bailey hutchison influential

The five leading candidates for Texas governor come from different places and have led rich but distinct lives. Few voters get to meet the candidates in person, so we compiled 50 things you need to know about each as you decide who gets your vote. Kay Bailey Hutchison is known for her consensus-seeking way in the Senate and her ability to get favors and funding for Texas. Hutchison had an 80 percent conservative rating from the nonpartisan National Journal in , just behind her colleague Sen.

John Cornyn, who had an 83 percent mark. She considers transportation and education the keys to Texas' future economic success.

She grew up in LaMarque, Texas, and aspired to become a middle class homemaker. One of her favorite childhood memories was going crabbing and sailing in Galveston Bay. She said she inherited her work ethic from her father, who was a real estate broker.

She became the first Republican woman elected to the Texas House in and later, the first Republican woman elected to statewide office. Hutchison does not support overturning Roe vs. Wade, saying she is concerned it might allow states to remove restrictions on abortion. She initially majored in government at the University of Texas, but switched to pre-law "because I didn't find someone to marry when I was in college.

As a UT cheerleader, she watched two of the best football teams in Texas' history. In , the Longhorns were undefeated national champions and in , the team suffered only one loss. She was one of seven women in the class of who graduated from the University of Texas Law School in June She didn't get her undergraduate degree until Bentsen had been appointed President Clinton's first treasury secretary.

In the election, Hutchison defeated Dallas businessman Richard Fisher with sixty-one percent of the vote, and vowed that she would serve only two full terms. In , Hutchison devised the federal welfare funding formulas used for welfare reform legislation.

She shaped defense policy on the defense and military construction subcommittees of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In that position, she drafted and passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of Hutchison led senate fights for legislation preventing states' tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure, and a bill strengthening health-care benefits for veterans and military retirees.

She sponsored and passed the federal anti-stalking bill, and legislation that expanded retirement funds for stay-at-home spouses. During , Ms. Hutchison was a deputy majority whip. She also served as chairman of the Board of Visitors of the U. In the final week of September, , Hutchison got enough votes to end a Senate filibuster and pass a rider that would stop the Department of the Interior from collecting full royalties from big oil companies drilling on public land.

Small companies pay royalties on the market price of crude. That lowers their royalty payment, saving them millions. But, of course, then the [unintelligible] missile, the pack 3, which was a much stronger technology, had come on line, it was being developed. And so Charlie was trying to save it in the House. And so he, you know, obviously asked for my help. I was on the armed services committee but I was the most junior of junior members [Sandul laughs].

But the technology was so great. So we got this strategy that all we would ask is that nothing go in the armed services bill that would designate the patriot hat we wanted a competition. And we knew if we had the competition, that was fair and that was what we could ask and we knew we would win if it was on the merits.

And so that's what we did. And Ted Kennedy was very powerful. He's another; I just worked very well with him. But he was very powerful and I was very junior. And I had been told that he had called the ambassador to the United States from Israel to ask him to weigh in on the patriot, you know, being designated. And I called him, the ambassador, and I remember it was one of the first times that, I was so junior, I hadn't been reelected by then, it must've been the fall of '93, because I called the ambassador and he called me right back and I said, "What time is it there?

And he said, "It's midnight. But I got the commitment right then, that he would not weigh in on behalf of the patriot. And I told him that the technology was better and he said, "Senator, I assure you that technology is our most important priority. And if there's a better missile, then I wouldn't consider arguing for the one that wasn't as good.

Just, if you just don't do anything, that's all I'm asking. And the armed services committee and, and then the patriot missile, we did have the competition and the…missile won. And so, of course, the manufacturing of it was partially, then, done in, well, Angelina County. I think it started in, well, it's in Lufkin now. And they're still doing it. I mean, they have, they do parts of it. It's a joint effort, there are other states that do it. But it's been an ongoing project that we've been able to do.

And that was the first and biggest thing that we did together. Later I did sponsor the bill to name the veteran's clinic…. I don't know if you've ever heard that story, that he crossed out Tyler and wrote "Lufkin" and it convinced everybody on the committee that Lufkin was a suburb of Tyler. That's how that veteran's [Sandul laughs] center got there. That's how the veteran's center got there [laughs]. I did not know that. That is a Charlie Wilson, I mean, that shows you how effective he is.

It's not, people don't do that as much anymore. How was Charlie so effective at working with everybody? They just loved him. She inspires women to strive toward their highest potential, providing a model of perseverance for all Texans. The first Republican woman to serve on the Armed Services Committee, Senator Hutchison proved a strong advocate for United States military personnel and their families, and for increased readiness and support for our armed forces.

Senator Hutchison consistently voted to roll back federal mandates and to limit the power of the government.