pa_sen_SPECTER
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER
Age: 68 Born: February 12, 1930 in Wichita, Kansas Education: Yale, LL.B. (1956); University of Pennsylvania, B.A. (1951) Military: Air Force, First Lieutenant (1951-53) Family: Married - Joan; 2 sons Hometown: Philadelphia, PA Religion: Jewish Career: Senior U.S. Senator (1980-present); Philadelphia District Atty. (1965-73); PA Asst. Atty. Gen. (1964-65); Asst. Counsel., Warren Comm. (1964); attorney (1955-56, 1974-80) |
• Despite the fact that three-term U.S. Senator Arlen Specter had open heart surgery earlier this year, he is still running for re-election.
• Specter served on the Warren Commission, that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, where he helped develop the "single bullet theory" supporting the opinion that Oswald was the lone assassin.
• Specter was elected to the Senate in 1980, after several failed attempts to win a seat in Congress and the Governorship of Pennsylvania. His record is a mix of conservative and liberal votes - this has won him no favor with either party. While he is pro-choice on abortion, he advocates abolishing the IRS and replacing it with a 20% flat tax.
• On the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter was outspoken in his criticism of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. In 1991, during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, he aggressively questioned Anita Hill's accusations of sexual harassment. When he charged Hill committed perjury before the panel, feminists made it their mission to defeat the incumbent Specter in the 1992 election.
• After defeating an anti-abortion opponent in the 1992 primary, Specter faced Lynn Yeakel in the general election. While Yeakel reminded women about the Anita Hill incident, Specter slammed Yeakel for not paying more than $17,000 in back wage taxes until the day before she nnounced her candidacy. The close campaign ended in a 49%-46% win for Specter.
• In the Senate, Specter voted to ban discrimination against gays in the military, supports a minimum wage increase, as well as Goals 2000. He often takes on the religious right, but voted to overturn Clinton veto of the late-term abortion ban. He publically criticized the complexity of the Clinton healthcare plan with a painfully detailed charts.
• In 1995, Specter made a short-lived bid for the White House; he withdrew prior to the first caucus and primary.