Peter Hoekstra was born October 30, 1953) is a Dutch politician who served as US ambassador to the Netherlands since January 10, 2018. A member of the Republican Party, previously he served as US representative for Michigan's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 2011.
Born in the Netherlands, Hoekstra immigrated to the United States as a child. He is a graduate of Hope College and Ross School of Business University of Michigan. In 1992, Hoekstra ran for the US House, defeating the 13-month-old veil Guy Vander Jagt in Democrat and Democrat Democrat John H. Miltner in the general election. After the appointment of Congressman Porter Goss as CIA Director, Hoekstra became Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, serving from 2004 to 2007. He was a Michigan Governor candidate in the Michigan 2010 gubernatorial election, but second from Rick Snyder in the Republican primary. Hoekstra also became a United States Senate candidate in 2012. He won the Republicans with 54% of the vote, but later lost to Democratic candidate Debbie Stabenow in the general election.
In July 2017, Hoekstra was nominated to be the US Ambassador to the Netherlands by President Donald Trump. The nomination has been confirmed by the US Senate on November 9, 2017, and Hoekstra was sworn in as US Ambassador on December 11, 2017. He took office on January 10, 2018.
Video Pete Hoekstra
Early life and education
Hoekstra was born Piet Cornelis Hoekstra in Groningen, The Netherlands. She moved to the US with her parents at the age of three. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Hope College in 1975 and an MBA degree from Ross School of Business University of Michigan in 1977. He later joined office furniture maker Herman Miller and remained there for 15 years, eventually becoming vice president of marketing..
Maps Pete Hoekstra
AS. House of Representatives
Selection
In 1992, Hoekstra made his first offer for public office in the 2nd District. The district, formerly 9, has been represented for 26 years by Guy Vander Jagt, the longtime chairman of the National Congressional Committee of the Republic. Hoekstra drove his bike across the district, charging that Vander Jagt had been serving in Congress for too long. He scored a monumental pique, winning nearly six percent. This primary victory is tantamount to election with the 2nd district seen as the "most Republican" district in Michigan, since Republicans have held the district for all but four years since it was formed in 1873. Hoekstra then defeated Democrat John H. Miltner and Libertarian Dick Jacobs in elections, with 63% of the vote. Hoekstra continues to pedal across the district every summer, and bikes across the state for his gubernatorial campaign.
When he was first elected, Hoekstra initially promised to serve only six terms (12 years) in the House. He eventually broke the promise of deadlines and won the election for seven consecutive periods. In 2006, POC Leadership Hoekstra (Dana Distance) collected nearly $ 160,000 in Political Action Contribution from contributors including Timsters, Michigan Credit Union League, and Little Planet Books.
Hoekstra did not face significant opposition in the Republicans or in elections (as in the previous five election campaigns) and proceeded to secure his seventh term. Shortly after the primary, he was appointed chair of the Intelligence Committee, replacing Porter Goss, who became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
2006
Hoekstra has no major opponents. In November he was opposed by Democratic candidate Kimon Kotos, who was also his opponent in 2004. Hoekstra defeated Kotos 183,518 votes to 87,361 votes.
2008
Hoekstra ran for re-election in 2008 against Fred Johnson, Associate Professor of History at Hope College. He beat Johnson with 215,471 for 119,959 votes.
Tenure
Hoekstra has a conservative ballot record, consistent with the conservative nature of the 2nd congressional district. He opposes abortion rights, opposes the expansion of health care benefits for children, opposes gay adoption and gay marriage, and opts against parental leave paid for federal employees. However, he also opposed the amendments to the Constitution to ban flag desecration.
Gun violence
Hoekstra has consistently opposed gun control during his tenure, earning an A rating from the National Rifle Association. In 2005 he chose to ban lawsuits of misuse of products against arms producers. In 1994 he voted against the Federal Weapons Arms.
Criticism of the Islamic Society of North America
Hoekstra and Sue Myrick sent an open letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the Islamic Society of North America, criticizing the Department of Justice's involvement as legitimating to an extremist-rooted organization.
Weapons of mass destruction
On June 22, 2006, Hoekstra made headlines by announcing at a press conference on Capitol that weapons of mass destruction had been placed in Iraq in the form of 500 chemical weapons.
Other media outlets have denied claims made by Hoekstra and Rick Santorum about the existence of weapons of mass destruction, reporting that the claim was disputed by both Pentagon officials, the Duelfer Report and the intelligence community.
On November 3, 2006, The New York Times reported that a website created at the request of Hoekstra and Senator Pat Roberts was found to contain detailed information that could potentially help those who wanted to produce nuclear weapons. The website closed on 2 November after being interrogated by The New York Times.
On September 17, 2007, several news outlets reported that Congressional committees Hoekstra had overseen had created a "false" and "misleading" report about Iran's nuclear capabilities. "Among the committee's statements is that Iran produces weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the city of Natanz, the IAEA calls it" incorrect ", noting that the weapons-grade uranium enriched up to 90 percent or more uranium enriched to 3.5 percent under IAEA. "
Operation of Iraqi Freedom document
During the 2003 Iraq invasion, about 48,000 document boxes, audio cassettes, and videotapes were recovered by the US military. In March 2006, the US government, at the urging of members of Congress, made them available online on the website of the Office of Foreign Military Studies, requesting Arabic translators around the world to help with translation. On April 18, 2006, about a month after the first document was published, Congressman Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a news release acknowledging "minimal risk," but said the site "would allow us to better understand information such as Saddam's relationship with terrorism, mass destruction and violence against the Iraqi people. "He added:" This will allow us to utilize the Internet to allow for conflicting bulk checks by limiting it to some exclusive elite. "
In early November 2006, all documents were deleted. Media reports claim that the website was taken offline due to security concerns linked to the posting of advanced diagrams and other information on the design of nuclear weapons before the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Repatriation of Yemeni captives at Guantanamo
On December 27, 2009, Hoekstra commented on reports that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly trying to launch a suicide bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, later claimed to be trained and equipped in Yemen. Hoekstra called for a halt to the return of Yemeni prisoners at Guantanamo.
Tea Party Caucus
Hoekstra was a founding member of Congress House Tea Party Caucus in 2010.
Committees assignment
- Select Fixed Committee on Intelligence
- As a ranking member of the full committee, Rep. Hoekstra can serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees
- Education and Labor Committee
- Subcommittee for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Education
- Subcommittee on Labor Protection
caucus membership
- Founder chairman Caucus of Education Freedom
- Founder chairman Caucus Congress in the Netherlands
2010 gubernatorial election
In December 2008, Hoekstra said he would not seek re-election to the seat of the House of Representatives in 2010, rather than campaigning for Michigan's governor. Hoekstra joins Mike Bouchard, Oakland County Sheriff and former state senator, former president of Gateway, Inc. Rick Snyder, State Senator Tom George and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox as candidates for the governor of the Republic of 2010. In the primary, held on 3 August 2010, Hoekstra took second place at Snyder.
US Senate 2012 election
Hoekstra was suggested as a possible contender for Debbie Stabenow's incumbent in the 2012 Senate election, but he initially refused to run. Hoekstra then changed his mind and decided to challenge Stabenow in the election. On August 29, 2011, Hoekstra was supported by Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder, and on 23 September 2011, Hoekstra was supported by 2012 Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Hoekstra faces Stabenow and four third-party candidates in the general election. On November 6, 2012, Hoekstra was defeated by Stabenow, receiving 38% of the vote.
Ad controversy
Hoekstra targets incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow with state-run television commercials during the Super Bowl 2012. The 30-second advertisement, created by Republican advertising consultant Fred Davis III, opens with a gong sound and a Chinese woman's image (played in 2012 Napa Valley Lisa Chan) riding a bicycle beside the rice fields. The ad sarcastically accuses Stabenow of contributing to the US. 'spends trouble, with the woman saying thanks to "Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow", in bad English, implies Stabenow has gained China's thanks for making the US economy "very weak" while China "gets very good".
The ad includes links to the Hoekstra campaign website with statistics on federal spending, decorated with Chinese flags and currency images and using stereotyped Chinatown fonts. In the HTML code on the Hoekstra website, the woman in the ad is identified as "yellowgirl". A statement issued by Hoekstra's campaign says HTML code is mistakenly shortened from "yellowshirtgirl".
Asian-American groups call the ads "very disturbing", and two against GOP Hoekstra, Clark Durant and Gary Glenn, question whether Hoekstra is the right candidate to be backed by Republicans. The ad was criticized by Michael Yaki, former House Assistant Speaker Nancy Pelosi, member of the US Civil Rights Commission, and US Senator Dan Inouye. James Fallows of The Atlantic calls it "the most rebellious ad". NAACP denounces the ad as "unnecessary race card".
The ad proved to be expensive for Hoekstra; some polls reported he lost ground for Stabenow in a shoot-out match.
Hoekstra first stood near the ad, claiming that the ad was about Stabenow "slapping between the eyes" on the economy. However, on February 10, 2012, Hoekstra closed a controversial theme themed China and gradually in new TV ads instead of the original ad. American Values ​​Super PAC, an Asian American group, claimed credit for scrub shortly after the group launched an online viral advertisement that condemned Hoekstra.
On February 16th, Chan apologized for his involvement in the ad. In a statement on his Facebook page, he said the role was "not representing who I am" and "really a mistake on my part."
Regardless of the controversy, Hoekstra won the Republican party. He lost to Stabenow in the general election.
Post-political career
In February 2011, Hoekstra joined the government relations group and Washington law firm, D.C. Dickstein Shapiro, and was named a prominent associate who visited the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, which concentrated on educational reform. Hoekstra left Dickstein Shapiro in 2014 to join one of his rivals, Greenberg Traurig.
Hoekstra joined Investigative Project on Terrorism Steven Emerson in 2014 as Shillman Senior Fellow, specializing in national security, international relations, global terrorism and cyber security.
Hoekstra published his first book in October 2015, Disaster Architect: Libyan Destruction with Terri Blumenfeld. An Obama administration spokesman took issue with the book on November 11, 2015 because of Hoekstra's statement that Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi's dismissal was a serious mistake since he became an ally of the United States and his fall caused Libya to become a terrorist. safe haven. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said: "careful consideration of the lengthy record may not conclude Colonel Qadaffi is not a friend and ally of the United States."
In an interview with Robert Siegel of NPR on December 10, 2014, Hoekstra said he disagreed with a recent report of the Senate Intelligence Committee released about the CIA's torture.
CNN's KFile reports that Hoekstra in 2016 accused Huma Abedin of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Washington Post 2016 fact checker gave the claim "four Pinocchios". CNN also stated that Hoekstra is often a guest on a talk show hosted by Frank Gaffney, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist based in Washington.
On March 11, 2017, Hoekstra said that Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, and other government material leusers, who had released secret information illegally, were traitors and should have brought their evidence to the intelligence committee of the US Congress for proper investigation.
US. Ambassador to the Netherlands
On July 24, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Hoekstra to be the US ambassador to the Netherlands. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 9th through voting votes and sworn by Vice President Mike Pence on December 11, 2017. He took office on January 10, 2018.
Then in December, US NOS correspondent Wouter Zwart questioned Hoekstra about an inaccurate claim that he had made in 2015 at David Horowitz Freedom Center that the Dutch had "no-fly zones" and that politicians and cars were being burned in the Netherlands due to Islam radical. Hoekstra told Zwart that he never said anything like that, saying, "we'll call it fake news, I never said that." Zwart then plays a clip where he makes the statement for viewers. Later in the interview, Hoekstra denied that he denied it, saying "I do not call it 'fake news.' I do not use those words today." On December 23, Hoekstra issued an apology on Twitter, writing that he "made a certain statement in 2015 and regretted the exchange during the Nieuwsuur interview".
On January 10, 2018, during his press conference after submitting his credibility to King Willem-Alexander, Hoekstra said he did not want to review comments made in 2015. Despite repeated questions from Dutch journalists about this comment, Hoekstra refused to speak about the statement - this statement and refused to answer any further questions.
On January 11, 2018, under the Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Irwin Goldstein said that in 2015, Hoekstra "made a comment that should not be made", that "the Department of Foreign Affairs disagrees with statements" and "that it is not a language which we will use. "He added that" the comments were wrong and did not reflect the US view of the Netherlands ". One day later, in an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Hoekstra finally revoked his statement about the existence of a "no-fly zone" in the Netherlands where cars and politicians were burned, saying: "Looking back, I am disappointed because I said it.That's a wrong statement.That's wrong. " He further claimed that he could not remember how he got to the statement or what he was based on, saying: "I've jumbled the country, I'm wrong, and I do not know how that can happen. I do know: it's wrong."
See also
- The WMD Theory after the 2003 Iraq War
References
External links
- Articles by Pete Hoekstra IPT (Investigative Project on Terrorism)
- Biography at the Directory of Congressional Biographies of the United States
- Profile in Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Electoral Commission
- Rules are sponsored in the Library of Congress
- Appearance in C-SPAN
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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