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Duncan Hunter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 52nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Lionel Van Deerlin
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2009)
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Lynne Hunter
Residence	Alpine, California
Signature	File:DuncanHuntersig.gif

Duncan Lee Hunter (born May 31, 1948) is an American politician who has been a Republican member of the House of Representatives since 1981 from California's 52nd congressional district in northern and eastern San Diego. It was previously numbered the 42nd District from 1981 to 1983 and then the 45th District from 1983 to 1993. Hunter was the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during the 109th Congress. Hunter is currently seeking the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.^[1]

Early life, education, military service, and family

Hunter was born in Riverside, California to Lola L. Young and Robert Olin Hunter.^[2] He graduated from Rubidoux High School in Riverside in 1966.^[3] He attended the University of Montana from 1966–1967,^[4] and then briefly the University of California, Santa Barbara,^[4] before enlisting in the United States Army in 1969.^[5]

He served in South Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 during the Vietnam War^[6] in the Army Rangers' 75th Ranger Regiment, attached to the 173rd Airborne Brigade.^[7] He participated in 24 helicopter assaults^[5] as well as in small-number, night-time reconnaissance patrols.^[8] He held the rank of First Lieutenant,^[6] and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, ^[5] Air Medal,^[6] and service ribbons such as the Vietnam Service Medal.^[6] He has said, "I didn't do anything special in the U.S. Army, but I served with very special soldiers I will never forget."^[6]

Utilizing the G.I. Bill in 1973, he enrolled at Thomas Jefferson School of Law (at the time known as the San Diego campus of the Western State University College of Law) and earned a Bachelor of Science in Law and Juris Doctor in 1976. Hunter worked farming and construction jobs to supplement his income while finishing his degree. After graduation, he opened a storefront legal office where he often provided free legal assistance to the area's Hispanic community. He was admitted to the State Bar of California on December 22, 1976,^[9] but has held inactive status since January 1, 1983.^[9][10]

Hunter married the former Lynne Layh in 1973. Hunter's son, Duncan Duane (born 1977), a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, was deployed to Iraq in 2003. Hunter has another son, Samuel. His family attends First Baptist Church of Alpine, which is affiliated with the San Diego Southern Baptist Association. Hunter's Alpine, California home burned down during the October 2003 Cedar Fire. The loss topped $500,000, but insurance covered most of it.^[11] Hunter was rather critical of then-Governor Gray Davis's response to the fire.^[12]

U.S. House of Representatives

Initial election and re-elections

In 1980, Hunter was recruited to run for Congress in what was then the 42nd District against 18-year incumbent Democrat Lionel Van Deerlin. Hunter was initially an underdog, but his attacks on Van Deerlin's record on national defense gained traction in a district dominated by military bases and personnel. Van Deerlin did not respond quickly enough, and Hunter narrowly defeated him. He was one of many Republicans swept into office from historically Democratic districts as a result of the "Reagan revolution"; Van Deerlin had been the district's only congressman since its creation in 1963.

After the 1980 census, many of the more Democratic areas were cut out of Hunter's district, and he hasn't faced serious opposition since. In his district, he consistently gets over 60% of the Hispanic vote and nearly 70% of the Democratic vote.

In the 2006 general election, he defeated Navy veteran/minister John Rinaldi, a Democrat, and Michael Benoit^[13], a Libertarian. Hunter was re-elected with 65 percent of the vote, a 33-point margin over Rinaldi.

On March 20, 2007, Hunter announced that, as part of his presidential bid, he would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives in 2008.^[14] His son, running under the name Duncan D. Hunter, announced his candidacy for that seat, even though he was serving in the United States Marine Corps in Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan at the time.^[15][14]

Chairman: House Armed Services Committee

Hunter became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2002. As such, he has sponsored legislation authorizing defense department fiscal year activities from FY2004 to FY2007. During consideration of the FY2006 Defense Authorization Act, Hunter offered an amendment to the bill clarifying enacted policy restricting women from direct combat units. According to The New York Times, Hunter's efforts would have "barred women from nearly 22,000 jobs".^[16] Hunter's amendment codified existing Army policy enacted in 1994 under former Defense Secretary Les Aspin that prohibited women from submitting or migrating into combat units or operations. The amendment was subsequently withdrawn in order for a study to be conducted on the rationale and future implementation of the policy.^[17]

Political actions and positions

Abortion

Hunter introduced H.R. 552, The Right to Life Act, on February 2, 2005. The purpose of the bill is to "implement equal protection ... for the right to life of each born and preborn human person." In the 109th Congress, the legislation collected 101 cosponsors.^[18] Hunter states that The Right to Life Act "would legally define “personhood” as the moment of conception and, therefore, guarantee all constitutional rights and protections, including life, to the unborn without utilizing a constitutional amendment."^[19] Hearings for H.R. 552 were scheduled for December 12, 2006, but were cancelled right before the House adjourned.^[20]

Parents' Empowerment Act

On April 28, 2004, Hunter introduced legislation that he said could "turn parents into prosecuting attorneys fighting a wave of obscenity."^[21] HR 6390 IH, also called the "Parents Empowerment Act",^[22] would allow the parent or guardian of a minor to sue in federal court anyone who knowingly disseminates material "that is harmful to minors", or specifically, "any pornographic communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or other pornographic matter of any kind",^[23] if it is distributed in a way that "a reasonable person can expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material and the minor, as a result to exposure to the material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare."^[24]

Immigration/border fence

In 1994, Hunter legislatively mandated the construction of 14 miles (23 km) of security fencing on the international land border separating San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. Hunter later introduced legislation calling for the construction of a reinforced fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. He cited crime statistics as measures of its success:

• Illegal alien apprehensions along the fenced region were reduced from over 202,000 in 1992 to approximately 9,000 in 2004. Further, it is estimated that the apprehensions vs. attempts ratio increased to over 90%;
• Following the establishment of the San Diego Border Fence, crime rates in San Diego have fallen dramatically. According to the FBI Crime Index, crime in San Diego County dropped 47.3% between 1989 to 2000 ^[25]

After successfully adding an amendment to a House-passed ^[26] bill that ultimately stalled in House-Senate negotiations, Hunter's amendment was later incorporated into H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act, introduced by New York Congressman Peter King.^[27][28] He has said that if he becomes President, the 754-mile (1,213 km) double layer border fence will be built in less than 12 months.

Hunter's voting record earned him a grade of A from Americans for Better Immigration. ^[29] However, his recent votes indicate strong support for H-1b visa expansion.^{[citation needed]}

Trade issues

Hunter has repeatedly voted against international trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO.^[30] Hunter contends that free trade policies directly impact America's manufacturing base and contribute to the country's trade deficit. Hunter cites that China has a 17 percent subsidy for its manufacturers, a 17 percent tax on U.S. imports, and the Chinese devalue their currency at 40 percent, making Chinese goods cheaper and leaving U.S. manufacturers at a 74 percent disadvantage.^[31]

Intelligence reform

In November 2004, Hunter and Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner withheld their support for a bill creating a National Intelligence Director (DNI) until specific conditions were met. Hunter argued that the military is the biggest consumer of intelligence and any reforms enacted, including the creation of a DNI, must not endanger the lives of troops on the battlefield. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which created the DNI position, was passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush later that year.

Opposition to government spending

In a House Armed Services Committee hearing on November 9, 2005, Hunter strongly criticized a Defense Logistics Agency "prime vendor" buying program that led to the purchase of $20 ice cube trays and a tiny refrigerator for $22,797 (initially exposed by The State). Hunter stated that he wanted explanations from the companies in question and the government purchasing agents who had approved the purchases, accusing the latter of "absolute incompetence." He further stated that the purchases are "a real slap in the face to the guy making $13,000 a year who is engaged in a firefight in Ramadi," and claimed that "A fairly large amount of incompetence is embedded into the system."^[32][33]

Environmental record

In 2006, Hunter earned an "environmental harm demerit" from the watchdog group Republicans for Environmental Protection for "efforts to downsize Channel Islands National Park by seeking to transfer Santa Rosa Island to the Department of Defense.^[34] The organization assigned Hunter a score of -4 for that year, indicating anti-environment action on 10 out of 12 issues deemed critical; however, REP did recognize the representative for voting in favor of designating wilderness areas in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.^[35] The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters issued Hunter the lowest possible environmental score for 2006; his lifetime rating from the LCV is nine percent.^[36] The group singled him out for criticism when in 2003 he and Senator John Warner "succeeded in removing the Senate's bipartisan language and adding broad military exemptions from both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.^[37]

Response to John Murtha's resolution to terminate deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq

On November 18, 2005, in response to Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha's resolution to terminate the deployment of United States forces in Iraq, to redeploy the forces already involved in Iraq, and to "pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy",^[38] Hunter and other Republicans drafted a two-sentence counter-resolution which read:

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

Democrats condemned the bill as a political stunt; they made much of the fact that Hunter himself didn't support his own resolution. The bill was defeated, 403-3, in the House of Representatives.

Response to John Kerry

On January 29, 2007, in front of a New Hampshire audience at Wilcox Industries in Newington, Hunter criticized John Kerry's recent statement before the World Economic Forum characterizing the Bush Administration's foreign policy as one that had turned the United States into "a sort of international pariah." Hunter asserted that "It was terrible for him [Kerry] to say that."^[39]

Call for Harry Reid's resignation

On April 25, 2007, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared "the war is lost", Hunter wrote "my highest obligation is, like yours, owed to our forces in uniform, especially during this time of war...Given your position of leadership within the United States Government, I find your pronouncement of failure irresponsible and disserving to America's armed forces. In light of the fact that this statement has both been used by our adversaries and has exhibited a marked lack of leadership to U.S. troops, I call on you to resign your leadership position".^[40] Hunter further wrote that Reid's declaration "can have no effect but to demoralize the brave men and women, who are honorably fulfilling their mission in Iraq, and to encourage our adversaries...Even if you sincerely believe it to be true, your pronouncement of failure will undoubtedly be used by terrorist leaders to rally their followers — inevitably leading to increased attacks on U.S. and coalition forces".^[41]

Military competition

On January 31, 2007, Hunter held a press conference on the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test, stating that it "represents the commencement of a new era of military competition in space." He contended that the United States' ability to engage in warfare depends heavily on its space assets, and opined that the country must take steps to "ensure our forces cannot be targeted through an adversarial space strike."^[42]

Voting record

As of July 4, 2007, Hunter had missed 190 votes (31.4% percent) during the 110th Congress; when he voted, he voted with a majority of the Republicans 88.7 percent of the time.^[43] The Washington Post has a complete list of Hunter's missed votes since 1991.^[44]

Cutting funds to Columbia University

In response to Columbia University's decision to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on its campus, Hunter has declared that he will seek to pull any federal funding of the New York City university.^[45] Hunter stated that if Columbia University does not support the United States troops who are fighting in the War on Terror, the least it can do is not provide support to the enemy.

2008 Presidential campaign

On October 30, 2006, Hunter announced his intention to consider running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Throughout 2006, his Peace Through Strength PAC has raised funds and run advertising expressing his issues of border security and fair trade.

Hunter formally announced his presidential candidacy in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on January 25, 2007.^[46]

On January 13, 2007, Hunter won Arizona's Maricopa County straw poll, beating Arizona Senator John McCain.

On March 1, 2007, a South Carolina straw poll was conducted in the Spartanburg area, where Hunter finished a close third (by six votes) in a statistical tie with McCain (1st) and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (2nd). Commenting on Hunter’s showing, Spartanburg Republican Gerald Emory said, “Now we have a true Ronald Reagan conservative that we can support. This is a proud night for the Grand Ole Party.”^[47]

In early April 2007, Hunter participated in what was billed as the first online presidential debate, pitted against fellow Republican Tom Tancredo. ^[48]

On April 17, 2007, Hunter won the Anderson County (South Carolina) straw poll with 48 percent of the vote. He defeated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (25 percent), Senator John McCain (7 percent), and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (5 percent). Hunter also tied for second place in Geenwood County and second place Pickens County. South Carolina is the nation's third primary state. "I am grateful to the great conservatives of Anderson, Greenwood, and Pickens Counties for giving our campaign a huge boost. It is clear our message of maintaining a strong national defense, securing our border without amnesty, holding China accountable on trade, and protecting life are resonating with the voters. Our campaign is one of issues, not flash and expense. We don't have a jet or an army of consultants and paid staff. We do have the conservative message that is true. In the end, that will be what Americans want." ^[49]

On September 1, 2007, Hunter won the Texas Republican Straw Poll with 41 percent of the vote. He defeated undeclared candidate Fred Thompson (21 percent) and Texas Congressman Ron Paul (16 percent). ^[50]

Despite the campaigning success Hunter has had at the county levels, it has not yet transferred to the national or state levels. Some major polls do not even list Hunter as an option along with Romney, Giuliani, McCain or Thompson.^[51]

Controversies

Size of home and taxes paid

In October 2006, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Hunter's Alpine home was listed on tax rolls as a two-bedroom, 2½-bath house with 2,946 square feet (274 m²) of living space. In fact, the house had six bedrooms and was about 6,200 square feet (580 m²). The property also featured a 2,000-square-foot (200 m²) guest house, a swimming pool and tennis court. The discrepancy resulted in Hunter paying less in taxes than others in similar-sized properties.

"All I know is what the county gives me," Hunter said. "They sent a person on the premises when I bought it. He said, 'This is what you owe.' We simply paid it. We've paid it ever since."^[52] Hunter noted that his assessment was set at 40% more than the 1% base amount set by California law. Nowhere in the article is it claimed that Hunter did not get permits on his expansion of the property. Any reassessment beyond the maximum legal increase of one percent of the tax per year normally would have been made based on those permits. The Union-Tribune made no claims as to how the County of San Diego failed to update the Assessor's files to match the permitted improvements

Hunter's main reaction to The Union-Tribune article was in the form of a full-page ad in the same paper immediately following The UT's article, including pictures of the "estate" on a dirt road showing the property was in less than optimum condition.

The house in question was burned to the ground in the wildfires of October 2003. As of December 2006, the house had been almost rebuilt, and Hunter was still contesting the assessment of back taxes, which had been significantly reduced.^[53]

Cunningham/Wilkes

Hunter has not been implicated in the Duke Cunningham/Brent Wilkes congressional bribery scandal. Although Hunter and Cunningham both served in Vietnam and as San Diego Congressmen, Hunter has never excused or condoned the actions of his friend. “Congressman Hunter does not condone Mr. Cunningham’s actions, nor has he tried to defend them…Congressman Hunter is a close friend of Mr. Cunningham’s, and friends don’t abandon each other during times of difficulty,” said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper. ^[54]

It has been suggested that Hunter had ties to ADCS and Wilkes (who was indicted and charged with bribery of a public official in February 2007), but although Hunter and Cunningham were both advocates of the type of automated document conversion technology supplied by ADCS (which customized a German system), Hunter remained an advocate the American-made product of Tom Casey's Audre. Hunter asked the Pentagon’s chief purchasing officer to "whenever possible, use [document conversion] products that are made in the United States by American taxpayers." ^[55]

• In 1992, Wilkes was a political consultant for Audre Inc, a firm based in Rancho Bernardo and headed by Tom Casey, which specialized in automated document conversion systems. At that time, Hunter called Wilkes and Casey two “aggressive and enthusiastic promoters of a breakthrough technology.” Congress created a program for the new technology, and Audre won $12.5 million of the $190 million that was allocated for contracts between 1993 and 2001.

• In 1994, Wilkes quit Audre and launched ADCS Inc., which customized a German document conversion system, to compete against Audre and two-dozen other software firms for government contracts. Hunter continued to back Audre’s American-made product. Wilkes and ADCS started donating money to Cunningham.

• Between 1995 and 2005, Wilkes and his associates gave $71,500 to Cunningham's campaign and political action committee. ADCS, in turn, received upwards of $95 million in government contracts.^[56]

• In November, 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion, and receiving more than $2.4 million in bribes.

• In February 2007, Wilkes was indicted and charged with bribery of a public official.

In December 2005, Hunter directed that the contributions his campaign received from Wilkes and Wade be given to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. ^[57] "We had options," said Bruce Young, treasurer for Hunter's re-election campaign. "We could keep the money, send it back, send it to the government or send it to a charity. We just felt that because of the situation, we would rather not have the money." ^[58]More than 100 members of the House and Senate – Republicans and Democrats – accepted money from Wilkes, former MZM Inc. president Mitchell Wade, their relatives, employees or political action committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group.

DP-2

According to the July 2007 edition of Pacific Flyer, Hunter and Cunningham had pressured the Department of Defense to "...advise DARPA to put an immediate halt to bureaucratic delays and get on with the DuPont Aerospace DP-2 testing." The DP-2 is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing, or VTOL, aircraft designed by DuPont Aerospace to transport special operations forces, but has been repeatedly rejected by the Navy, Army, Air Force, NASA, and DARPA. The design, of which all four constructed models have crashed, has had $63 million appropriated to it since 1991, not including a suggested $6 million for fiscal year 2008. Despite the rejections and reports by multiple military and civilian experts that the aircraft will not fly or hover and will incinerate Special Operations forces rapelling out of the aircraft, Hunter has allegedly repeatedly added funding for the DP-2 in "earmarks" and defended the aircraft in recent testimony to the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology. Hunter has received $36,000 in donations from DuPont Aerospace.^[59]

According to his testimony before Congress [6], Hunter compares the lack of success of the DP-2 to the trials of perfecting the V-22 Osprey. He alleges that such long-term testing is necessary to keep American forces equipped with the best technology.

References

See also

• Political positions of Duncan Hunter

External links

Duncan L. Hunter
Biography 2008 presidential campaign Political positions

Official sites

• Presidential Campaign Website
• Congressional website
• Congressional Campaign website
• MySpace
• NATIONAL "meetup" Group

Documentaries, topic pages and databases

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• New York Times — Duncan Hunter collected news stories and commentary
• Genealogy of Duncan Hunter
• PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - Vote 2008: Duncan Hunter
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Duncan Hunter profile
• Duncan L. Hunter at Curlie

Media coverage

• USA Today — Duncan Hunter associated with Randy "Duke" Cunningham/Brent Wilkes scandal, November 29, 2005.
• MonksMedia Radio Network - Duncan Hunter Supporters Radio