Peter Fitzgerald (politician)
Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald ( born October 20, 1960 in Elgin, Illinois ) is an American politician of the Republican Party and a former member of the U.S. Senate for the state of Illinois. He won a Senate seat for the weak in Illinois Republicans and gained great notoriety that he was in constant conflict with his party leadership. He was known for his commitment against government spending for content.
Life
Fitzgerald attended a Catholic private school in Rhode Iceland, studied at Dartmouth College and at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received his doctorate in law at the University of Michigan in 1986.
Between 1992 and 1998 he was a member of the Senate from Illinois. There he was one of five members of the fab five, who were known to often seek dispute with the Republican party leadership in the state. The other members were Steve Rauschenberger, Dave Syverson, Patrick O'Malley and Chris Lauzen. Among other things, he pushed through that a non- native of Illinois prosecutor investigated cases of corruption in the government of the state. The investigation led to a number of convictions, among other things, it met the former Republican Governor George Ryan. But this also meant that many prominent Republicans did not support him in the election campaign and announced, not to do so in the future.
Policy
In 1998, Fitzgerald ran against the incumbent Democratic Senator Carol Moseley Braun. In Illinois, the Republicans had received no more seat in the Senate for 20 years, but Brown was deeply involved in several corruption scandals. Despite these major problems Brauns Fitzgerald won the election with only four percentage points ahead.
Fitzgerald generally holds conservative positions on issues such as abortion or a frugal fiscal policy. However, he is in favor of environmental protection positions and opposed it in his Senate term against the Ölbohrprojekt in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Statewide attention in the media found Fitzgerald, firstly, in 2000, he made a filibuster against a spending bill. He justified this by saying that it included a post for the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield was provided and the republican controlled state government had operated no honest competition for the upcoming project. On the one hand he held his second well-known speech, as the U.S. government after the attacks of September 11 passed a law that the U.S. carriers should support financially. He asked who supports the U.S. taxpayers financially and said that the airlines would spend the money, but after struck equally financially due to their structural problems would be as before. The Senate approved the law then still with 99:1 voices.
Because of his problems with his own party, he decided not to stand for re-election in 2004 because there was no likelihood in a strong Democratic opponent. His successor in the Senate, Barack Obama, who was successful against Alan Keyes.
Weblink
- Peter Fitzgerald in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
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- United States Senator from Illinois
- Member of the Senate of Illinois
- Member of the Republican Party (United States)
- Americans
- Born in 1960
- Man