Connie Mack IV
Connie Mack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 14th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Porter Goss |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary Bono Mack |
Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy (born August 12, 1967, in Fort Myers, Florida), known as Connie Mack IV, is a Republican from Florida, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, representing Florida's 14th congressional district (map). He succeeded Porter Goss, who resigned to take the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mack, who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003 assumed the role his father, Connie Mack III, once filled, representing much of the same solidly conservative parts of Florida's west coast. Mack's father was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989 and of the United States Senate from 1989 to 2001.
A staunch economic conservative, Mack is a vocal supporter of less federal spending and lower taxes. He is an original co-sponsor of a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget. In 2007 Mack, introduced legislation to help encourage people to save and invest over the course of their lifetimes. Specifically, the Kids Invest and Develop Savings Act (KIDS ACT) would allow parents to open a Roth IRA for children of any age and would also allow parents, grandparents, and others to make contributions to that Roth IRA.
Mack has leveraged his role on the Foreign Affairs Committee to promote the ideals of freedom, security and prosperity. In particular, Mack is recognized as Congress' most outspoken critic of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [1] Mack has been widely applauded for fighting for issues important to his congressional district in Southwest Florida. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mack secured over $81 million to expand Interstate 75 in Southwest Florida, a project vital to the economic well-being, quality of life, and public safety needs of the region. He has also championed a variety of critical environmental issues, including fighting for continued Everglades restoration projects, more peer-reviewed scientific research of Red Tide, and other initiatives to protect the sensitive shorelines of his coastal congressional district.
Personal life
Mack is a great-grandson of Connie Mack, the manager and owner of baseball's Philadelphia Athletics, and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is also a great-grandson of Morris Sheppard, U.S. Senator and Representative from Texas, and a step-great-grandson of Tom Connally, who was the Texas Junior Senator to Sheppard for 12 years (Sheppard's widow married Connally the year after Sheppard died [1]). Mack's great-great-grandfather was John Levi Sheppard who was also a U.S. Representative from Texas. Having previously been romantically linked, on September 7, 2007, Mack and Mary Bono Mack, a member of the U.S. Representatives from California, announced their engagement to the general public. The wedding took place on December 15, 2007, in Asheville, North Carolina[2].
He has two children, Addison and Connie V.
Education
Mack graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in 1993.
Committee Assignments
- Budget Committee
- Foreign Affairs Committee
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
- Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
- Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Subcommittee on Aviation
- Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
External links
- U.S. Congressman Connie Mack official House site
- United States Congress. "Connie Mack IV (id: m001155)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Federal Election Commission — Connie Mack campaign finance reports and data
- Follow the Money — Connie Mack
- On the Issues — Connie Mack IV issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org — Connie Mack campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart — Representative Connie Mack IV (FL) profile
- Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Connie Mack voting record
- Connie Mack for Congress official campaign site