Bill Owens (New York politician)

William Lewis Owens (born January 20, 1949) is an American attorney and former U.S. Representative from New York, a post he held from 2009 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district he represented, the state's largest and most rural, includes most of the North Country, as well as the northern suburbs of Syracuse.

Bill Owens
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New York
In office
November 3, 2009 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byJohn M. McHugh
Succeeded byElise Stefanik
Constituency23rd district (2009–13)
21st district (2013–15)
Personal details
Born
William Lewis Owens

(1949-01-20) January 20, 1949
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (2009–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (1971–2009)
Spouse(s)Jane Owens
Children3
ResidencePlattsburgh, New York, U.S.
EducationManhattan College (BBA)
Fordham University (JD)
ProfessionLawyer, businessman
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
United States Air Force Reserve
Years of service1975-1979 (active)
1979-1982 (reserve)
RankCaptain

On January 14, 2014, Owens announced he would not seek reelection in the 2014 elections.[1]

Early life, education, and military service

Born in Brooklyn to Lewis Owens and Alice Stanton Owens,[2] Owens was raised in Mineola, New York. After graduating from Chaminade High School, where he was a classmate of television host and conservative political commentator Bill O'Reilly, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. He returned to the North Country and has lived there for over 30 years after serving as a United States Air Force captain.

Owens is a 1971 summa cum laude graduate of Manhattan College with a degree in business administration and a 1974 top-half graduate of Fordham University School of Law.

Law career

Before coming to Congress, Owens was a managing partner at Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane & Trombley, where he specialized in business law, international law, and estate and tax law.[3] He is also an adjunct professor in business law at State University of New York at Plattsburgh. In 2004, he was appointed by Governor George Pataki to the College Council at that university.[4] He served as the host for Business Affairs[5][6] on WCFE-TV, a PBS television station in Plattsburgh. According to financial disclosure forms filed when he ran for Congress, Owens made $751,000 in 2008, mostly from his law practice.[7]

When the Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed in 1995, Owens helped create and worked for the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation (formerly the Plattsburgh Inter-municipal Development Council), which recruited private companies to reuse the space. The base is now home to companies such as Bombardier Inc., a passenger railway car maker. Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation attests that more than 2,000 jobs were created at the site since the military left.[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections
2009
Main article: 2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election
Owens at West Point

On August 10, 2009, the Democratic Party of New York's 23rd congressional district chose Owens to run in a special election to fill the House seat vacated by the incumbent Republican John McHugh, who had resigned to take a post as the Secretary of the Army.[9] Because he was a registered independent at the time, Owens had to obtain the signatures of all 11 Democratic county chairs in the district to allow him to run as a Democrat.[10]

Originally, Owens faced Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug Hoffman, an accountant from Lake Placid who was running as a third party candidate on the single ballot line of the Conservative Party of New York after failing to also get the Republican Party nomination. “The race,” wrote Valerie Bauman of the Associated Press, “received national attention, with some calling it a referendum on Obama and others saying it could help Republicans focus their message to attract more people to the party.” Bauman said that “Despite the fervor that surrounded Hoffman in the final week of the campaign, Owens managed to appeal to the voters with his talk of job creation and the need for more federal support for Fort Drum (an army base in the district) and farmers.”[11] Scozzafava was a social liberal, and high-profile conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Malkin threw their support behind Hoffman, who enjoyed Tea Party support. Under pressure from conservative elements in her party, who saw “Doug Hoffman as the man who would save them,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Scozzafava dropped out of the race on October 31, the weekend before the election.[12] Hoffman became Owens's sole opponent when Scozzafava dropped out of the race on October 31. The Watertown Daily Times, which had originally endorsed Scozzafava, switched its endorsement to Owens on November 1.[13] Later on November 1, Scozzafava endorsed Owens. In the special election, Owens won 49 percent of the vote to 45 percent for Hoffman and 6 percent for Scozzafava. Owens was sworn in on November 6, 2009. He became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 23rd since 1873.

2010
See also: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in New York § District 23

Owens almost immediately announced that he would run for a full term in 2010. He campaigned largely on “creating jobs throughout his district, attracting foreign manufacturers, taking care of veterans, and ensuring that Fort Drum (an Army installation located in the district) is preserved.” Owens won his re-election bid with a second consecutive minority plurality of 47.5% of the vote against Republican and Independence nominee Matt Doheny and Conservative nominee Doug Hoffman, becoming the first Democrat to win a full term in the North Country district in 138 years.

The election was one of the ten closest Congressional races that year.[14]

2012
See also: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in New York § District 21

Owens ran for reelection in 2012 in the renumbered 21st District. He faced a rematch against Doheny and was elected to a second full term, albeit narrowly.[15]

Tenure

During his campaign, Owens said he would focus on creating jobs throughout his district, attracting foreign manufacturers, taking care of veterans, and ensuring that Fort Drum is preserved.[10][16] He has called for deeper federal budget cuts (including 3% cuts across the board for federal agencies), co-sponsored the Budget Process Improvement Act of 2011, and said that the Bush-era tax cuts need to be allowed to expire for people earning over $500,000. Owens is the second thriftiest member of Congress, with staff expenses of $713,969.[17]

Owens has consistently voted for legislation to build the controversial Keystone Pipeline to carry tar sand oil across the United States from Canada for export to foreign nations.[18]

As a congressman, Owens first authored piece of legislation was the [19] Rural Jobs Tax Credit Act, a bill that, if passed, would create a 15% tax incentive in 2010 for businesses that hire or expand their payroll in rural areas, and a 10% tax incentive for firms that do the same in 2011.

On December 14, 2011, Marc Heller reported that Sen. Claire McCaskill had accused Owens and other members of the House Armed Services Committee “of loading up an annual defense bill with pork-barrel projects despite a congressional ban on home-state 'earmarks.'” Owens's earmarks “included construction at Fort Drum and $500,000 intended for the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization.”[20]

Gay Marriage

In August 2009, Owens stated that he supported civil unions and believed marriage should be legally recognized as one man one woman. Owens opposes any federal action on marriage, which he called a "states rights issue".[10] In July 2011, after the New York State legislature passed a bill recognizing same-sex marriage in New York, Owens became a co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.[21]

Labor

He supports the Employee Free Choice Act.[22]

Health Care

Owens voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act on November 7, 2009.[23] He voted against the Stupak Amendment which proposed to restrict abortion funding in the federal health insurance exchanges.[24] He voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 21, 2010, and for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to incorporate certain agreed-upon changes with the Senate.[25][26]

Internet policy

In 2011, Rep. Owens became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act.[27]

GMO crops

Owens is a member of the House Committee on Agriculture[28] and voted for the Farmer Assurance Provision.[29] Owens says that he is "still doing the fact-finding" when it comes to Monsanto and GMO crops. "I have farmers who are telling me it's a great thing. I have people telling me that it's the worst thing in the world."[30]

The Monsanto Citizenship Fund from Monsanto donated $1,500 on June 24, 2013 to Owens' 2014 campaign.[31]

Committee assignments
  • United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations
    • United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
    • United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security

Source: House Appropriations Committee

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Owens and his wife Jane have three children and six grandchildren. Jane was an early childhood education teacher and is currently the Director of Education and Outreach for Mountain Lake PBS in Plattsburgh.[32] He is a Roman Catholic.

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References
  1. Thompson, Maury (January 14, 2014). "Bill Owens will not seek re-election". Glens Falls Post-Star.
  2. "Alice S. Owens". Press-Republican. June 2, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  3. "William L. Owens, Esq". Archived from the original on October 18, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  4. "William Owens Appointed to College Council". State University of New York at Plattsburgh. October 22, 2004. Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  5. "Mountain Lake PBS – Public television serving New York, Vermont, Quebec and Ontario". Mountainlake.org. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  6. "Owens throws hat into ring » Local News". Press-Republican. July 23, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  7. Vielkind, Jimmy (October 6, 2009). "Owens' Financial Disclosure". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  8. "Owens points to others to explain his jobs-creation claim". Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  9. Weiner, Mark (August 10, 2009). "Democrats nominate Bill Owens to run for Rep. John McHugh's seat in Congress". The Post-Standard. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  10. Vielkind, Jimmy (August 11, 2009). "Meet Bill Owens, a DCCC-Approved Non-Democrat for the House". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on November 6, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  11. Bauman, Valerie (November 4, 2009). "NY 23 Election Results: Bill Owens Beats Doug Hoffman". Huffington Post.
  12. limbaugh/ "Election results" Check |url= value (help). SF gate.
  13. "A changed race: Owens is best-equipped to represent NNY". Watertown Daily Times. November 1, 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
  14. "$200,000 Attacking Owens". North County Now. December 29, 2011.
  15. LoTEMPLIOPress-Republican, J. O. E. "Owens wins despite losing eight of 12 counties". Press-Republican. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  16. "Local Lawyer Nominated For U.S. House". WPTZ. August 11, 2009. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  17. "Frelinghuysen's staff most frugal". The Bernardsville News. August 19, 2011.
  18. OWENS Press Release January 8, 2012 : 113th Congress HR 3
  19. "H.R.4565: Rural Jobs Tax Credit Act of 2010 – U.S. Congress". OpenCongress. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  20. "Senator Accuses Owens Of PorkBarrel Projects". The Journal. December 14, 2011.
  21. "HR 1116: Respect for Marriage Act". GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  22. Vielkind, Jimmy (August 14, 2009). "Why Labor Might Leave the Democrat to His Own Devices in NY-23". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  23. "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 887". Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  24. "Owens votes "no" on Stupak-Pitts amendment, "yes" on health care bill". Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  25. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll165.xml
  26. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll167.xml
  27. Bill H.R.3261; GovTrack.us;
  28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. "H.R. 933 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 -- House Vote #62 -- Mar 6, 2013". GovTrack.us. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  30. Mann, Brian; Morrisonville, in; NY. "For North Country beekeepers, death and questions". NCPR. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  31. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. "Executive Staff". Mountain Lake PBS. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
John M. McHugh		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 23rd congressional district
2009–2013		 Succeeded by
Tom Reed
Preceded by
Paul Tonko		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 21st congressional district
2013–2015		 Succeeded by
Elise Stefanik
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