William D. Delahunt (born July 18, 1941) has been a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
member of the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
since 1997, representing the 10th District of Massachusetts.
Born in
Quincy, MassachusettsQuincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, Delahunt was educated at
Thayer AcademyThayer Academy is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts. The Academy, conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, the father of the United States Military Academy, was founded in 1877...
,
Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Middlebury was the first American institution of higher education to grant a bachelor's degree to an...
and
Boston CollegeBoston College is a private research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Its name reflects its early history as a liberal arts college and preparatory school in Boston's South End. It is a member of the 568 Group and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
Law School and later served in the
United States Coast Guard ReserveThe United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Director of Reserve and Training....
. He served a term in the
Massachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from an equal number of single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives...
(1973–75) before serving as a
district attorneyIn many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is the appointed public official who represents the government in the prosecution of alleged offense criminals. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
of
Norfolk CountyNorfolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2000, the population was 650,308. Its county seat is Dedham. It is the 48th highest income county in the United States with a per capita income of $32,484...
for more than 20 years.
Delahunt was first elected after a
primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
battle against Phil Johnston of
MarshfieldMarshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 24,324 at the 2000 census....
and Ian Bowles of
Woods HoleWoods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...
.
William D. Delahunt (born July 18, 1941) has been a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
member of the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
since 1997, representing the 10th District of Massachusetts.
Born in
Quincy, MassachusettsQuincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, Delahunt was educated at
Thayer AcademyThayer Academy is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts. The Academy, conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, the father of the United States Military Academy, was founded in 1877...
,
Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Middlebury was the first American institution of higher education to grant a bachelor's degree to an...
and
Boston CollegeBoston College is a private research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Its name reflects its early history as a liberal arts college and preparatory school in Boston's South End. It is a member of the 568 Group and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
Law School and later served in the
United States Coast Guard ReserveThe United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Director of Reserve and Training....
. He served a term in the
Massachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from an equal number of single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives...
(1973–75) before serving as a
district attorneyIn many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is the appointed public official who represents the government in the prosecution of alleged offense criminals. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
of
Norfolk CountyNorfolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2000, the population was 650,308. Its county seat is Dedham. It is the 48th highest income county in the United States with a per capita income of $32,484...
for more than 20 years.
1996 Congressional election
Delahunt was first elected after a
primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
battle against Phil Johnston of
MarshfieldMarshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 24,324 at the 2000 census....
and Ian Bowles of
Woods HoleWoods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...
. Johnston was initially declared the winner. A recount conducted in a handful of contested towns preserved Johnston's victory though by a narrower margin. Following the recount, Delahunt sought judicial review in the Massachusetts Superior Court and Judge Elizabeth Donvan conducted a
de novo review of the contested ballots and declared Delahunt the victor by a 108-vote margin. The case appealed to the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial CourtThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
, which upheld the lower court ruling. The case is also noteworthy for the issue of "hanging chads" in punch-card voting machines.
Congressional career
Delahunt is a member of the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee;
Judiciary CommitteeU.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, or the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities...
; and also serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Coast Guard Caucus, House Older Americans Caucus, and the Congressional Working Group on
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
.
As one of his first initiatives in Congress, he created the bipartisan caucus on the
United States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
, which he now co-chairs with two other
Coast GuardA coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries.-Role:...
veterans, Reps.
Howard CobleJohn Howard Coble, born March 18, 1931 is a Republican Congressman representing the 6th district of North Carolina -Early life:Coble was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. After high school, he initially attended Appalachian State University, but after a year joined the United States Coast Guard,...
(
RThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
-
NCNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
) and Gene Taylor (
DThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
-
MSMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
). This has benefited his district through getting the problems of outpaced resources and security recognized at the ports of Massachusetts.
In November 2005, he met with
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
n President
Hugo ChavezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation...
and engineered a deal in which Venezuela would supply winter home heating oil at a 40 percent price reduction to thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents. The deal was carried out via the Venezuelan owned
CitgoCitgo Petroleum Corporation is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals, and other petroleum products....
, and brought accusations that Delahunt was assisting an anti-American leader. Delahunt, however, has sometimes criticized Chavez, such as in a September 2006 letter expressing "profound disgust" at a speech given by Chavez to the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
, in which he personally attacked President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
. In the letter he urged that Chavez express disagreements "in a more constructive manner," and work with the US to solve problems such as drug trafficking.
Delahunt also participates occasionally in
SpeakerThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The current Speaker is Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat representing California's 8th congressional district....
Nancy PelosiNancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
's working group "30 Something," which aims to engage the next generation of Americans further in government and the political process.
In the 110th Congress, Delahunt serves as Chairman of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.
He has been a consistent opponent of the war in Iraq.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on Europe
- Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight (Chairman)
- Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, or the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities...
- Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is one of five subcommittees of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary.-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...
- Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee.-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...
- Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law
Caucus memberships
- Co-chair of the bipartisan Coast Guard Caucus
- Co-chair of the House Older Americans Caucus
- Co-chair of the Congressional Working Group on Cuba
Controversy
During a June 26, 2008 hearing, Delahunt pressed
David AddingtonDavid S. Addington , was legal counsel and chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney . During 21 years of federal service, Addington has worked at the CIA, the Reagan White House, the Department of Defense, four congressional committees, and the Cheney Office of the Vice President. He...
,
chief of staffA chief of staff, also known as a principal staff officer, is the coordinator of the supporting staff and primary aide to an important individual, such as an Office of the Prime Minister-Civilian:*Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister...
for Vice President
Dick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the administration of George W. Bush....
, regarding harsh interrogation techniques, including
waterboardingWaterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages, causing the captive to believe he or she is dying. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water,...
. Addington commented that he could not give specifics, speculating that al Qaeda might watch
C-SPANC-SPAN , an abbreviation of Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming...
. Delahunt sparked outrage when he said, "Well, I'm sure they are watching, and I'm glad they finally have the chance to see you, Mr. Addington," to which Addington replied "Yeah, I'm sure you're pleased." The remarks were quickly condemned by Cheney's office as well as Representative
Steve KingSteven Arnold "Steve" King is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party representing the 5th District of Iowa in the United States House of Representatives since 2003. The district is located in the western part of the state and includes Sioux City and Council Bluffs.-...
as inappropriate and as an incitement of violence by al Qaeda against Addington. A spokesperson for Delahunt conceded that his comments "could have been better phrased," but maintains that he was making a statement about
transparencyTransparency, as used in the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning a "transparent" object is one that can be seen through...
in government.
Personal life
While Congress is in session, Delahunt lives in a rented house with fellow Democratic politicians
George MillerGeorge Miller III is an American politician who has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1975, representing ....
, Chuck Schumer, and
Richard DurbinRichard Joseph "Dick" Durbin is the senior United States Senator from the U.S. state of Illinois and Democratic Party Whip, the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate. He became Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate when the 110th Congress convened on January 4, 2007...
.
Delahunt and his wife, Katharina E. Delahunt,
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
d in 1986. They have one daughter, Kristin, and adopted another, Kara Mai (
née Nguyen Mai Tai Trang), from
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
in 1975.
External links