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Russ Feingold is a respected and independent voice in
the United States Senate - best known as an effective legislator who
works across party lines. When he first ran for the U.S. Senate in
1992, Senator Feingold pledged to hold Listening Sessions in each one
of Wisconsin's 72 counties every year. To date he has held over
1,000 of these open, town hall style meetings. Listening Sessions
provide the people of Wisconsin an opportunity to discuss issues
directly with Senator Feingold without an appointment, without making a
political contribution, and without having to go to Washington,
D.C. These meetings have been the foundation and driving force
behind Feingold's legislative agenda, and in the last few years he has
brought his signature Listening Sessions outside of Wisconsin to seven
states including: Alabama, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa,
Texas and Colorado.
A National Leader in Domestic and Foreign Policy
Senator Feingold has a long record of accomplishment on reform issues
including his key leadership role in the successful efforts to pass the
landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation, the
congressional gift ban and lobbying disclosure legislation, as well as
work on many other reform initiatives.
Feingold has been a tireless leader in bipartisan efforts to restore
fiscal discipline, cut wasteful spending, and reduce the nation's
growing deficit. A ten-time winner of the Concord Coalition's
'Deficit Hawk Award,' he has authored legislation to reinstitute the
tough, common sense Pay-As-You-Go budget rules that were instrumental in
helping Congress balance the federal books during the 1990's. As a
member of the Senate Budget Committee, he has worked with colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to reform budget rules and restore fiscal
sanity to the congressional budgeting process.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chairman of the
Constitution Subcommittee, Feingold has brought much needed attention to
the need to combat terrorism without undermining the rights and
freedoms of law-abiding Americans. Senator Feingold cast the lone
vote in the Senate against the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001 and has continued
to be a leader in the bipartisan effort to protect our rights and
freedoms and fix the flawed provisions of the Act. He has also
been an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration's illegal domestic
wiretapping of U.S. citizens without a court order.
As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Chairman of
the Africa Subcommittee, Feingold brings a critical focus to the fight
against terrorism. Since the beginning, Feingold opposed the war
with Iraq because he understood that it would direct resources away from
the fight against the forces that attacked us September 11, 2001, and
their allies. In August 2005, Senator Feingold became the first U.S.
Senator to propose a timetable to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq
and complete the military mission there. He believes that our seemingly
indefinite military presence in Iraq is fueling the insurgency and is
not creating the conditions needed for a smooth transfer of authority to
the new Iraqi government. As conditions in Iraq have
deteriorated, the strain on our military has increased and threats to
our national security in other parts of the world have worsened.
That is why Senator Feingold believes Congress must use its main
constitutional power—the power of the purse—to put an end to the Iraq
war. He supports blocking funding for this misguided war, thereby
safely redeploying U.S. troops and ending our country's ill-advised
involvement in Iraq.
Since 2006, Senator Feingold has served on the Senate Intelligence
Committee. There he continues his work to help strengthen our
country's national security and build a more effective approach to the
fight against terrorism, while also working to ensure that there is
adequate oversight of intelligence matters in the executive branch by
Congress.
Background
In 1917, Feingold's family settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, where he
was born to parents Leon and Sylvia on March 2, 1953. Feingold
graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975, received a
law degree from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 1977, and then
went on to Harvard Law School, where he earned his American law degree
in 1979.
In 1982, in his first try for elective office, Feingold defeated a
longtime incumbent and was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate for the
27th District. Feingold was re-elected in 1986 and 1990. When Feingold
first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992, he won a tough three-way primary,
and went on to defeat a two-term incumbent. Feingold was reelected to
the Senate in 1998 and 2004.
Senator Feingold has two daughters, Jessica and Ellen. Feingold is a
member of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He lives in
Middleton, Wisconsin. |
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Senate Committees
Russ serves on the following committees:
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Constitution Subcommittee, Chairman
- Committee on Foreign Relations
- Africa Subcommittee, Chairman
- Committee on the Budget
- Committee on Intelligence
Russ' Background
- Elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1982; Re-elected 1986 and 1990
- Practicing Attorney, Madison, Wisconsin, 1979 to 1985, at Foley & Lardner and La Follette & Sinykin
Russ' Education
- Harvard University Law School, Juris Doctor with Honors, 1979
- Rhodes Scholar, Final Honours School of Jurisprudence, Magdalen College, Oxford University, Bachelor of Arts with Honours, 1977
- University of Wisconsin - Madison, Phi Beta Kappa, Bachelor of Arts with Honors, 1975
- Janesville Craig High School, Janesville, Wisconsin, 1971
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