Brian D. Birdwell (born November 3, 1961) is an American politician who has served in the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

for

District 22 District 22 may refer to: * District 22 (Chile) * District 22 (Tehran) * Texas Senate, District 22 * Florida's 22nd congressional district * Texas's 22nd congressional district * New York's 22nd congressional district * California's 22nd congress ...

since 2010. He is a survivor of the

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

attacks against

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

Early life and education

Born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Birdwell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminology from

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...

in 1984 and a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from the

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the university ...

in 1996.

Career

In 2001, Birdwell was working with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Two days after being injured when

American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled American Airlines domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The Boe ...

crashed into

, Birdwell met President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Rob Maness, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

officer who rescued Birdwell, learned about Birdwell's identity only when they met at the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Lo ...

. He holds a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and a

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

Elections

He defeated David Sibley in a June 22, 2010

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

, replacing Kip Averitt. Birdwell won the 2010

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

unopposed.

Legislation sponsored

In February 2017, Birdwell sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 2, which calls for a

convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution A convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also referred to as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention; is one of two methods authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby amendments to ...

. The resolution "seeks amendments that place restraints on the federal budget and check power and enact term limits for U.S. officials." Senate Joint Resolution 2 was passed by both chambers of the Texas Legislature. In May 2017, Birdwell sponsored a bill outlining the duties and limits of Texas delegates should a convention of states occur. It was approved by the Texas House and sent to Texas Governor

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

Personal life

He has one son with his wife, Mel.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Birdwell, Brian 1961 births 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century Baptists 21st-century American politicians Baptists from Texas Baptists from Virginia Lamar University alumni Living people People from Granbury, Texas People from Springfield, Virginia Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate Republican Party Texas state senators Recipients of the Legion of Merit Survivors of the September 11 attacks United States Army colonels United States Army personnel of the Gulf War University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni Military personnel from Texas