Lloyd Alton Doggett II (born October 6, 1946) is an American attorney and politician who is a
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, he has represented a district based in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
since 1995, currently numbered as
Texas's 35th congressional district
Texas's 35th congressional district is a district that was created as a result of the 2010 United States census. The first candidates ran in the 2012 House elections and were seated for the 113th United States Congress. This election was won by ...
. Doggett is the only Democrat to represent any part of Austin in Congress.
Doggett was previously a member of the
Texas State 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 ...
and a justice of the
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
.
Early life and education
Doggett was born in Austin, the son of Alyce Paulin (Freydenfeldt) and Lloyd Alton Doggett. His maternal grandparents were Swedish. Doggett graduated
Omicron Delta Kappa and received both a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in business administration and a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, where he served as student body president his senior year. While attending the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, he also joined
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...
fraternity.
Early career
Doggett served as a member of 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 ...
from 1973 to 1985. He was the Democratic nominee for the
1984 United States Senate election in Texas
The 1984 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republican U.S. Senator John Tower decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Phil Gramm won the open se ...
, losing to the Republican candidate, U.S. Senator
Phil Gramm
William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...
, by a wide margin. Doggett authored the bill creating the Texas Commission on Human Rights, as well as a law outlawing "cop killer" bullets and a "sunset law" requiring periodic review of government agencies. He gained attention in 1979 as a member of the "Killer Bees", a group of 12 Democratic state senators who opposed a plan to move the state's presidential primary to March 11. The intent was to give former governor
John Connally
John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th governor of Texas and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republican ...
a leg up on the 1980 Republican nomination. The Killer Bees wanted a
closed primary
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
. When this proposal was rejected, they walked out of the chamber and left the Senate two members short of a
quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
. The bill was withdrawn five days later.
In 1989, Doggett became both an
Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...
of the
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
and an
adjunct professor
An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and
the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
at the
University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...
.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
;Before 2012
Doggett was elected to the House of Representatives in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
in what was then the
10th district after 32-year incumbent
Jake Pickle
James Jarrell "Jake" Pickle (October 11, 1913 – June 18, 2005) was a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1963 to 1995.
Pickle was born in Roscoe, Texas and brought up in Big Spring. He acquired h ...
retired. He was one of the few Democrats to win an open seat in that year's massive Republican landslide. Running for reelection in
1996, Doggett defeated
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nominee Teresa Doggett, to whom he is no relation. It marked the second election in a row in which he defeated a black female Republican. In the years following his first reelection, Doggett consistently won around 85% of the vote, facing only
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
opponents. The 10th, which had once been represented by
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, had long been a liberal Democratic bastion in increasingly Republican Texas.
Redistricting by the Texas Legislature in 2003 split Austin, which had been entirely or almost entirely in the 10th district for more than a century, into three districts. Through Republican
gerrymandering
In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...
, Doggett's home wound up in a new, heavily Republican 10th district stretching from north central Austin to the
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
suburbs. Most of his former territory wound up on the 25th district, which consisted of a long tendril stretching from Austin to
McAllen
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
on the
Mexican border. It was called "the
fajita
A fajita (; ), in Tex-Mex cuisine, is any stripped grilled meat with stripped peppers and onions usually served on a flour or corn tortilla. The term originally referred to skirt steak, the cut of beef first used in the dish. Popular alternative ...
strip" or "the
bacon
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
strip" because of its shape. Doggett moved to the newly configured 25th and entered the Democratic primary—the real contest in the heavily Democratic, majority-Hispanic district. He won the primary and the general election.
On June 28, 2006, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruled that the nearby 23rd district's lines violated the rights of Latino voters. As part of the 2003 redistricting, heavily Democratic and majority-Latino
Laredo had largely been cut out of the 23rd and replaced by several heavily Republican areas near San Antonio. The decision turned on the fact that the 23rd was a protected majority-Latino district—in other words, if the 23rd was ever redrawn to put Latinos in a minority, an acceptable majority-Latino district had to be created in its place. While the new 23rd was 55% Latino, only 46% of its voting population was Latino. The Court therefore found that the 23rd was not an acceptable Latino-majority district. It also found that the 25th was not compact enough to be an acceptable replacement because the two Latino communities in the district were more than 300 miles apart, creating the impression that it had been deliberately drawn to pick up as many Latinos as possible without regard to compactness.
[, which forced the redrawing of the 25th]
Due to the 23rd's size, the ruling forced the redrawing of five districts between
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
and San Antonio, including the 25th. For the 2006 election, Doggett regained most of his old base in Austin (though not the area around the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, which stayed in the 21st), and also picked up several suburbs southeast of the city. After skating to reelection in 2006 and 2008, he was held to only 52 percent of the vote in 2010—his closest race since 1996.
;2012
It was reported that the new Congressional maps in Texas turned Doggett's district from a strongly Democratic district into a strongly Republican one. The new map split Doggett's old territory among five districts. His home was placed in a new, heavily Republican 25th district stretching from east Austin all the way to the fringes of Fort Worth. Much of his old base was placed in the newly created 35th district, a majority-Hispanic district stretching from San Antonio to eastern Austin. Doggett's home was approximately five blocks east of the 35th. It appeared that the Republican-controlled state legislature had
gerrymandered the district by packing as many Democrats in the San Antonio-Austin corridor into it as possible.
Doggett accused the Republicans of wanting to make it difficult, if not impossible, for an Anglo Democrat to be elected to Congress from Texas, saying, "The Republican Party is determined to make the Democratic Party a party of minorities—that is what this is about, as well." He added that the Republicans were deliberately trying to reduce Austin's clout in Congress by "deny
ngthe capital city an opportunity to have a district that reflects the capital city." He was faced with the choice between running in the reconfigured 25th or moving, joking that he would live in a Winnebago to be able to run in the newly created 35th.
Doggett was set to face State Representative
Joaquin Castro in the 35th district primary election. The race was described as the biggest threat to Doggett's survival yet, with Castro seen as a "rising star" in the Democratic party. Doggett accused Castro of working alongside Republicans throughout the redistricting process. The Republican House Redistricting Committee later said that any discussions with Castro took place after the area for the district was decided. Castro opted to run in the neighboring 20th district after its incumbent,
Charlie Gonzalez
Charles Augustine González (born May 5, 1945) is an American Democratic politician from Texas. He represented Texas's 20th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2013. He served as Chairman of Latinos for Oba ...
, announced his retirement.
Doggett eventually decided to run in the 35th district, facing
Bexar County
Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...
assessor
Sylvia Romo
Sylvia S. Romo (born December 27, 1942 in San Antonio, Texas) is the former Tax assessment, Tax Assessor-Tax collector, Collector for Bexar County, Texas. Bexar County is the 19th most populous in the U.S., with a 2010 census of over 1.7 million pe ...
. Before the primary, he said that he would move into the district if he won. Political commentators suggested that Romo had the district numbers in her favor, but was attempting the difficult leap from local office to Congress, while Doggett had a huge amount of funding. Doggett stressed his long tenure as a progressive Democrat, saying he wanted to "stoutly defend Social Security, Medicare, and national health care", and also touted his strong support for higher education programs and public education. By contrast, Romo's campaign stressed her tax knowledge and CPA license, focusing on her potential to help with Congressional tax reform and economic growth.
Doggett won the primary with 73.2% of the vote. He performed strongly in San Antonio, an area he had never before represented. The district is so heavily Democratic that he was heavily favored to win the general election in November.
He easily defeated Republican nominee
Susan Narvaiz in the general election to become the first Anglo Democrat to represent a significant portion of San Antonio since
Chick Kazen left office in 1985.
;2016
Doggett won his 12th House term in 2016. With 124,612 votes (63.1%), he again defeated Narvaiz, who polled 62,384 (31.6%). Two other contenders held the remaining 5.4% of the vote.
2022
Texas's population growth resulted in its gaining two congressional seats after the 2020 census. In October 2021, Doggett announced he would run for reelection in the state's new 37th district rather than the 35th. Austin had been split between five districts on the previous congressional map, and Republican members of Congress who represented the area began facing closer reelection margins later in the decade due to the city's overwhelmingly Democratic voting patterns. Republican state legislators drew a new district almost entirely within Travis County to bolster Republican margins in surrounding districts. Doggett's decision to run in the 37th district created a vacancy in the 35th, which runs along
Interstate 35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
from Austin to San Antonio. Both seats are overwhelmingly Democratic, meaning the
winner of the Democratic primary in the 35th district,
Greg Casar
Gregorio Eduardo Casar (born May 4, 1989) is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023. He served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 20 ...
, is the heavy favorite in the general election.
Tenure
Described as an "endangered species", Doggett was one of only three white male Democratic House members from Texas in the 113th Congress (the others being
Gene Green
Raymond Eugene Green (born October 17, 1947) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for , serving for 13 terms. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district included most of eastern Houston, including portion ...
and
Beto O'Rourke
Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...
) in a state with mostly Republicans and minority members of the Democratic Party.
Since Green's and O'Rourke's retirements after the
2018 election, Doggett is the only white male Democrat representing Texas in Congress. He is one of the most liberal white Democrats from a Southern district, and one of the most liberal people ever to represent Texas in Congress. David Hawkings of ''
Roll Call
''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...
'' described his tax and environmental policies as "muscular progressivism".
Doggett was a frequent critic of former Speaker
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
while allying with
David Bonior
David Edward Bonior (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time De ...
, the Democratic whip, when Bonior was leading "an effort to diminish Gingrich's power by raising continual questions about his ethics."
He has been a close ally of
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
. In 2002, he supported her successful bid for Democratic leader over fellow Texan
Martin Frost Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
, a more moderate candidate.
On the local level, Doggett helped ensure the development of the Austin Outpatient Clinic, which opened in 2011 as the largest veterans' clinic of its kind in the country. In 2014, he secured passage of legislation to expand the
Missions National Park and supported it being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Doggett has long supported more open government, and is also a leading advocate for campaign finance reform. On the Ways and Means Committee, he has sought to close many overseas tax shelters. Doggett has authored legislation to create tax incentives for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and to create a nationwide Silver Alert system. From 2011 to 2016, he served as ranking member of the Human Resources Subcommittee and in 2017 became ranking member of the Tax Policy Subcommittee. His priorities there included education, health care, preventing child abuse, reducing prescription drug prices, fighting poverty, and eliminating multinational tax shelters and loopholes.
;Abortion
Doggett is pro-choice. In 2003, he voted against a bill that would have banned all late-term procedures erroneously called
partial-birth abortions. He was given a 100% by the
NARAL
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...
. He voted in favor of a bill to provide federal funding for
embryonic stem cell research
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...
in 2007.
;Environment
Doggett supports environmental preservation. He is one of the leading opponents in the House of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska. The
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environmen ...
gave Doggett a 100% rating, an indication that he supports the group's interpretation of environmental preservation. In the 110th Congress (2007–08), he wrote climate change legislation that would have gone further to reduce greenhouse gases than bills his party's leaders supported.
In June 2009, Doggett voted for the
American Clean Energy and Security Act
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bil ...
, a bill that would have established an
emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...
system for American producers of carbon dioxide. He said, "It has been a difficult and significant decision". "I just decided that I will have a better chance to make changes later in the process if I acted in good faith now. But don't think this means I'm signing off on the conference report", he added.
In 2018, Doggett was rated 100% by the group Clean Water Action.
;Gay rights
Doggett voted against the
Federal Marriage Amendment
The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), also referred to by proponents as the Marriage Protection Amendment, was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would legally define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA ...
in the
109th Congress. He voted against HR 4380 and HR 2587, bills that would have banned adoption by same-sex couples. In 1996, Doggett voted for the
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
(DOMA), but in 2011 he co-sponsored the
Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal gover ...
, which would repeal DOMA.
;Taxes
Doggett introduced legislation focused on restricting American companies from using overseas strategies to reduce their corporate tax rates. When Obama unveiled his plan in May 2009 to significantly change how U.S.-based multinationals are taxed, it included aspects of Doggett's proposals to crack down on tax dodgers. He voted against the 2010 tax compromise, criticizing the renewal of the Bush tax cuts, saying "This bill is largely a mishmash of rejected Republican ideas that cost too much to accomplish too little." He led a group of Democrats who "criticized the inclusion of a Social Security payroll tax reduction, saying it would endanger the soundness of the program."
In 2010, Doggett was responsible for an amendment to an education jobs bill that would mandate that Texas keep the same amount of education funding for three years in order to receive $832 million in federal money.
Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
called it "an unconstitutional anti-Texas amendment" and later filed a lawsuit after the Department of Education declined the application for funds.
In 2015, Doggett introduced legislation to close a loophole that allows tax writeoffs for senior executive bonuses, calling it "a perverse incentive for companies: the more you pay your executives, the less you'll pay in taxes."
;Energy
Doggett has backed bills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supports cap-and-trade as well as clean technologies. He supported the 2009 climate-change bill, "despite claiming it didn't do enough to protect the environment." He said it stripped the EPA of too much power and was too beneficial to coal plants and "other polluters." Doggett supports auctioning carbon allowances, and has worked to make legislation usually associated with the House Ways and Means Committee to be associated with the Energy and Commerce Committee.
In June 2015, Doggett voted against fast-track Trade Promotion Authority, calling it a "charter for corporate America rather than a high-level trade agreement." He criticized the U.S. Trade Representative for failing to enforce labor and environmental standards. "Usually, the reason that USTR fails is that it doesn't really try," he said. 'Asleep at the Wheel' is a great Texas swing band, but it is a horrible philosophy for trade law enforcement."
In 2015, Doggett's continued interest in international affairs was reflected in his support for the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
(JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal. Together with Representatives
David Price and
Jan Schakowsky
Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...
, Doggett organized a successful whip effort to ensure Congress did not obstruct nuclear negotiations with Iran.
;Health care
In March 2010, Doggett voted for the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
. Before his vote, he cited concerns that the bill did not include enough affordability, insurance competition provisions, and consumer protection provisions. Originally an advocate of a public option, he conceded the option in the final vote.
In 2015, Congress passed Doggett's NOTICE Act, which ensures that hospitalized seniors are notified whether they are in outpatient observation or inpatient care, saving them the sticker shock from realizing Medicare may not cover their skilled nursing facility care as expected. Doggett sponsored the Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act, which was enacted in 2015 and protects seniors from identity theft by removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. Another of Doggett's sponsored bills, the Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act, was enacted that same year. It allows patients with rare diseases to receive some compensation for clinical trial participation, without that compensation counting toward income eligibility limits for Social Security income or Medicaid.
Doggett has said Republicans in Congress and "ideological groups that have never accepted the idea of social insurance" pose a greater threat to Social Security than the country's aging population.
Doggett founded the House Prescription Drug Task Force to tackle the cost of prescription drugs.
Doggett co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019.
;Criticism of healthcare opponents
In August 2009, a "rally" against Obamacare broke out after Doggett said that he would support it even if his constituents opposed it. The protesters, who chanted "just say no", were later criticized by Doggett, who called them a "mob" and "extremists", and said the group was part of the "party of no." Of the situation, he said: "Their fanatical insistence on repealing Social Security and Medicare is not just about halting health care reform but rolling back 75 years of progress." Doggett said he was committed to individual choices.
Doggett reportedly tried to answer questions, but felt the demonstrators opposed all government programs, including Social Security and Medicare, in addition to the health care plan. He said that "
Texas, not only with the weather but with the politics, it is pretty hardball around here ... I have a pretty thick skin about all of this. But this really goes over the line.'"
;Immigration
Doggett supports a guest worker program for
undocumented immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
. In 2004, he voted against a bill that would have required hospitals to report undocumented immigrants who received hospital treatment to the Department of Justice. The
Federation for American Immigration Reform
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non profit, anti-immigration organization in the United States. The group publishes position papers, organizes events, and runs campaigns in order to advocate for changes in U.S. immig ...
, an
anti-immigration
Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
organization classified by the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
as a
hate group
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...
, gave Doggett a score of 0% in 2003.
Doggett also supports the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
(DACA) program, which grants undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age, known as "Dreamers", access to work permits and deportation relief.
;Iraq
Doggett was one of the leading opponents of the authorization of the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
in 2003 and called for a timetable for U.S. troops pulling out of Iraq. On May 24, 2007, he was one of 140 Democrats and two Republicans to vote against HR 2206, a bill that would provide emergency supplemental appropriations for funding the war, and in 2009 he was one of only 30 representatives to vote against HR 2346, which provided funding to continue war.
;Education
In 2009, as part of the Obama administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Doggett authored the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides a refundable credit for some tuition and related expenses.
;Other social service issues
In January 2013, Doggett passed a bill into law setting up a national commission to examine ways to reduce the number of children who die of abuse and neglect. More children die in Texas of abuse and neglect than in any other state. The tax and spending deal approved that month to avoid a so-called "fiscal cliff" included an extension of a higher-education tax credit he had proposed. He also worked with Representative
Sam Johnson
Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the acting ...
to pass a bill through the House in December 2012 to authorize the phased removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to crack down on identity theft.
;Trump administration
Doggett was a vocal critic of President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, skipping his inauguration to speak at the Women's March at the State Capitol in Austin, which observers described as the largest protest in Texas history. He has played a leading role in seeking disclosure of Trump's tax returns and in opposing the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act. Doggett also sponsored a resolution to formally censure Trump for his failure regarding violence at Charlottesville, Virginia.
Committee assignments
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Committee on Ways and Means
The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
**
Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Jurisdiction
The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...
(chair)
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Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee
*
Joint Committee on Taxation
The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) is a Committee of the U.S. Congress established under the Internal Revenue Code at .
Structure
The Joint Committee is composed of ten Members: five from the Senate Finance Committee and five from the House ...
*
House Budget Committee
The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, ...
Caucus memberships
* Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
* House Songwriters Caucus (co-chair)
*Congressional Pediatric and Adult Hydrocephalus Caucus(co-chair)
*
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advanc ...
*
Congressional Arts Caucus
The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
History
The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...
* Safe Climate Caucus
*
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...
*
House Baltic Caucus
*
Afterschool Caucuses
The Afterschool Caucuses are bipartisan caucuses in the United States Congress established to build support for afterschool programs and increase resources for afterschool care. Senators Lisa Murkowski ( R- AK) and Tina Smith ( D- MN) chair the Se ...
*
Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus
The Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, a United States Congress caucus, works to improve the 9-1-1 phone system and emergency response systems.[Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...](_blank)
reported that of the 435 House members, Doggett has the 11th-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.
[ Retrieved on Aug. 8, 2008]
References
External links
Congressman Lloyd Doggettofficial U.S. House website
Lloyd Doggett for Congress*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Doggett, Lloyd
1946 births
21st-century American politicians
American legal scholars
American United Methodists
Austin High School (Austin, Texas) alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
Living people
People from Austin, Texas
Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate
Democratic Party Texas state senators
Justices of the Texas Supreme Court
University of Texas School of Law alumni
McCombs School of Business alumni