Albert Garza Bustamante (April 8, 1935 – November 30, 2021) was an American politician who served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

, representing Texas's 23rd district. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served as a member and one-time Chair of the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...

Early life and education

Bustamante was born and raised in Asherton, Texas to a family of Mexican

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

s. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, serving for two years as a

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

. In 1958, he enrolled in

San Antonio College San Antonio College (SAC) is a public community college in San Antonio, Texas. It is part of the Alamo Colleges District and the oldest public two-year college in Texas. The college has an average semester enrollment of 22,028 credit students an ...

, earning an associate degree. Bustamante then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from

Sul Ross State University Sul Ross State University (SRSU) is a public university in Alpine, Texas. The main campus is the primary institution of higher education serving the nineteen-county Big Bend region of far West Texas. Branch campuses, branded as Rio Grande Colle ...

. After earning his degree, he was hired as a teacher at

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

's Cooper Jr. High School.

Career

In 1968, Bustamante took a job as an aide to Congressman Henry B. González. In his first run for elective office in 1972, Bustamante was elected as a Bexar County, Texas, Commissioner. He then was elected as a county judge in 1978 and served on the state's Jail Standard Commission.

Congress

In 1984, Bustamante challenged nine-term incumbent

Abraham Kazen Abraham Kazen Jr., usually known as Chick Kazen (January 17, 1919 – November 29, 1987), was a U.S. Representative from Texas's 23rd congressional district, the first to serve in that particular position. Elected in 1966, Kazen served unti ...

in the Democratic primary for . No Republican had filed in the heavily Democratic, Hispanic-majority district. He defeated Kazen in an upset, all but assuring his election in November. He was reelected three times from this vast district, which spanned 800 miles from his home in

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 ...

. While in Congress, he served on the Armed Services Committee. He served on the Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems Subcommittee, the Subcommittee on Energy, and the Natural Resources Subcommittee. In 1987 and 1988, he supported nuclear test ban amendments, and voiced concern for environmental and safety problems in the nation's nuclear production plants. He played an important role in delaying funding for a Special Isotope Separation project in Idaho. In 1985, Bustamante was elected president of his Democratic freshman class in the U.S. House of Representatives and was assigned to the Committees on Armed Services and Government Operations. Bustamante changed his support of the administration's policy toward

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. In 1986, he voted to authorize an aid package for the Contras, but in the following two years he voted against Contra aid. In the

100th United States Congress 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, Bustamante was assigned to the Select Committee on Hunger. In December 1990, Bustamante became a member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. He was also a member of the House Task Force on Drugs and Crime, in which he advocated for tighter border controls to keep out illegal drugs from Mexico. Bustamante called for deficit reduction, but also believed that more money should be spent on education and health care.

Investigation and conviction

In 1992, Bustamante filed for reelection even as he was investigated for fraud and racketeering. His reelection chances were further hampered by redistricting after the 1990 United States Census, which carved the 28th district out of most of Bustamante's territory and left a heavily Republican Party (United States), Republican section of western San Antonio in the 23rd. Bustamante's Republican opponent, popular newscaster Henry Bonilla, criticized Bustamante for neglecting the needs of his constituents, excessive junketeering, and writing 30 bad checks in the House banking scandal. Although Bill Clinton carried the district, Bustamante lost to Bonilla by a 21-point margin, the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent that year. Bustamante was convicted of accepting bribes and racketeering in 1993 and was sentenced to 42 months in prison.A Guide to the Albert Bustamante Papers
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) Special Collections. Bustamante was released from prison on February 9, 1998.

Personal life

Following his release from prison, Bustamante faded from politics. He lived in San Antonio with his wife, Rebecca. Bustamante's son, John, a

-based patent attorney, was an unsuccessful candidate for Texas's 23rd congressional district in the 2012 United States House of Representatives elections, 2012 elections. Bustamante died following a long illness on November 30, 2021, at the age of 86.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bustamante, Albert 1935 births 2021 deaths American politicians of Mexican descent County commissioners in Texas County judges in Texas Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Military personnel from San Antonio People from Dimmit County, Texas Politicians convicted of illegal gratuities under 18 U.S.C. § 201 Politicians convicted of racketeering Texas politicians convicted of crimes United States Army soldiers