H. James Saxton
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Hugh James Saxton (born January 22, 1943) is an American politician from New Jersey. A member of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
, he represented parts of
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, Ocean, and
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counties in the United States House of Representatives from 1984 to 2009. Before entering Congress, he served in the
New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...
and the New Jersey General Assembly. Saxton is currently a Director Emeritus on the board of New Jersey-based energy equipment and systems company Holtec International.


Life

Born in Nicholson, Pennsylvania, he attended East Stroudsburg State College (now East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania) and Temple University. He then pursued a career as an elementary public school teacher and
small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
owner. Saxton served in the New Jersey General Assembly (the lower chamber of the
New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
) from 1976 to 1981 and in the
New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...
from 1982 to 1984. Saxton had been a resident of the Vincentown section of Southampton Township, New Jersey. In 1984, 13th District Congressman
Edwin B. Forsythe Edwin Bell Forsythe (January 17, 1916 – March 29, 1984) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey who represented parts of Burlington, Ocean, and Camden Counties in the United States House of Representatives from 1970 until h ...
died with nine months left in his seventh full term. Saxton was elected as his successor. He ran in two elections which took place on the same day—a special election for the balance of Forsythe's term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. This gave him greater seniority than other freshmen congressmen elected in 1984. He was reelected 11 times without serious difficulty, always winning at least 58 percent of the vote. His district was renumbered as the 3rd District after New Jersey lost a seat in the 1990 census. He was a high-ranking member of the Armed Services Committee and the Resources Committee and Ranking Republican Member and Chairman of the
Joint Economic Committee The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) is one of four standing joint committees of the U.S. Congress. The committee was established as a part of the Employment Act of 1946, which deemed the committee responsible for reporting the current economic co ...
made up of members of the Senate and House of Representatives. In 2000, Saxton was challenged by then Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin
giving Saxton a spirited challenge
for the first time in years though Saxton ultimately prevailed. In the
United States House elections, 2006 The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 2006, to elect members to the United States House of Representatives. It took place in the middle of President George W. Bush's second term in office. All 435 seat ...
, Saxton was challenged by
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 ...
Rich Sexton Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated communi ...
, a lawyer and U.S. Navy veteran from
Mount Laurel Mount Laurel is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the South Jersey region. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 41,864, reflecting an increase of 1 ...
. Saxton won reelection by a 58%–41% margin. Saxton was widely praised across
South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...
for his efforts to remove
Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...
from the Pentagon's base realignment and closure lists in 1989 and 1991,
McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...
from the list in 1993, and Lakehurst Naval Air Station from the list in 1995. From 1993 to 2005, he worked to foster joint military facilities at the three installations. Saxon's efforts were rewarded when Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Base Realignment and Closure, 2005. In addition to saving the bases' 17,000 jobs, the legislation merged the three bases, creating a "megabase" (the first of its kind in the United States). Furthermore, 1,500 jobs and additional aircraft were directed to the new joint base. Saxton also saved the New Jersey National Guard's
108th Air Refueling Wing 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. I ...
from oblivion by working to provide it with a squadron of newer planes. His other accomplishments include a
beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
repair project on popular tourist destination Long Beach Island (which saw a 2006 groundbreaking) and a hospital Medicare funding initiative that brought $80 million to New Jersey hospitals in 2005 and 2006. On May 26, 2006, Saxton reported hearing a loud gunfire-type noise in the Rayburn House Office Building that led to the building being shut down for several hours. It was later determined that the noise was a construction worker discharging a pneumatic hammer in an elevator shaft near the garage. Capitol police officers who subsequently asked the workers to recreate the noise agreed it sounded like gunfire. On November 9, 2007, Saxton announced that he would not seek reelection in 2008, citing prostate cancer. He was succeeded by Democratic state senator
John Adler John Herbert Adler (August 23, 1959April 4, 2011) was an American lawyer, politician and a member of the Democratic Party who served for one term as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until 2011. He lost his 2010 congressional election to f ...
, who had been Saxton's Democratic opponent in 1990. Saxton has been a resident of Mount Holly, New Jersey.


Committee assignments

* Armed Services Committee ** Air and Land Forces Subcommittee (Ranking Member) ** Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee * Natural Resources Committee ** Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans * Joint Economic Committee (Ranking Member; Chairman)


Political positions

Saxton is best characterized as a moderate, like most New Jersey Republicans. The American Conservative Union counts his lifetime score as similar to that of conservative Mississippi Democrat Gene Taylor. In 2006, the nonpartisan ''
National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...
'' listed him as one of the Congress's centrists. He supported taking action to ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security. He argued against the estate tax in the Joint Economic Committee Study of 1998. This analysis examined the arguments for and against the federal estate tax and concluded that the estate tax generates costs to taxpayers, the economy and the environment which far exceeds any potential benefit that it might arguably produce. He is conservative on abortion issues, which earned him a 100% rating by the Christian Coalition from 2003 to 2005. He has voted against bills that would authorize
partial birth abortion Intact dilation and extraction (D&X, IDX, or intact D&E) is a surgical procedure that removes an intact fetus from the uterus. The procedure is used both after miscarriages and for abortions in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. In U ...
, taxpayer-funded human
embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
experimentation, and human cloning. However, he supported liberal issues, such as
gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
(
Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
and a ban on
semi-automatic firearm A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm (fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism ''automatically'' loads a follow ...
s). Saxton is supportive of environmentalism, which led him to be one of the few Republicans that the
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
endorsed in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. He has received generally favorable ratings by other environmental groups. He was endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, Ocean Champions and the New Jersey Environmental Federation in his 2006 reelection bid. The Audubon Society, the
National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (includin ...
, and the Nature Conservancy have regularly given him high marks and various awards for his work on conservation issues. Saxton also co-founded the bi-partisan Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus. Saxton was also supportive of some
gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...
measures, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and hate crimes bills. Saxton is a member of both the Republican Main Street Partnership and Republicans for Environmental Protection. He supported bipartisan issues, such as federal
campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform may refer to: * Reform of campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referen ...
( Shays-Meehan and
McCain-Feingold The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (, ), commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA (pronounced "bik-ruh"), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of ...
). He voted against
NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, but voted for CAFTA as a means to help reverse abject poverty and hunger, and ease potential political unrest in impoverished Latin America. As a former public school teacher, he did not support school vouchers. He endorsed his good friend Duncan Hunter in the 2008 Presidential Primary.


References


External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Jim 1943 births Living people Methodists from New Jersey East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania alumni American gun control activists Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from Mount Holly, New Jersey People from Southampton Township, New Jersey People from Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Burlington County, New Jersey Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians Schoolteachers from New Jersey