Friday, February 10, 2017

Profile of Representative Martha McSally

U.S. Representative Martha McSally


Biography: Martha McSally was born on March 22, 1966, in Warwick, Rhode Island to Bernard McSally (a lawyer) and Eleanor McSally (a reading specialist). After finishing school at St. Mary's Academy in 1984, where she graduated at the top of her class, she earned a spot at the prestigious U.S. Airforce Academy. She continued her service in the Airforce for the next 26 years. After a distinguished military career, Ms. McSally became a professor of National Security Services at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany where she "taught and mentored senior military officials from around the world.: Representative McSally also obtained Masters degrees from both Harvard's John F. Kennedy's School of Government and U.S. Air War College in Public Policy and Strategic Studies where she succeeded in graduating "#1 in her class of 261 senior military officers." Martha McSally was also briefly married to fellow Air Force officer Donald F. Henry from 1997-1999 before the marriage was annulled. The short relationship is a matter of which both McSally and Henry are largely silent on and have even lead to allegations of a faked marriage so that McSally could have better chances of getting into a highly selective Airforce program, however, it is worth noting that there is little evidence of this. Representative McSally now lives in Tuscon with her golden retriever Boomer and is described as an outdoor enthusiast.                                                                                        Sources: https://mcsally.house.gov/about/full-biography  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-powers-hannley/sham-marriage-allegations_b_2036319.html


Military Career: Rep. McSally's military career first reached its peak in 1995 when she flew her first combat mission to Iraq in an A-10 Warthog. That particular time in the Airforce seems to hold special significance for McSally as it is reported that she still wears a small gold chain on a necklace that is meant to represent the A-10 Warthog. After serving for some time on various missions in the Middle East, Martha McSally was selected an A-10 pilot instructor for the 358th Fighter Squadron, the first of many roles that McSally would claim the title of being the first woman in the country's history of holding. She was then selected to be a part of the Legislative Fellowship Program, during which she advised Senator Jon Kyl on issues such as terrorism, cyber security, and other matters of national security. McSally then served on several more missions in the Middle East in areas such as Iraq, Saudia Arabia, and Afghanistan. Just one of the many campaigns she flew during her time there included the initial response to Afghanistan after the September 11th attacks, of which she was also an incremental part of the team that planned the assault. In 2004, Rep. McSally took over as the first female commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron, a 24-hour response force available anywhere in the world. Over her entire military career, Martha McSally flew a total of 2,600 hours, 325 of which were classified as combat and earned six air medals. She was also responsible for a court case that was ultimately responsible for legislation being signed by the President that ended the practice of requiring female Airforce members from having to wear a traditional Muslim covering (known as an abaya) when working off-base. Representative McSally has also continued her commitment to bettering the Airforce by trying to change the culture of sexual harassment, which the retired Airforce colonel claims to have been a victim of, to create an atmosphere of zero tolerance for such behavior. 

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Political Office: Martha McSally was sworn in to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona's second district in January 2015. Rep. McSally was also recently re-elected to her office after winning over Democrat Matt Heinz by 13 points. McSally is a part of the Committee on Armed Services, which includes the subcommittees of Tactical Air and Land Forces as well as Oversight and Investigations, and the Committee on Homeland Security, which presides over both the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications Subcommittee and the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee (of which McSally acts as the chair). McSally won her seat in 2015 after a failed running attempt in 2012. Martha McSally ran in 2012 against incumbent democrat, Representative Ron Barber. McSally ended up losing by a margin of fewer than 2,500 votes. However, the margins were so slim still several weeks after the election that McSally actually traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in orientation and "even appeared in the freshman class picture." McSally and Rep. Barber met again in 2014 where she narrowly beat him to take over her current seat. Rep. McSally's margin of victory was so slim that Arizona courts were forced to do a recount and announced more than six weeks after the election took place that she had won by a mere 167 votes. McSally often follows traditional GOP party lines with issues such as immigration, abortion, foreign policy, and energy. She identifies as pro-life, called President Trump's executive order calling for the construction of a border wall, "a strong start in the right direction," applauded sanctions on Iran by the Treasury Department saying that "it's about time we got serious about holding Iran accountable for its dangerous and destructive behavior," and consistently pushing for more relaxed EPA regulations, often insisting that strict rules about emission cutdowns and other environmental protectors would hurt rural Arizonans. There have been instances where Representative McSally crosses the party line, however. For example, in 2015 she just one of 26 Republicans that voted against her party's bill that would have revoked legal protections for undocumented immigrants that were brought to the United States as children. She also announced during her run for office that she backs the Democratic-sponsored Equal Pay Bill. Overall, Rep. McSally considers her motto for her actions in Congress to be D.D.S.S. (or Don't Do Stupid Stuff). She hopes that herself and other members of the Republican party can prove to the American people that they deserve the chance they were given with such a large party majority in both chambers of Congress and, of course, is always looking for ways to be a champion for her district. 

Fun Facts: Received both the Bronze Star and the David C. Shilling Award for her outstanding accomplishments in the Air Force.
                   Is an accomplished athlete having won both the National Military Triathlon Championship several times as well as taking first place in the Military Division of the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.
                  Holds the congressional seat that was formerly held by Gabrielle Giffords, who was forced to vacate it after she was severely injured in an attempted assassination attempt. 

Voting Record: Recent votes affirm McSally's conservative positions of deregulating business, seeking damages from foreign states for terrorism attacks, relaxing environmental regulations, repealing Obamacare, and providing services for veterans. For a detailed history of Representative McSally's voting record please visit https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/137299/martha-mcsally#.WJ33kTsrLIV or https://mcsally.house.gov/about/votes-and-legislation
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