Vernon Gale Buchanan (born May 8, 1951) is a member of the United States House of Representatives. He has represented Florida's 16th congress district since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. Rep. Buchanan is the only member of Florida on the House Committee of Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, international trade, health care, and Social Security. Before serving in Congress, Buchanan has been in business for over 30 years and is chairman of the Sarasota Raya Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He serves as a board member and executive committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
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Early life and education
Buchanan grew up in a small town outside Detroit, Michigan, the son of a factory foreman in a family of six children. Her maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Finland. When he graduated from high school in 1969, he joined the Michigan Water National Guard, serving there for six years. Buchanan holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Cleary University, in Michigan, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Detroit.
Maps Vern Buchanan
Business career
In June 2007, Buchanan, in disclosure of his financial disclosures, reported having more than $ 100 million in assets, making him one of the five wealthiest Congressmen. Most of his wealth comes from his automotive empire, which includes several dealers in Florida. He also reports ownership interests in about fifty other businesses, including offshore reinsurance companies, and rental jet businesses. He reported receiving at least $ 19.5 million in revenue from this business in 2006.
American Speedy Printing
In May 1976, Buchanan assured the owner of a Michigan printing company that she could help the business grow. Two established American Speedy Printing, which grew through franchising to over 730 stores in 44 states. Then, Buchanan and Speedy America became defendants in a series of lawsuits during the late 1980s and early 1990s by franchisees and franchisors, who said they did not make money that Buchanan said they could hope for. After bankruptcy, he was accused by the creditor committee of taking excessive compensation and acts that resulted in too much income for Speedy America. In a 1995 deposition, he said that he had no personal obligation to repay a loan from Merrill Lynch; a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service on taxes on money Buchanan received from Merrill Lynch throughout the 1990s. Buchanan, her business partner, and Merrill Lynch are sued in violation of the Michigan Company Law. It ended with Buchanan paying $ 1.5 million.
Car dealer
In 1992, Buchanan bought a Honda and Acura dealer in Ocala, Florida. In late 1999, he bought two more dealers. He continued to acquire dealers after that, but in 2006 he sold five dealers and other businesses to concentrate on politics. The dealer had $ 756 million in sales in 2005. His Venice Dodge is one of the dealers informed by Chrysler that it will not get a franchise update.
Reinsurance company
Buchanan has two reinsurance companies - Jamat Reinsurance Co. and Buchanan Reinsurance Co., in Turks and Caicos, and part of the Bermuda reinsurance company, Greater Atlantic Insurance Co. All three companies offer an extended warranty policy for car buyers. Buchanan invests some of the proceeds from reinsurance companies in real estate development in the Bahamas.
Ritz-Carlton
In 1999, Buchanan was approached to help finance the development of a Ritz-Carlton condominium hotel in Sarasota. Buchanan cut from the project. The developers, Robert Buford and Kevin Daves, said he lied about his finances. Buchanan sued and his sides settled in 2001. Per the structured settlement, Buchanan bought a condo from Buford's nephew for $ 5 million; the niece had bought it the day before for $ 2,368 million. Buchanan had the unit a little over a year and then sold it to another Buford family member for $ 6.35 million. The arrangement resulted in Buchanan paying taxes on his profits by reducing the rate of long-term capital gain. Buford benefited from an increase in the appraisal value of the apartment and the use of Buchanan $ 5 million. In the year he has a penthouse, Buchanan uses it for charity fundraising.
Political campaign
2006
Primary selection
Buchanan ran in the 13th congress district of Florida to replace ruling President Katherine Harris, a Republican candidate for the US Senate. Buchanan won the Republicans with 32% of the vote, against four opponents. The closest challengers are Nancy C. Detert, with 25% of the vote, and Tramm Hudson, with 24%.
In the November election, Buchanan faces Christine Christine Jennings, a banking executive. There are 216,000 registered Republicans and about 155,000 registered Democrats in the district, but Jennings polls in front of Buchanan until election day. Buchanan put more than $ 5 million of her own money into her campaign.
In October, Vice President Dick Cheney held a lunch fundraiser for Buchanan; later that month, President Bush held a fund-raising reception for him. Between the two events, Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Martinez, and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came to the district to campaign for Buchanan.
General selection
Early November election results show Buchanan leads less than 350 votes. Due to the race's proximity, and the 18,000 high undervote in Sarasota County, a recount was ordered. Voters in Sarasota County have given more votes to hospital boards than they give to their congressional representatives - with 13% of voters not voting, compared with an average of 2% in neighboring countries. The touch screen voting machine used does not provide paper records. On November 20, 2006, the Florida State Department certified the results of a recount, which showed Buchanan won with 369 votes.
Jennings challenged the election results in court, citing "the malfunction of electronic voting machines." In December 2006, a Florida circuit judge ruled that his claim that the polling machine in Sarasota County lost to 18,000 votes was a "conjecture" and did not guarantee the exclusion of trade secrets from the voting machine company. In June 2007, the Florida state appeals court ruled that Jennings did not meet the "extraordinary burden" to prove the lower court judge was wrong. Another suit, filed by voters represented by Voter Action, People for the American Road Foundation, ACLU Florida, and the Electronic Border Foundation were also dismissed.
The US House of Representatives has the right to make a final decision as to whether Buchanan will hold the seat for the remainder of the term or be replaced by Jennings. In April, a three-person House task force was set up to evaluate the election. In early May, the task force voted along the party line to refer investigations to the Florida District 13 race district to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). On February 25, 2008, the committee and the House of Representatives accepted the GAO's findings that no machine error proved sufficient to alter the election results. The House of Representatives endorsed HR 989 confirming the committee's findings, receiving results from the 2006 race and formally rejecting Jennings' challenge of election results. Jennings officially dropped his challenge shortly afterwards to focus on his 2008 birthday match against Buchanan.
{{The election box starts no change | title = The 13th Congressional District Selection in Florida (2006)
| - | style = "background-color: # E81B23; width: 2px;" | | style = "width: 130px" | Republik | | Vern Buchanan | style = "text-align: right;" | 119,309 | style = "text-align: right;" | 50,08 | -
| - class = "vcard" | style = "background-color: # 3333FF; width: 2px;" | | class = "org" style = "width: 130px" | Demokratis | class = "fn" | Christine Jennings | style = "text-align: right;" | 118.940 | style = "text-align: right;" | 49.92 | - | - style = "background-color: # F6F6F6"! colspan = "3" style = "text-align: right;" | Total suara | style = "text-align: right;" | 238.249 | style = "text-align: right;" | 100,00 | -
| - style = "background-color: # F6F6F6"! colspan = "3" style = "text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Jumlah suara | style = "text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | {{{votes}}} | style = "text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | | - | - style = "background-color: # F6F6F6" | style = "background-color: # E81B23" | | colspan = "4" | Republik terus | -
|}
2008
Buchanan, was slim in 2006, but was easily re-elected in 2008 with Christine Jennings. He earns 55% of the votes to 38% for Jennings. On the eve of the election in 2008, Buchanan said, "What is the difference that results in two years."
2010
In May 2009, Buchanan announced that he would be a candidate for re-election to Congress. He defeated Don Baldauf in the main Republican Party, and faces Democratic nominee James T. Golden in the General. Buchanan won the 2010 General Election for the 13th Congress District in Florida with 68.9% of the vote.
2012
Ethical rules
In July 2012, the House Ethics Committee cleared Buchanan of allegations that she broke House rules by misleading Congress in the form of financial disclosure. After the issue was lifted, Buchanan submitted the revised form. The committee "found no evidence that the error was known or intentional and unanimously determined that the error was not substantially different from the hundreds or thousands of errors corrected by amendments to the Committee's requirements each year."
In 2008, the Washington (CREW) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics observer group (CREW) filed a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint, accusing a "straw donor" for Buchanan's campaign (campaign donations from later Buchanan employees); in 2011, CREW requested an investigation by the US Department of Justice. (The group also referred to Buchanan as the annual list of "most corrupt corrupt members" for 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012).
In 2012, Buchanan is under investigation at the House of Representatives Ethics Committee, the FEC, the Department of Justice, and the Congressional Ethics Office, more than two separate allegations of campaign finance mistakes: that he has violated federal law and House rules by forcing former business partners to sign false statements to FEC, and that he has illegally replaced car dealer workers for campaign contributions. The latest allegations were also raised in a long and fierce legal dispute with Sam Kazran, Buchanan's former business partner, who alleged that Buchanan was involved in a "cash swap scheme" in which employees were directed to write checks into Buchanan's campaign fund, then replaced by the company.
In 2012, the Justice Department ended an 11-month investigation without criminal charges. FEC also ended its investigation in 2012. Kazran agreed to pay a $ 5,500 fine for improperly distributed money to Buchanan's campaign committee, and by May 2013 three people and two Tampa companies were fined $ 16,000 by FEC for illegal campaign donations to Buchanan. In 2016, after a four-year investigation, the House Ethics Committee concluded its investigation, finding "inadequate proof" of the error on Buchanan's side.
Kazran filed a separate breach of a contractual suit against Buchanan in a Florida state court; Buchanan won the litigation.
Beginning in 2008, Buchanan faces lawsuits by six former employees, who accuse "conspiracy, fraud, and retaliation" as well as the recruitment of illegal immigrants and consumer fraud. However, none of those cases reached the court and in 2011 most were "fired without an assessment of Buchanan."
AS. House of Representatives
The 110th Congress (2007-2009)
Buchanan was sworn in as Representative for the 13th District of Congress in Florida on January 3, 2007. Quarterly Congress notes that Buchanan voted in favor of President Bush's 66 percent legislative agenda from the time in 2007, the third lowest level of 16 delegation members congress of the Republic of Florida.
Buchanan secures $ 2 million in federal funds for reimbursement for cleanup efforts on Anna Maria Island and $ 4 million to clean Wares Creek in Manatee County.
Buchanan introduced a constitutional amendment in January 2007 that requires Congress to distribute a balanced budget if ratified. He introduced laws to make United States stamps honor and assist disabled veterans, as well as guaranteed funding for the construction of a national veteran funeral in Sarasota County. In addition, Buchanan introduced the bill to increase federal aid to combat gang crimes and obtain grant funds for local anti-gang efforts in Manatee County.
In July 2008, Buchanan has chosen to override President Bush's five vetoes from a law passed by the 110th Congress. This disregarding voice included a vote to support the expansion of the scope of the SCHIP program, the 2008 agricultural bill, and the Water Resources Development Act.
On 29 September 2008, Buchanan voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, but changed her vote to support the bill on October 3 House elections.
The 111th Congress (2009-2010)
Buchanan sponsored several bills at the 111th Congress, including House Resolution 1839, a Bill to Amend the Small Business Act to Enhance SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), which was introduced on April 1, 2009. House Resolution 1839 will ask administrators of Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure that SCORE increases the proportion of small business mentors from disadvantaged social or economic backgrounds, sets standards for evaluating their activities and volunteers, and creates a one-to-one mentoring program of advice to small businesses from qualified counselors.
The 112th Congress (2011-2012)
In the 112th Congress, Buchanan was named the chair of the Cara Cara dan Sarana Committee, the only Member of Florida serving on the Committee. He was also asked by NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions to serve as Deputy Chairman of the Committee, appointing him to important leadership positions.
In January 2011, Buchanan helped secure the construction of the Sarasota National Cemetery through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The burial plan includes 11,500 grave sites, 16,000 cremain sites and other structures and buildings necessary for funerals for veterans and their families.
In June 2011, the Parliament passed the Buchanan "Military Courts for Terrorism Act" as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Law for Fiscal Year 2012. The amendment, approved by most of the 246-173 party-line votes, mostly along party lines, would "requires all suspected foreign terrorism to be tried only in military courts and never in civil courts."
In October 2011, Buchanan "played a big part" in the free trade agreement with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The agreement is supported by the White House, and a bipartisan majority in Congress.
In December 2011, the House of Representatives passed Hr. 527, an act buoyed by Buchanan to close "the gap in current law to ensure regulatory bodies will fully account for the effect of new regulations on small businesses before regulations are adopted."
In February 2012, Buchanan supported President Obama's proposal to lower the company's tax rate from 35% to 28%. In a statement, Buchanan said, "I appreciate the president's willingness to engage in such important matters."
In 2011, Buchanan, along with Democratic Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts, introduced the Pill Mill Crackdown Act of 2011, a law that would require money seized from a so-called pill factory to be directed to a drug treatment program; "Increase fines and penalties for those convicted of running a pill factory"; and making hydrocodone medications like Vicodin more difficult to obtain. The bill received bipartisan support both in the House and Senate (where introduced counter bills were introduced), but never made it out of the committee.
The 113th Congress (2013-2015)
Committee on How and How
- Trade Subcommittee
- Health Subcommittee
In the 113th Congress, Buchanan introduced a resolution that denounced the international practice of shark fraud. Buchanan's resolution calls for a ban on importing shark fins from fisheries that counterfeit sharks.
He is a member of the Republican Studies Committee, Congressional Art Caucas and NextGen Congress 9-1-1 Caucus.
Political position
Economy
Tax reform
Buchanan chooses to support the Withholding Tax and Employment Act of 2017. Buchanan, who has about $ 55 million in real estate assets, will immediately benefit from a gap that lowers tax rates on a mediocre income from real estate. After the action passed, Buchanan said the change was what "needed by Floridia for a long time." The bill also includes measures, made by Buchanan, to provide tax breaks to citrus farmers impacting Hurricane Irma.
Issue abroad
Immigration and Refugees
Buchanan supports President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to force the bar into the US for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and also supports Trump's executive order to ban federal funding for so-called holy cities, saying "" LONGER MORE... Time to protect American. "
Social issues
Abortion
Buchanan is pro-life.
Domestic issues
Cannabis
Buchanan has a rating of "C" from NORML for his voting history of causes related to cannabis. He opposes veterans who have access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Medical Administration physician and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their country of residence.
Arms policy
Buchanan characterized herself as "a strong defender of the Second Amendment, a Life Member of the NRA, and the possessor of weapons and hunters." In 2017, Buchanan has an "A-" rating of the NRA, showing a commonly-recognized vote of pro-weapon rights. The Center for Investigative Reporting in Florida reported that Buchanan received a total of $ 25,830 for his campaign in 2010 and 2012 in the form of direct contributions or independent expenditures from PAC affiliated with the NRA. As a member of Congress, Buchanan has voted in favor of several legislation to expand arms rights, including the vote on H. R. 38, which will allow hidden reciprocity between all States if and when it is signed into law. In March 2017 Buchanan voted in favor of the Second Veterans Amendment Protection Act, which, if signed into law, would allow veterans who were deemed "mentally incompetent" to buy ammunition and firearms unless otherwise dangerous by a judge. Buchanan also voted in favor of H.J.Res.40, who successfully used the Congressional Review Act to block the implementation of the Obama-era Amendment against the NICS Improved Amendment Act of 2007 aimed at preventing mentally ill people from purchasing arms legally.
Following the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, Buchanan indicated support for stock lump arrangements, saying, "Shares paralyzed that produce an automatic fire rate must face the same restrictions as automatic weapons." After the shooting of Stoneman Douglas High School 2018, Giffords, an organization headed by Gabrielle Giffords, announced that Buchanan was on the "power-counting priority list" in response to organizational perceptions that members of the Republican congress were blocking efforts to reduce gun violence.
Personal life
Buchanan lives in Longboat Key, Florida with his wife for 31 years, Sandy, whom he met in college. The Buchanans have two sons, James and Matt. James ran unsuccessfully to Florida House of Representatives in 2018.
The US Chamber of Commerce gave Buchanan a "Corporate Spirit" award in 2009. Buchanan is a former member of the board of directors, who supported him in the 2006 and 2008 races for the 13th Congressional District seat.
Also in 2009, Veterans of Foreign Wars gave Buchanan their Legislative Achievement Award for his work on legislation that improves the quality of life of active members and reserve members, retired military, veterans and their families.
References
External links
- Congressman Vern Buchanan official site of the U.S. House
- Vern Buchanan for Congress
- Vern Buchanan on Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Appearance in C-SPAN
- Biography at the Directory of Congressional Biographies of the United States
- Profile in Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Electoral Commission
- Rules are sponsored in the Library of Congress
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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