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Bill Nelson

For other people named Bill Nelson, see Bill Nelson (disambiguation).

Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior U.S. Senator from Florida. Nelson is a member of the Democratic Party. Nelson became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-61-C (January 12–18, 1986). Bill Nelson lives in the Baldwin Park neighborhood of Orlando (as does Republican Senator Mel Martinez) and Washington.

Early life

Nelson was born in Miami to Nannie Merle and C. W. Nelson. In his youth, he served as the world's International President of Key Club. He attended the University of Florida for three years, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and then transferred to Yale University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1965. During his time at Yale, Nelson was tapped for membership in the University's secret society, Book and Snake. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1965 to 1971. During this time, Nelson studied at the University of Virginia, where he received his law degree in 1968.

Nelson married Grace Cavert in 1972; they have two children: Bill Nelson, Jr. and Nan Ellen Nelson.

Early career

Nelson worked as a fire marshal and later as a lawyer before beginning his political career in the Florida House of Representatives. Nelson served in the state house from 1972 to 1979.

U.S. House of Representatives

Nelson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He served in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1991.

In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress (and the first from the House) to travel into space. He went through NASA training, along with Senator Jake Garn of Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-61-C mission from January 12–18. Ten days after his return, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off. Nelson was originally scheduled to be on the Challenger flight that resulted in the destruction of the Challenger and the loss of the entire crew, but a scheduling conflict bumped him to an earlier launch.

1990–2000

In 1990, Nelson ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida. He lost to former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, who went on to win the general election. During the primary campaign, Nelson tried to make an issue out of Chiles' health and age, a strategy that backfired on him in a state with a large population of retirees and senior citizens. Ironically, Chiles died in office in 1998.

From 1995 to 2000, Nelson was the Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida.

U.S. Senate

Election

In 2000, Nelson won the election for U.S. Senator from Florida, defeating then-Representative Bill McCollum, the Republican candidate. The election was to replace retiring Republican Senator Connie Mack.

Political actions and positions

Nelson has been a vocal opponent of oil drilling off Florida's coast and supports allowing the government to negotiate for lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies in the Medicare prescription drug program. He was among the few Democrats to vote in favor of CAFTA. He has also voted in favor of tighter bankruptcy restrictions and abolishing the estate tax. Nelson has received a 75-percent rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League

He has voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act as it had no exception for the life or health of the mother.

He has also voted against a bill providing for criminal penalties for anyone harming an unborn child during the commission of a crime.

In general, Nelson has high ratings from other left-of-center political action groups.

Nelson has also introduced legislation banning paperless electronic voting machines

In 2007, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted on a measure to de-fund torture by the CIA except in "dire emergencies." Nelson was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure, but all Republicans voted against it as well, thus defeating it

Senator Nelson is also a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus

He is widely regarded as a Moderate.

2006 re-election campaign

Nelson's job approval ratings were 49 percent during the 2006 campaign, three percentage points higher than fellow Florida senator Mel Martinez, a Republican in a nominally red state.

Republican Rep. Katherine Harris won the Republican primary, and faced Nelson in the November general election. In an interview with Sean Hannity on March 15, 2006, Harris claimed that Nelson was a member of the ideological far-left and had taken bribes. She did not state from whom, nor did she give any other specifics as to these allegations. Nelson is generally regarded as a moderate in Florida.

James Dobson promised to launch a battle "from sea to shining sea" against Nelson's reelection if he participated in a filibuster of Bush's pro-government court nominees. Dobson has been joined by other activists, such as Randall Terry, because of his opposition to Samuel Alito and his refusal to join what were largely Republican efforts to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. The Schiavo incident prompted Brian Darling, a strategist in Mel Martinez's staff, to write the Schiavo memo that articulated a plan to use the Schiavo controversy as a campaign tool against Nelson in 2006. Darling resigned when it was traced to him, and Martinez apologized publicly to Nelson.

Nelson was reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006 with 60 percent of the vote. His victory is the largest margin by a Democratic candidate in the state in many years.

Committee Assignments

Committee on Armed Services

Committee on Foreign Relations

Trip to Damascus

On December 13, 2006, Nelson went to Damascus and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This came following his appointment to the Senate Intelligence Committee. "He (Assad) stated that we in fact, have an interest, common interest, to stabilize Iraq. I think it is a crack in the door, and it is for discussions to continue," he said in a conference call from Amman, Jordan after meeting Assad in Damascus. The White House said that members of congress should not be going to Syria. "I think it is a real stretch to think that the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think. We have made it clear and we will continue to make it clear," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. In the days following Nelson's meeting with Assad, Senator Arlen Specter flew to Syria and met with Assad. Specter wrote an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer that emphasized the importance of such visits and reaffirmed Nelson's position that it was part of his constitutional duty.

Florida Primary Controversy

In 2007, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed a measure that changed Florida's primary date to January 29, several weeks earlier than the previous date. The measure passed the Florida house by a vote of 118-0, and the senate by 37-2.

This change was in violation of the Democratic National Committee's rules regarding state primary dates, which caused DNC Chairman Howard Dean to threaten to strip the state of its delegates to the Democratic National Convention if they did not schedule the primary for a date that fell within the DNC's guidelines. Senator Nelson has been playing an active role in attempting to restore the delegates, going so far as to threaten a lawsuit against the DNC if an appropriate settlement is not reached.

On May 31, 2008 the DNC bylaws committee decided to seat all of the Florida delegates with each being apportioned one-half vote.