Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia is a senior US Senator. Rockefeller was first elected in 1984 and for over 40 years he “has proudly served the people of West Virginia” (About Jay n. p.). He is a chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation. As a chairman for the Intelligence committee, he was a critique about the President’s Bush politics in Iraq, provided the ideas of controlling the television violence by the FFC and granting the “retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies”.
He also provided the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 – S.773 and supported Barack Obama’s health reform. In this paper, we are going to provide the information on Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, his biography and political activities, such as explore the committees on which he sits and his position on major issues confronting Congress this section.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia was born on June 18, 1937 in New York several days after his great-grand father death. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Far Eastern Languages and History. He came to Virginia in 1964 as a volunteer at the community of Emmons.
In 1966 he began his political career at the he West Virginia House of Delegates and office of West Virginia Secretary of State. In 1976, he was elected Governor of West Virginia and later, in 1984, he was elected to the United States Senate (About Jay n. p.). He is known for his health care reforms and his national security letters of credence:
“The five-term senator from West Virginia has long been a leading advocate for health-care reform. He is chairman of the Senate Finance subcommittee on Health Care, and played a pivotal role in the debate over health-care reform in the Obama administration” (Why He Matters n. p.)
Apart from being a chairman for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, he also a chairman for the Subcommittee on Health Care, Subcommittee on International Trade, and Global Competitiveness, Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, Committee on Finance, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Joint Committee on Taxation.
The committee he leads holds such affairs as, communications, highways, aviation, rail, shipping, transportation security, merchant marine, the Coast Guard, oceans, fisheries, climate change, disasters, science, space, interstate commerce, tourism, consumer issues, economic development, technology, competitiveness, product safety, and insurance (Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee n. p.)
At the 111th United State Congress Rockefeller held a strong position on such issues as Health Care, National Security and Cybersecurity. He supported Barack Obama’s Health Care Reform, He said, “I represent a state that really needs health care reform, and I want it to be good” (Calmes n. p.).
He fights to increase the access to the health care for small business, rural population and children. Speaking about National Security, senator “has focused his efforts on improving and reforming the nation’s intelligence capabilities while providing aggressive oversight of the nation’s intelligence and counterterrorism programs” (Why He Matters n. p.).
He confronted the Bush’s politics in Iraq and claimed that involvement into the war with this country was a mistake that increased the threat of terrorism. In April 2009, he offered the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 – S.773 in which he emphasized the possibility of cyber-attack and suggested creation of the “cyber-emergency” that would be allowed to “shut” any suspicious traffic in spite of any law.
Thus, the Senator of West Virginia is one of the most active members of Senate. He has a strong position with respect to Health Care, Cyber and National Security. He supports the reforms of the current president Barack Obama and currently focuses on such issues as jobs and retention, deficit reduction and mine safety (“About Jay” n. p.)
Works Cited
About Jay. United States Senator Jay Rockefeller for West Virginia. Web.
Calmes, Jackie. Rockefeller Stands Up for Liberals on Health Care. New York Times. 17 Sept. 2009. Web.
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Who Runs Gov from The Washington Post. Web.
Why He Matters. Who Runs Gov from The Washington Post. Web.