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Institutional
Affiliations:
Committee on the Present Danger: Honorary Co-chairman (current) (19)
Center
for Security Policy: Honorary Co-Chairman of National Security
Advisory Council (4)
Phoenix
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce: Chairman (1984-1985) (1)
Arizona
Crime Victim Foundation: Founder (1983) (2)
Jennings,
Stross and Salmon: Attorney (1966-1986) (1)
Arizona
Law Review: Editor-in-Chief (1966) (2)
Government
Posts/Panels/Commissions
U.S. Senate:
Republican, Arizona (1994-current) (1)
Republican
Policy Committee: Chairman (2002-current) (2)
Judiciary
Committee: Chairman, Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and
Homeland Security (2002-current) (2)
Finance
Committee: Chairman, Subcommittee on Health Care (2002-current)
(2)
Energy
& Natural Resources Committee: Member (2002-current) (2)
The U.S.-Israeli
Parliamentary Commission: Co-Chairman (1998) (5)
U.S. House
of Representatives: Arizona Congressman (1987-1994) (1)
Education
University
of Arizona, Tucson: B.A. (1)
University
of Arizona: LL.B. (1)
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Highlights
& Quotes
Kyl has represented Arizona as a member of Congress since 1987, first as a representative and since 1997 as a senator. In addition to serving as the Policy Chair within the Senate leadership in the 108th Congress, Sen. Jon Kyl sits on the Energy and Natural Resources, Finance, and Judiciary Committees. He is chairman of two subcommittees: Health Care; and Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security.
Senator Kyl consistently and overwhelmingly supports conservative agendas on a variety of major issues. For example, in 2002 and 2003, he voted with the National Right to Life Committee 100% of the time and with the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League 0% of the time. On Budget, spending, and taxes, he voted with the Americans for Tax Reform and the American Shareholders Association 100% of the time, the National Retail Federation 100% and the Business-Industry Political Action Committee 95%; conservative groups such as the Eagle Forum, the Christian Coalition, the American Conservative Union, and the Republican Liberty Caucus were given preference more than 90% of the time. He voted with English First 100% of the time, the American Security Council 75% of the time, and the CATO Institute¬'s Center for Trade Policy Studies 92%.
In contrast, liberal organizations that support civil rights, environmental causes, health, education, labor rights, and world peace rarely see votes in their favor from Senator Kyl. In 2002-2003, the American Civil Liberties Union received his support 20% of the time, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 0% of the time, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 4%, National Hispanic Leadership Agenda 6%, Human Rights Campaign 0%, National Education Association 18%, National School Boards Association 0%, American Lands Alliance 0%, League of Conservation Voters 16%, Sierra Club 20%, Peace Action 0%, Citizens for Global Solutions 0%, American Public Health Association 0%, American Immigration Lawyers Association 0%, AFL-CIO 0%, Friends Committee on National Legislation 0%, Americans for Democratic Action 10%, and the Alliance for Retired Americans 0% of the time. (22)
Kyl is the honorary co-chairman, along with Senator Joe Lieberman, of the third incarnation of the Committee on the Present Danger. Like the latest version, the first two committees, formed in the early 1950s and mid-1970s, were elite citizens groups committed to raising bipartisan congressional and public support for increased military budgets and a more aggressive global military posture. (20) Both committees proved extremely successful-the first succeeding in winning broad support for the Cold War, and the second in undermining the politics of détente and arms controls. All three incarnations defined the present danger as being both threats from outside the United States and internal passivity in the face of external threats to U.S. national security.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Kyl and Lieberman addressed both sides of the present danger. With respect to the present danger at home, the two hawkish senators wrote: "The leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties have so far stood firm in their commitment to finish the job in Iraq and to fight to victory the war on terrorism. But that bipartisan consensus is coming under growing public pressure and could fray in the months ahead. Although the tide is turning in the war on terrorism, a political undertow in this country could wash out our recent gains. We must not let this happen." They defined the external threat as "the present danger our generation faces: international terrorism from Islamic extremists and the outlaw states that either harbor or support them." (19) (21)
Kyl is also the honorary co-chair of the National Security Advisory Council of the Center for Security Policy, a hawkish neocon policy institute that cited the success of the second Committee on the Present Danger when it was founded in 1988. (4)
From his earliest days in Congress, Kyl has voted with the rigthtists and hawks. He was, for example, a supporter of U.S. military aid to the Nicaragua contras in the 1980s. More recently, he was Co-chairman of the U.S.-Israeli Parliamentary Commission that exaggerated threats of the severity of nuclear ballistic missiles for both countries represented. These claims would also be discussed with members of the Rumsfeld Missile Commission. (1) (2) (5) (7)
Kyle joined Senators Jesse Helms, James Inhofe, and Robert Smith in orchestrating the defeat of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)-where the Republican-controlled Senate allowed only three days to debate an issue that was on the Senate calendar for over two years. The main point of contention between congressional opponents and supporters of the test ban treaty was the importance of the ability to test new nuclear weapons. Opponents contend that the U.S. will not be able to deter "rogue" nations from developing nuclear weapons unless it can test its own stockpiles. Supporters of the treaty argue that enforcement can occur through seismological and other technological innovations which will enable nations to assess whether testing has occurred. Both physicists and the directors of the three nuclear labs agree that the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program, which is accounted for in the treaty, adequately tests the safety and reliability of stockpiles without underground testing. If all else fails, the president can opt out of the treaty when a threat appears. Kyl and Nevada's Senator Harry Reid introduced an amendment to the 1997 Defense Authorization bill that gave the president the option of testing, but this bill was defeated. (12) (13) (15)
Kyl's hawkish positions have earned him the support of defense contractors. Since 1993, several major defense contractors such as Lockheed Corporation, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Honeywell International, Veridian Corporation (now a part of General Dynamics), TRW, Northrop Grumman, and United Technologies have contributed to his campaigns. Kyl is a major supporter of NATO expansion and national missile defense, both causes strongly backed by the defense industries. (3) (8) (17) (18)
In the 1997-2002 period, Kyl received $3.8 million in campaign contributions-65% of which were from individuals, and 26% were from PACs. Of the PAC contributions, 88.1% were from business, 0.5% from labor, and 11.4% from ideological or single issue groups. A member of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Kyl received contributions from such energy corporations as Bechtel, Enron, Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum, and PG&E. (8) During the last election cycle, Kyl received PAC contributions from the following sectors: (8)
1999-2000 PAC Contributions: $972,066
- Agribusiness: $47,919
- Communic/Electronics: $76,149
- Construction: $32,500
- Defense: $57,500
- Energy/Nat Resource: $119,000
- Finance/Insur/RealEst: $194,311
- Health: $110,874
- Lawyers & Lobbyists: $29,847
- Transportation: $73,249
- Misc Business: $111,300
- Labor: $4,500
- Ideology/Single-Issue: $113,317
- Other: $1,600
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