Jack Brooks

Jack Brooks
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd and 9th district
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Jesse M. Combs Clark W. Thompson
Succeeded by	John Dowdy Steve Stockman
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Collins Brooks

Jack Bascom Brooks (born December 22, 1922) is a retired Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Texas, who served for more than 40 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was defeated for reelection in the 1994 election. He is the most senior Representative to have ever lost a general election.

Early life

Brooks was born in Crowley, Louisiana. His family moved to Beaumont, Texas, when he was five years old. He attended public schools and received a scholarship to Lamar Junior College. He enrolled in Lamar in 1939, where he majored in journalism, and completed his first two years of college. When Brooks entered Congress, he sponsored a bill which would make Lamar a four-year institution^[1]. The bill failed, but the following year the necessary bill passed both houses. Brooks transferred to the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a B.A. in journalism in 1943 and was a member of the Texas Cowboys. While a member of the Texas legislature, he earned a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, in 1949.

During World War II, Brooks enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving for approximately two years in the Pacific theater on Guadalcanal, Guam, Okinawa, and in North China. He continued his military service in the Marine Corps Reserves, reaching, upon his retirement in 1972, the rank of colonel^[2].

Political involvement

In 1946, Brooks was elected to represent Jefferson County in the Texas Legislature. He won re-election in 1948 without opposition^[2].

In 1952, Brooks was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas's 2nd district as a Democrat. During the 1950s and 1960s he was one of the more liberal Southern Congressmen on issues like labor and civil rights (he refused to sign a Southern Manifesto^[3]) while remaining conservative on issues like the death penalty and gun control. In 1966, he changed to representing Texas's 9th congressional district. Brooks was the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Government Operations from 1975 through 1988 and the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary from 1989 until 1995. Brooks was one of the few Texas congressional supporters of liberal Democrat Sen. Ralph Yarborough.

JFK assassination

Congressman Brooks is visible right, behind Mrs. Kennedy

On November 22, 1963, Brooks was in the motorcade carrying President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie Kennedy through downtown Dallas, Texas, when Kennedy was shot and killed. Brooks was present on Air Force One at Dallas Love Field when then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President.

Iran-Contra Hearings: Exposure of FEMA's plan to suspend the U.S. Constitution through "Continuity of Government"

During the Iran-Contra Hearings, Brooks questioned Col. Oliver North about his involvement with "Continuity of Government". The questioning was abruptly cut off by the chairman and deemed a "a highly sensitive and classified area."^[4]

Congress

In 1965, Brooks sponsored the Act that opened up the government information technology market for competitive contracts, a move subsequently credited by computer experts as significantly contributing to technological advances and which, in 2002, was the reason for Brooks being selected as "Post Newsweek Tech Media’s civilian executive of the last twenty years"^[1] by the Government Computer News.

Subsequently, in 1967, Brooks opposed the move of the US Patent Office to attempt to introduce guidelines for software patentability.

When the House first began requiring financial disclosures in the late 1970s, Brooks became known as one of the richest men in Congress, having acquired a number of banks and other businesses during his years in office.

During his congressional tenure, he held many leadership roles on committees and subcommittees, including chairmanship of the House Committee on Government Operations from 1975 through 1988, and chairmanship of the House Committee on the Judiciary between 1989 and 1995. He became the senior member of the Texas Congressional delegation in 1979, a position he held until he left office.

As a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Brooks helped write the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; he was one of the few southern congressmen to support civil rights legislation^[2]. He was a leader in the investigation that uncovered millions of dollars in public funds expended at the vacation homes of President Nixon. During the impeachment proceedings following the Watergate scandal in 1974, he drafted the articles of impeachment against Nixon, subsequently adopted by the Committee.

Among the bills sponsored by Congressman Brooks were the Single Audit Act of 1984, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1991, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991^[2].

As the leader of the Government Operations Committee, Brooks oversaw legislation affecting budget and accounting matters and the establishment of departments and agencies. He also helped pass the Inspector General Act of 1978, the General Accounting Office Act of 1980, and the Paper Reduction Act of 1980.

In 1988, a law introduced by Brooks was passed, banning Japanese construction companies from participating in American public works projects for the next year. The rationale ostensibly justifying this legislation was that Japan had already placed obstacles before American construction companies seeking work in that country^[5].

Brooks' sponsorship of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which eventually was incorporated with an amendment to ban semi-automatic firearms, probably contributed to his electoral defeat by Republican Steve Stockman, despite Brooks' life membership in the National Rifle Association^[2] and his personal opposition to the ban.

On his office desk, Brooks kept a silver paperweight with the inscription "Fighting Marine"^[5].

The gavel used by Brooks in the Judiciary Committee was made from wood taken from the podium used for President Nixon's resignation speech.

Political retirement

A park in Galveston County and a federal courthouse in Beaumont, Texas are named in his honor. There is a statue of him at Lamar University.

On April 23, 2001, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin presented the agency’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal to Brooks at a ceremony in the John Gray Center of Lamar University. Goldin cited Brooks’ long-standing support of the U.S. space program and praised his role in “strengthening the agency during its formative years”. Goldin, who served as NASA administrator from 1992 until 2002, added “Congressman Brooks took it upon himself to personally deliver support to one of the agency’s key programs: the design, development, and on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station”^[1].

In 2008, Brooks donated his archives to the Center for American History, of the University of Texas at Austin^[6].

Personal life

Jack Brooks married Charlotte Collins in 1960. The couple’s three children are Jeb Brooks, Kate Brooks Carroll, and Kim Brooks; their grandchildren are Matthew Carroll and Brooke Carroll. Jack Brooks continues to live in Beaumont, Texas. He is a 50-year member of Beaumont Lodge #286 A.F. & A.M.

See also

United States Marine Corps portal

• Texas politics
• Iran-Contra Affair
• Firearms legislation in the U.S.

References & sources

External links

• Jack Brooks (politician) at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The LBJ Foundation