Hank Johnson
Encyclopedia
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr. (born October 2, 1954) is the U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in DeKalb County
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...

, a largely suburban county east of Atlanta. It also includes portions of Gwinnett
Gwinnett County, Georgia
, Gwinnett County had a population of 805,321. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 53.3% white , 23.6% black , 2.7% Korean, 2.6% Asian Indian, 2.0% Vietnamese, 3.3% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.8% some other race and 3.1% from two or more races...

 and Rockdale
Rockdale County, Georgia
Rockdale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 70,111. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 82,052. Two years later, the population was 84,569. The county seat is Conyers.-Geography:...

 counties.

Life, education and career

Johnson grew up in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 His father worked for the Bureau of Prisons and was the director of classifications and paroles, up to that time, the highest ranking African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 in the bureau.

Johnson graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...

) in 1976, was a member of Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi is a fraternity and is the first African-American national fraternal organization to be founded at a historically black college. Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. The founders were three Howard University juniors, Edgar Amos...

 Kappa Alpha Alpha Chapter, Decatur, Georgia, and Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

's Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...

 School of Law in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 in 1979; he practiced law
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 in Decatur, Georgia
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...

, for more than 25 years.

He was elected to the DeKalb County Commission in 2000 and served two terms. Prior to his service on the Commission, he worked as an Associate Magistrate Judge for ten years.

U.S. House of Representatives

Johnson is—along with Mazie Hirono
Mazie Hirono
is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.She was the second Asian immigrant elected lieutenant governor of a state of the United States. She ran against Linda Lingle for governor of Hawaii in 2002, one of the few gubernatorial races in United...

 of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, also elected to Congress in 2006—one of the first two Buddhists
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 to serve in the United States Congress.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Armed Services
    United States House Committee on Armed Services
    thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...

    • Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
    • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
  • Committee on the Judiciary
    United States House Committee on the Judiciary
    The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...

    • Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law
    • Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
      United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
      The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee. It was established in 2011.-Jurisdiction:...

    • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
      United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
      The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee.-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...


Political positions

In 2008, Johnson was elected to serve as regional whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 for Georgia, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

On November 18, 2008, Johnson was elected Regional Whip for the Eighth Region (GA, FL, MS, AL, U.S. Virgin Islands) by the Democratic Caucus.

Position on the Iraq War

On January 25, 2007, Johnson responded to U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's State of the Union
State Of The Union
"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....

 address by criticizing the war in Iraq, saying "This war has proven to be one of the gravest missteps in the recent history of our country. It is time for President Bush to face the music and respond to the urgent demands of a frustrated country."

On February 8, 2007, Johnson introduced his first bill: a resolution requesting that the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....

 take U.S. troops off of street patrol duty in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. "There is no military solution for the civil war in Iraq," said Johnson, "It is time for Iraqi troops, who have been trained, to assume responsibility for patrolling their own streets. Clearly, deploying our troops this way has only escalated the number of U.S. casualties, and this must stop." According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Johnson's resolution was "interesting in that it goes beyond broad directives and proposes something very specific."

On March 23, 2007, Johnson voted to pass H.R. 1591, "The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act." This bill provided $124 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and required that President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 withdraw American forces from Iraq by mid-2008. Johnson attracted attention by blogging about his decision to vote for the bill.

On May 24, 2007, Johnson voted to cut funding for the Iraq War that did not include binding requirements of the Iraqi government and made no provisions for the redeployment of American armed forces from Iraq.

Economic positions

Johnson voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout bill in November 2008.

He voted in favor of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the stimulus package
Stimulus (economic)
In economics, stimulus refers to attempts to use monetary or fiscal policy to stimulate the economy. Recently "stimulus" has become particularly associated with Keynesian economics and the theory that government spending projects can generate economic growth in a recession...

 supported by Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 in Congress and President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

.

In 2007, Johnson's H.Con.Res.80, a resolution calling for peaceful resolution to the Ugandan civil war between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army
Lord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, unanimously passed the House and Senate. Johnson's first successful piece of legislation, it was jointly introduced in the Senate by Democratic Senator Russ Feingold
Russ Feingold
Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as a Democratic party member of the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2011. From 1983 to 1993, Feingold was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.He is a recipient of the John F...

 and Republican Senator Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...

.

Joe Wilson

In 2009, Johnson demanded censure of Rep. Joe Wilson
Joe Wilson (U.S. politician)
Addison Graves Wilson, Sr., most commonly known as Joe Wilson , is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party...

's "you lie" remark, arguing that the comment had an unseen racial undertone and that, if Wilson was not formally rebuked, "We will have people with white hoods running through the countryside
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...

 again."

Comments on Guam tipping over

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing in March 2010 concerning the U.S. military installation on the island of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, Johnson said to Admiral Robert F. Willard
Robert F. Willard
Robert F. Willard is a United States Navy admiral who serves as the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command. He previously served as Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet from May 8, 2007 to September 25, 2009. Prior to that, he served as the 34th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from March 18, 2005 to April 2007...

, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, "My fear is that the whole island
Floating island
A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from a few inches to several feet. Floating islands are a common natural phenomenon that are found in many parts of the world. They exist less commonly as a man-made phenomenon...

 will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize
Capsize
Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...

," to which Admiral Willard replied, "We don't anticipate that." Johnson later claimed that it was a metaphor. The video of Johnson's comments became an internet sensation in the week prior to the 2010 elections, which he went on to win.

2006

Johnson forced former Representative Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

 into a runoff by holding McKinney under 50% in the July 18, 2006 Democratic primary: McKinney got 47.1% of the vote; Johnson 44.4%, and a third candidate got 8.5%. McKinney had been favored to win, so her narrow margin surprised observers. Johnson picked up support because, after the primary, he seemed to have a real possibility of winning.

In the runoff of August 8, 2006, although there were about 8,000 more voters, McKinney got about the same number of votes as in the July primary. Johnson won with 41,178 votes (59%); McKinney got 28,832 (41%).

The 4th is one of the most Democratic districts in the South, and among Georgia districts, only the neighboring 5th is considered more Democratic. It is so heavily Democratic that Johnson's primary victory all but assured him of becoming the district's third congressman (it was created as the 11th in 1993 and renumbered the 4th in 1997). In November, he trounced the Republican candidate, Catherine Davis, with 76% of the vote—one of the largest percentages for a Democrat in a contested election, and the largest in the history of the district. He was unopposed for reelection in 2008.

On October 6, 2006, Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...

's "On Their Way," which features promising candidates soon-to-arrive in Washington, featured Johnson.

Johnson's aggressive use of the internet to court supporters and attract national attention to the 2006 race in which he challenged and defeated Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

 was noted by national political media. The National Journal
National Journal
National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...

 wrote that of all Congressional candidates nationwide in 2006, "Johnson had the most unique blog strategy by far." The National Journal
National Journal
National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...

 ranked Johnson's use of the internet to defeat McKinney—and the broader trend of challengers using the blogosphere to challenge entrenched incumbents—as the third most significant blog-related story of 2006. Johnson was the first Congressional candidate invited to blog for The Hill
The Hill (newspaper)
The Hill, a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. since 1994.Its first editor was Martin Tolchin, a veteran correspondent in the Washington bureau of The New York Times....

's Congress Blog, typically reserved for Members of Congress. "I'm tremendously excited about the opportunity to use this unique medium to strengthen democracy by increasing open interaction between constituents and candidates," Johnson wrote. "I hope to provide you with an inside view of this hotly-contested, high stakes runoff."

2008

Johnson won reelection with 99.9% of the vote, challenged only by Independent write-in candidates Loren Christopher Collins, Faye Coffield and Jacob Perasso.

Johnson was the first Democratic congressman in Georgia to publicly endorse Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary on July 30, 2007.

Personal life

Johnson's wife, Mereda Davis Johnson, is an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

; they have two children.

In December 2009, Johnson revealed that he had been battling Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...

 for over a decade, which resulted in slow speech and a tendency to regularly get "lost in thought in the middle of a discussion". Johnson said that he learned he had the disease in 1998 but does not know how he contracted it. The disease has damaged his liver and led to thyroid problems. He was treated with a combination of ribavirin
Ribavirin
Ribavirin is an anti-viral drug indicated for severe RSV infection , hepatitis C infection and other viral infections. Ribavirin is a prodrug, which when metabolised resembles purine RNA nucleotides...

 and interferon
Interferon
Interferons are proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens—such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites—or tumor cells. They allow communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that eradicate pathogens or tumors.IFNs belong to...

 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the United States Army's flagship medical center until 2011. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military...

. In February 2010, Johnson finished an experimental treatment for Hepatitis C, resulting in weight gain and increased energy.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK