MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US member of Congress begins one week visit to Falklands next Monday

Jim Sensenbrenner has held the Wisconsin 5th district since 1978

A US member of the House of Representatives is scheduled to visit the Falkland Islands next week beginning Monday. Republican Congressman F. Jim Sensenbrenner has represented, uninterruptedly, the 5th district of the state of Wisconsin since first elected in 1978 which includes most of the state capital Madison.

He sits at the powerful Judiciary Committee, is chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and vice-chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

During his six day visit Sensenbrenner is scheduled to meet Falklands’ governor Nigel Haywood, Members of the elected Legislative Assembly and top officials from the Falklands administration beginning with Chief Executive Keith Padget and Director John Barton from the Natural Resources Department.

The US congressman will spend a day at Sea Lion Island, later observe a session of the Legislative Assembly in the Chamber and on Thursday afternoon will hold a press conference at the Malvina House Hotel where he will be staying.

A visit to the Education Department has been programmed as has a buffet at the Chamber of Commerce to meet with local business representatives.

On Friday Congressman Sensenbrenner will spend the day at the Mount Pleasant Complex where he will be briefed on the Falklands defence capabilities.

That evening MLAs will host a farewell dinner for the visitor, who leaves on Saturday with the LAN flight via Punta Arenas and Santiago de Chile.

MLAs Jan Cheek and Dick Sawle will receive Congressman Sensenbrenner at the airport on Monday and MLA Sawle will drive him to MPA on Saturday.

Last June when the presentation before the UN Decolonization Committee, MLA’s Sawle and Roger Edwards also visited Washington for briefings and meetings with the State Department and members of Congress and then flew to Ottawa for a similar event meeting members of the Canadian parliament.

Sensenbrenner voting record shows he’s a traditional conservative Republican supporting strong position regarding the Homeland Act, defence, taxes, migration and government spending.

However he is known to have a temper the latest of which an incident involving First Lady Michelle Obama’s healthy food initiative and her “large posterior”.

The incident allegedly took place last December when Sensenbrenner was overheard talking about the First lady’s healthy food initiative, and her “large posterior”, in the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport.

The representative was recounting a recent conversation he’d had at a Wisconsin Episcopal church and said loudly on the phone that Obama “lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself”.

The following day, Sensenbrenner said in a statement, “I regret my inappropriate comment and I have sent a personal note to the first lady apologizing”.

Biography

In his official biography Sensenbrenner says his current committee assignments include serving as the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology and he also serves on the Committee on the Judiciary. Congressman Sensenbrenner is Chairman of the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee.

He also serves on the Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee (Judiciary), as well as the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee (Science and Technology) and the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee (Science and Technology).

He is the former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and as a long-serving committee member, and has established a strong record on crime, intellectual property and constitutional issues. Previously he also served as Chairman of the House Committee on Science, where he solidified his reputation as an independent leader on science issues, as well as oversight.

Throughout his public life, Sensenbrenner has been at the forefront of efforts to preserve the sanctity of life, eliminate wasteful government spending and protect the interests of American taxpayers.

He has regularly been cited by the National Taxpayers Union as one of the most fiscally responsible House Members and is well known for completing his financial disclosure forms down to the penny.