David Vitter
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| Office: | Junior Senator, Louisiana |
| Political party: | Republican |
| Term of office: | January 2005–Present |
| Preceded by: | John Breaux |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2011) |
| Date of birth: | May 3, 1961 |
| Place of birth: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Spouse: | Wendy Baldwin Vitter |
David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961), American politician, is a Senator from Louisiana. He was formerly a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, first elected in 1999, representing the First Congressional District of Louisiana. He was born in New Orleans, was educated at Harvard University, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), and Tulane University, and was a lawyer and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives before entering the House. As of January 2005, he occupies the Senate seat vacated by outgoing Senator John Breaux. While he is widely believed to be the first Republican Senator elected in Louisiana he is not and that title goes to John S. Harris who took his office as a senator in 1868. However, Vitter was the first to be elected by the general populace of Louisiana, while Harris was chosen by the state legislature before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution made that procedure obsolete.
The Louisiana Jena Band of Choctaws had accused Vitter of being "in cahoots" with Jack Abramoff and his attempts to stymie the tribe's casino plans. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee found the allegations had no factual basis, with chairman John McCain saying "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." [1]
Hurricane Katrina
In the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, while New Orleans' flood levels were still rising in all areas, Vitter made an inaccurate statement that received notable media attention.
"In the metropolitan area in general, in the huge majority of areas, it's not rising at all. It's the same or it may be lowering slightly. In some parts of New Orleans, because of the 17th Street breach, it may be rising and that seemed to be the case in parts of downtown.
"I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening," said Vitter on August 30. [2]
In later days, Vitter gave the federal government's emergency response an "F grade" during an interview on Fox News's Hannity & Colmes, but avoided criticising US President George W. Bush. [3]
External links
| Preceded by: Bob Livingston |
United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana 1999–2005 |
Succeeded by: Bobby Jindal |
| Preceded by: John Breaux |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana 2005– |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
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Louisiana Congressional Delegation serving in the 109th United States Congress |
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| Senators | Mary Landrieu (D), David Vitter (R) |
| Representative(s) | Bobby Jindal (R), William J. Jefferson (D), Charles Melancon (D), Jim McCrery (R), Rodney Alexander (R), Richard H. Baker (R), Charles Boustany (R) |
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Current Delegations by State: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY | AS DC GU PR VI |
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Categories: 1961 births | American lawyers | American law professors | Former students of University College, Oxford | Harvard alumni | Louisiana politicians | Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives | New Orleanians | Phi Beta Kappa members | People from Louisiana | Rhodes scholars | Roman Catholics | Roman Catholic politicians | U.S. Representatives from Louisiana | United States Senators from Louisiana
