1988 Republican Presidential Primary

CONTACT: John Buckley
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Biography of Congressman Jack Kemp

Congressman Jack Kemp was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970. His election to Congress followed a thirteen year career as a quarterback in the American and National Football Leagues. Throughout his career, Congressman Kemp has demonstrated a commitment to leadership and excellence, and a vision of a future for America and the world of limitless opportunity and growth.

JACK KEMP: A COMMITMENT TO LEADERSHIP AND EXCELLENCE

* Jack Kemp has been unanimously elected by bis colleagues in Congress as Chairman of the House Republican Conference, the third ranking party leadership post in the House of Representatives.

* As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Jack Kemp served as ranking Republican on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, where he played a key role in carrying out U.S. foreign policy goals, including aid to freedom fighters in Central America, Angola, and Afghanistan, and economic and security assistance to U.S. allies in Europe, Israel and around the world. Congressman Kemp served as a senior counselor to the President's National Bipartisan Commission on Central America (the Kissinger Commission), and as an observer of the El Salvador elections.

* Throughout bis tenure in Congress, Jack Kemp has also served as a member of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, and the Budget, Education and tabor, and Select Small Business Committees.

* With his wife Joanne, Congressman Kemp has carried out bis commitment to worldwide human rights through the founding of CREED, the Christian Rescue Effort for the Emancipation of Dissidents. As a commissioner on the Helsinki Commission on Human Rights he has fought for the rights of Soviet Jewry and political dissidents.

* Congressman Kemp was an active congressional delegate to the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty negotiations in Geneva between 1979 and 1981, as well as to the Jerusalem Conference on Terrorism in 1979 and the Jonathan Institute Conference on Terrorism in 1984.

* Congressman Kemp has authored An American Renaissance: A. Strategy for the 1980's; The American Idea: Ending the Limits to Growth; and is co-editor, with Professor Robert Mundell of Columbia University,of A Monetary Agenda for World Growth.

* On the football field, Jack Kemp helped lead the Buffalo Bills to League Championships in 1964 and 1965. He was twice selected as All-League Quarterback, once with the San Diego Chargers in 1960 and later with the Buffalo Bills in 1965. He was selected by his colleagues as President of the AFL Players Association for five years and helped negotiate one of the most comprehensive pension contracts in professional football. Jack was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the League in 1965, and in 1983 he received the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame's Gold Medal for excellence in leadership both on the football field and in the nation's legislative arena. He currently serves as the Vice President of NFL Charities.

JACK KEMP: A VISION OF A FUTURE OF LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITY AND GROWTH

* Is the author of the Kemp-Roth 30 percent across the board tax cut, which was adopted by President Reagan during his 1980 presidential campaign and became the cornerstone of President Reagan's economic recovery plan when it was enacted by Congress and signed into law in 1981.

* Led the way to further tax rate reductions to encourage investment, job creation, and economic security for families by authoring the Kemp-Kasten "Fair and Simple Tax" plan which dramatically lowered tax rates on working families, removed the tax burden from the working poor, doubled the personal exemption to $2000 for each family member, and created incentives for investment and economic growth. The Kemp-Kasten plan became the basis of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

* As one of the leading proponents in the House of Representatives for reform of the nation's monetary policy, Jack Kemp has worked for stable exchange rates and a dollar "as good as gold," in an effort to reduce interest rates and stop inflation.

* Has worked for innovative solutions to our nation's most pressing social problems, and has worked to bring the economic recovery to the inner city and depressed rural areas through his proposals for Enterprise Zones, to encourage investment and job creation in the private sector, and Urban Homesteading, to allow public housing tenants to gain a stake in their communities by buying their own homes.

* Is one of the leading proponents in Congress of early deployment of President Reagan' s Strategic Defense Initiative. He has battled the State Department and others who have tried to evade the President's commitment to this defensive technology. He has worked to provide assistance to freedom fighters and democratic resistance movements around the world.

* Believes that the family is the foundation of American life. He has worked for initiatives that strengthen the family and traditional values, including an end to abortion, measures to combat child pornography, initiatives to provide tuition tax credits and to strengthen magnet schools, and has worked to maintain the integrity of the Social Security system as a bulwark of economic security for families.

Congressman Jack Kemp was born in Los Angeles on July 13, 1935. He was educated at Occidental College and received a B.A. in 1957. He is married to the former Joanne Main; they have four children: Jeffrey, who with his wife Stacy has a son, Kyle, age two; Jennifer, Judith and James. Their hometown is in Hamburg, New York and they have a residence in Bethesda, Maryland.

Jack Kemp for President
1815 N. Ft. Myer Drive, Suite 700, Arlington, Virginia 22209
Paid for and authorized by Jack Kemp for President
Scott B. Mackenzie, Treasurer