Louie Gohmert is a legislator in the Texas House of Representatives. He often takes a conservative view on situations, such as how he votes for bills and what committees he joins. Gohmert has been a legislature for several sessions now, and has had previous experience in politics prior to being elected to the House. Gohmert also comes from a strong religious background, which no doubt influences the way that he votes. He is considered a republican and has recently announced that he is going to challenge John Boehner, current Speaker of the House, for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives (On The Issues 2016).
Gohmert is not afraid to take a strong stand for the bills that he believes in and speak out against those he does not. He votes for looser control over public schools and claims to be an originalist. Gohmert is sincere in his actions to keep the state conservative, and the actions he takes within his legislative position reflect that (Shook 1973, p 317). The legislators are very important to the Texas State House. The Speaker of the House is the most important house member, as they can influence the legislative agenda, as well as determine the fate of legislative pieces and the positions each member holds within the house (Valenzuela 2016).
There are 150 members within the house, and they serve two year terms with no limits as to how many terms they can serve (Valenzuela 2016). Texas currently has a single member district, where one official per district is elected, rather than multiple officials (Valenzuela 2016). There are many requirements in order to be a Texas State House member. You must be 21 years of age, be a U. S. citizen, and a qualified voter (Valenzuela 2016). In order to run you must also be a resident of the state for two years, and a resident of the district you are representing for one year (Valenzuela 2016).
Every so often, the occasion arises where there happens to be a vacancy in the house. When this does occur, the Governor must call a special election in order to fill the vacant seat (Valenzuela 2016). Before the special election can be held, the Governor’s proclamation for the special election must be delivered to local election authorities, who represent the vacant seat, no later than 36 days before the scheduled election date (Valenzuela 2016). This is to ensure that no one is caught by surprise by the election, as well as helping to limit secrecy and corruption within the government.
The Texas State House is also responsible for initializing revenue bills, along with starting the impeachment process, should the need arise (Valenzuela 2016). In order to bring these charges into play, a majority vote in the House is required (Valenzuela 2016). The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives, and the legislators are responsible for electing this person at the beginning of each regular session (About Us 2016, p 1). I selected Representative Louie Gohmert, due to the fact that I liked his name and thought that I would be able to offer a good counter analysis of his views on education.
The interview process was a long and tedious one. I started my interview process several months ago, calling representative after representative, yet only few returned my calls. I left a message for each representative that I called, a brief rundown of why|| was calling. A few secretaries returned my calls, but I didn’t get much further in the process from there. Mostly, when my call was returned the secretary said how the representative was too busy, or I should try calling Collin County’s representative. was, at one point, able to get the scheduler’s email for one representative, yet I never received an email back and thus was not able to schedule an interview. Due to this, I had to turn towards reliable sources in order to gather my information. While the information would have held more weight if it were from the interview and thus coming straight from Representative Gohmert himself, my online research will have to suffice. Louie Gohmert began as a devote Baptist, preaching at his local church and teaching at a Sunday school (Biography 2016, p 1).
Before jumping into the political field as a Republican, Gohmert was an undergrad at Texas A&M in 1975, and later graduated from Baylor University with a degree in law in 1977 (U. S. Congress 2016, p 1). He is also a recognized veteran, having served as a captain in the United States Army for four years, from 1978 to 1982 (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1). Gohmert started his political journey when he was elected as District Judge three times in Smith County, serving from 1992 to 2002 (Biography 2016, p 1).
This is where Gohmert was able to gain most of his popularity, both nationally and internationally, mainly for what were deemed as creative rulings (U. S. Congress 2016, p 1). In 2002 he was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to complete a term as Chief Justice on the 12th court of appeals, and served until 2003 (US. Congress 2016, p 1). Gohmert was first sworn in on January 4, 2005, and is currently serving his sixth term in the Texas House, hoping for reelection in the upcoming term (U. S. Congress 2016, p 1). During his time as House Member, Gohmert has served on several committees.
During his 2011-2012 term, Gohmert served on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, serving in the Subcommittee of Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1). He also served on the United States House Committee on Natural Resources, serving on the Subcommittee of Energy and Mineral Resources, as well as the Subcommittee of Public Lands and Environmental Regulation (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1). In Gohmert’s 2013-2014 term, he served on both the United States House Committee of the Judiciary and the United States House Committee of Natural Resources again (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1).
Within the Judiciary Committee, Gohmert served on the Subcommittee of Constitution and Civil Justice and Subcommittee of Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1). Within the Natural Resources Committee, he served on the Subcommittee of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Subcommittee of Public Lands and Environmental Regulation (Ballotpedia 2015, p 1). This shows how Gohmert was not only appearing as a Texas Representative, but was actively involved in his role. Gohmert appears to have a very conservative view on education.
Gohmert voted no in 2006 for $84 million in grants to go towards Black and Hispanic colleges (On The Issues 2016, p 1). He voted no again in 2007 when the question to add an additional $10. 2 billion for federal education and HHS projects arose (On The Issues 2016, p 1). Also in 2006, he voted no on whether or not the Courts could decide if the word ‘God should be included in the pledge of allegiance (On The Issues 2016, p 1). Continuous with his previous views, Gohmert voted no on a bill that would allot $40 billion for Green Public Schools in 2009 (On The Issues 2016, p 1).
In March of 2001 Gohmert voted to reauthorize the D. C. Opportunity Scholarship program (Ujifusa 2015, p 18). The D. C. Opportunity Scholarship Program gives scholarships to poor D. C. families with children in grades K-12, allowing the parents to enroll their children in D. C. Private Schools (Ujifusa 2015, p 18). In 2011, Gohmert voted for the constitutionally guarantee that parents had the right to educate their kids, and should not be required to send them to public schools (On The Issues 2016, p 1).
Recently, in 2014, he voted to denounce the Common Core State Standards, which are basic levels that all students in Texas must meet in their education (On The Issues 2016, p 1). I am mainly in disagreement with the views that Gohmert takes on education. While I believe that education should be as accessible as possible for each human, Gohmert has voted ‘no’ on several bills that would hav money to schools, allowing them to become better and give an increased education to their students.
Gohmert wants to keep ducation privatized and religious, advocating to allow parents to continue homeschooling, who most do for religious purposes, and with fewer restrictions (Lynn 2014, p 23). I am with Gohmert when he claims that he wants the parents to have the right to education their children. I was homeschooled for two years myself so I can understand how beneficial this can be for some families, but Gohmert also wants to have a relaxed Common Core, which means that students not in public schools would not be learning as much as they are now.
Mathematics and especially science would be pushed out the window, and we would likely see a decrease in students’ performance at higher levels, where homeschooling is no longer an option. While | mainly disagree with Gohmert’s views on education, I do see his point in some of his opinions. Gohmert’s political views fall into the conservative side of the Republican Party. He votes in favor of bills that claim to keep the Texas way of life wholesome, and is considered to be an originalist.
He is not afraid to speak his mind within the Texas House, and will not back down from what he believes in. While I was unfortunately not able to speak to Gohmert in person, I feel as though I was able to do detailed research in order to obtain an understanding of Gohmert’s views. He is serious when he takes a stand on political situations, and puts himself in places where he is able to vote for what he believes in. Conserving the Texas way of life is one of his main goals, and his legislative actions reflect that wholeheartedly.
