Main Street Spotlight: Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Rep. Pete King
This year the Main Street Partnership honored Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Representative Pete King (R-NY) at their Annual Dinner with the Amory Houghton Award for Distinguished Public Service.
The award is named for Amo Houghton, the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Main Street Partnership. Houghton served for 18 years in the House representing New York’s 29th Congressional District and is also the former Chairman of the Board of Corning. Previous recipients of Main Street’s Public Service Award include Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John McCain (R-AZ), former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, Secretary of Transportation and former Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL), Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), as well as former Main Street President Tom Davis.
Saxby Chambliss
On December 2, 2008, Senator Saxby Chambliss was elected to serve a second term in the United States Senate. Georgia Trend magazine, which has consistently named him one of its Most Influential Georgians, calls him “a highly visible and well-respected presence in Washington,” and says he “has a reputation as an affable but straight-talking lawmaker.” In January 2009, Georgia Trend named Chambliss its Georgian of the Year.
Chambliss is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; the Senate Rules Committee; and presently serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Long before his election to Congress, Chambliss specialized in representing farmers’ legal interests in South Georgia. During his four terms in the House, Chambliss was instrumental in drafting two farm bills and reforming the federal crop insurance program.
Chambliss earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia in 1966, and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1968. Chambliss and his wife, Julianne, have been married since 1966, and reside in Moultrie, Ga. They have two children and six grandchildren.
Peter King
Congressman Peter T. King, a Republican, is serving his eleventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. King is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He also serves on the Financial Services Committee and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congressman King, who previously served as Chairman of the Committee in 2005-2006 and again in 2011-2012, has been a leader in the ongoing effort to have Homeland Security funding based on threat analysis and is a strong supporter of the war against international terrorism, both at home and abroad.
During his years in Congress, Rep. King has attained a reputation for being well-informed and independent. Following the ravages of Superstorm Sandy, Rep. King led the successful fight in Congress to obtain $60.4 billion in emergency funding for the victims of the storm. Even Newsday has admitted that Congressman King is a “stand-up guy who isn’t shy about tangling with the powerful, even those in his own party. King has become a national figure who delivers for the region and his district.”
Pete King was born on April 5, 1944 in Manhattan and was raised in Queens. He is a graduate of St. Francis College, Brooklyn, and the University of Notre Dame Law School. He is a lifelong resident of New York and has lived in Nassau County for more than 40 years. Rep. King and his wife, Rosemary, reside in Seaford. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.