U.S. House of Representatives
Elections ;1998 special election Five-term Republican Congressman
Steven Schiff declared he would not run for re-election in February 1998 because of his battle with squamous cell carcinoma. Wilson resigned her cabinet post to enter the Republican primary. She won the support of Schiff and U.S. Senator
Pete Domenici. Domenici called Wilson "the most brilliantly qualified House candidate anywhere in the country." After Congressman Schiff's death in March, a special election on June 23 was announced. Wilson won the Republican primary for the general election with 62 percent of the vote. She was sworn into office on June 25, 1998, making her the first woman since Georgia Lusk in 1946, and the first Republican woman ever, to represent New Mexico. For the June 23 special election, Maloof spent $3.1 million, ;1998 general election Less than five months later in the general election, Wilson faced Phil Maloof again. This time, she won a full term, defeating Maloof 48 percent to 41 percent. Maloof far outspent Wilson again, spending an additional $5 million to Wilson's $1.1 million, making it, at that time, the most expensive House race in New Mexico's history. ;2002 Wilson defeated State Senate President Pro Tem
Richard M. Romero by 10 points. ;2004 In 2004, Wilson faced Romero again. Outside spending on the election was the 15th highest of all House races that year, totaling $2,499,980. The
National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1,085,956 in the race. The
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $1,296,402. Wilson and 66 other candidates received $10,000 donations from then-U.S. House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay's
Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC)
political action committee. ARMPAC filed termination papers with the
Federal Election Commission on April 24, 2007. Wilson returned the $10,000 donation from ARMPAC. During Wilson's reelection campaign in 2004, Romero ran advertisements criticizing Wilson's vote in Congress against a bill to require the screening of cargo holds, suggesting that they had aided
Osama bin Laden. Wilson's campaign countered with a policy ad stating Romero "voted against the death penalty for child molesters who murder their victims." Wilson won the election by eight points. Wilson won the election by 875 (out of 211,000) votes, or 0.4%
Tenure Wilson was the first woman to represent New Mexico since
Georgia Lusk in the 1940s. She served as a member of the
Republican Main Street Partnership, a coalition of centrist Republican leaders. Wilson has appeared on
HBO's
Real Time with Bill Maher. On October 10, 2002, together with 213 other Republicans and 81 Democrats, Wilson voted in favor of authorizing the use of military force against Iraq. The
Albuquerque Journal reported several instances in 2004 when Wilson acted in opposition to Republican interests: requiring the Bush administration to release cost figures for his
prescription drug plan, criticizing
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the failure to properly respond to violations of the
Geneva Conventions during an
Abu Ghraib hearing, and opposing a move by House Republicans to protect
Tom DeLay from his
fundraising scandal. While critics said these were calculated moves to moderate her image for her upcoming election, Wilson later lost her seat on the
House Armed Services Committee due to the actions of Republican
Joe Barton, an ally of DeLay. ;Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 Motion to Recommit In 2003, Wilson joined 221 Republicans and 1 Democrat in voting against a
Motion to Recommit the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (HR 1). The motion would have deleted entire sections of the joint House and Senate compromise bill and replaced them with the respective Senate version. ;Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act On January 21, 2004, legislation was introduced by Congressman
Fred Upton to increase the fines and penalties for violating the prohibitions against the broadcast of obscene, indecent, or profane language. On February 11, 2004, the
United States House Energy Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on the bill, at which representatives of the
Federal Communications Commission, major broadcasting corporations, and the
National Football League testified. During the hearing, Wilson denounced executive
Mel Karmazin saying, "You knew what you were doing. You knew what kind of entertainment you're selling, and you wanted us all to be abuzz, here in this room and on the playground in my kids' school, because it improves your ratings. It improves your market share, and it lines your pockets." The bill, H.R. 3717, passed the House of Representatives on March 26, 2004, by a vote of 391–22–1. ;NSA warrantless domestic surveillance On February 7, 2006, Wilson, while serving as Chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, called for a full congressional inquiry into the
NSA warrantless surveillance.
Eric Lichtblau of
The New York Times said that "the congresswoman's discomfort with the operation appears to reflect deepening fissures among Republicans over the program's legal basis and political liabilities." In an interview for the article, Wilson said, "The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too, and I feel strongly about that." ;Terminated U.S. attorney Wilson was accused of and later cleared of influencing the termination of a U.S. Attorney. In February 2007, former U.S. Attorney
David Iglesias alleged that Wilson's competitive 2006 campaign for re-election to the House was a significant reason for his dismissal from the Justice Department. In a March 2007 statement, Wilson said an October call to Iglesias was to resolve an allegation of ethical impropriety made against Iglesias, which Iglesias denied. Iglesias never reported the contact, as he was required to do by DOJ rules. In July 2007, the
United States House Committee on Ethics decided not to proceed with any investigation of Wilson. The Justice Department also did a review and the matter was thereafter closed. ;Environmental record Wilson was a member of the
Republican Main Street Partnership, the chairs of which introduced legislation to make the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a
cabinet department. Wilson, along with 80 Democrats and 215 other Republicans, supported House passage of the conference report on the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which opponents argued would "reduce and expedite environmental and judicial reviews of forest thinning projects. of members of Congress targeted for defeat by the LCV in the 2006 elections.
Committee assignments •
United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce,
105th Congress (1997–1998) until her retirement after the
110th Congress (2007–2008). •
Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality •
Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials •
Subcommittee on Health •
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet •
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
106th Congress (1999–2000),
109th Congress (2005–2006), and
110th Congress (2007–2008) •
Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence (Chair & Ranking Member) •
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations •
United States House Committee on Armed Services,
107th Congress (2001–2002) and
108th Congress (2003–2004) == 2008 U.S. Senate campaign ==