Roger Wicker

Wicker was born on July 5, 1951, in Pontotoc, Mississippi, to Wordna Glen (née Threadgill) and Thomas Frederick "Fred" Wicker, a lawyer and onetime Mississippi state senator. At age 16, Wicker worked as a United States House of Representatives page for Representative Jamie L. Whitten of . He graduated from Pontotoc High School in 1969. and student body president. He was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa for his student leadership and academic merit. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science in 1973 and a J.D. degree in 1975 from the university. Starting in 1980, he was a member of the Air Force Reserve Command; he retired from the reserve in 2003 as a lieutenant colonel. ==Early political career==

Wicker began his political career in 1980 as House Rules Committee counsel to U.S. Representative Trent Lott. He was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1987, spending $25,000 on the race. He represented the 6th district, which included Tupelo, from 1988 to 1994. He amended a 1994 state Medicaid bill to authorize the Mississippi Attorney General to contract private attorneys on contingency. ==U.S. House of Representatives==

Elections In 1994, Jamie Whitten declined to seek reelection; he had represented the 1st District for 53 years, longer than any other congressman at the time. Wicker ran to succeed him, spending $750,000 on his campaign. In the runoff, Wicker defeated Fox, 11,905 votes (53.07%) to 10,527 (46.93%). In the general election, Wicker defeated Fulton attorney Bill Wheeler, 80,553 votes (63.06%) to 47,192 (36.94%), making him the first Republican to represent the 1st district in over a century. This was not considered an upset, as the 1st has always been a rather conservative district (especially in the Memphis suburbs). The district had only supported the Democratic nominee for president once since 1956, when Jimmy Carter carried the district in 1976. Although Whitten had a nearly unbreakable hold on the district, it had been considered very likely that he would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. Wicker was reelected six times without serious difficulty, never receiving less than 65% of the vote. In 2004, no Democratic candidate ran against him, only Reform Party nominee Barbara Dale Washer, whom he defeated, 219,328 votes (79.01%) to 58,256 (20.99%). Tenure Assuming office in 1995, Wicker was president of the freshman class, which included 53 other new Republican representatives, elected as part of the Republican Revolution. In his final year as representative, Wicker topped the list in earmarks. In 2007, Wicker was criticized after securing a $6 million earmark for a defense company whose executives had made significant contributions to his campaign. ==U.S. Senate==

Committee assignments • Committee on Armed Services (Chair) • Subcommittee on Airland • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities • Subcommittee on Personnel • Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support • Subcommittee on Seapower • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces • Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation • Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation • Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband • Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight, and Ports • Committee on Environment and Public Works • Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety • Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health • Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure • Committee on Rules and Administration • Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Chair) Caucus memberships • Congressional Human Rights Caucus • Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus • Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans • International Conservation Caucus • Interstate 69 Caucus (Co-Chair) • Sportsmen's Caucus • Tennessee Valley Authority Congressional Caucus • Rare Disease Caucus (Co-Chair) • Senate Taiwan Caucus Appointment On November 26, 2007, Senator Trent Lott announced that he would resign before the end of the year to become a lobbyist. At a press conference on December 31, 2007, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour appointed Wicker to fill the Senate seat Lott vacated on December 18, 2007. He was sworn in by the Senate clerk just before that news conference. Elections 2008 Wicker ran for the remainder of Lott's term in the November 2008 special election against Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, Barbour's predecessor as governor. Wicker defeated Musgrove, 683,409 votes (54.96%) to 560,064 (45.04%). Wicker's resignation from the House also triggered a May 13, 2008, special election to fill the vacancy in the House, which was won by Democratic nominee Travis Childers. 2012 Wicker ran for reelection to a full term in 2012. He was opposed by Robert Maloney and Tea Party activist E. Allen Hathcock in the Republican primary, defeating them by 254,936 votes (89.17%) to 18,857 (6.60%) and 12,106 (4.23%), respectively. In the general election, he defeated Albert Gore, the Chairman of the Oktibbeha County Democratic Party and a distant relative of former Vice President Al Gore, 709,626 votes (57.16%) to 503,467 (40.55%). 2018 Wicker defeated Democratic nominee David Baria, a state legislator, with 58.5% of the vote. 2024 Wicker defeated two opponents in the Republican primary with roughly 60% of the vote and Democratic nominee Ty Pinkins in the general election with 62.8% of the vote. Tenure of Mississippi in the Dirksen Senate Office building. On September 16, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Wicker as representative of the United States to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Wicker is a member of the Senate Republicans' whip team and repeatedly introduced a bill to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision ruling abortion bans unconstitutional. Wicker called the Affordable Care Act the "great fight for the rest of this term, maybe our lifetimes" and later introduced a bill to enable state officials to challenge the law. He also amended a fiscal 2010 transportation spending bill to allow Amtrak passengers to carry firearms and ammunition in checked baggage. Wicker and Representative Gene Taylor pushed amendments allowing purchasers of federal flood insurance to add wind coverage to their policies. As a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), in 2012 Wicker worked with Senator Ben Cardin to enact a bill imposing penalties on Russians accused of violating human rights. The measure led Russian President Vladimir Putin to announce a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian-born children. The letter was detected by postal officials and law enforcement and prevented from reaching the Capitol. The letter was tested three times, and each test confirmed the presence of ricin. Wicker supported the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2014 (S. 2363; 113th Congress), a bill related to hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation aimed at improving "the public's ability to enjoy the outdoors". He said, "Mississippians know the importance of efforts to preserve our natural resources for future generations." Weeks after the 2014 Hong Kong class boycott campaign and Umbrella Movement broke out, demanding genuine universal suffrage among other goals, Wicker joined Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Chris Smith's effort to introduce the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would update the United States–Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 and U.S. commitment to Hong Kong's freedom and democracy. "U.S. should stand steadfast with the people of Hong Kong in their fight to exercise self-determination," Wicker said, and "speak with a unified American voice in support of universal freedom and democratic values. The Congress and the Obama Administration should act to ensure China honors its longstanding obligation under international law to maintain Hong Kong's autonomy." In March 2017, Wicker co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government. In May 2020, a group of Senate Republicans planned to introduce a privacy bill that would regulate the data collected by COVID-19 contact tracing apps. The COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act would "provide all Americans with more transparency, choice, and control over the collection and use of their personal health, geolocation, and proximity data", according to a joint statement. Wicker said the legislation also would "hold businesses accountable to consumers" if they were to "use personal data to fight the COVID-19 pandemic" and that the act would permit the creation of "platforms that could trace the virus and help flatten the curve and stop the spread—and maintaining privacy protections for U.S. citizens". In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Wicker supported an immediate Senate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, saying that Senate Republicans had "promised to confirm well qualified, conservative judges" and that there was a "constitutional duty" to fill vacancies. In March 2016, Wicker had taken the opposite position by declining to consider Obama's Supreme Court nominee during a presidential election year, saying that the "American people should have the opportunity to make their voices heard before filling a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court." Wicker announced before the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count that he would vote to certify the election on January 6, 2021. He was participating in the certification when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. When the Capitol was secure and Congress returned to complete the certification, Wicker voted to certify the count, with his senate counterpart, Cindy Hyde-Smith objecting to the count. In the wake of the violence and certification, Wicker called for perpetrators to be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law" and said, "we must work together to rebuild confidence in our institutions." Wicker opposed Trump's removal from office, encouraging a peaceful transfer of power on Inauguration Day. In March 2021, after Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Wicker highlighted on social media that the bill awarded $28.6 billion of "targeted relief" to "independent restaurant operators" to "survive the pandemic". In that post, he neglected to mention that he had voted against the bill. After President Joe Biden said in January 2022 that he planned to appoint a black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, Wicker told Mississippi radio host Paul Gallo that the nominee would be a "beneficiary" of an affirmative action "quota", drawing a rebuke from the White House. ==Political positions==

The Heritage Foundation gave Wicker a lifetime conservative rating of 61% (the average Republican scored 79%). As of December 2017, Wicker ranks 14th of 98 in the Bipartisan Index compiled by The Lugar Center, which reflects a low level of partisanship. Wicker identifies as a fiscal conservative but has voted to increase federal spending for agriculture, infrastructure, and military projects throughout Mississippi. Foreign policy of Nebraska with Philippine President Bongbong Marcos in Manila, 2025 As a U.S. representative, Wicker supported the Iraq War and called it just. He believed it was necessary to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Afterward, he cosponsored legislation that would have ended official diplomatic relations with Afghanistan's new Taliban government. In December 2021, Wicker said the U.S. should consider a preemptive nuclear strike against Russia: "we don't rule out first-use nuclear action." This was two months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Also in 2022, Wicker supported implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which the National Review called "a very bad idea". Wicker is an ardent Zionist and one of the most pro-Israel U.S. politicians. According to the American Jewish Congress, he "opposed the Iran Deal and opposed UN Security Resolution 2334", which affirmed that Israeli settlement activity violated international law. Wicker also voted for the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, supported the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, and cosponsored the United States-Israel Security Authorization Act of 2018, which allocated military funding for Israel regardless of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Wicker opposes any form of humanitarian aid to Palestinians during the Gaza war. Defense Wicker has called for increasing the defense budget to 5 percent of the GDP. Immigration Wicker strongly supports expanding U.S. visas for Ukrainian refugees. He previously opposed Mississippi accepting Syrian refugees who fled from war-torn Syria. In 2026, Wicker opposed a Trump administration plan to establish a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Mississippi. Ukraine Wicker has been one of Ukraine's strongest Republican supporters. He voted each time for aid to Ukraine. In a press release, Wicker wrote: "President Reagan once called the Soviet Union 'the focus of evil in the modern world.' After two months of unprovoked brutality, it is obvious that the Kremlin remains one of the chief forces for evil in our world." On February 13, 2024, Wicker voted for Schumer's bill to appropriate aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. The Washington Post characterized this as deserting the Republican Party, but the split was 22-28. On April 23, Wicker voted in favor of aid to Ukraine. It was remarked that "Reagan Republicans", including Wicker, Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, had split from Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee at the time. In May 2024, Wicker, John Thune, and John Cornyn urged Speaker Johnson not to agree to anything with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was plotting to oust him, in order to save his position. Confederacy From 2015 until it was finally changed in 2020, Wicker sought to change the Mississippi flag, calling it offensive to many of his "fellow citizens". 64% of Mississippians voted to keep the flag in a 2001 referendum. Wicker supported nullifying that vote in 2020 and replacing the flag without a new referendum. While discussing Mississippi's previous state flag, Wicker said his Confederate military ancestors were "Americans" and "brave". Climate change In 2015, Wicker was the only U.S. senator to vote against an amendment declaring that climate change is real. The final vote was 98 to 1, with Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader from Nevada, not voting. The amendment affirmed that "climate change is real and not a hoax." In 2017, Wicker was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Wicker has received over $200,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012. In November 2023, Wicker initially supported the Foreign Pollution Fee Act co-sponsored by Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy. Endorsed by the Sierra Club, the bill (S. 3198; referred to the Senate Finance Committee) proposed imposing a carbon tariff on energy and industrial imports based on the good's emission intensity or carbon footprint as compared with the same domestic good to impose a carbon price on goods from countries with greater greenhouse gas emissions than the United States. Wicker subsequently withdrew co-sponsorship of the bill. Gun law Wicker's support for pro-gun legislation and gun rights has earned him an "A+" grade from the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF). The NRA-PVF endorsed Wicker during the 2012 election. Wicker has said that he will filibuster any bill that he feels "infringes" on the Second Amendment, including weapon bans. He has received $21,350 in funding from gun lobbyists for his political activities. In 2009, Wicker introduced a bill allowing Amtrak passengers to check unloaded and locked handguns in their luggage. The law passed by a vote of 68–30. His rationale for the bill was that people's Second Amendment rights were violated if they could not bring guns on a federally subsidized train system. One day after the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Wicker voted against a bill, co-sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican, that would make background checks mandatory when a person buys a gun. He said he voted against it because he feared it would have "opened the door to a national gun registry." In 2017, Wicker voted in favor of "a joint resolution of disapproval aimed at former President Barack Obama's executive action requiring the Social Security Administration (SSA) place beneficiaries on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System 'mental defective' list." Secularism Wicker asked the United States Navy to deny the admission of a secular humanist to the Chaplain Corps, saying, "It is troubling that the Navy could allow a self-avowed atheist to serve in the Chaplain Corps." January 6 commission On May 28, 2021, Wicker voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the January 6 United States Capitol attack. ==Political ratings==

In 2023, Wicker received a score of 68% from the American Conservative Union. He has a lifetime rating of 82%. ==Personal life==

Wicker has been married to Gayle Long since 1975. They have three children and six grandchildren. The Wickers reside in Tupelo, where Wicker is a deacon and a member of the First Baptist Church Tupelo choir. He previously served on the Board of Advisors for the , a nongovernmental organization that works in crisis areas. ==References==