Biography
In 1993, Texans elected Kay Bailey Hutchison to the United States Senate in a special election, making her the first - and, to date, the only - woman elected to represent the state in the Senate. One year later, she was re-elected to a full six-year term. In 2000, she was re-elected to a second full term with more votes than any other statewide candidate in Texas history. In 2006, she was again re-elected by an overwhelming margin.

Senator Hutchison has served in the Senate leadership, having first been elected Vice-Chairman of the Republican Conference and later elected Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-highest ranking Republican Senator.

Senator Hutchison is currently the Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Appropriations Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, and Science. She has been Chairman of the Military Construction Appropriations Sub-Committee and serves on the Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee.

Senator Hutchison is a member of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) National Advisory Committee. In 2012, she was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of Visitors (BOV) at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She previously served as Chairman of the Board from 1998 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2009 before being reelected to serve again this year.

Tax Relief
Senator Hutchison has consistently championed tax relief for working families. In recent years, she has led the fight to provide relief from the marriage income-tax penalty and to reestablish the deduction for state and local sales taxes for Texans. Senator Hutchison has worked to reduce marginal income tax rates, eliminate the death tax and lower taxes on capital gains.

Early in her Senate career, she was the lead sponsor of a bill to create the new Homemaker IRA, which allows spouses who do not work outside the home to save for retirement through an IRA. The bill became law in 1996.

Defense and Foreign Policy
Senator Hutchison has a well-earned reputation as a national leader on defense issues and as a tireless advocate for our military forces, helping to ensure they have the resources, proper training and modern equipment necessary to defend our nation. She has fought hard to improve the quality of life for our military personnel, their families and veterans by improving health benefits and education opportunities and modernizing and upgrading military facilities and family housing.

In 2003 she introduced and passed legislation creating an Overseas Basing Commission, which conducted a comprehensive review of the U.S. military's global footprint to help ensure that our Armed Forces are prepared to meet 21st century threats. Senator Hutchison has served on the Intelligence Committee and as Chairman and as Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. From 1993 to 1995 she served on the Armed Services Committee, becoming the first woman to serve on the committee since Margaret Chase Smith left the Senate in 1974. She is currently a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Homeland Security
Senator Hutchison was instrumental in the passage of the National Intelligence Reform Act, which included provisions she authored to ensure greater screening of air cargo. That legislation instructs the Transportation Security Administration to establish a database of known shippers, develop facility security plans and mandate the use of worker identification cards. The Senator has also secured funding for an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents to strengthen the enforcement of immigration laws. During her term as Chairman of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation, she played a major role in drafting the airline security bill passed by Congress after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Education and Science
Since she was first elected to the Senate in 1993, Senator Hutchison has been one of the Senate's leading advocates for science, technology, education and competitiveness. In 2007, she co-sponsored the America COMPETES Act, which increased federal investments in these critical areas. During her tenure in the Senate, Texas has moved to third in the nation in receipt of federal research and development expenditures for higher-education research institutions.

In 2010, the America COMPETES Act - legislation reauthorizing the two science agencies responsible for supporting basic research - passed the U.S. Congress with overwhelming support. Senator Hutchison included a provision in the bill enabling colleges and universities to allow students who major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) to become concurrently certified as elementary and secondary school teachers.

Senator Hutchison has long supported a quality education for all children, including allowing school districts to offer alternatives to traditional coed education if they feel it would facilitate students' learning. Studies have shown that some students learn better in a single-gender environment. In 2001, Senator Hutchison's legislation allowing public schools to offer single-sex education was successfully enacted.

In 2004, Senator Hutchison was instrumental in establishing The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST), and continues to serve as its honorary chairman. She saw the need to provide broader recognition of Texas's top achievers in medicine, engineering and science, and to build a stronger identity for Texas as an important destination and center of achievement in these fields. In just eight years, 92 members have been inducted into the national academies or have relocated to Texas, and Senator Hutchison has worked to move Texas from sixth in the nation in federal research funding to third. Texas currently has 10 Nobel Laureates and 250 academy members.

From January 2005 to December 2007, Senator Hutchison served as the Chairman of the Science and Space Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, overseeing NASA and the National Science Foundation. She has been a strong advocate for the scientific and economic value of investing in our space program. In December of 2005, the President signed into law the Senator's five-year blueprint for NASA's exploration and research initiatives. In 2010, Senator Hutchison helped to pass the NASA Reauthorization bill that bolsters America's human spaceflight capabilities for the next steps in deep-space exploration, while moving forward with development of a new commercial space industry.

Healthcare

In the 112th Congress, Senator Hutchison has introduced legislation that would reverse some of the harmful effects of President Obama's health care law.

Senator Hutchison's Patients' Freedom to Choose Act [S. 312] would repeal provisions that restrict the popular health savings accounts and flexible-spending accounts that help patients maximize their health care dollars. Additionally, the Senator introduced the SOS (Save Our States) Act [S. 281] that would place a moratorium on further implementation of the Obama health care law.

Transportation
In 2006, Senator Hutchison led efforts to repeal the anti-competitive Wright Amendment, which limited flights out of Dallas Love Field Airport. Originally intended to encourage growth at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the provision artificially inflated air fares at both airports. Senator Hutchison wrote the bill and worked with airlines and airport owners to reach an historic agreement - since enacted into law - that will have unfair barriers and restrictions at Love Field phased out by 2014.

2nd Amendment Rights
In 2008, Senator Hutchison authored an amicus curiae brief for the Supreme Court case DC v. Heller, affirming an individual's right to keep and bear arms. Her brief was signed by the Vice President of the United States and by more members of Congress than any other brief in U.S. history.

Personal History
The Senator's Texas roots run deep. Thomas Rusk of Nacogdoches was the first Texan to hold the U.S. Senate seat she currently occupies. He and Senator Hutchison's great-great-grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, were friends, and both signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Senator Hutchison grew up in La Marque, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas and UT Law School. She was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives. In 1990, she was elected Texas State Treasurer. In June 2000, she and several colleagues coauthored Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate, and in 2004, she released her first book, American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country. Senator Hutchison published her most recent bestseller, Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers, in October 2007.

Senator Hutchison lives in Dallas with her husband, Ray, and their two children, Bailey and Houston.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION(PARTIAL LIST)
• U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
• National Space Biomedical Research Institute Pioneer Award, 2012
• 112th Congress Silver Mouse Award, Congressional Management Foundation, (*recognizing the best websites on Capitol Hill), 2011
• Kodak American Greenways National Award, The Conservation Fund, 2011
• American Conservative Union Conservative for the 111th Congress, 2011
• Quasar Award, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, 2011
• Texas Council on Family Violence Outstanding Leader Award, 2010
• Air Force Association Distinguished American Award, 2008
• Sewall-Belmont House and Museum's Alice Award, 2007
• Connie Mack Lifetime Achievement Award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation, 2007
• National Guard Association of Texas Charles Dick Medal of Merit, 2006
• Association of the United States Army Outstanding Legislator Award, 2006
• American Legion National Commander's Distinguished Public Service Award, 2006
• Forbes Magazine's 2005 World's 100 Most Powerful Women
• Ducks Unlimited Wetland Sponsor of the Year Award, 2005
• Deep East Texas Council of Governments 2005 Legislator of the Year
• Named "Mr. South Texas" by the Washington's Birthday Celebration Association, 2005
• Women's Foreign Policy Group Inaugural Congressional Leadership Award, 2004
• Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, 2003
• George E. Haddaway Medal for Achievement in Aviation, 2003
• Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, National Leadership Award, 2002
• John C. Stennis Center for Public Service, Lindy Boggs Award, 2002
• National Military Family Association Award for Service to Military Families, 2001
• Ladies' Home Journal, 30 Most Powerful Women Award, 2001
• CLEAT Award for Support of Law Enforcement, 2000
• Border Texan of the Year, 2000
• Texas Women's Chamber of Commerce 100 Most Influential Texas Women of the Century, 1999
• Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute, Conservative Leadership Award, 1999
• Texan of the Year, Texas Legislative Conference, 1997
• Inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, 1997
• Coastal Conservation Association, Silver Ingot Award, 1997
• Republican Woman of the Year by the National Federation of Republican Women, 1995
• Outstanding Alumna, University of Texas, 1995
• Outstanding Alumnus, University of Texas School of Law 1995
• USA Today Weekend, 20 Rising American Political Stars, 1990
• One of Ten Outstanding Young Women of America, 1977
• One of Ten Outstanding Working Women of America, Glamour Magazine, 1977