Buford T Justice
From Usgs
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| United States Senator for Texas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Office: 2014 - 2043 | ||||
| Preceded by | Joe Miller | |||
| Succeeded by | GEG Nelson | |||
| US Representative for Texas' 4th | ||||
| In Office: January 3rd 2005 - August 8th 2014 | ||||
| Preceded by | Ralph Hall | |||
| Succeeded by | Unknown | |||
| Born | February 26th 1947 Texarkana, Texas | |||
| Political Party | Republican | |||
| Spouse | Wilhemina Justice (divorced)
Gabrielle Garcia-Justice | |||
| Religion | Texarkana Reformed Evangelical Fundamental Church of God, The Twelve Apostles and Assorted Saints | |||
Buford T Justice (26 February 1947-17 January 2043) was born on February 26th 1947 to Buford and Lurleen Justice in Texarkana, Texas.
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Early Life
Justice attended school in Bowie County where his Father was Sheriff until his death in 1976. Justice dropped out of high school and worked for the Bowie County Sheriff's Department doing menial tasks until he was deputized in 1968, destined to follow in his Father's footsteps. Justice married his first wife, Wilhemina in 1969.
Sheriff of Bowie County, TX
Justice was elected in 1976 as the Democratic Sheriff of Bowie County, following in his Father's footsteps. He concentrated heavily on enforcing the County's prohibition laws while in office as well as stopping traffic and interstate crime between the Texas and Arkansas border. Justice was well known for exceeding his jurisdiction and pursuing perps into Arkansas and sometimes beyond. This won him both admirers and detractors and he was considered ruthless in his pursuit of law and order. Justice joined the Republican Party in 1988, having become heavily disillusioned with the Democrats since they nominated Michael Dukakis; Justice was also a staunch supporter of Ronald Reagan.
Congressman for Texas' 4th
Justice was elected in 2004, following the death of the Dean of the Texas Delegation, Ralph Hall. Justice is a strong ideological conservative and has sponsored a Federal Marriage Amendment which he helped pass the Judiciary Committee with unanimous consent in his role as Deputy Chairman. Justice also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Science, Health, Education and the Environment. Justice has been a keen supporter of President Warren and has co-sponsored many bills written by the White House. In 2011, the Congressman was reappointed as the Deputy Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and took up another post, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and Government Regulations. At the end of 2011, Justice swapped positions with Thomas Fletcher and became the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Economy, Labor and Infrastructure. Towards the end of the 2012 session, Justice took over as the Chairman of the Budget, Economy, Labor and Infrastructure Committee subsequent to Avery Passerday's appointment to the Senate and spent his tenure there gutting a high speed rail bill for the West Coast by reducing the funding from $1 billion to $1 after unsuccessfully attempting to add Texarkana as a stop after San Diego.
At the beginning of 2013, Justice was elected as House Minority Whip and was appointed as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. After the surprise resignation of Greg Willis, Congressman Justice became the House Minority Leader for the Republican Party before being appointed to the United States Senate by Governor Aida Alvera-Hughes following the vacancy left by Joe Miller, a Democrat.
US Senator for Texas
Senator Justice has been one of the most vocal members of the Senate since his appointment and prides himself on being the "loudest voice for Texas interests". Before his appointment, his tax cut was signed into law by President Warren and saves Texan taxpayers about $700,000,000 every fiscal year, in the session following his election, Senator Justice saw his Pulmonary Hypetension Awareness Act and Employee Benefits Protection Act signed into law.
The Senator saw much movement on his bills during the 2015-2017 session, with the South West Border Sheriffs' Coalition Support Act passing the House, along with the Support Your Local Sheriff Act, although the second was killed by the Democratic leadership in Conference Committee. The Senator has vowed to resurrect it however. During the 2016 Fuel Crisis in the Sunbelt, Senator Justice was seen handing our cans of gas on the streets of Austin and proposed a bill which passed the House called the Saving America From High Fuel Prices Act which included hundreds of millions of dollars of relief for Texas. He said that he'll keep working to pass it in the Senate next session.
In the 2019-2020 session, Senator Justice was very successful at working with the Republican leadership in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. As a result, Congress heard and passed five of his bills, all of which were signed into law by President Whitney Mason, a Conservative Democrat. The South West Border Sheriffs' Coalition Support Act, the National Year of the Bible Resolution, the Save Our Children Act, the Stop the Sale of Murderabilia and the Southern Port Relief Act all became federal law during this period. Senator Justice was also responsible, through an amendment he sponsored to the EAESIA Act for opening up one trillion barrels of oil in the Green River Formation to oil drilling, removing former environmental restrictions. During this session, Buford T Justice served as Assistant President Pro Tempore under Senator Hilliam Warren (R-PA).
In 2021, the Republican Senate Caucus elected Buford T Justice to the position of President Pro Tempore.
Gabrielle Garcia
There had been rumors flying around Washington DC for months concening a possible affair that the Senator had been having with Ohio Congresswoman, Gabrielle Garcia. These rumors did not affect his 2014 election bid, but quickly spilled over afterwards. In January 2015 in Wichita Falls, TX, Senator Justice was forced to admit his romantic involvement with Congresswoman Garcia, although he stressed that he had committed no inappropriate act which could be construed as adultery. These revelations led to Senator Justice's divorce from his wife Wilhemina and his second marriage to now Gabrielle Garcia-Justice in November 2016. It was revealed in mid-2017 that Gabrielle was pregnant with twins. They were born after a Congressional gala ball with complications. They were christened Alejandro and Savannah.
Electoral History
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Buford T Justice | 4,498,536 | 53% | |
| Democrat | Rick Hernandez | 3,954,452 | 46.6% | |
| Total | 8,490,064 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Buford T Justice | 4,671,828 | 52.6% | |
| Democrat | Alex Hernandez | 4,164,010 | 46.9% | |
| Total | 8,835,838 | |||
Trivia
Justice's first son: Buford T Justice Jr. who is the current Sheriff of Bowie County.
The Sheriff of Bowie County has been a Justice family member since 1944.
Justice has two brothers: Gaylord Justice and Reginald Van Justice; the former is Sheriff of neighboring Cass County and the latter is an officer in the Canadian Mounted Police.
Justice describes himself as 'a law and order man'.
