Posted on 12/04/2007 5:50:55 PM PST by pissant
Looking to retire after 27 years on the House Armed Services Committee, including two as chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter isn’t eager to talk about the “L-word.”
“I don’t care about leaving a legacy,” the California Republican said in an interview. “‘You do the best you can for the country every day’ — that’s my motto.”
The committee’s top Republican, Hunter is retiring at the end of his 14th term, deciding to focus on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination rather than mounting a reelection campaign to the House.
Yet his legacy may very well live on with his son, Duncan D. Hunter, a Marine who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is now running to succeed him.
And the son has not been shy about offering his father some advice now and then.
In April 2004, while the congressman was in the middle of a committee hearing in Washington, he received a satellite phone call from his son in the midst of the siege of Fallujah, not so subtly asking his father why his unit was being ordered to stop attacking when it had the insurgents on the run.
“I ended up with this young Marine officer cussing me out on a cell phone,” Hunter recalls with a laugh.
Within minutes, the congressman was on the phone with top Pentagon brass, relaying his son’s message and demanding answers.
Hunter’s family has deep military roots. His father served in World War II, and he was an Army Ranger in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star.
Away from the committee, the past year has been a tumultuous one for the congressman, as his presidential bid has failed to surge, leaving him an asterisk in the polls.
Hunter is particularly stung by criticism from Democrats that he did not conduct tough enough oversight of the Iraq war while he was committee chairman, citing efforts to bolster protections against improvised explosive devices and to provide “jammers” to scramble the triggers insurgents were using to set off roadside bombs.
“We produced 10,000 portable jammers and moved them out to the battlefield — from a concept to the field — in just 70 days,” he said.
In fact, Hunter’s zeal to come up with protective body armor to defend against improvised explosive devices earned him the derisive nickname “SpongeBob HunterPants” after a military staffer fabricated a picture of Hunter wearing the bulky contraption, drawing comparisons to the famous children’s television character, according to an account in The Washington Post.
When he was in charge, Hunter said, “this committee moved up the production of armored Humvees by seven months” after he took his case directly to the steel mills that manufactured the plating.
Despite their differing views on the war, Hunter says he and the committee chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), are the “best of friends” and maintain a positive working relationship.
“We arm-wrestle on issues that take on a political edge,” Hunter said, “but we find a great deal of common cause.”
Though his days on the committee are numbered, Hunter still has at least one more fight left, defending against what he sees as increasing military threats from China, which is bolstering its military capabilities as American manufacturing increasingly moves offshore.
While the theme fits nicely with his presidential campaign promise to defend against the loss of manufacturing jobs overseas, Hunter said he sees military implications.
“We have got to look at the horizon carefully,” he said, warning that military technology can be compromised when companies move production offshore.
Hunter said he would like to see next year’s Defense Authorization Bill tackle the China issues, especially undersea capability, electronic warfare and the ability to strike deep behind enemy lines.
Hunter has requested a meeting with President Bush and other top lawmakers to discuss the Chinese threat but has yet to hear back from the White House.
And after nearly three decades of tackling military issues on Capitol Hill, Hunter has some advice for his “hard-charging” son as he campaigns to succeed him in the House.
“He is going to leave one battlefield and go to the next,” the congressman said. “I am firing from all sides myself right now.”
I'm thinking he is just sitting back and letting the so-called top tier self-destruct. He appears to be a patient man :)
sw
I should start going to church again and pray the ‘top-tier’ self-destructs.
Do you get the feeling everyone except for persons of extraordinary fortitude are even willing to touch the China issue with a ten-foot pole? Is it because of the massive amount of our debt that they hold, and the political ramifications if China were to suddenly dump it?
He’s obviously the best choice.
Let’s hope that’s his strategyh. I continue to pray for a miracle; he is clearly the best conservative choice.
Hunter is the only choice if you want a true patriot who is more interested in serving America rather than himself.
Time for all good conservatives to come to his aid. He has been there for us—whether it be in Viet Nam or Congress.
Duncan Hunter for President
Hunter is the kind of man who makes me proud to be an American in ways that few politicians have.
Duncan Hunter is MY number one pick.
bump
B4DH!
“In April 2004, while the congressman was in the middle of a committee hearing in Washington, he received a satellite phone call from his son in the midst of the siege of Fallujah, not so subtly asking his father why his unit was being ordered to stop attacking when it had the insurgents on the run.”
I love that.
Yesterday Laura Ingraham said twice on her show that she loved Duncan Hunter.
On Sunday night Bill Cunningham told a caller who called about Duncan Hunter that he loved Duncan Hunter.
True conservatives know what Duncan Hunter stands for.
True conservatives know what Duncan Hunter stands for.
We do. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
My son and I had the opportunity to have dinner with him in DC on September 15th at GOE 3! What a great man!
Everyone got a chance to talk with him and he gave no speeches.
He spent 3 hrs with us over dinner and I told him I’d like to see him as our next president.
“I would vote for him in a heartbeat.”
See you at the polls.
“My son and I had the opportunity to have dinner with him in DC on September 15th at GOE 3! What a great man!
Everyone got a chance to talk with him and he gave no speeches.
He spent 3 hrs with us over dinner and I told him I’d like to see him as our next president.”
Are you ever lucky! He’s such a nice, down-to-earth guy, as well as the strongest conservative that we’ve had in a long time.
I will always be proud that I got to support a candidate for President like Duncan Hunter.
My 7 year old son told me he likes Duncan hunter.We are headed to the toy store after school tomorrow.
IB4DH2!
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