Joel Hefley

From dKosopedia

Category: Colorado Republicans

Joel Hefley has represented Colorado's Eastern Front Range, the 5th Congressional District, since 1986, which comprises Chaffee, El Paso, Fremont, Lake, Park and Teller counties. He has announced that he will retire from the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of the 109th Congress.

He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and also serves on the Standards of Official Conduct committee. Hefley used to be the chairman of the House Ethics committee, and he reprimanded former Speaker Tom Delay twice before he was removed from that position.

He chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, which is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all military bases, the readiness and preparedness requirements of military personnel, and military construction, installations and family housing issues, including the base closure process. His subcommittee oversees the availability and condition of equipment, civilian personnel, maintenance depots, spare parts availability, readiness reporting systems, readiness of Army Training Schools and readiness of U.S. Forces to operate in a chemically or biologically contaminated environment.

Born in Oklahoma, Hefley moved to Colorado seeking work as a cowboy and ranch hand. He settled in Colorado Springs and served in the Colorado State House of Representatives from 1977 to 1979, and then served in the State Senate from 1979 to 1986.

Hefley has a Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University and a Masters of Science from Oklahoma State University. He was also a Gates Fellow at Harvard University. He and his wife, Lynn, have three daughters and four grandchildren.

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