Peter Thomas King (born April 5, 1944) is an American former politician and novelist who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented a South Shore Long Island district that includes parts of Nassau County and Suffolk County and was numbered as the 3rd and later the 2nd district.
King was formerly chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. He stepped down because of Republican conference term limits, but remained a member of the committee. On November 11, 2019, King announced he would not seek re-election in the 2020 elections and would retire after his current term expired. He resigned from the Financial Services Committee on January 15, 2020. King also previously served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
King's professional papers are held at the University of Notre Dame Archives.
Early life, family, education and military career
King was born in the New York City borough of Manhattan and raised in the Sunnyside neighborhood in nearby Queens. He is the son of Ethel M. King (née Gittins) and Peter E. King, a New York City police officer. His paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants from the island of Inishbofin in County Galway. His maternal grandfather was Welsh, and his maternal grandmother was also Irish, from County Limerick.
King graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School. He graduated from St. Francis College in 1965 with a B.A. in political science, and earned his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1968. That same year, he began service in the 165th Infantry Regiment of the New York Army National Guard. He worked for the Nassau County district attorney's office until 1974, when he was honorably discharged from the 165th infantry regiment.
King and his wife, Rosemary, reside in Seaford, New York, and have two adult children. His daughter, Erin King Sweeney, served on the town council for Hempstead, New York.
King is Roman Catholic.
Political career
King first sought public office in 1977, running for an at-large seat on the Hempstead, New York town council and winning with the backing of the then-powerful Nassau County Republican Party machine led by Joseph Margiotta. In 1981, he successfully ran for Nassau county comptroller, again with Margiotta's support. The next year, when several prominent Republican politicians, led by then senator Alfonse D'Amato, sought to displace Margiotta, King joined them in this internal Republican dispute; at one point, he was the only Nassau politician to do so. King was re-elected in 1985 and 1989. As comptroller, he displayed independence, often criticizing the budget proposals of county executives Francis Purcell and Thomas Gulotta, both Republicans. However, he was defeated by a large margin by incumbent Democratic attorney general Robert Abrams.
King was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1992. When Democratic Party Rep. Robert Mrazek announced his short-lived 1992 US Senate candidacy against Republican incumbent Al D'Amato, King ran for the 3rd district congressional seat that had been held by Mrazek. Despite being outspent 5-to-1,
In 2013, St. John's University honored King with a Doctor of Laws degree, and he gave their commencement address. He was recognized for assisting New York City following Hurricane Sandy.
Potential bids for US Senate and presidency
King had contemplated running for Senate in 2000 against Hillary Clinton, On both occasions he ultimately decided not to pursue the challenge.
thumb|150px|King at 2015 FITN (First in the Nation) Republican Leadership Summit in [[New Hampshire]]
During a 2013 radio interview in New Hampshire, King said that he was in the state "because right now I'm running for president," for the 2016 election. However, during a March 2014 CNN interview, King said he was considering running, not actively running. In a July 2015 interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, King announced he would not be running for president. King had earlier characterized a potential candidacy as being opposed to potential Tea Party movement candidates such as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, whom he criticized for their national defense policies. He later opposed Republican efforts to tie the repeal of delay of the Affordable Care Act to a continuing resolution before and during the 2013 government shutdown.
Political positions and statements
King was ranked as the most bipartisan member of the US House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the US Congress by the frequency by which each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party. He was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. In 2010, when Charles Rangel of New York was censured for ethical violations, King, along with Alaska Representative Don Young, were the only two Republicans voting against.
Although he supported John McCain for president in 2000, and despite his earlier disagreements with George W. Bush,
The animosity stemmed from the Texas senator not supporting a 9/11-related healthcare bill for police and firefighters, and a statement from Cruz that New York values are socially liberal.
Economy
King voted for the 2008 Wall Street bailout, saying it was "necessary for the financial health of New York and his district." He voted against it due to the $10,000 cap the bill would impose on the deductibility of state, local, and property taxes and the impact that would have in New York, a high-tax state. Upon the possibility of a second round of cuts, King reiterated he would be "forced to oppose" more tax cuts if legislation included a provision "permanently extending the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction". Only twelve Republican members of Congress in total voted against the bill.
Labor issues
King was considered a pro-union Republican. At times, King was highly critical of his party's leadership for being, in his view, "anti-union."
Guns
King is pro-gun control. He cites his support of gun control based on his experiences in New York, "Virtually every time there's a murder in New York, the gun tracked comes from another state," he states, expressing that without stricter gun control, people in New York will get killed.
King authored legislation to close what is known as the "terror gap," which would ban individuals on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns. He also supports the banning of bump stocks, in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. He describes the banning of bump stocks as being "morally, legally, and common sense-wise the right thing to do."
King supports expanding background checks for commercial gun sales (including at gun shows), and co-sponsored a bipartisan bill on this issue with Mike Thompson in 2013. falling to an "F" in 2016.
Health care
On May 4, 2017, King voted in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with the American Health Care Act.
House Intelligence Committee
King was a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In 2018, he voted to release the Nunes memo, written by committee staff at the request of Republican committee chairman US Representative Devin Nunes, over the objections of senior FBI leaders and all Democratic members of the committee. The memo states that the FBI "may have relied on politically motivated or questionable sources" to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Trump adviser Carter Page in October 2016, and in three subsequent renewals, during the early phases of the FBI's investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
At the time Trump asserted that the memo discredited the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. The FBI was asserted that "material omissions of fact ... fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
Irish republicanism and the IRA
thumb|right|King with [[President of the United States|President George W. Bush and Gerry Adams in 2001]]
King began actively supporting the Irish republican movement in the late 1970s. He frequently traveled to Northern Ireland to meet with senior members of the paramilitary group, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), many of whom he counted as friends.
King called the IRA "the legitimate voice of occupied Ireland". At the parade he again offered words of support for the IRA.
In 1993, King lobbied unsuccessfully for Gerry Adams to be a guest at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton. and has said the IRA was a "legitimate force that had to be recognized" to have peace.
In 2002, King denounced congressional investigation of the IRA-FARC links in the Colombia Three case.
Although disgruntled by Sinn Féin's opposition to the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq, King said he had turned down an offer from the Obama administration to be the US ambassador to Ireland in 2009. At a September 2011 hearing conducted by the UK Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee as part of its "Roots of Violent Radicalisation" inquiry, King defended his 1985 "If civilians are killed" remarks and extolled his role in the peace process as an "honest mediator". His office cited Congressional Research Service and House of Commons researchers noting that King became the first member of Congress to testify before a UK parliamentary hearing.
In 2011, King said that his ties to the IRA had been "entirely distorted", arguing that if the accusations were true then "I doubt the president of the United States would have offered me the position of ambassador to Ireland."
Islam
King has faced criticism over concerns of his treatment and views towards the civil rights of minority communities, especially that of Muslim Americans. Some observers have credited King with demonizing Muslim Americans and giving political influence towards anti-Muslim views and activism.
The New York Times wrote in 2006 that King had been "the Patriot Act's most fervent fan." He praised Obama's nominations of Leon Panetta for United States Secretary of Defense and David Petraeus for director of the Central Intelligence Agency, saying, "Director Panetta has done an outstanding job at the CIA, and General Petraeus has distinguished himself as one of the great American military leaders. Both men ... will be instrumental as we continue to combat the terrorist threat."
King suggested in 2014 that "foreign policy was not a major issue" for Obama, as he had worn a light tan suit in August in Washington the day before. He also said that "There's no way any of us can excuse what the president did yesterday" in reference to wearing the light tan suit as he addressed the media.
King and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) asked Congress on March 11, 2015, to make anthrax vaccines that are about to expire and otherwise would be disposed of available to emergency responders. They made their request in a letter to fellow members of Congress shortly after King introduced the bill (H.R. 1300) on March 4, 2015. King previously introduced the bill in September 2014, but it was not enacted.
King supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail immigration to the United States from some Muslim-majority countries until better screening methods are devised. He stated that "I don't think the Constitution applies to people coming in from outside the country, especially if there is a logical basis for it."
Radicalization hearings
thumb|right|upright=1.0|King in 2007
In December 2010, King announced that, when he became chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, he would hold hearings on the alleged radicalization of some American Muslims. While allowing that, "The overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding citizens," he claimed some Islamic clerics were telling their congregations to ignore extremism and to refrain from helping government investigators.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the conservative religious organization American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which opposed the building of the Park51 Community Center, declared his support for King and the hearings and remarked, "This hearing isn't about profiling — it's about protecting our homeland." He does not support same-sex marriage and opposed the Supreme Court taking on the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case.
Abortion
King identifies as "pro-life." While in Congress, King consistently received a score of 0%, from NARAL-Pro Choice America, an abortion rights organization. When asked at the Republican National Convention in 2012, King said, "[The] main purpose of government is to protect innocent life, no matter where that life is." In the same interview, King said a woman should not be punished for getting an abortion but doctors who perform the procedure should be.
Marijuana
King had a "C" rating from NORML regarding his voting record on cannabis-related matters. He has twice voted against providing veterans access to medical marijuana via the Veterans Health Administration.
Criticism of Occupy Wall Street
King was harshly critical of the Occupy Wall Street movement from the beginning; commenting on October 7, 2011:
King supported New York City mayor Bloomberg's decision to have the NYPD forcibly evict the Occupy protestors from Manhattan's Zuccotti Park; calling them, "low life dirtbags" and "losers", who "live in dirt." Bloomberg received widespread bipartisan support for the removal.
Noteworthy statements
On July 5, 2009, shortly after the death of Michael Jackson, King made a video statement chiding the media for its coverage of Jackson's death: