About Senator Jim Talent
Senator Talent's Personal Story
A Missouri Family
Jim Talent was born in Missouri on October 18, 1956. His grandparents were dairy farmers in Jefferson County on the same land his ancestors homesteaded after Missouri's acquired statehood in 1821. The farm has belonged to the family since the 1830's.
Jim Talent - A Lifelong Missourian
Jim Talent was born and raised in Des Peres, Missouri. He graduated from Kirkwood High School in 1973 and attended Washington University. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1981 and clerked for Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals from 1982 through 1983.
Jim, Brenda and the kids
Jim and his wife, Brenda, were married in 1984. They have three young children: Michael, Kate and Chrissy. Brenda practices law part-time at the law firm, Bryan Cave. Brenda also served four years as an officer in the United States Army.
Jim's Mother, Marie
Jim's mother, Marie, was a lifelong resident of Missouri. She taught herself stenography and started a successful court reporter's business that she kept until her family started growing. Marie Talent believed in helping people. When America entered World War II, Marie bought a train ticket and traveled from Missouri to Washington, D.C. to join the War Department. Her passion was education and she was active in the school district. She wanted every child to have the opportunity to get the education they needed to succeed in life. It was Marie's work with her children's public schools that provided Jim with his first-ever political experience: Jim remembers walking through the snow to work a poll for a local school board election.
Jim's Father, Milton
Milton Talent, Jim's father managed to work his way through school and graduated from Harvard Law, becoming the first one in his family ever to go to college. Milton was 30 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He immediately signed up with the Navy and was deployed a sailor. Milton became an officer and remained in the Navy before joining the National Labor Relations Board and eventually opening up a successful labor law practice.
Jim's Sister and Brother
Jim's sister, Barb, is a pediatric psychologist with her own practice and his brother Chuck owns a small tavern-restaurant in Des Peres.
Senator Jim Talent: An Effective Leader for Missouri
Senator Talent has fought for Missourians from all walks of life for nearly 20 years.
In 1984, at the age of 28, Senator Talent was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, where he served for eight years and succeeded in passing numerous pieces of legislation, including legislative efforts to build roads, toughen drug laws, secure taxpayer rights and reduce taxes.
At the age of 32, Senator Talent was unanimously chosen by his colleagues as the Minority leader, the highest ranking Republican leadership position in the Missouri House.
He served in that capacity until 1992 when he was elected to Congress from Missouri's Second District.
Jim Talent served Missouri in the U.S. House for eight years where he began changing Washington by co-authoring the historic Welfare Reform bill, championing national security issues on the House Armed Services Committee, enacting legislation to help revitalize urban neighborhoods and passing legislation to help lower health care costs.
In 2002, Missourians elected Jim Talent to serve in the United States Senate where he has continued to change Washington for Missouri jobs, health care, energy and the nation's security.
Senator Talent's Years in the U.S. House
Senator Talent served in the U.S. Congress for eight years and as Assistant Majority Leader under Congressman Dick Armey (R-Texas). His achievements include the following:
As a freshman he introduced the Real Welfare Reform Act of 1994. That bill subsequently became the basis for the historic bipartisan welfare reform bill, the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996, that has resulted in 4.2 million people moving from dependency on the government to jobs and self-sufficiency.
Also as a freshman, Senator Talent formed a special congressional committee to address the decline in readiness of America's military. Senator Talent served for eight years on the Armed Services Committee. In that capacity, he waged a long battle, against both the Clinton Administration and budget hawks in his own Party, to protect America's armed forces from cuts in size and funding.
Senator Talent was a member of the Armed Services Committee in 1997 when, in order to save money, the Republican leadership of that committee attempted to discontinue production of the Missouri-built F-18 Super Hornet. This carrier-based aircraft was the Navy's top acquisition priority for a number of years running and was considered the key to the ability of the United States to project power through its aircraft carriers in the decades to come. The effort to discontinue the aircraft succeeded in subcommittee, but Senator Talent led an initiative against his own Party leadership to restore the aircraft in full committee. That effort succeeded on a close, bipartisan vote, as the full committee overruled its own Chairman and subcommittee ' a highly unusual outcome in Congress. The F-18 Super Hornet has since exceeded all expectations and has become the linchpin of naval aviation. And Senator Talent's initiative also saved and created thousands of jobs for Missourians.
For eight years, Senator Talent served on the Small Business Committee. In 1997, he was named Chairman of the committee and became the youngest Chairman in Congress. In that capacity he fought successfully for tax and regulatory relief for small business people across America. In particular, he succeeded in permitting small business people to deduct the cost of their health insurance, restoring the tax deduction for those operating businesses at home, helping women start their own businesses and bolstering loan programs to help individuals who want to start their own small businesses. During this period the Congress also took the first steps towards eliminating the estate tax one of Senator Talent's priorities.
He twice passed out of the House of Representatives legislation that would have permitted small business people to pool together and buy health insurance through trade associations - legislation that would have reduced by millions the number of uninsured people in the country without any cost to the taxpayer.
Under Senator Talent's leadership, the Small Business Committee became the most bipartisan in the House. Senator Talent constantly promoted the idea that small business is the avenue of opportunity for people of all backgrounds and socio-economic status. In addition, as Chairman, Senator Talent was scrupulous in respecting the prerogatives of all the members of the Small Business Committee, including those of the other Party. With Talent's leadership, the committee passed an overwhelming number of bills. As a result, Talent's committee was one of the most effective in the 106th Congress.
For six years Senator Talent served on the Education committee in the House. He was a consistent advocate of safe schools and empowering parents and teachers through greater local control. For example, in 2000 Senator Talent passed legislation to allow public school authorities to remove from the classroom students who possessed or used illegal drugs or committed aggravated assault in school. He also led the fight on the House floor for opportunity scholarships legislation which would have given poor students and their parents the chance to escape failed schools in the urban core.
Senator Talent believes that the American dream is real for everyone, and he has worked to keep the commitment made to veterans for their service to America. Talent introduced legislation that now offers small business loans to more than half a million Missouri veterans and 24 million veterans nationwide. He championed the Missing Service Persons Act that expanded the legal rights of the families of POWs and the missing in action, so that the Department of Defense must on a regular basis reexamine each individual case.
Senator Talent joined with Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Oklahoma), former Rep. Floyd Flake (D-New York City), and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) to design the most comprehensive anti-poverty initiatives ever considered by Congress. The Community Renewal Act empowers local neighborhood groups, pastors and community leaders by providing the tools they need to create good jobs, decent housing, new businesses and safe neighborhoods. After five years of hard work, the legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton who lauded Senator Talent for his bipartisan efforts to reduce poverty in America.
Senator Talent fought to preserve and protect Social Security and voted to strengthen and save Medicare. He voted to make prescription drugs affordable and available for all seniors. And he was an original sponsor of the first Patient's Bill of Rights that passed the House in 1998.
Senator Talent led the effort to allow our producers to add value to their commodities through innovative agriculture enterprises. He fought for agriculture assistance centers and tax incentives that would aid our producers, help bolster the economy and create jobs in rural America. Senator Talent's legislation to provide value-added grants for agriculture innovation centers was signed into law as part of the "Agriculture Risk Protection Act."
Senator Talent was a leader in the fight for important transportation and infrastructure projects in Missouri. He spearheaded efforts to secure the construction of four levees and was a strong supporter of the Page Avenue extension and improved Mississippi River infrastructure in the Second Congressional District.
During his service in Congress, Senator Talent has received numerous awards and honors. Talent is the first male recipient of the National Association of Women Business Owners' "National Public Policy" award. In addition, Senator Talent was also named "Legislator of the Year" by the Department of Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars, the International Franchise Association and the Independent Electrical Contractors and he's been honored by the Seniors Coalition, the United Seniors Association and the Coalition the Save Medicare. In 2000, Senator Talent received the Vietnam Veterans of America's Lifetime Achievement Award," and he has been named a "Taxpayer Hero" by the Americans for Tax Reform, "Guardian of Senior's Rights" by the 60 Plus Association and the "Friend of the Farmer" by the Missouri Farm Bureau.
Senator Talent's Years in the U.S. Senate
On October 9, 2001, Senator Talent announced his intent to run for the United States Senate. His candidacy was endorsed by the Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Soybean Association. Senator Talent also earned the endorsement of the nation's largest small business advocacy group, the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents 13,000 men and women small business owners in Missouri.
Missourians elected Senator Talent to the Senate in November 2002 where he has worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass critical legislation for Missouri.
In December 2003, Senator Talent was a leader in helping pass the Medicare Prescription Drug plan which is now providing affordable prescription drug coverage to hundreds of thousands of Missouri seniors, many for the first time.
Senator Talent was successful in advocating for a larger Highway bill. He worked with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden to add an additional $300 million to the bill for Missouri's roads and bridges.
In the summer of 2005, Senator Talent led the fight to add a Renewable Fuels Standard to the Energy bill against the oil companies who opposed the plan. Senator Talent succeeded and now the oil companies are required to add at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel to the nation's fuel supply by 2012.
In September, Senator Talent's vote led to the confirmation of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He also helped defeat a filibuster to confirm Sam Alito to the nation's highest court.
Working with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senator Talent succeeded in passing the toughest, most comprehensive anti-meth bill ever enacted into law. The Combat Meth Act restricts nationally the products needed to cook methamphetamine. It also provides critical tools to help law enforcement fight meth in our communities. The President signed the Talent-Feinstein Combat Meth Act into law in March.
Senator Talent continues to fight to reduce health care costs for small business people and their workers. With his leadership, the Small Business Health Plans bill has more support than ever in the Senate.