Pete Hoekstra

Pete Hoekstra (2017)

Cornelius Peter "Pete" Hoekstra (* thirtieth October 1953 in Groningen , The Netherlands ) is an American politician of the Republican Party and was from 1993 to 2011 member of the US House of Representatives for Michigan .

Hoekstra is the US ambassador to his native country, the Netherlands.

biography

After attending Christian High School in Holland (Michigan) , Hoekstra, who immigrated to the USA with his parents at the age of three, studied political science at Hope College , where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA Political Science) in 1975 . He then completed a postgraduate degree in business administration at the University of Michigan in 1977 with a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He was then vice president of marketing at furniture maker Herman Miller from 1977 to 1992 .

In 1992, Hoekstra was first elected as a Republican candidate to the US House of Representatives and, after eight subsequent re-elections, since January 3, 1993, he has represented Michigan’s 2nd Congressional constituency . After he was chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence between 2003 and 2007 , he has been the highest-ranking member of the Republican Minority Group ( Ranking Minority Member ) and thus the opposition leader on this committee.

In the gubernatorial elections in Michigan Nov. 2, 2010 , Hoekstra was among the group of potential Republican candidates, but lost in the internal party primaries 3 August 2010 the politically inexperienced entrepreneur and former chief executive officer and CEO of Gateway, Inc. Rick Snyder with 26.8 percent to 36.4 percent, while the other three candidates (Michigan's Attorney General Mike Cox, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, and State Senator Tom George) got a combined 36.8 percent.

Hoekstra resigned from Congress on January 3, 2011. Bill Huizenga succeeded him.

On July 24, 2017, US President Donald Trump nominated Hoekstra as US Ambassador to the Netherlands. On September 27, 2017, he had his hearing before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, which recommended him to the entire Senate. He confirmed it on November 9th.

Hoekstra hit the headlines in December 2017. In a television interview with a Dutch journalist, he was confronted with his own statements from 2015. At that time, the conservative politician claimed at a conference that radical Islamists had set up no-go zones in the Netherlands in which cars and politicians were set on fire. Although his statements at the conference are precisely documented with video recordings, Hoekstra flatly denied ever having made such statements and described the journalist's allegations as fake news . A few moments later, he also denied having spoken of fake news . After Hoekstra's denial of documented facts had been reported internationally, he apologized a few days later via Twitter for the television interview, without distancing himself from his original claims.

He took up his post as ambassador on January 10, 2018. At his first press conference, he was asked by several journalists whether he wanted to retract what he had said or if he could name the politicians who had been set on fire in the Netherlands. Hoekstra refused to comment on his claims. A few days later, Hoekstra stated in an interview that his information from 2015 was wrong and that he had mistaken the Netherlands for another country.

Web links

Commons : Pete Hoekstra - collection of images, videos and audio files

Pete Hoekstra in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
Pete Hoekstra in the nndb (English)

Individual evidence

↑ BOSTON HERALD: Snyder, Bernero to face off in Michigan governor's race (August 4, 2010) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2
↑ Video of the hearing
↑ https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/831
↑ Paul P. Murphy: US ambassador denies own comments, then denies denial. CNN , December 23, 2017, accessed April 11, 2018 .
^ Eli Rosenberg, Amar Nadhir: Reporters to Trump ambassador: 'This is the Netherlands - you have to answer questions'. The Washington Post , January 10, 2018, accessed April 11, 2018 .
↑ Milena Veselinovic, Mick Krever: US envoy reportedly 'dismayed' over his past comments on Muslims, violence in Netherlands. CNN , January 13, 2018, accessed April 11, 2018 .

personal data
SURNAME	Hoekstra, Pete
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hoekstra, Cornelius Peter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician (Republican Party)
DATE OF BIRTH	October 30, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH	Groningen , the Netherlands

[1] BOSTON HERALD: Snyder, Bernero to face off in Michigan governor's race (August 4, 2010) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2

[2] Video of the hearing

[3] ttps://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/831

[4] Paul P. Murphy: US ambassador denies own comments, then denies denial. CNN , December 23, 2017, accessed April 11, 2018 .

[5] Eli Rosenberg, Amar Nadhir: Reporters to Trump ambassador: 'This is the Netherlands - you have to answer questions'. The Washington Post , January 10, 2018, accessed April 11, 2018 .

[6] Milena Veselinovic, Mick Krever: US envoy reportedly 'dismayed' over his past comments on Muslims, violence in Netherlands. CNN , January 13, 2018, accessed April 11, 2018 .