Michael Bilirakis (born July 16, 1930) is an American politician and lawyer from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. He was a Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

since 1983 until 2007, representing the 9th District of Florida.

Early life

The son of Greek immigrants, Bilirakis was born in

Tarpon Springs, Florida Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal p ...

but spent his childhood in

Clairton, Pennsylvania Clairton is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is located along the Monongahela River and is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,181 at the 2020 census. Under Pennsylvania legal classifications for local go ...

. He graduated from Douglas Business College in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1949. He received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

in 1959 where he was a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity. He also attended

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

in 1960. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree from the

University of Florida Levin College of Law The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida, and second oldest overall ...

in 1963. Bilirakis served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

from 1951 to 1955 during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

era and rose to the rank of staff sergeant.

Political career

Bilirakis made his first run for office in 1982, contesting the newly created 9th District. He defeated

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

George Sheldon by 4,300 votes. He was reelected with 78 percent of the vote in 1984 and was reelected 10 more times, never facing serious opposition. He ran unopposed in 1988, 1994, 1998 and 2004. His committee assignments include membership on the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as being vice chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. He played a key role in enactment of the

Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act Signed into effect on 12 June 2002, the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, (PHSBPRA) was signed by the President, the Department of Health and Human Services ( DHHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ...

and re-authorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. He was the lead congressional sponsor of The Nurse Reinvestment Act of 2002 and authored the Organ Donation Improvement Act. ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...

Almanac of American Politics ''The Almanac of American Politics'' is a reference work published biennially by Columbia Books & Information Services. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States through an approach of profiling individual leaders and ...

called him one of the most "legislatively productive" members of Congress.

Retirement and later life

Bilirakis retired in 2006. His son,

Gus Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of t ...

, a Florida state representative, defeated Democrat Phyllis Busansky in the 2006 congressional race for the elder Bilirakis's House seat. In August 2009, Bilirakis was shortlisted by Governor Crist as a potential replacement for

Mel Martínez Melquíades Rafael Ruiz Martínez (born October 23, 1946) is a Cuban Americans, Cuban-American lobbyist and former politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Florida from 2005 to 2009 and as general chairman of ...

after his resignation from the U.S. Senate. Crist ultimately appointed

George LeMieux George Stephen LeMieux ( ; born May 21, 1969) is an American former politician who was a United States Senator from Florida from 2009 to 2011. He is chairman of the Florida-based law firm of Gunster Yoakley & Stewart and was chief of staff to Go ...

References

External links

Voting record maintained by the Washington Post"Bilirakis Reflects on Career" in St. Petersburg Times
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilirakis, Mike 1930 births Living people American people of Greek descent Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni George Washington University alumni Military personnel from Florida People from Clairton, Pennsylvania People from Tarpon Springs, Florida Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida United States Air Force non-commissioned officers University of Pittsburgh alumni 21st-century American politicians Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States