Paul Findley
| Paul Findley | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 20th district |
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In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Edna O. Simpson |
| Succeeded by | Dick Durbin |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 23, 1921 Jacksonville, Illinois |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Illinois College |
Paul Findley (born June 23, 1921) is a former United States Representative from Illinois, who represented its 20th District. A Republican, he was first elected in 1960. Findley lost his seat in 1982 to current United States Senator Dick Durbin. Findley attended Illinois College and is a member of Phi Alpha Literary Society. He is a cofounder of the Council for the National Interest, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group, and a board member of If Americans Knew. He resides in Jacksonville, Illinois.
Findley served 11 terms in Congress, but lost to Dick Durbin, in his bid for reelection in 1982. He was known in Congress as an advocate of the farmers of his district and as a strong proponent of the Palestinians and of opening up communication with the Palestine Liberation Organization since they were the strongest and most organized representatives of Palestinian people at the time.
According to the New York Times, in 1982 Findley narrowly lost his bid for re-election for a number of reasons: "a competent opponent, redistricting, the economic recession, and pro-Israel groups support to his challenger," which allowed Findley's challenger to match him in spending. During the campaign, "a former AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] president called him 'a dangerous enemy of Israel.'" Findley confirmed that his 1982 campaign raised "almost exactly the same sum" as that of his opponent.
In 1989 Findley, with former representative Pete McCloskey (R-CA), formed the Council for the National Interest. It is a 501 (c)4 non-profit, non-partisan organization in the United States that works for "Middle East policies that serve the American national interest." Its first executive director was ten-term congressman John B. Anderson (R-Il) who ran as an Independent candidate in the 1980 U.S. presidential election.
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