Bob Dornan Biography

Former U.S. Representative, California's 46th Congressional District, 1985 to 1996.

  • Member, National Security Committee, Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

  • Member, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Chairman, Subcommittee on Tactical and Technical Intelligence. Robert K. Dornan, of Garden Grove, California, served his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 46th Congressional District. Located in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, the district is primarily comprised of the cities of Garden Grove, Anaheim and Santa Ana.

    Congressional Duties

  • Robert K. Dornan was first elected to Congress in 1976, representing California's 27th Congressional District in western Los Angeles County and served from January 1977 to January 1983. In 1982, Dornan ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate; having entered the race 10 months late, he finished 4th in a field of 13 candidates. In 1984, he defeated an entrenched liberal incumbent to represent California's 38th Congressional District in central Orange County. Much of the 38th District was reapportioned into the 46th District in 1992, which Dornan currently represents. During his entire congressional career Dornan has been elected in districts that were overwhelmingly Democrat.

    Because of his extensive experience in national security, Dornan was chosen to serve as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Tactical and Technical Intelligence. He also serves on the National Security Committee where he is the chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee.

    As a member of the National Security Committee, Dornan has championed such vital defense programs as the B-1 "Lancer" and B-2 "Spirit" bombers, the F/A 18 "Hornet" and the V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor, anti-ballistic missile defense, development of an effective ground combat identification system, and maintaining proper levels of Guard and Reserve forces. Dornan was also an active leader promoting President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). During the Carter years, Dornan was a leader in the congressional battle to restore the supersonic Strategic Air Command penetrator aircraft, the B-1B "Lancer," which was canceled by President Carter in 1977.

    During the Clinton years, Dornan was a key leader in the successful effort to prevent the administration from eliminating the prohibition on homosexuals in the military, and was the sponsor of legislation to codify the ban. Dornan has also been a critic of the president's irrational defense cuts and his attempts to place U.S. forces under the command of foreign officers acting on behalf of the United Nations. In 1993, Dornan introduced legislation to place restrictions on a president's ability to place U.S. forces under foreign command. This legislation was included in the House GOP's "Contract with America," which passed during the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. In addition, during consideration of the "Contract," Dornan coauthored term limit legislation restricting House members to three terms and Senators to two terms.

    During the 104th Congress, Dornan has used his chairmanship of the Military Personnel Subcommittee to: oversee the process for investigating the fate of our missing servicemen from Southeast Asia; help prevent "friendly fire" incidents; stop drastic personnel reductions by establishing permanent end-strength levels; bridge the gap between military and civilian pay; improve the procedures for accounting for missing-in-action (MIA) service personnel and for providing information to the missing service person's family and to eliminate the disparity between military and other federal retiree COLAs.

    During the 1970s and early 1980s, Dornan, a staunch anti-Communist, was a defender of freedom around the globe and a strong supporter of freedom fighters in such places as Angola, Afghanistan and Nicaragua. His support for human and civil rights continues in Congress where Dornan has worked on issues such as the Jewish Refusedniks in Russia and human rights in Vietnam, Cuba, Indonesia, Sudan, Nigeria, Nicaragua and China (especially Tibet.) Dornan believes all of North Korea is a human rights nightmare.

    Consistent with his life-long commitment to human rights, Dornan has been a staunch defender of innocent pre-born life as the author of successful legislation to prevent federal funding of abortions in the District of Columbia, in military hospitals (both in the U.S. and overseas), in federal prisons and on Native American Indian reservations. Dornan has also been the sponsor of the "human life" amendment to once and for all end our nation's abortion holocaust of 1,500,000 per year.

    Other successful Dornan initiatives include: eliminating the position and office of the U.S. Surgeon General; conditioning Nunn-Lugar U.S. taxpayer supplied funding to Russia upon presidential certification that Russia has terminated its biological offensive weapons program; restricting "sensitivity" and HIV training in the federal workplace; establishing a Police Corps modeled after the ROTC, which would provide a four-year college education in return for four years service on a state or local police force; providing the death penalty for espionage resulting in the death of an individual acting on behalf of the U.S.; restoring federal disability benefits to mentally incompetent veterans; authorizing the Postal Service to confiscate property of individuals who produce or distribute child pornography through the mail; killing the Carter administration's proposed 1977 "instant voter registration" bill; and blocking the sale to the Soviet Evil Empire of the military-sensitive super computer, the Cyber 7600.

    Personal

    Congressman Dornan was born in New York City on April 3, 1933 to Harry Joseph and Mickey McFadden Dornan. The middle of three sons, he married the former Sallie Hansen of Santa Monica, California on her 21st birthday, April 16, 1955. The Dornan's have five children and ten grandchildren, with the last born January 1996.

    After graduating from Loyola High School in Los Angeles in 1950 and attending Loyola University until 1953, Dornan, at age 19, volunteered for service in the United States Air Force. After earning his silver wings, Dornan went on to serve as a fighter pilot with the world's first supersonic jet fighter wing. In 1958, Dornan left active duty and joined the California Air National Guard as a fighter pilot and then the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a rescue seaplane pilot and an intelligence officer, achieving the rank of captain. He survived two F-86 Sabrejet emergency parachute ejections as well as a smooth "dead stick" forced-landing of an F-100 "Supersabre" on a desert dry lake bed.

    Dornan has piloted every aircraft (except the F-117) in the U.S. military arsenal, including the B-2 "Spirit," B-1 "Lancer," U-2, SR-71 "Blackbird," AV-8 "Harrier," and F-15E "Eagle" as well as the Israeli "Kfir," and Israeli F-15 and F-16, the British "Tornado," "Harrier," and "Hawk," and the French "Mirage." In 1994 Dornan flew with the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.

    Dornan produced and hosted radio and television public affairs programs in Los Angeles from 1965 to 1976. In 1968 and 1969 he was awarded Emmys for hosting his own television political discussion program. Active in domestic civil rights during the 1960s, he marched with Martin Luther King and registered black voters in the south. Dornan originated both the POW/MIA bracelet worn by more than 12 million Americans during the Vietnam War and the "Prisoner of Conscience" bracelet worn for Soviet Jewish and Christian dissidents.

    As a news correspondent, Dornan traveled extensively, including 12 food-relief night flights to Biafra in 1969. He also traveled to Vietnam ten times, Cambodia three times, and Laos four times during the Vietnam War.

    Awards and Honors

    In recent years, Dornan has been recognized for his efforts to spur economic growth by reducing taxes and government spending. For his efforts, Dornan has received numerous awards including: "Taxpayers' Friend Award" from the National Taxpayers Union; "Golden Bulldog Award" from Watchdogs of the Treasury, Inc.; "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business, and the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

    Other recognitions include awards from the National Guard Association of the U.S.; the Disabled American Veterans; Veterans of Foreign Wars; the American Security Council; the Zionist Organization of America; the Jewish National Fund; U.S. Term Limits, Inc.; Cardinal Mindzenty Foundation, and the Tom Dooley Foundation.

    Memberships

    Congressman Dornan is a member of the Air Force Association, American Legion, American Helicopter Society, AMVETS, Association of Former Intelligence Officers, Association of Naval Aviation, Knights of Columbus, Los Angeles Philanthropic Society, National Guard Association of California, Navy League, the Reserve Officers Association, the Marine Corps Intelligence Association, and the Special Forces Association.

    Political

    On December 17, 1985, Congressman Dornan became the first member of Congress to endorse Vice President George Bush for president. He seconded the nomination of Bush at the New Orleans convention on August 17, 1988. During the 1988 campaign, Dornan campaigned in more states -- 34 -- than any other of Bush's surrogate speakers. In 1992, Dornan was again national co-chairman and California vice chairman of the Bush for President campaign. In addition, Dornan traveled to 17 states on behalf of President Reagan during the 1980 campaign.

    Email: MCallanan@aol.com