Bilirakis, Gus

Born on February 8, 1963 in Gainesville ( Florida , USA ) in the family of Greeks Michael Bilirakis and Evelyn Miaoulis. He grew up in Tarpon Springs ( Florida ). ^[5] His grandfather, who moved to the United States, owned a local bakery where Kostas, while still a student of a public school in the area near Tampa Bay, worked from an early age.

He graduated from Tarpon Spring State High School and St. Petersburg biennial college.

In 1986 he graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor 's degree in political science .

In 1989, he received a law degree from the College of Law at Stetson University .

He practices law in the area around Tampa Bay, owning the Bilirakis Law Group LLC, which specializes in inheritance planning and wills, which he inherited from his father Michael Bilirakis , a former member of the US Congress ( 1983-2007 ), whom Gus also helped in the conduct of election campaigns .

Position

In 1998, he was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives from the 48th constituency, covering most of the northern territory of Pinellas , part of Pasco and Hillsboro .

Committees

In Tallahassee ( 1998–2006 ), he chaired several well - known panels , including Crime Prevention , Appropriations for Public Safety , and the Committee for Economic Development, Trade, and Banking .

Caucus Membership

• Greek-Israeli Union of Congress.

Election campaigns

In 2006, Michael Bilirakis announced his retirement after 24 years of membership in Congress, and Gus Bilirakis immediately joined the race to be his father's successor in the 9th district. He bypassed Hillsboro’s Phillis Busanski district commissioner in the general election, gaining 55% of the vote, becoming the second representative of the district. Three times re-elected without substantial competition.

Participation in committees

• Committee on Energy and Trade;
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Production and Trade;
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economics;
• Veterans Affairs Committee (Vice Chairman);
  • Subcommittee on Economic Perspectives;
  • Subcommittee on Health;
• Republican Investigation Committee;
• Greek caucus (co-chair) ^[6] .

In January 2009, Bilirakis was appointed the oldest member of the House of Representatives Committee on Management, Investigation and Supervision.

Party Leadership

Gus Bilirakis is a member of the group of parliamentary organizers of the Republican Party , the chairman of the Special Commission on Veterans Affairs of the Political Strategy Committee of the Republican Party, and also co-chairs the military veterans and Congress Greek issues.

Political Platform

Bilirakis made efforts to increase the potential of the United States in visa verification, and he also played a key role in efforts to strengthen the borders of America. First of all, it concerns the adoption of legislation in order to increase the collection of biometric information about migrants detained at sea in search of ways to illegally enter the US.

September 29, 2008, voted against the US Financial System Rescue Plan . ^[7]

On May 2, 2017, the Co-Chairs of the Greek Congress Congress, Gus Bilirakis and Carolyn Maloney , and Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. , submitted a resolution calling on the United Kingdom to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece. Brought out by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, Greek works of art, despite many years of efforts by the Greek government to return them, continue to remain in the British Museum ^{[8] [9]} .

On February 5, 2018, Bilirakis, Maloney and Payne, Jr. turned to the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs with a proposal to hold a hearing on their previously prepared resolution on the Parthenon marbles ^{[10] [11] [12]} .

He is married, married with his wife Eva and has four sons: Michael, Teddy, Manuel and Nicholas. ^[13] Lives in Palm Harbor .

He is a member of the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew and bears the office ( title ) of the archon of the Constantinople Patriarchate ^[14] . In January 2017, on the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump , the archbishop of America Demetrios at the traditional meeting of representatives of the US Greek community and guests from Greece granted the new head of the White House office to Reins Pribus , Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States George Gidzhikos (also to Greeks by origin) and Gus Bilirakis Medal of St. Paul - the highest award of the American Archdiocese ^{[15] [16]} .

• Congressman Gus Bilirakis official US House site
• Bilirakis for Congress
• Gus bilirakis at dmoz
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress