Bill Flores

Early life and education

Flores was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, where his father was serving in the military. He is the son of Ruth Ann Theresa (née Kennedy) and Joe Pete Flores. He grew up in Stratford in the Texas Panhandle. His paternal ancestors left Spain and settled in what is now Texas in 1725. Of his heritage, Flores has said, "My family came from Spain in 1725, and if people want to consider me Hispanic, they can, but I didn't advertise that way, and I'm an American first." He graduated with a B.B.A., cum laude in accounting from Texas A&M University in 1976. While there, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Ross Volunteer Company, and Corps Staff. He also served as Student Body Vice-President of Finance during his senior year. He has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1978. He also received a Master of Business Administration from Houston Baptist University in 1985.

Business career

Flores served as the chief financial officer for two publicly traded energy service firms from 1990 through 1998. These companies included Marine Drilling Companies, Inc. (1990–1997) and Western Atlas Inc. (1997–1998). From 2002 to 2005, Flores was the Senior Vice President and CFO of Gryphon Exploration Company.

In 2006, a group of five oil and gas industry executives, led by Flores as President and CEO, formed Phoenix Exploration Company with $350 million of capital commitments from a group of private equity firms that included Riverstone Holdings and Pinebrook Partners. The company was engaged in oil and gas exploration along the Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Flores also served as a Director of that company from its formation until he retired in December 2009 to run for public office.

Flores is a former Commissioner of the Texas Real Estate Commission (appointed by Governor Rick Perry), and a past Director and former Chairman of the Board of the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University. He has also served on boards of Phoenix Exploration Company, Marine Drilling Companies, Inc., FreeBirds, Inc., and The PARC, Inc, and the Alley Theater of Houston.

He serves on the Board of the Private Enterprise Research Center of Texas A&M University and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Houston Baptist University, where he serves as Vice-Chairman.

2010 election

In late 2009 Flores entered the Republican primary for the 17th District, held by 10-term Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards. Flores claimed his worries about the future of "the American dream" inspired him to run for Congress. He committed a half million dollars of his own money to self-fund his campaign.

In the Republican primary runoff on April 13, he had defeated Rob Curnock by a 64–36 percent margin. The size of his primary victory was a surprise to many political observers because Curnock was the 2008 nominee and he held Edwards' 2008 vote total close to 50 percent, despite being heavily outspent. During the Republican primary, Flores received the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm After the primary win, Flores was also endorsed by George H.W. Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee.

Through December 21, 2010, Flores' campaign raised $3.5 million, of which $1.49 million came from Flores himself. He spent $3.3 million overall.

On November 2, 2010, Flores defeated Edwards with 62 percent of the vote. This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle.

Flores won his fourth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 8, 2016. With 149,417 votes (60.8 percent), he defeated the Democrat William Matta, who trailed with 86,603 ballots (35.2 percent) and the Libertarian Clark Patterson with 9,708 (4 percent).

Political positions

Upon his swearing-in, Flores became the first Republican to represent Waco in Congress since Reconstruction. Flores supports limited government and lower taxes; an end to the spending of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent; pro-life abortion positions; and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border. Flores supports the building of new nuclear power plants to assist the U.S. in becoming energy self-sufficient. He also supports incentives for the development of solar and wind power. Flores is a member of the Conservative Republican Study Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Conference.

National security

Flores supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised. He stated that “Taking 120-day breath to evaluate the effectiveness of our vetting program is a smart thing to do.”

Environment

Flores has described climate science as "dubious" and "agenda-driven." Interviewed on a Tea Party internet radio program, Flores said of Environmental Protection Agency regulations "the Republicans in the House as a whole want to get the EPA shut down" on regulations. Flores supported the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Flores has a lifetime score of 3% on the National Environmental Scorecard of the League of Conservation Voters. Flores has been described as a "climate change denier" by Vice Media and by Organizing for America.

Republican Study Committee

On November 18, 2014, Flores was elected to the Chairmanship of the House Republican Study Committee(RSC). Flores was elected on the second ballot securing 84 votes to South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney's 57.

Committee assignments

Legislation sponsored

Personal life

Flores is married to Gina, whom he met in high school. They have two sons. Flores attends Central Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church in Bryan.

Flores has served as a member of the Mays Business School Advisory Board, the Corps of Cadets Development Council, Corps of Cadets Association, the Houston A&M Club, the Brazos County A&M Club, and other roles at Texas A&M University. In 2003, he was honored as an outstanding alumnus of the Mays Business School of Texas A&M University. In 2010, he was also named a distinguished alumnus by Texas A&M University.