Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. (born August 4 1961) is the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois. He received international media coverage for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, delivered while he was still an Illinois State Senator. That same year, he became the first man of African descentto win election to the United States Senate as a Democrat.^* Obama won the open Senate seat while on leave from the University of Chicago Law School where he was Lecturer on Constitutional Law. He is not only the sole African American currently serving in the U.S. Senate, he is but the fifth in U.S. history, the third since Reconstruction, and only the second Democrat. Obama won the election with 70% of the vote, with 27% of the vote going to his opponent Alan Keyes. He is junior senator to Richard Durbin. Obama is married to Michelle Obama, a Chicago native. They have two daughters: Malia (born 1999) and Sasha (born 2001).

Early life

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Barack Obama was born at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii to Harvard University-educated economist Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a native of Kenya and a Muslim. His mother is Shirley Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kansas. At the time of Obama's birth, both his parents were students at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Of his years in Hawaii, Obama has written, "The irony is that my decision to work in politics, and to pursue such a career in a big Mainland city, in some sense grows out of my Hawaiian upbringing, and the ideal that Hawaii still represents in my mind."

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washingtonpost.com: Recent votes in Congress

Congress 110, House vote: Vote 566: On Motion to Adjourn
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Motion to Adjourn. Category: Adjourn Result: Passed, 213-197, with 24 not voting.
Congress 110, House vote: Vote 565: H RES 1316
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree. Bill: H RES 1316 Vote description: Honoring the Service of the Navy and Coast Guard Veterans Who Served on the Lst Amphibious Landing Craft During Wwii, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, and Global Operations Through 2002 Result: Passed, 415-0, with 19 not voting.
Congress 110, House vote: Vote 564: H RES 1008
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, As Amended. Bill: H RES 1008 Vote description: Condemning the Persecution of Baha is in Iran Result: Passed, 408-3, with 23 not voting.
Congress 110, House vote: Vote 563: H R 6599
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Passage. Bill: H R 6599 Vote description: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation, Fy 2009 Result: Passed, 409-4, with 21 not voting.
Congress 110, House vote: Vote 562: H R 6599
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Motion to Table Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair. Bill: H R 6599 Vote description: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation, Fy 2009 Result: Passed, 230-184, with 20 not voting.
Congress 110, House vote: Vote 561: H R 6599
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Question: On Agreeing to the Amendment. Bill: H R 6599 Result: Failed, 143-275, with 21 not voting.

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