Bill Flores (R-TX-17)i
Bill Flores Congressman Texas District 17
House links: Bill Flores (R-TX-17)i 
Campaign links: Bill Flores (R-TX-17)i
William H. “Bill” Flores
Bill Flores Congressional Candidate Texas District 17
Bill Flores Biography from House.gov
Congressman William H. “Bill” Flores was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2010, never having held an elected public office before. He was officially sworn into the 112th Congress on January 5, 2011 and currently represents the 17th Congressional District of Texas. Flores serves on the House Budget, Natural Resources and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. After watching the country begin an accelerated economic decline in 2009, Flores retired from a successful career in the private sector to run for Congress in order to restore America’s promise, prosperity and security for future generations.
A ninth generation Texan, Flores was raised in Stratford, a small town in the Texas Panhandle, and comes from a long Texas family ranching heritage. He is the oldest of six children and was born at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, WY. After his father’s military tour of duty, his family moved back to the family’s roots in Stratford, Texas. As the son of a rancher, Flores learned the value of hard work and the basics of the American Free Enterprise system. His entrepreneurial experience began at age 10 delivering papers, and by age 13, during the summers, he was working 12 hours a day, six days a week, driving a tractor, building fences and working cattle. The strong foundation that he and his five brothers and sisters were raised on set the stage for a successful career. Despite the hardships, the Flores family never asked for or sought government assistance. Flores learned an early lesson that the value of hard work, personal responsibility and saving for the future are important aspects of the American spirit and reflect the values which guided our Nation’s Founding Fathers. In 2011, Texas Tech University’s Ranching Heritage Association honored him with the Boss of the Plains award in 2011 to reflect his association with ranching.
Through hard work, determination and prudent saving, Flores paid his own way through Texas A&M University, from which he graduated in 1976 with a BBA in Accounting (Cum Laude). In 1985, he received an MBA from Houston Baptist University. In 2010, Texas A&M University honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of A&M, and in 2003, he was recognized as an Outstanding Alumnus of Texas A&M’s Mays Business School. He and his wife Gina have provided scholarships, faculty fellowships, and infrastructure investments to support higher education at Texas A&M University and Houston Baptist University – portions of which are dedicated to assist first generation college students, primarily from underrepresented groups. They are also major benefactors of K-12 education, including support for Yellowstone Academy, which provides elementary education to children in Houston’s inner city areas.
In 1978, Flores earned his Texas Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) license. Before retiring to pursue public service, Flores worked in the energy industry for nearly three decades. During that time, he served as a CFO, COO or CEO for successful energy companies, ultimately serving as President and CEO of Phoenix Exploration Company, an oil and gas company focused upon the discovery of American oil and gas. This company was started in late 2005, and in light of its rapid growth, was included in the Houston Chronicle’s Top Private Companies lists in 2007 and 2008.
As a company leader and entrepreneur, Flores has firsthand experience in helping to create hundreds of good-paying American jobs. He also understands the problems that bad government policy and regulation can cause for American job creation and economic prosperity.
Flores has also held meaningful governance positions for various public companies, private companies and non-profit organizations. Today, he serves on the Board of Trustees of Houston Baptist University, the Board of Directors of Texas A&M’s Private Enterprise Research Center, the advisory board of the Ranching Heritage Association and the Congressional board of directors of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI).
His previous governance positions include Commissioner of the Texas Real Estate Commission, Director and Past Chair of The Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University, as well as serving on the Boards of the Phoenix Exploration Company, PetroAlliance Services, Ltd., Marine Drilling Companies, Inc., OneOffshore, Inc., Great Western Resources, Inc. and The PARC Recreational Ministries Corp.
He and Gina are also major contributors to Wounded Warrior programs. Their community involvement includes service as an active volunteer for charitable causes and not-for-profit organizations. Flores’s hobbies include snow skiing and flying. He is an instrument rated private pilot with more than 2,400 hours of pilot-in-command time.
Flores and his wife Gina have been married for 33 years and reside in Bryan, Texas, where they are members of Central Baptist Church. They have two adult sons – Will and John. John and his wife Aimee blessed them with their first grandchild, Britain Grace, in early 2011.
Biography of Bill Flores from Bill Flores for Congress
Growing Up In the Panhandle
As the oldest of six children in a family of modest means, Bill quickly learned the value of hard work, a job well done, and saving for the future. He began helping his father work cattle for other ranchers in the area and support the family when he was 9 years old.Bill Flores was born at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while his father was serving in the military. Following his father’s service, the family moved back to Stratford, Texas, located in the Panhandle – nine generations of Bill’s family have called Texas their home.
Despite the hardships, Bill’s family never asked for or sought government assistance during this financially challenging time or when Bill’s father began fulfilling their dream of building their own ranch. His father taught Bill an early lesson about personal responsibility and making your own way as a part of the American spirit.
Bill took this lesson to heart and developed a rigorous work ethic–Bill filled his life with helping his father, delivering newspapers, participating in 4-H activities, serving the community as a Boy Scout, and challenging himself through his schoolwork.
During his time in high school, Bill met his future wife Gina, who fondly remembers him as one of the most driven and hard-working, young men she had ever known.
Paying His Way Through College
His college education at A&M proved to be one of the most rewarding and valuable experiences he had as a young man. These experiences instilled a desire to help others fulfill their aspirations for higher education and a greater strength in character through Texas A&M.Bill’s hard work, determination, and prudent saving paid off by affording him the opportunity to enroll at Texas A&M University in College Station. There he became a member of the prestigious Corps of Cadets, and later went on to serve as a Ross Volunteer, MSC vice president, and the vice president of finance for the student body. Bill earned a BBA in Accounting and went on to Houston Baptist University a few years later to earn his MBA.
Following his graduation, Bill married Gina, who he fell in love with in high school. They now have been married for thirty-two years and are the proud parents of two adult sons, Will and John. Early this year, Bill and Gina became the proud grandparents of name, the first child of their son John and his wife Aimee.
Creating Jobs for Americans and Helping to Produce AMERICAN Energy
These principles earned Bill the position of Chief Financial Officer for a string of successful energy companies, and ultimately led to becoming the CEO and President of Phoenix Exploration.Combining his background in accounting and his MBA, Bill managed the finances of several businesses, eventually finding a home in the oil and gas industry. He took the lessons of his youth and applied them to business– spend within your means, work hard to achieve well-planned goals, and form strong teams to overcome obstacles.
During his thirty years leading these businesses, Bill helped create more than 500 AMERICAN jobs with AMERICAN companies that helped and produce much needed AMERICAN energy resources to help fuel our economy.
Bill faced one of his largest challenges in the early 1990s when he was the chief financial officer for Marine Drilling. As anyone who has followed the energy business in Texas knows, it is not always easy trying to grow a company in this industry. Certainly, there are booms, but there have also been numerous downturns causing failed companies and lost jobs.
Companies in the early 1990s faced a period of exceptionally low oil and gas prices, depleting Marine Drilling’s cashflow. Bill and some of the Marine Team worked 18 to 20 hour days to prevent this from destroying the company. In order to help the company survive through the upcoming, Bill would occasionally elected to forgo his compensation. By the end, they did more than survive…they succeeded.
Marine Drilling prevailed, because everyone worked as a team. Bill and the Marine management team established expense reduction targets, negotiated with their bankers and investors, and even sought money saving ideas from the company’s rig-hands. They set goals, brought employees together as a team, and worked hard. As a result, Marine emerged at the end of 1992 as a lean, financially stable company, which was one of the best performing NASDAQ stocks in 1993. Most members of the Marine Team will still say today that nobody out-worked Bill during those difficult years and that without Bill’s negotiating skills, personal sacrifices, determination, and grit, the company would have likely failed, causing the loss of hundreds of jobs. It is this kind of determination and coordination that has helped Bill build strong teams to grow solid companies that have established jobs for Americans, while developing important energy sources for our nation.
A Commitment to Serving Our Community
Bill and Gina both have made a commitment to help insure that more young Texans will have the opportunity of higher education. At this time, there are sixteen students at Texas A&M University that either receive a scholarship or fellowship supported by Bill and Gina. And each summer, dozens of entering Freshmen from underrepresented groups attend Texas A&M Fish Camps on a free or reduced price basis due to the Flores Fish Camp Endowment. Over the years, the Flores’ have contributed millions of dollars in support of the following:While Bill has enjoyed a successful business career, he has never forgotten the places, values, and principles that guided him. He feels that with success comes a greater responsibility to empower a new generation of Texan leaders, to assist those who have protected our nation, and to support conservative causes and candidates.
- Scholarship programs to help many first generation Aggies in the College of Education and Accounting students in the Mays Business School;
- Scholarships for members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and;
- Funding for President’s Endowed Scholarships.
Bill and Gina, who has worked for eighteen years as a teacher, recognize the importance of a solid educational foundation through quality K-12 schooling for all Americans. The couple has been a significant supporter of Yellowstone Academy,which provides elementary education in a safe and supportive environment to children in one of Houston’s poorest inner city areas, Faith Lutheran School, and Fort Bend Baptist Academy.
Both Bill’s father and Gina’s father served in our country’s armed force, and proved to Bill firsthand that the success of American rests on the capable shoulders of the men and women of our armed forces. Without their dedication to protecting our nation, freedoms, and way of life, Americans would not be able to grow up with boundless opportunities available. Bill sees it as his duty to honor their commitment, sacrifice, and that of their families–he and Gina have contributed over $100,000 to programs and institutions that help provide therapy, training, and counseling to Texas veterans who have been wounded in the global War on Terror.
In their hometown of Bryan, Gina and Bill are members of Central Baptist Church of Bryan and support several Bryan/College Station organizations with gifts and volunteer service including the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley, Habitat for Humanity, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, Boys & Girls Clubs of Brazos Valley, Special Olympics, OPAS, the Hope Pregnancy Center, and other local charities.
In early 2010, Texas A&M University’s Association of Former Students recognized Bill’s achievements by recognizing him as a Distinguished Alumnus–the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of A&M.
Limited Government Conservative First
Put simply, Bill does not just go with the masses. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Bill did not always agree with the Republican party and leadership in Congress when it came to deficit spending and growing government programs. His entire career has been spent balancing budgets, meeting payrolls, and ensuring his companies were focused on producing a good product or service that was better and delivered more effectively than the competition.
From his early youth in Stratford, Texas, to the endless hours he has invested growing successful energy businesses in Texas, the breadth of Bill’s experiences has formed the foundations of his principles as a limited government conservative. Bill consistently supports conservative candidates and causes to further the goals of a more limited federal government with less spending, less taxation, less regulation, and less political interference with our families and small businesses.
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