Hutchison, Kay Bailey (1943-…), served as a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2013. Hutchison, a Republican , was the first woman to represent Texas in the Senate. In 2017, Hutchison became the U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the administration of President Donald J. Trump .
In the Senate, Hutchison served on a number of committees, including those on appropriations and commerce, science, and transportation. She also favored tax cuts and worked on a number of issues involving homeland security. In 1996, Hutchison sponsored an antistalking bill that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton . The measure made it a crime to stalk (repeatedly threaten, follow, and harass) a victim. She also worked on legislation that would make it easier for homemakers to invest in individual retirement accounts. She favored continued funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Kathryn Ann Bailey was born in Galveston , Texas, on July 22, 1943. She received a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Texas . She married her first husband, John Pierce Parks, in 1967. The couple divorced in 1969. She married Ray Hutchison, a former state representative, in 1978.
From 1973 to 1977, Hutchison served in the Texas state House of Representatives. From 1976 to 1978, she was vice chair and then acting chair of the National Transportation Safety Board . From 1979 to 1982, she was senior vice president and general counsel for Republic Bank Corporation. Hutchison worked as a lawyer from 1982 to 1990. From 1991 to 1993, she served as Texas state treasurer.
Hutchison was elected to the Senate in June 1993 to finish the term of Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen , who had been appointed U.S. secretary of the treasury. In 1994, Hutchison was elected to her first full six-year term in the Senate. She won reelection in 2000 and 2006. In 2010, Hutchison campaigned for the Republican nomination for governor of Texas. She lost the race to incumbent Governor Rick Perry . Hutchison did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2012.
