By Hamil R. Harris
(Trice Edney Wire) – When Eric Scott Turner was in high school, he worked as a dishwasher in a Texas barbeque restaurant before he attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship that landed him in the NFL.
As Turner talked, the members of the Senate Housing Banking and Urban Affairs Committee listened intently to President Trump’s choice to lead the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), his only Black nominee of 15 cabinet secretaries.
“This opportunity is personal to me,” said Turner, who went from playing nine years for the then Washington “Redskins” and two other NFL teams to the Texas State Legislature in addition to becoming the associate pastor of a Baptist church.
For more than two hours Turner fielded questions from a panel that included four African-American Senators who, with little rebuttal, asked how he planned to expand the mission of HUD. Before being nominated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Turner ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump White House during which he visited more than 70 cities across the country promoting affordable housing.
“I want to go to the people of America…I want to listen,” said Turner during the January 16 hearing. Afterward, the Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along party lines to advance his nomination as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Democrats, 11, to Republicans, 13, split over procedural issues as ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged the committee to wait until it receives the FBI background check on Turner. But the committee, chaired by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, declined to postpone the vote. The full Senate is expected to vote on his nomination once the FBI background check is complete.
Turner, 52, who grew up in the Dallas suburb of Richardson testified about what he planned to do should he be confirmed by the 119th Congress. He largely focused on affordable housing.
Turner and his wife, Robin Turner, lead a nonprofit organization promoting initiatives to improve childhood literacy. His church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, lists him as an associate pastor. He is also chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers to lay the groundwork if he won a second term.
“It’s not just about shelters, it’s about building strong communities,” said Scott, reflecting on Turner’s expressed mission.
At one point in the hearing, Senator Rafael Warnock (D-Ga) asked Turner if he was prepared to “enforce,” fair housing legislation that Dr. Martin Luther King fought so hard for. Then Warnock jokingly said, “You and I are both preachers.”
Having graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he played football, Turner was a defensive back in college who spent nine seasons in the NFL beginning in 1995, playing for then Washington “Redskins”, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. During off seasons, he worked as an intern for then-Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. After Turner retired in 2004, he worked full-time for Hunter.
In 2006, Turner ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in California’s 50th Congressional District. Turner joined the Texas House in 2013 as part of a large crop of Tea Party-supported lawmakers. He tried unsuccessfully to become House speaker before he finished his second term in 2016. He did not seek a third term.
Turner also worked for a software company in a position called “chief inspiration officer” and said he acted as a professional mentor, pastor, and counselor for the employees and executive team. He has also been a motivational speaker.
Source: Seattle Medium
