David C Treen

DAVID C. TREEN was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1928. He received undergraduate and law degrees from Tulane University. Treen served two years of active duty as a first lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force. after his military service, Treen returned to the private practice of law in New Orleans. In 1972, he became the first Republican elected from Louisiana to serve in Congress since Reconstruction. He was reelected in 1974, 1976, and 1978. While in Congress, he served on the Armed Services Committee; the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee; the original House Intelligence Committee; and the Ad Hoc Committee to revise the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980; chaired the state delegation to the Republican National Conventions in 1968 and 1972; and was a member of the Republican Platform Committee. Treen received a distinguished service award from the National Young Republican Federation in 1968. He was elected governor In 1979, the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction. During his term in office he lowered taxes, instituted capital outlay budget reform, created the Department of Environmental Quality, improved the Code of Criminal Procedure, reformed worker's compensation, and substantially increased state recreational acreage. In 1985, Secretary of the Interior William Clark appointed Mr. Treen to chair the Garrison Diversion Unit Commission, created by Congress to evaluate and make recommendations regarding federal water projects in North Dakota.