DALLAS/EWORLDWIRE/April 13, 2007 --- Saying that he is deeply concerned about the welfare of American children and alarming environmental and national security issues, longtime local private practice attorney Emil Reichstadt is declaring for the Texas 2008 U.S. Senate race Thursday, April 19, on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas.The 58-year-old Democrat, who earned his undergraduate degree at SMU, will read a short statement and answer questions at 11:00 a.m. in the Forum at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center.
Recalling how former SMU president, friend and mentor Willis D. Tate challenged young minds to take action "for what is best in America," Reichstadt says, "I am doing just that Thursday. We need to secure our borders and make this country a better, safer place for our children. I believe I can work with both Democrats and Republicans to make that happen."
Reichstadt, a former Army JAG officer, believes in a strong military. "We need to foster our leaders in the military as subject-matter experts and rely on their expertise," he says. "We cannot wallow in military policies of politics; we must let our soldiers protect themselves. We are mired in sinking sand in Iraq, in the middle of a civil war that our best military minds sought to avoid. The war has been terribly mismanaged, and the incumbent, John Cornyn, has stood by and blindly supported that mismanagement."
Congress also needs to focus more intensely on a myriad of environmental issues, especially the control of Co2 emissions, Reichstadt says.
Reichstadt, the youngest of three sons born to Arthur, a Swiss immigrant, and Macy Reichstadt in Little Rock, Ark., has been married for more than 30 years to a successful small business owner, Shirley French Reichstadt (DD French Cleaners in Dallas). They have two grown children, Heather and Steffen. The Reichstadts are members of Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas. Reichstadt also has been heavily involved in volunteer activities with the Boy Scouts of America for many years, nurturing many young men - including his son - to Eagle rank.
Since earning a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1977, Reichstadt has handled a wide range of legal challenges. He was commissioned in the Army and served as captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps., personally trying more than 100 cases while stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1978 to 1981, and was then assigned Chief of Legal Assistance with the 3rd Armored Division, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, providing legal services to soldiers and their families in Frankfurt, from 1982 to 1983. When he returned to Dallas from his tour of duty, he worked as General Counsel for Continental Mortgage, in real estate and corporate law, from 1983 to 1985, before starting his own private practice in 1985.
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