I was born in Greenville, South Carolina on September 2, 1951. After Graduating from Wade Hampton High School, which is named after South Carolina's 34th Senator, I earned my bachelors degree to the University of Tennessee and received my Masters in Business Administration from Clemson University.
After school, I started a Greenville based market research firm and had the ability to position products in a crowded marketplace. This job would later help me more than I realized when I became a legislator.
I was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1998 where I was elected president of the Republican freshman class.
There are many things that I have tried to fight for in Congress but most of all, I have sought to restore our founders' vision of limited government with personal freedom and responsibility. The best way government can be true to that vision is to return dollars, decisions and freedom to our communities and families.
My priorities in Congress include supporting President Bush in the War on Terror, saving and strengthening Social Security, making health care more affordable and accessible, reducing taxes and reforming our tax code, and empowering parents with more educational opportunities for thier children.
In the 108th Congress, I introduced the Social Security Savings Act, a bill that would save Social Security by strengthening it for current and future generations. The Social Security Savings Act would protect promised benefits to seniors and establishes personal accounts younger workers can own and pass on to their families, creating real retirement security.
In order to make health care more affordable and accessible, I support patient-directed health care. Government and health insurance bureaucracy has made our health care system costly and painfully difficult to navigate. I authored legislation that allows patients to create tax-free health savings accounts (HSA
Interests
running, being a grandpa, tennis, sailing, writing, marketing ideas, reforming Social Security, eliminating the current tax code, defending America's safety and ideals at home and abroad, keeping America competitive in the global marketplace, freedom