Virginia Foxx

Infobox_Congressman
name = Virginia Foxx


date of birth = birth date and age|1943|06|29
place of birth = New York City, New York
alma_mater= University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
residence= Banner Elk, North Carolina
occupation= college professor/administrator
state = North Carolina
district = 5th
term_start = January 3, 2005
preceded = Richard Burr
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
spouse = Thomas Foxx
religion = Roman Catholic

Virginia Foxx (born June 29, 1943) is a Republican Congresswoman from the 5th Congressional District of North Carolina first elected in 2004. The district takes in much of the northwestern portion of the state, and also includes portions of Winston-Salem.

Even though she considers herself a native of Northwestern North Carolina, Foxx was born in Bronx NY. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she graduated with a bachelor's degree. She later earned a master's and doctoral degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Foxx worked as a research assistant at UNC and later took a teaching profession at Appalachian State University. She was a English professor before moving into university administration. From 1987 until her 1994 entry into politics, she was president of Mayland Community College. [ [http://www.mayland.edu/resources/catalog/historygoals.html Mayland Community College] ]

From 1994-2004, Foxx served in the North Carolina Senate. She lives in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Roy Carter of Ashe County, NC is the opponent for her seat in the 2008 election.

When 5th District Congressman Richard Burr opted for an ultimately successful run for the United States Senate, Foxx was one of the first candidates to join the race. Her state senate district was virtually coextensive with the northwestern corner of the congressional district. Due to the highly partisan makeup of the district (only the neighboring 10th district is considered more Republican), the primary quickly became the most expensive and one of the nastiest in the history of North Carolina.

Foxx was the only woman in a field of eight candidates; most of her ugliest spats occurred with Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson. Although Foxx was one of the most conservative members of the state legislature, Robinson skewered her and the other primary challengers as liberals, and attacked Foxx for taking money from a gay rights group. Foxx explained that the group had given her a small donation during her first campaign for the state Senate, but never did again after they saw her voting record. Although Robinson was the highest vote-getter in the primary and heavily outspent Foxx, she decisively defeated him (55%-45%) in the runoff. By contrast, her general election campaign against Jim Harrell, Jr., which she won easily (59%-41%), was mostly cordial.

In September 2005, Foxx was one of 11 members of Congress to vote (see [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c109:./temp/~c1099TkmcE] ) against the $51 billion aid package to victims of Hurricane Katrina. She was also one of only 33 Republicans to vote against the extension of the Voting Rights Act in July 2006. In the lame duck session of 2006, she introduced H.J.RES.96, a joint resolution praising the Christmas tree industry. The bill passed the House of Representatives but died in the Senate. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.J.RES.96: H. J. Res. 96 Christmas Tree Resolution] . "Library of Congress".]

Two substantive bills written by Foxx have passed the House since 2006. The first was the Hero Act signed into law by the President on Memorial Day, 2006. This law, heralded by members of the military and veterans alike, allows U.S. troops to increase their retirement savings by investing a portion of their combat pay into Individual Retirement Accounts. The second is the Electronic Pay Stub Act which gives federal employees the choice of receiving their pay stubs electronically. This legislation is projected to save taxpayers millions of dollars. Studies have shown that it costs 10 times more to purchase and distribute paper stubs than it does to distribute electronic stubs. [Hicks, Adam. [http://www.goblueridge.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4229&Itemid=1 "Foxx-Authored Bill Passes in Congress"] . "GoBlueRidge.net". July 31, 2008.] The Electronic Pay Stub Act passed the House of Representatives, but has not yet come to vote in Senate. [ [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6073 "H.R. 6073: To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer..."] "Govtrack.us". Retrieved September 9, 2008.]

In 2008, Congresswoman Foxx introduced the Federal Tax Withholding Act of 2008 (H.R. 5175), which would repeal the withholding of federal income tax and social security tax on wages. [ [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-5175 "Text of H.R. 5175: Federal Tax Withholding Act of 2008"] . "Govtrack.us". Retrieved September 9, 2008.] The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, but did not continue on. [ [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5175 "H.R. 5175: Federal Tax Withholding Act of 2008"] . "Govtrack.us". Retrieved September 9, 2008.]

"The Jefferson Post"'s editorial department published an editorial recognizing Congresswoman Foxx's "hard work and excellent service provided to this district". [http://www.jeffersonpost.com/articles/2008/01/01/opinion/editorials/edit01.txt "Editorial: Virginia Foxx"] . "Jefferson Post". January 1, 2008.] The editorial mentioned that the department was not actually endorsing Congresswoman Foxx.

Foxx was briefly targeted for defeat in the 2006 elections, but the Democrats' top choice, popular Winston-Salem mayor Allen Joines, decided not to run. Joines later said that he didn't have the stomach for the kind of race he felt it would take to defeat Foxx. [ [http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_ColumnistArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128769268868&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099] dl|date=September 2008] Her 2006 opponent was Roger Sharpe, who was defeated.

Committee Assignments

*Agriculture Committee
**Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
**Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
*Education and Labor Committee
**Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
**Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
*Oversight and Government Reform Committee
**National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/foxx/ U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx] Official House site
* [http://www.virginiafoxx.com/ Virginia Foxx for Congress] Campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Virginia_Foxx Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.ncgop.org/ North Carolina Republican Party]