J. Gresham Barrett

Infobox_Congressman
name = J. Gresham Barrett


width = 200
date of birth = birth date and age|1961|02|14
place of birth = Westminster, South Carolina
state = South Carolina
district = 3rd
term_start = January 3, 2003
preceded = Lindsey Graham
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
spouse = Natalie Barrett
religion = Southern Baptist
residence= Westminster, South Carolina
occupation= small business owner
alma_mater= The Citadel

James Gresham Barrett (born February 14, 1961) is an American politician from the Republican Party and a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, representing the 3rd Congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/sc03_109.gifmap] ) in the northwestern part of the state.

Biography

J. Gresham Barrett was born in Westminster, South Carolina to Del M. Ayers and Charles Gresham Barrett. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/reps/barrett.htm 1 ] ] He is married to Natalie Barrett and has 3 children. Barrett attended The Citadel and graduated in 1983. Following this he served as an officer in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army Field Artillery. He resigned his commission in 1987.cite web| title = Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress| publisher = Navy League| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070626235918/http://www.navyleague.org/legislative_affairs/HouseVets.pdf| format = PDF| accessdate = 2007-10-08 ]

Before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives he ran the family-owned business Barrett’s Furniture. In addition he was elected to the House of Representatives in the South Carolina General Assembly where he served on the Education and Public Works Committee, Labor Commerce and Industry Committee, Rules Committee, and the School Choice Ad Hoc Committee. He was also the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Urban Growth. During the 2000 Presidential Election Barrett was a member of the Bush for President South Carolina State Steering Committee.

Outside of politics his community involvement included serving as President of the Westminster Rotary Club, Chairman of the Oconee District Boy Scouts, President of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce, board member of the Oconee County Red Cross, member of the Oconee Kids Do Count Board, and coach of the Barrett's Furniture Pony League baseball team.

Congress

After serving three terms in the South Carolina state legislature, Barrett successfully ran for Congress in 2002 in place of Lindsey Graham (who was retiring to run for the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Strom Thurmond) and took office in January 2003. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2004.

Barrett currently sits on the Budget Committee, the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on International Relations.

According to an analysis done by GovTrack.us Barrett is arguably the most conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives. On Thursday July 27, 2006 Rep. Barrett went on record as one of the 33 members of the House to vote against renewal of the Voting Rights Act. [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/spectrum.xpd] . In 2007, he voted against the Democratic version S-CHIP, which would have expanded a Republican Health Care program geared to cover children living below the poverty-line, to cover adults living above the poverty line.

Barrett is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04411: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411] ] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ] In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling").

On April 15, 2008 Barrett became the 71st Co-Sponsor of the FairTax ( [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR25:| H.R. 25] ).

Barrett was named one of "The Hill"'s Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill for 2008, placing 9th, and also becoming the only congressperson or elected official in the top 10. [cite news|url=http://thehill.com/cover-stories/50-most-beautiful-people-on-capitol-hill-2008---top-10-2008-07-29.html|title=50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill 2008 - Top 10|publisher="The Hill"|date=7/29/2008]

Committee Assignments

* Committee on the Budget (Vice Ranking Member)
* House Financial Services Committee
** Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
* Committee on Foreign Affairs
** Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia
* Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

Election 2006

In 2006, Barrett easily won reelection defeating Democratic challenger Lee Ballenger by capturing 63% of the vote.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.barrett.house.gov/ U.S. Congressman J. Gresham Barrett] official House site
*
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H2SC03057 Federal Election Commission — James Gresham Barrett] campaign finance reports and data
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Gresham_Barrett.htm On the Issues — Gresham Barrett] issue positions and quotes
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00013837 OpenSecrets.org — Gresham Barrett] campaign contributions
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS041701 Project Vote Smart — Representative J. Gresham Barrett (SC)] profile
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gresham_Barrett SourceWatch Congresspedia — J. Gresham Barrett] profile
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b001239/ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: J. Gresham Barrett] voting record
* [http://www.greshambarrett.com/ Congressman Gresham Barrett] official site

USRepSuccession box
state=South Carolina
district=3
before=Lindsey Graham
start=January 3, 2003