Barry Loudermilk

Barry Dean Loudermilk /ˈlaʊdərˌmɪlk/ (born December 22, 1963) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. He is the U.S. Congressman from Georgia's 11th congressional district, serving since 2015. The district covers a large slice of Atlanta's northern suburbs, including Marietta, Acworth and Smyrna, as well as a sliver of Atlanta itself.

Barry Loudermilk
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 11th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byPhil Gingrey
Member of the Georgia Senate
from the 14th district
In office
January 14, 2013 – August 27, 2013
Preceded byGeorge Hooks
Succeeded byBruce Thompson
Member of the Georgia Senate
from the 52nd district
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2013
Preceded byPreston Smith
Succeeded byChuck Hufstetler
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 14th district
In office
January 10, 2005 – January 10, 2011
Preceded byTom Knox
Succeeded byChristian Coomer
Personal details
Born
Barry Dean Loudermilk

(1963-12-22) December 22, 1963
Riverdale, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Desiree Loudermilk
(
m. 1983)
Children3
EducationCommunity College of the Air Force (AAS)
Wayland Baptist University (BS)

Loudermilk won the Republican nomination for the seat in a runoff on July 22, 2014, over Bob Barr, and won the general election on November 4, 2014.[1] He won reelection to a second term in the U.S. House on November 8, 2016.

Early life and career

Loudermilk was born in Riverdale, Georgia, and attended the Community College of the Air Force to receive his Associate of Applied Science in 1987 before going on to receive his Bachelor of Science from Wayland Baptist University in 1992. He was a member of the Georgia State Senate for almost three years, representing the 14th district. He previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2005 until 2011.[2] Loudermilk resigned from the state Senate on August 27, 2013, to focus on his congressional bid.[3]

Loudermilk is a native of Georgia. He entered politics in 2001, when he was elected as Chairman of the Bartow County Republican Party until 2004. He was subsequently elected to the State House. Loudermilk was elected to the State Senate in 2010, and was sworn in during 2011. As a state senator, he served as Chair to the Senate Science and Technology Committee and as Secretary to the Veterans, Military and Homeland Security and Public Safety Committees. He was also a member of the Senate Transportation Committee. He holds an associate degree in Telecommunications Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education and Information Systems Technology.

Loudermilk is a former member of the Freedom Caucus[4][5] and has been endorsed by evangelical Christian minister David Barton.[6]

U.S. House of Representatives

Legislation and donors

In February 2017, Loudermilk co-sponsored H.R. 861, which would eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by 2018.[7]

In September 2017, the Georgia-based credit bureau Equifax revealed a data breach that affected 143 million Americans and was characterized by technology journalists as "very possibly the worst leak of personal info ever to have happened".[8] Four months earlier, Loudermilk, who had received $2,000 in campaign contributions from Equifax as part of an extensive lobbying effort,[9][10] introduced a bill that would reduce consumer protections in relation to the nation's credit bureaus, including capping potential damages in a class action suit to $500,000 regardless of class size or amount of loss.[11][12] The bill would also eliminate all punitive damages.[11][12] Following criticism by consumer advocates, Loudermilk agreed to delay consideration of the bill "pending a full and complete investigation into the Equifax breach."[11]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Loudermilk has an 83 percent score from conservative political advocacy group Heritage Action for his voting record.[15]

Health care

Loudermilk supports reforming Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. He wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). He compared the 2017 efforts by the Republicans to repeal the health care act to the American Revolutionary War and World War II.[16]

Loudermilk did not vaccinate his children against the mumps or measles. He believes that it is up to parents, not the government, to decide if children receive vaccines.[17]

Donald Trump

Loudermilk said he considers the presidency of Donald Trump a "movement" and has praised the concept of "Make America Great Again." Loudermilk has credited Paul Ryan, rather than Trump, with Republican success in Congress.[16] In 2017, Loudermilk called Ryan a "revolutionary thinker."[16]

In December 2019, amid the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Loudermilk likened the impeachment of Trump to the crucifixion of Jesus. Loudermilk stated, on the Congressional record, "When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. ... During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this President in this process."

PolitiFact noted that experts on religion said that Jesus did not have the right to face his accusers. Trump, on the other hand, did have an opportunity to present a defense.[18]

Economic issues

In 2016, Loudermilk was named a "defender of economic freedom" by the Club for Growth for his conservative voting record around the economy.[19]

Loudermilk supports a balanced budget amendment but does not consider it "politically viable."[16]

Loudermilk supports tax reform and voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[20] He called the legislature a "big Christmas present" for his constituents. He claims the bill will reduce deficit and improve the lives of all Americans. He believes that more companies will hire due to increased revenues. He says, "I could understand it if all we were doing was just giving a corporate tax break—you could make that argument, But the bulk of the tax reform is giving middle-income Americans a significant tax cut."[16]

He supports dismantling the IRS and establishing a flat tax system.[16]

Abortion

Loudermilk is anti-abortion and believes that life starts at conception. He supports the right to life movement and states that "Life is the ultimate right endowed by God and it is the responsibility of governments to protect that right not to destroy it."[21]

LGBT rights

Loudermilk opposed same-sex marriage up to and upon its legalization, believing it should be decided by states. He has supported the First Amendment Defense Act.[22]

gollark: I don't think the contract restricts data use at all.
gollark: At home I can happily use terabytes a month and BT cannot stop me, muahahaha.
gollark: On my phone.
gollark: On my mobile phone contract I do NOT pay per megabyte *directly*, but I only get 8192MB per month, so I have to use it somewhat carefully and dislike it when sites just try and shove a video or image into the background for no apparent reason.
gollark: The internet connection has been bad. Blame [REDACTED] Telecom.

See also

References
  1. "Barry Loudermilk wins Georgia GOP runoff to succeed Rep. Gingrey". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Associated Press. July 22, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  2. "Senator Barry Loudermilk". Georgia State Senate. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  3. "Loudermilk Resigns from Senate to Run Campaign". Daily-Tribune.com. August 28, 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  4. Bialik, Carl; Bycoffe, Aaron (September 25, 2015). "The Hard-Line Republicans Who Pushed John Boehner Out". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  5. Hallerman, Tamar (March 2, 2017). "Barry Loudermilk quietly leaves the House Freedom Caucus". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  6. "Barry Loudermilk, House GOP Candidate, Wins Endorsement From Controversial Historian David Barton". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  7. Hensley, Nicole (February 5, 2017). "Florida congressman pitches bill that would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  8. "Why the Equifax breach is very possibly the worst leak of personal info ever". CNBC. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  9. Levin, Bess. "Equifax Lobbied to Gut Regulations Right Before Getting Hacked".
  10. "Equifax Inc Contributions to Federal Candidates, 2016 cycle - OpenSecrets". Opensecrets.org.
  11. Weisbaum, Herb, “Republicans in Congress Want to Roll Back Regulations on Credit Bureaus”, NBC News, September 11, 2017, Retrieved September 18, 2017
  12. Lazarus, David (September 19, 2017). "Despite Equifax hack, GOP lawmakers want to deregulate credit agencies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  13. "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  14. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  15. "Heritage Action Scorecard". Heritage Action for America. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  16. Ruch, John. "U.S. Rep. Loudermilk pitches, defends GOP tax reform plans - Reporter Newspapers". Reporter Newspapers. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  17. Delaney, Arthur (February 27, 2015). "Barry Loudermilk Says He Didn't Vaccinate His Children". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  18. "False comparison of Jesus and Trump impeachment". @politifact. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  19. Hallerman, Tamar; Bluestein, Greg; Galloway, Jim. "When the congressional candidate is a convicted felon | Political Insider blog". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  20. Almukhtar, Sarah (December 19, 2017). "How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  21. "Barry Loudermilk on Abortion". On The Issues. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  22. "Barry Loudermilk on Civil Rights". On The Issues. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Phil Gingrey		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 11th congressional district
2015–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Ted Lieu		 United States Representatives by seniority
265th		 Succeeded by
John Moolenaar
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