David Scott (Georgia politician)

David Albert Scott (born June 27, 1945) is the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 13th congressional district, serving since 2003. The district includes the southern fourth of Atlanta, as well as several of its suburbs to the south and west. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

David Scott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 13th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2003
Preceded byConstituency established
Member of the Georgia Senate
from the 36th district
In office
January 1983 – January 2003
Succeeded bySam Zamarripa
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 37th district
In office
January 1975 – January 1983
Preceded byBill Stephens
Succeeded byGeorganna Sinkfield
Personal details
Born
David Albert Scott

(1945-06-27) June 27, 1945
Aynor, South Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic Party
Spouse(s)Alfredia Scott
EducationFlorida A&M University (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MBA)
WebsiteHouse website

Early life and education

Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina and attended high school in Daytona Beach, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida A&M University, and a master's degree in business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Scott is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[1]

Georgia Legislature

Scott served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and in the Georgia State Senate from 1982 to 2002.

U.S. House of Representatives

When Georgia picked up an additional district as a result of the 2000 census, Scott entered a five-way Democratic primary for the seat, winning with 53.8 percent of the vote.[2] He then defeated Republican Clay Cox in the general election with 59 percent of the vote.[3] He has never faced another contest even that close, and has been reelected eight times, even running unopposed in 2004, 2014 and 2016.

During his first two terms, Scott represented a district that twisted and wound its way through parts of nine counties and was barely contiguous in some areas. In a mid-decade redistricting held after the 2004 elections, the district was redrawn to be somewhat more compact, with its population centered in Clayton, Douglas and Fulton counties. Redistricting after the 2010 census gave the district all of Douglas County and pushed it further into Clayton.

Committee assignments

Party leadership
  • Co-Chair of the Democratic Study Group on National Security

Scott is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition,[4] the New Democrat Coalition,[5][1] the Congressional Black Caucus[6] and the U.S.-Japan Caucus.[7]

Scott was the lead sponsor on the following legislation:

  • The Financial Literacy Act, to provide education to investors and home buyers
  • The Access to Healthcare Insurance Act, extending affordable healthcare coverage
  • The Extension for Unemployment Benefits and the Overtime Pay Protection Acts
  • The Moment of Silence Act, for reflection or prayer at the start of each school day in the nation's public schools
  • The Retired Pay Restoration Act, giving veterans both retirement and disability pay
  • The Zero Down Payment Act, which eliminates the down payment requirement for middle and low income families who buy homes with a FHA insured mortgages
  • The Mutual Fund Integrity Act, which strengthens regulations of the stock market

Political positions

Scott was ranked as the 18th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the second most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).[8]

Online gambling

Scott is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act[9] and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[10] 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").

Affordable Care Act

Scott voted for the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare"). On August 6, 2009, Scott was confronted by a constituent who was also a local doctor. The doctor, who later appeared in subsequent debates with his opposition candidate, asked Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to the plan implemented in Massachusetts and if he supported a government-provided health care insurance option. Scott questioned whether or not the doctor was a resident of Scott's district, although the local TV station WXIA-TV's news department confirmed that the doctor did live and work in Scott's district.[11] Scott also noted that Hill had not called Scott's office for setting up a meeting concerning health care but this has not been verified.[12]

Fiscal policy

Although Scott voted against the first version of the 2008 bailout, he backed the final version "after being assured the legislation would aid homeowners facing foreclosures. Scott crafted an added provision dedicating $14 billion to aid those homeowners."[13]

Same-sex marriage

Scott supported two failed pieces of legislation in 2004 and 2006 that aimed to establish a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.[13][14] However, in May 2013 thinkprogress.org reported receiving an email from a spokesman of Scott saying, "Congressman Scott fully supports marriage equality."[15] The Human Rights Campaign's profile of Scott also contains this sentence as his statement under "position on marriage equality".[16]

Iran deal

Scott has announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, saying that “It’s a good deal for Iran, for Russia, China and probably Hezbollah, but is it not, definitely not a good deal for Israel or for the United States or our allies – especially Jordan and Saudi Arabia..."[17]

Yemeni civil war

Scott was one of five house Democrats who voted for the US to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia and to support the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. This vote was cast the day after the Senate, on December 13th, 2018, for the first time in the 45 years after the passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973, came together and used congressional authority given by federal law to end military action.[18]

Personal life

Scott's brother-in-law is Baseball Hall of Fame member Hank Aaron.

In 1978, Scott founded Dayn-Mark Advertising (from the names of his two daughters, Dayna and Marcie), which places billboards and other forms of advertising in the Atlanta area. Scott's wife, Alfredia, now heads the business. In May 2007, it was reported that the business owes more than $150,000 in back taxes and penalties.[19] Scott's campaigns have paid the company more than $500,000 over the eight years totalling from 2002 until current date - for office rent, printing, T-shirts, and other services. He has also paid his wife, two daughters, and son-in-law tens of thousands of dollars for campaign work such as fund raising and canvassing. In 2007, Scott was named one of the 25 most corrupt members of Congress by the political watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.[20]

Scott allegedly received death threats over his support of the Affordable Care Act.[21] A swastika was found spray painted on a sign outside of his congressional office in his congressional district.[22]

See also

References
  1. "Representative David Scott (GA)". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  2. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1016
  3. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1015
  4. "Members". Blue Dog Coalition. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  6. "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  7. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  8. The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index (PDF), The Lugar Center, March 7, 2016, retrieved April 30, 2017
  9. Bob, Goodlatte (2006-09-22). "H.R.4777 - 109th Congress (2005-2006): Internet Gambling Prohibition Act". thomas.loc.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  10. James, Leach (2006-07-13). "H.R.4411 - 109th Congress (2005-2006): Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act". thomas.loc.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  11. Carpenter, Amanda. "Georgia Democrat yells at local doctor over health care". Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  12. Dixon, Duffie. "Congressman Scott's Town Hall Meeting". WXIA TV website. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  13. Sonmez, Felicia. "David Scott (D-Ga.)". Who Runs Gov. The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  14. "Electful LBGT Rights". Electful. Electful. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20130507092836/http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/05/03/1958671/another-house-democrat-endorses-marriage-equality/. Archived from the original on 2013-05-07. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20130730191318/http://www.hrc.org/elected-officials/profile/house/226. Archived from the original on 2013-07-30. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "The Hill's Whip List: House Dems divided on Iran deal".
  18. Fuller, Matt; Ahmed, Akbar Shahid. "5 Democrats Bail Out Paul Ryan And Protect Saudi Arabia". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  19. Vogel, Kenneth (2007-05-24). "Rep. Scott's finances questioned". Archived from the original on 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  20. Kemper, Bob (2007-09-18). "Atlanta congressman on 'corrupt' list". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  21. Boone, Christian (2010-03-30). "Georgia congressman says he's received death threats". ajc.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  22. Weiner, Rachel (2009-08-11). "Swastika Painted On Rep. David Scott's Office Door". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
U.S. House of Representatives
New constituency Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 13th congressional district
2003–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Linda Sánchez		 United States Representatives by seniority
83rd		 Succeeded by
Mike Turner
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