John Carter (Texas politician)

John Rice Carter (born November 6, 1941) is the U.S. Representative serving Texas's 31st congressional district since 2003. He is a Republican.[1] The district includes the northern suburbs of Austin, as well as Fort Hood.

John Carter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 31st district
Assumed office
January 3, 2003
Preceded byConstituency established
Secretary of the House Republican Conference
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2013
LeaderJohn Boehner
Preceded byJohn Doolittle
Succeeded byVirginia Foxx
Personal details
Born
John Rice Carter

(1941-11-06) November 6, 1941
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Erika Carter
Children4
EducationTexas Tech University (BA)
University of Texas at Austin (JD)

Early life, education, and career

Carter was born in Houston, but has spent most of his life in central Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University[2] with a degree in history in 1964, and earned a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1969.[1][3]

After graduating from law school, Carter served as the first general counsel to the Texas House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee.[4] Carter later began a successful private law practice in Round Rock.

In 1981, Carter was appointed as judge of the 277th District Court of Williamson County.[1] He was elected to the post a year later — the first Republican elected to a countywide position in the county. He was reelected four times.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Carter retired from the bench in 2001 in order to run for Congress in the newly created Texas 31st District. After finishing second in the Republican primary, he defeated Peter Wareing in the runoff — which was then tantamount to election in this heavily Republican district.

For his first term, 2003-2005, Carter represented a district that stretched from the suburbs of Austin to the fringes of the Houston suburbs, and also included College Station, home of Texas A&M University. After the 2003 Texas redistricting, until 2013, Carter represented a district stretching from the fringes of the Metroplex through more rural portions of Central Texas. Redistricting after the 2010 census, which first affected the 2013-2015 term, reduced the 31st to Bell and Williamson counties. The 31st District now includes Fort Hood, home of the U.S. Army's 3d Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Cavalry Division.

In the November 2016 general election, Carter won his eighth term in Congress. With 166,060 votes (58.4 percent), he defeated Democrat Mike Clark and Libertarian Scott Ballard, who received 103,852 votes (34.5 percent) and 14,676 (5.2 percent), respectively.[5]

In the November 2018 general election, Carter won his ninth term in Congress by his closest margin to date. He defeated Democrat MJ Hegar, getting 144,393 votes (50.6%) to her 135,843 votes (47.6%).

Tenure

Carter is best known as the author of a law that made it easier to prove identity theft and provides stiff penalties for the offense. It was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2004.[6]

110th Congress

In the 110th Congress, Carter sponsored and co-sponsored a number of bills including the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, the Terrorist Death Penalty Act of 2008, and a bill condemning the vandalism of the Vietnam War Memorial on the National Mall. On the Appropriations Committee, Carter introduced an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to provide $12 million in funding to Immigration Nationality Act (INA) Section 287(g), which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement allowing them to investigate, detain and arrest criminal aliens. The amendment was defeated in committee.

When the House of Representatives recessed in August 2008 for five weeks, Carter was one of many Republicans who stayed in Washington. This was part of a GOP protest, in which they claimed that Congress should not have recessed for five weeks without addressing the energy crisis many Americans were facing. The Sunlight Foundation pointed out that as of 2008 among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Carter had the second-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.[7]

111th Congress

On June 12, 2009, Carter signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1503, the bill introduced as a reaction to conspiracy theories which claimed that U.S. President Barack Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen.[8]

On September 15, 2009, in an opinion piece published in The Hill, Carter called the 111th Congress a "house of hypocrisy" after the House of Representatives voted to rebuke South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson for an outburst, but would not go after New York Representative and House Ways and Means Chair Charlie Rangel, who had been the subject of numerous ethical problems involving taxes and property.[9] Carter is also a proponent of the "Rangel Rule," where IRS penalties and interest would be eliminated if one paid back taxes, similar to the treatment Rangel, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and former South Dakota Senator (and one-time Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee) Tom Daschle received after their tax problems were made public.[10]

Carter introduced a "Privileged Resolution" that would have forced the resignation of Rangel from his position as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee after he declined to resign voluntarily,[11] citing the inaction of the House Democratic Caucus and the ongoing investigations as reasons. The resolution failed along a largely party-line vote, with two Democrats and six Republicans breaking ranks.[12][13][14]

Although a critic of the accuracy of Rangel's financial disclosures, Carter voluntarily amended his financial disclosure forms in mid-October 2009 to list nearly $300,000 in capital gains from the sale of ExxonMobil stock in 2006 and 2007. Though Carter listed the sale of the assets, he did not list the actual amount of capital gains, on which he did pay taxes.[15]

On November 16, 2009, Carter introduced legislation to give combatant casualty status to the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, similar to those who were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.[16]

In February 2010, after Charlie Rangel was found to have broken House rules, Carter again demanded that Rangel step down. Rangel later stepped down, avoiding a third attempt at a privileged resolution to remove Rangel.

115th Congress

On May 16, 2018, Carter was named the new chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Appropriations following the retirement of Charlie Dent. He had previously served as chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations.

Carter authored six bills, including H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, which was signed into law on October 9, 2018, and H.R. 1133, the Veterans Transplant Coverage Act, which was signed into law as a part of the VA MISSION Act of 2018.

Carter signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 4760, the Securing America's Future Act of 2018, which failed to pass the House.[17] The legislation sought to enhance enforcement of existing immigration law, including reforms to legal immigration programs, enhanced border security, and provide a legislative solution for the current beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

116th Congress

On December 18, 2019, Carter voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.

Committee assignments

Party leadership and caucus memberships

Election history
U.S. House, Texas' 31st Congressional District (General Election)
Year Winning candidate Party Pct Opponent Party Pct
2002 John Carter Republican 69.1% David Bagley Democratic 27.4%
2004 John Carter (inc.) Republican 64.8% Jon Porter Democratic 32.5%
2006 John Carter (inc.) Republican 58.5% Mary Beth Herrell Democratic 38.8%
2008 John Carter (inc.) Republican 60.3% Brian Ruiz Democratic 36.6%
2010 John Carter (inc.) Republican 82.5% Bill Oliver Libertarian 17.5%
2012 John Carter (inc.) Republican 61.3% Stephen Wyman Democratic 35%
2014 John Carter (inc.) Republican 64% Louie Minor Democratic 32%
2016 John Carter (inc.) Republican 58.4% Mike Clark Democratic 36.5%
2018 John Carter (inc.) Republican 50.6% Mary Jennings Hegar Democratic 47.6%

Personal life

Carter married his wife Erika Carter in 1968. They have four grown children and six grandchidren.[20] Since 1971, the couple has lived in Round Rock, Texas.

References
  1. "The Arena: - Rep. John Carter Bio". www.politico.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  2. Hensley, Doug (2015-05-13). "On the Hill, On the Rise". Texas Tech University System. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  3. "John Carter - Candidate for U.S. President, Republican Nomination - Election 2012". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  4. "John Carter - Candidate for U.S. President, Republican Nomination - Election 2012". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  5. "Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  6. "Bush signs lawto stiffenID theft penalties". msnbc.com. 2004-07-15. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  7. "The Sunlight Foundation Blog – Oil Industry Influence: Personal Finances'". Sunlight Foundation. August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 12, 2008. Retrieved on Aug. 8, 2008
  8. "H.R. 1503". The Library of Congress.
  9. Carter, John (September 15, 2009). "Speaking of apologies: Hypocrisy clouds Democrats' demand for "You lie" apology". The Hill.
  10. "GOP Congressman Intros 'Rangel Rule,' Eliminating IRS Late Fees". Fox News. January 28, 2009.
  11. "New Rangel Financial Violations Demand Removal from Ways and Means Chairmanship". John Carter's House Page.
  12. Allen, Jonathan (2009-10-07). "Rangel retains Ways and Means gavel". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  13. Romm, Tony (2009-10-07). "Democrats rebuff Rangel resolution". TheHill. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  14. Carter, John R. (2009-10-07). "H.Res.805 - 111th Congress (2009-2010): Raising a question of the privileges of the House". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  15. Singer, Paul (2009-10-21). "Carter Refiling Disclosure Forms to List Exxon Profits". Roll Call. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  16. "Legislation to Award Fort Hood Casualties Combatant Status Set for Introduction Tuesday". carter.house.gov. 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  17. Goodlatte, Bob (2018-06-21). "H.R.4760 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Securing America's Future Act of 2018". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  18. "Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies". House Committee on Appropriations. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  19. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  20. "U.S. Representative John Carter: About Me". Congressman John Carter. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
U.S. House of Representatives
New constituency Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 31st congressional district
2003–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Doolittle		 Secretary of the House Republican Conference
2007–2013		 Succeeded by
Virginia Foxx
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Michael C. Burgess		 United States Representatives by seniority
73rd		 Succeeded by
Tom Cole
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