Diane Black

Diane Black
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Bart Gordon
Member of the Tennessee Senate from the 18th district
In office 2005–2010
Preceded by	Jo Ann Graves
Succeeded by	Kerry Roberts
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 45th district
In office 1998–2005
Succeeded by	Debra Young Maggart
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-16) January 16, 1951 Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	David Lee Black
Children	Jill Black Stoyshich Katie Black Shiver Steve Black
Residence	Gallatin, Tennessee
Occupation	Nurse Politician Real estate investor
Religion	Lutheran – ELCA[1]
Website	Official website

Diane Lynn Black^[2] (née Warren; born January 16, 1951) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 6th congressional district since 2011. The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. She is a member of the Republican Party. Previously she was a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 18th district, which encompasses Robertson County and part of Sumner County. She was floor leader of the State Senate Republican Caucus.

Early life and education

Born in Baltimore, Maryland to Joseph and Audrey Warren, Black graduated from Andover High School in Linthicum, Maryland, in 1969. She became the first member of her family to earn a college degree ^[3] after graduating from Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland with an associate's degree in nursing. She received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1991 from Belmont University.^[4][5]

Career

Black worked as a Registered Nurse until she ran for the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1998. Later she served as an educator at Volunteer State Community College^[6][7] in Gallatin, Tennessee. ^[8]

Tennessee legislature

Before becoming a state senator in 2004, she had previously served as a state representative for six years from 1998. Black was the Assistant Floor Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, and the Vice-Chair of the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee. She was elected the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chairman in 2006.^[6]

In May 2009, Black's legislative aide forwarded an email depicting a collage of United States Presidents. President Barack Obama's section of the collage was represented by a black square with two eyeballs.^[9] Black's reprimand of her aide was criticized as too lenient by two political blogs^[10] and Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Chip Forrester.^[11] Black said the email did not represent her views and that the reprimand of her aide was in keeping with the legislator's human resource policy for email guideline violations.^[12]

U.S. House of Representatives

Black is one of three female U.S. Representatives in Congress who self-identifies as a "congressman"; the others are Republicans Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.^[13]

2010 election

In December, 2009, she became a candidate for Tennessee's 6th congressional district to succeed Bart Gordon, who did not run for reelection.^[14] Her biggest competition in the Republican primary came from former Rutherford County GOP chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik and State Senator Jim Tracy. On August 5, 2010, Black won the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, over Zelenik and Tracy, who earned 30% each.^[15] Brett Carter was nominated by the Democrats after well-known elected officials declined the candidacy, which resulted in CQ Politics rating this race as "Safe Republican".^[16] In the November election, Black won with 67 percent of the vote.

2012 to present

In the 2012 general election, Black was a surrogate for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.^[17] Black made appearances for Romney in Pennsylvania,^[18] Wisconsin,^[19] and in various cable news interviews.^[20] Black has been a member of the following committees: Committee on the Budget, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Tea Party Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.

In October 2013, Black introduced the Student and Family Tax Simplification Act (H.R. 3393; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to consolidate several different education tax incentives into an expanded American Opportunity Tax Credit.^[21][22] The American Opportunity Tax Credit, under this legislation, would provide a maximum credit of $2,500.^[23]

Black has received endorsements from Governor Sarah Palin,^[24] The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB),^[25] Governor Mitt Romney,^[26] The National Rifle Association (NRA) ^[27] Congresswoman Michele Bachmann,^[28] Former Congressman Allen West,^[28] Tennessee Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony List,^[29] and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.^[30]

In October 2015, Black was named to serve on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood.^[31]

Personal life

Black's net worth is "almost $29 million" which includes $8.5 million in real estate and her husband's stake in Aegis Sciences Corporation.^[32]

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010
• United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2014

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diane Black.

• Congresswoman Diane Black official U.S. House site
• Diane Black for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Diane Black at DMOZ
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
• Aegis Science Corporation – Science in Defense of Justice