Doug Collins (politician)

Doug Collins
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Tom Graves
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 27th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Stacey Reece
Succeeded by	Lee Hawkins
Personal details
Born	(1966-08-16) August 16, 1966 Gainesville, Georgia
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lisa Collins
Children	Jordan Copelan Cameron
Residence	Gainesville, Georgia
Alma mater	North Georgia College & State University (B.A.)
Occupation	businessman, politician
Religion	Southern Baptist[1]
Website	Representative Doug Collins
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	2002–present (reservist)
Rank	Major-Chaplain
Unit	94th Airlift Wing
Battles/wars	Iraq War

Douglas A. "Doug" Collins (born August 16, 1966) is an American politician and a United States Representative from Georgia's 9th congressional district in 2013. Previously he was a state representative in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 27th district which includes portions of Hall, Lumpkin and White counties. Collins also serves as a Chaplain (Major) in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and early career

Born in Gainesville, Georgia, Collins is a graduate of North Hall High School.^[2] He attended North Georgia College & State University, where he received a B.A. in Political science and Criminal law, in 1988. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Divinity in 1996. Collins also earned his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School, in 2007.^[3]

Collins worked as an intern for Georgia Congressman Ed Jenkins, before working as a salesman, selling hazardous material safety products to Georgia's state, and local governments.^[4] From 1994 to 2005, Collins was a senior pastor at Chicopee Baptist Church, while co-owning a scrapbooking retail store with his wife, Lisa.^[5][6] Collins worked as a lawyer, and has been a managing partner at the Collins and Csider law firm since 2010.^[7]

Military service

In the late 1980s, Collins served two years in the United States Navy, as a Navy-Chaplain. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Collins joined the United States Air Force Reserve Command where he presently serves as a Chaplain (Major).^[8] Enlisted in the 94th Airlift Wing at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia; Collins was deployed to Balad Air Base for five months in 2008, during the Iraq War.^[9]

Georgia House of Representatives

Elections

Collins served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 27th district from 2007 to 2013. After Republican incumbent state representative Stacey Reece decided he would run for the Georgia State Senate, Collins announced he would run for the vacated seat. He won both the primary and general elections unopposed.^[10] He was unopposed for reelection in 2008 and 2010.^[11][12]

Tenure

In 2011, Collins sponsored a plan proposed by Governor Deal to reform Georgia's Hope Scholarship program.^[13] The bill allowed for a 10% cut in scholarships, and raised the level of the SAT and GPA test scores, required to obtain a scholarship; saving the state $300 million.^[14] Collins argued that the program would be insolvent without the cut, saying that "If you look at it at the end of the day, Georgia still leads the way in providing hope—educational hope—for those wanting to go on to post-secondary education."^[15] In 2012, he supported amending Georgia's Constitution to establish a statewide commission authorizing and expanding charter schools.^[16][17]

Collins supports the death penalty, voting in favor of allowing juries to use the death penalty, even when there isn't a unanimous verdict, if the defendant has committed at least one “statutory aggravating circumstance.^[18] He is against physician assisted suicide, voting in favor of making it a felony for anyone who "knowingly and willingly" assists someone in a suicide.^[19] Collins voted for the failed Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Requirement, requiring doctors to give women who are undergoing an abortion the option of a free ultrasound, or to listen to the fetal heartbeat.^[20] He also voted in favor of Georgia's law to prohibit Abortions past the 20th week, being one of the most restrictive early abortion bans in the country.^[21]

In 2012 Collins signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.^[22]

Committee assignments

In the 2011–2012 legislative session, Collins was one of three administrative floor leaders for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.^[23] Collins served on the committees for:^[6]

• House Appropriations (Secretary)
• Judiciary Non-Civil
• Public Safety & Homeland Security
• Health & Human Services
• Defense and Veterans Affairs

U.S. House of Representatives

2012 election

In 2012, Collins ran for Congress in the redrawn 9th congressional district. (The district's incumbent, Tom Graves, opted to run in the newly created 14th district, where his home was located.) Collins faced local media personality Martha Zoller and retired principal Roger Fitzpatrick in the Republican primary. The 9th is the most Republican district in the Eastern Time Zone, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+27. It was understood that whoever won the Republican primary would be the district's next representative in Congress.

Collins finished first in the primary with 42 percent of the total, but just 700 votes ahead of Zoller. Because neither had a majority, a runoff was held on August 21, 2012, and Collins defeated Zoller in that contest 55 percent to 45 percent.^[24][25] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Jody Cooley 76 percent to 24 percent.^[26][27]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
• United States House Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the Census
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs

Defense of Military Chaplains

Mr. Collins has written letters in defense of military chaplains including Joseph Lawhorn^[28] and Wes Modder,^[29] both of which have faced opposition for expressing their Christian beliefs.

Personal life

Collins married his wife, Lisa, in 1988. She is a teacher at Mount Vernon Elementary School in Gainesville, Georgia; where the couple resides with their three children, Jordan, Copelan and Cameron. One of which has spinal bifidia ^[30] Collins is a practicing Baptist, and attends Lakewood Baptist Church.^[31]

References

External links

• Congressman Doug Collins official U.S. House site
• Doug Collins for Congress
• Doug Collins at DMOZ
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• 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