Rob Woodall

Rob Woodall
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John Linder
Personal details
Born	(1970-02-11) February 11, 1970 Athens, Georgia
Political party	Republican
Residence	Lawrenceville, Georgia[1]
Alma mater	Furman University, University of Georgia
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Methodist
Website	Official website

William Robert Woodall III^[2] (born February 11, 1970)^[3] is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 7th congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Prior to being elected to congress, he was the Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman John Linder (R-GA). He worked for Linder from 1994 to 2010.

Early life, education, and career

Woodall was born in Athens, GA. He attended both public and private grade schools, and graduated from Marist School in 1988. He attended Furman University followed by law school at the University of Georgia. While attending law school, he spent summers working in a Washington, D.C. law firm. He left law school after the summer of 1994 to work for his hometown U.S. Representative John Linder. Woodall later finished law school in 1998.^[4]

U.S. House of Representatives

2010 election

He won the Republican primary with about 56% of the vote against Jody Hice.^[5] He faced Democrat Doug Heckman in the 2010 General Election.^[6] On November 2, 2010, Woodall defeated Heckman to win the election.^[7]

The top donors to Woodall's campaign funds were the Credit Union National Association, the Southern Company, the American Dental Association, and the Vision for Tomorrow Fund.^[8]

Woodall addressed the U.S. House on October 26, 2011, in which he called for reducing regulation on businesses.^[9]

Key Positions and Votes

Woodall voted for repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in January, 2011.

In July 2011, he voted for the Cut, Cap and Balance Act during the 2011 U.S. debt ceiling crisis.

In October 2011, Woodall voted for legislation to restrict how private insurance companies listed on a public insurance exchange may offer abortion coverage.^[10]

Woodall was one of only six Republicans who opposed legislation that would require all states to honor the concealed weapons permits of other states, arguing that the bill was unnecessary because the Second Amendment already gives Americans the right to bear arms.^[11]

Woodall is also one of only six House Republicans in the 112th Congress who have not signed Grover Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," stating that "my commitment to the Fair Tax and a common-sense tax overhaul makes it impossible for me to support the second component of the Pledge, which states that I must 'oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.'"^[12][13]

On July 24, 2013 Woodall voted against Representative Justin Amash's (R-Michigan) amendment to HR 2397 which would have ended the National Security Agency's ability to collect and store data on the phone calls of every American without a warrant.^[14]

Legislation introduced

Woodall introduced the Baseline Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 1871; 113th Congress) into the House on May 8, 2013.^[15] The bill would change the way in which discretionary appropriations for individual accounts are projected in CBO’s baseline.^[16] Under H.R. 1871, projections of such spending would still be based on the current year’s appropriations, but would not be adjusted for inflation going forward.^[16]

Tenure

Woodall took office as part of the 112th United States Congress in January 2011. In July 2014, Woodall was elected chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative Republican lawmakers, succeeding Steve Scalise.^[17]

Committee assignments

House Rules Committee
House Budget Committee
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee

References

External links

• Congressman Rob Woodall official U.S. House site
• Rob Woodall for Congress
• Rob Woodall 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