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Thomas M. Davis III (born January 5 1949 in Minot, North Dakota), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1994, representing the Eleventh Congressional District of Virginia (map) in Northern Virginia from 1995. In Congress, Davis is Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. He is also a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He is a member of the Christian Science Church.
Early years
Davis moved to Fairfax County at an early age. He was a U.S. Senate Page and graduated as president of his class. He is a graduate of Amherst College, in Political Science, and the University of Virginia, in law. He attended Officer Candidate School of the U.S. Army, served on active duty, and spent eight years with the Virginia National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve. In June, 2004, he married Virginia State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis. In addition to four stepdaughters from his marriage to Devolites-Davis, he has three children from a previous marriage.
Davis was a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1980 to 1994, serving as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors from 1991 until his election to the House. During his service as Board Chairman, Fairfax County was ranked the best fiscally managed county in the country.
As a Congressman
He swept into the House in the 1994 elections with the Contract With America. Under the contract, the signers, including Davis, promised to limit their terms in the House to six terms, a time period that ends 12 years later, in time for the 2006 election. Davis was Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1998 to 2002
Legislation Sponsored
Davis sponsored the Elizabeth Morgan Act in 1996. Working with Virginia Sen. John Warner, Davis secured Federal funding for the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Davis also sponsored legislation creating a Financial Control Board for the City of Washington, DC. He was in charge, until 2000, of the Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, generally favoring allowing the District government more autonomy. He was also involved in the College Access Act, which, for the first time ever, allowed high school graduates in the District to attend public colleges in Maryland and Virginia at in-state rates. He is credited with assisting the revitalization of the Nation's Capital, including the closing of DC's infamous Lorton Prison in Fairfax County.
He is currently a sponsor of legislation to provide the District of Columbia with voting representation (a bill which also requires the addition of a "balanced" (Republican) district in Utah(HR 2043).
Popularity
Davis, representing a district which comprises a suburb of Washington, D.C., represents a rather large number of federal workers. His positions are generally favorable for federal workers, even if they are opposed to general GOP sentiment, enabling him to win a high degree of popularity in his district. In 2004, while the 11th Congressional Districtthe new district voted for Bush over John Kerry by less than a 1% margin (49.9% to 49.3%), Davis himself defeated challenger Ken Longmyer by a 60% to 39% margin. No doubt this was in also due to the fact that he outspent his opponent $1,835,000 to $72,000 — a ratio of over 24 to 1.
His positions
Davis supports stem-cell research and is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of Republicans who describe themselves as mainsteam. He supported the Terri Schiavo legislation. He is a so-called deficit hawk.
Davis was named chair to the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. Democrats, unhappy with the arrangements, did not take part in the committee, but the committee plowed ahead anway, eventually producing a stinging report critical of government's response to the disaster, titled A Failure of Initiative: The Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina
External links
- Davis voting record at www.vote-smart.org
- Contributions to Davis
- Congressman Tom Davis
- United States Congress. "Tom Davis (id: D000136)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Template:Nndb name
- Va. Republicans Devolites, Davis to Marry (washingtonpost.com)
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