David Scott (Georgia)

David Albert Scott (born June 27, 1945) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2003. Scott's district includes all of Rockdale County, as well as portions of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, and Newton counties. Before his election to Congress in 2002, Scott served as a Democratic member of both chambers of the Georgia Legislature and operated a small business. In 2023, he succeeded Glenn Thompson as ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Early life and education

Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina, and attended high school in Daytona Beach, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Scott is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Early career

In 1978, Scott founded Dayn-Mark Advertising (from the names of his two daughters, Dayna and Marcie), which places billboards and other forms of advertising in the Atlanta area. Scott's wife, Alfredia, now heads the business. In May 2007, it was reported that the business owed more than $150,000 in back taxes and penalties. Scott's campaigns paid the company more than $500,000 from 2002 to 2010, including expenses for office rent, printing, T-shirts, and other services. He has also paid his wife, two daughters, and son-in-law tens of thousands of dollars for campaign work such as fund raising and canvassing.

Scott served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and in the Georgia State Senate from 1982 to 2002.

U.S. House of Representatives

When Georgia picked up an additional district as a result of the 2000 census, Scott entered a five-way Democratic primary for the seat, winning with 53.8% of the vote. He then defeated Republican Clay Cox in the general election with 59% of the vote. He has never faced another contest that close, and has been reelected eight times, running unopposed in 2004, 2014 and 2016.

In 2007, the political watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Scott one of the 25 most corrupt members of Congress.

During his first two terms, Scott represented a district that twisted and wound its way through parts of nine counties and was barely contiguous in some areas. In a mid-decade redistricting held after the 2004 elections, the district was redrawn to be somewhat more compact, with its population centered in Clayton, Douglas and Fulton Counties. Redistricting after the 2010 census gave the district all of Douglas County and pushed it further into Clayton.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:
* Committee on Agriculture (Ranking Member)
**As Ranking Member of the Committee, Rep. Scott is entitled to sit as an ''ex officio'' member in all subcommittee meeting, per the committee rules.
* Committee on Financial Services
** Subcommittee on Capital Markets
** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy

Caucus memberships

* Blue Dog Coalition (left in 2023)
* New Democrat Coalition
* Congressional Black Caucus
* U.S.-Japan Caucus
* Congressional Coalition on Adoption
* Rare Disease Caucus
* Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans

Political positions

Scott was ranked as the 18th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the second most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia) in the Bipartisan Index created by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship by measuring how often each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member co-sponsors bills by members of the opposite party.

Affordable Care Act

Scott voted for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). On August 6, 2009, he was confronted by a constituent who was also a local doctor. The doctor, who later appeared in subsequent debates with his opposition candidate, asked Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to the plan implemented in Massachusetts and whether he supported a government-provided health care insurance option. Scott questioned whether the doctor was a resident of his district, although the local TV station WXIA-TV confirmed that the doctor did live and work in the district. Scott also said the doctor had not called Scott's office to set up a meeting about health care; this was not verified.

Fiscal policy

Although Scott voted against the first version of the 2008 bailout, he backed the final version "after being assured the legislation would aid homeowners facing foreclosures. Scott crafted an added provision dedicating $14 billion to aid those homeowners."

Same-sex marriage

Scott supported two failed pieces of legislation in 2004 and 2006 that aimed to establish a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. However, in May 2013 thinkprogress.org reported receiving an email from a spokesman of Scott saying, "Congressman Scott fully supports marriage equality." The Human Rights Campaign's profile of Scott also contains this sentence as his statement under "position on marriage equality".

Iran deal

Scott has announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, saying, "It's a good deal for Iran, for Russia, China and probably Hezbollah, but is it not, definitely not a good deal for Israel or for the United States or our allies – especially Jordan and Saudi Arabia".

Yemeni civil war

Scott was one of five House Democrats to vote for the U.S. to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia and to support the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. This vote was cast the day after the Senate, on December 13, 2018, for the first time in the 45 years after the passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973, came together and used congressional authority given by federal law to end military action.

Personal life

Scott's brother-in-law was Baseball Hall of Fame member Hank Aaron.

Scott allegedly received death threats over his support of the Affordable Care Act. A swastika was found spray-painted on a sign outside his district office.

See also

* List of African-American United States representatives

References

External links

Congressman David Scott
official U.S. House website
David Scott for Congress
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, David
1945 births
21st-century African-American politicians
21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly
21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)
Alpha Phi Alpha members
Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Baptists from South Carolina
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
Florida A&M University alumni
Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives
Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats
Living people
People from Aynor, South Carolina
Politicians from Atlanta
Wharton School alumni