Edward Lee Schrock (born April 6, 1941) is a retired naval officer (1964–1988) and American Republican politician who served as a member of the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

from 1996 to 2001. He also served in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from January 2001 to January 2005, representing the Second Congressional District of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Early life and career

Born in Middletown,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Schrock earned a bachelor's degree from Alderson-Broaddus College in 1964 and a master's degree in Public Relations from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in 1975. His 24-year career as a

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

in the U.S. Navy (1964 to 1988) included two tours of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. After retiring from active military service, Schrock worked as an investment broker and then served in the Virginia State Senate, from 1996 to 2001.

Tenure in Congress

In 2000, he was elected to the U.S. House seat for Virginia's 2nd District, defeating the Democratic Party nominee, Jody Wagner, a Norfolk attorney who later became state treasurer. In his first term, Schrock was elected president of the Republican freshman class. During his four years in Congress, Schrock served on the Armed Services Committee, Budget Committee, Small Business Committee and Government Reform Committee. In 2002 in his second term, Schrock defeated Green Party candidate D.C. Amarasinghe, winning 83.15% of the vote.

Controversy

In 2004, Michael Rogers' blogACTIVE.com had said that Schrock is gay — or at least

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

— despite having aggressively opposed various gay-rights issues in Congress, such as

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and gays serving in the military. Schrock, who is married, announced on August 30, 2004, that he would resign and not seek a third term in Congress. On November 2, in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, fellow Republican Thelma Drake was elected to replace Schrock. Drake took office in January 2005.

After Congress

In December 2004, Representative Tom Davis, another Virginia Republican, hired Schrock to serve as the top staff person for one of the subcommittees of the Government Reform Committee which Davis chaired and on which Schrock had served. Schrock was briefly covered in the 2009 documentary '' Outrage'', which profiles allegedly closeted gay public officials who have endorsed anti-gay legislation.

Electoral history

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Schrock, Ed 1941 births Alderson Broaddus University alumni American University School of Communication alumni Living people People from Middletown, Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Republican Party Virginia state senators 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives