Virginia Foxx

This article is about the member of Congress. For the silent film actress, see Virginia Fox.

Virginia Foxx
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Richard Burr
Personal details
Born	June 29, 1943 (1943-06-29) New York City, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Thomas Foxx
Residence	Banner Elk, North Carolina
Alma mater	University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Occupation	College professor/administrator
Religion	Roman Catholic

Virginia Foxx (born June 29, 1943) is the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 5th congressional district, serving since 2005. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district takes in much of the northwestern portion of the state and a portion of Winston-Salem.

Early life, education and career

Foxx was born in The Bronx, New York. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a bachelor's degree. She later earned a master's and doctoral degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Foxx worked as a research assistant at UNC and later became a professor at Appalachian State University. She was an English professor before moving into university administration. From 1987 until her 1994 entry into politics, she was president of Mayland Community College.

North Carolina State Senate

From 1994 to 2004, Foxx served in the North Carolina Senate.

United States House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training (Chairwoman)
• Committee on Rules

Hurricane Katrina

In September 2005, Foxx was one of 11 members of Congress to vote against the $51 billion aid package to victims of Hurricane Katrina. She was also one of only 33 Republicans to vote against the extension of the Voting Rights Act in July 2006.

Hero Act

The first bill sponsored by Foxx to have been signed into law since 2006, the Hero Act, signed by President Bush on Memorial Day, 2006, allows U.S. troops to increase their retirement savings by investing a portion of their combat pay into Individual Retirement Accounts.

Electronic Pay Stub Act

The second bill sponsored by Foxx and subsequently signed into law is the Electronic Pay Stub Act which gives federal employees the choice of receiving their pay stubs electronically. This legislation is projected to save taxpayers millions of dollars. Studies have shown that it costs 10 times more to purchase and distribute paper stubs than it does to distribute electronic stubs. This bill was signed into law in October, 2008.

Troubled Asset Relief Program

Shortly after Congress approved the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Foxx identified a provision in the law that allowed her to force consideration of a measure to deny the second, $350 billion, tranche of the TARP bailout^{[citation needed]}. On November 19, 2008, she introduced H.J.Res. 101, which met all of the parliamentary requirements for consideration once the President requested the second tranche. In the new, 111th Congress, she reintroduced the measure as H.J.Res. 3, and shortly before leaving office, President Bush requested the second tranche, thereby activating the trigger allowing for her to commandeer the House floor, even though she was not a member of the majority party. Her measure passed the House with the overwhelming bipartisan vote of 270-155; the act was never addressed in the Senate.

Matthew Shepard Act

In April 2009, Foxx expressed opposition to the Matthew Shepard Act, claiming that the murder of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime. While debating the act at the House of Representatives, which was attended by Matthew Shepard's mother, she called the incident a "very unfortunate incident" but also "we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay." She continued that "It's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing hate crimes bills." However, that statement is disputed by the police reports, the ensuing police investigation and by the trial testimony of the accused themselves. She was criticized by several media outlets and some congressional colleagues for that statement. It was also noted that Matthew Shepard's mother was present at the time.

Health care debate

When commenting on the House version of the reform bill that funds counseling for end-of-life issues, Foxx said, "Republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of people's health care," and "(The plan) is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government." She later said that "we have more to fear from the potential of [the Affordable Health Care for America Act] passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country."

Turkish American Caucus

Virginia Foxx is a member of Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans since 2005. Her son-in-law is a Turkish businessman, Mustafa Özdemir.

Political campaigns

Republican Primary 2003-2004

After 5th District Congressman Richard Burr decided he would run for the United States Senate, Foxx was first to join the race for congressman. North Carolina's 5th district is highly partisan. Because of this, the race quickly became one of the most expensive and nastiest in North Carolina's history.

In a field of eight candidates; Foxx had her nastiest arguments with Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson. Robinson tarred her and the other candidates as liberals, even though Foxx was one of the most conservative members of the state legislature. He attacked Foxx claiming she had taken money from a gay rights group. Foxx stated that the group gave her a small donation during her campaign for the state Senate, but did not give her any more money after they saw her voting record. Although Robinson was the highest vote-getter in the primary, Foxx was still able to defeat him (55%-45%).

General election campaign

Virginia Foxx talking with constituents in Yadkinville, NC

In contrast to the primary, her general election campaign against Jim Harrell, Jr., which she easily won (59%-41%), was more cordial.

Foxx was briefly targeted for defeat in the 2006 elections, but the Democrats' top choice, popular Winston-Salem mayor Allen Joines, decided not to run. Joines later said that he didn't have the stomach for the kind of race he felt it would take to defeat Foxx. Her 2006 opponent was Roger Sharpe, who was defeated. Roy Carter of Ashe County, North Carolina was Foxx's opponent for her seat in the 2008 election; she won by a substantial margin.

In November 2010, Foxx was reelected with about 65% of the vote.

External links

• U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx official U.S. House site
• Virginia Foxx for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch
• North Carolina Republican Party

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Richard Burr	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th congressional district 2005–Present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Jeff Fortenberry R-Nebraska	United States Representatives by seniority 240th	Succeeded by Louie Gohmert R-Texas