John Fleming (American politician)

John Calvin Fleming, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Jim McCrery
Succeeded by	Mike Johnson
Personal details
Born	John Calvin Fleming, Jr. (1951-07-05) July 5, 1951 Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Cindy Fleming
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Mississippi, Oxford University of Mississippi, Jackson
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy

John Calvin Fleming, Jr. (born July 5, 1951), is an American politician, physician, and businessman who is the deputy assistant secretary for health technology in the Donald Trump administration. He reports to Secretary Tom Price of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Earlier, as members of the United States House of Representatives, Fleming and Price were Republican colleagues.

From 2009 to January 3, 2017, Fleming was the representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district. His residence is in his adopted city of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. A second cousin (five generations removed) to the former House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky, Fleming is a member of Sons of the American Revolution and Jamestowne Society; he is only the second Republican to hold his House seat since Reconstruction, the first was his predecessor, Jim McCrery.

Fleming's position at HHS did not require Senate confirmation. The former congressman said that he will work in his new position to establish newer digital filing systems os as to increase productivity in physicians' offices and to enhance competition in the technical industry. Despite his 2016 defeat for the United States Senate seat vacated by fellow Republican David Vitter, Fleming has not ruled out another run for elected office. The seat that he sought went instead to another Republican, John Neely Kennedy.

Early life, education and family

Fleming was born in Meridian in Lauderdale County in eastern Mississippi. He was reared in a working class home; while he was still young, his mother became disabled and could no longer work. Just prior to Fleming's high school graduation, Fleming's father died of a heart attack. Fleming attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973. He later attended medical school at the Jackson campus of the same university, earning an M.D. in 1976. In 1979, Fleming completed a medical residency with the United States Navy. Subsequently, Fleming stayed in the Navy another three years, serving until 1982. Fleming also trained for years in karate attaining the rank of third degree black belt. He took his first piano lesson at age 43 and ultimately studied for 14 years afterwards, playing the occasional recital and concert. Fleming and his wife, Cindy, married in 1978. The couple has four children.

Medical career

Fleming was chief resident in family medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Pendleton, California. He also trained at the drug and alcohol treatment unit at the Navy Regional Medical Center in Long Beach, California. Serving in the Navy after his residency, Fleming practiced family medicine on the island of Guam. From 1979 to 1981, he was the director of drug and alcohol treatment and chairman of the Navy Family Advocacy Committee. He subsequently performed similar duties in Charleston, South Carolina.

After leaving the Navy, Fleming established a practice in Minden in August 1982. His first clinic was on Pearl Street across from the United States Post Office. He chose Minden for his city of residence because, in his words, it "has small-town charm, warm essence of life, long, lazy summer days with watermelon cuts and family reunions." To attract patients to his new practice, Fleming announced evening and Saturday morning hours to accommodate working people and students.

Fleming received a certification from the American Board of Family Practice and joined the staff of the Minden Medical Center. Fleming also joined the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP). In 2007, he was chosen as the LAFP "Louisiana Family Practice Physician of the Year."

Fleming previously worked with chemically dependent persons through the program called "New Beginnings" at the Minden Medical Center. In 1994, the Minden Press-Herald revealed Dr. Fleming's call "to end violence and drug addiction. I link these two together because I believe most of the violence we see is caused by addiction to or buying and selling of drugs."

In 2006, Fleming self-published Preventing Addiction: What Parents Must Know to Immunize Their Kids Against Drug And Alcohol Addiction with CrossHouse. In the book, Fleming argues that tobacco, among other addicting substances, can serve as a gateway for broader drug use, and that tatoos and Goth lifestyle choices may be linked to drug abuse. Fleming advocates, in the book and elsewhere, that parents use home breathalyzer tests to check their children for alcohol consumption should they show signs of abusive underage drinking. For two years Fleming compelled his own son to undergo breathalyzer tests when returning home after being among friends after discovering an instance of driving while intoxicated.

Business career

Fleming is a businessman who owns thirty-six Subway sandwich shops in North Louisiana and Fleming Expansions, LLC, a regional developer for The UPS Store, with outlets in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Webster Parish coroner

In 1987, Fleming entered the race for Webster Parish coroner against the incumbent, the late Dr. Charles Hancock, but withdrew after learning the position would take too much time from his regular medical duties.

In 1995, he ran for coroner again. He defeated the nonpartisan candidate, Dr. Carlos A. Irizarry, 7,842 votes (60.4 percent) to 5,143 (39.6 percent). Fleming succeeded Democratic incumbent Dr. Carl A. Hines, from Minden, who did not seek re-election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

Fleming entered the race for the District 4 House seat after the 21-year Republican incumbent Jim McCrery announced his retirement from the House. Fleming received political support from the LAFP and the American Academy of Family Physicians' (AAFP) political action committee for his campaign.

Fleming supported the FairTax, which would eliminate the federal income tax and replace it with a flat 23 percent sales tax.

In the October 4, 2008, Republican closed primary, Fleming ran against Jeff R. Thompson, a lawyer from Bossier City, and Chris Gorman. In the election, no candidate received a majority of the votes. Fleming led with 14,500 votes (35.1 percent), followed by Gorman with 14,072 votes (34.1 percent), and Thompson with 12,693 votes (30.8 percent). This established a primary runoff between Fleming and Gorman. In the runoff, Fleming defeated Gorman, 43,012 votes (55.6 percent) to 34,405 (44.4 percent) and carried all but one of the thirteen parishes in the district.

In the 2006 race against McCrery, "Catfish" Kelley ran as a Republican and drew 12 percent of the vote under the old primary format. In 2008, his 3 percent was far more than the margin between Fleming and Carmouche. A plurality is sufficient to win the general election—which, along with the District 2 race, were the last congressional races in the nation in 2008.

Outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney appeared in Shreveport on November 21 to speak at a fundraiser for Fleming. Politico.com indicated that McCrery supports Fleming but had made no official endorsement and had not appeared at any of Fleming's campaign events. On December 2, McCrery spoke on Fleming's behalf in an appearance on The Moon Griffon Show radio program, which is syndicated in most Louisiana media markets. He used the argument that Carmouche, if successful, would cast his first vote for Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

On December 10, 2008, Paul Carmouche formally conceded the election to Fleming. Among the Democrats whom Carmouche defeated in his primary was later State Senator John Milkovich of Shreveport.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2010 § District 4

Fleming was unopposed in the Republican primary in 2010 but was challenged by the Democratic nominee, David R. Melville. Governor Buddy Roemer, then still a Republican and later a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, supported David Melville in the general election.

Fleming was reelected saying that Democratic policies were out of step with his district and most of America.

2012

Fleming was unopposed by a Democratic candidate in his 2012 re-election bid in his district that is 2 to 1 Democratic registration but has a Cook PVI of R +11. In the November 6, 2012 general election, Fleming instead faced opposition from a Libertarian candidate, Randall Lord of Shreveport, a former chiropractor studying psychology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Fleming defeated Lord, 187,790 (75.3 percent) to 61,587 (24.7 percent).

2014

On April 4, 2013, Fleming announced that he would not in 2014 seek the United States Senate held since 1997 by the Democratic Mary Landrieu. Instead his colleague, U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge, had announced on April 3 that he would challenge Landrieu. In his statement, Fleming said: "For me to enter the race now would risk a contest between two experienced Republican congressmen, potentially offering Senator Landrieu a path back to Washington. I can't let that happen."

In August 2013, Fleming endorsed Republican State Senator Neil Riser of Columbia as his choice to succeed his retiring colleague Rodney Alexander of Jackson Parish in Louisiana's 5th congressional district. The special election to choose a successor to Alexander will be held on October 19.

On December 10, 2014, KTBS, a Shreveport based ABC television station, reported that Fleming was considering running for the Senate seat held by David Vitter, who ran in the 2015 gubernatorial election. Vitter would have had to vacate his seat were he elected as governor. In a statement, Fleming said "If Senator Vitter is elected as Governor, I would certainly be interested in running for the seat he would vacate."

2016

See also: United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2016

On December 7, 2015, Fleming officially announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. He is a candidate to succeed fellow Republican David Vitter, who will not seek a third term in 2016. Vitter lost the gubernatorial runoff election on November 21, 2015, to the Democrat John Bel Edwards. Others who sought the Senate seat that Vitter vacated were Fleming's House colleague and fellow physician, Charles Boustany of Lafayette, Colonel Rob Maness of Madisonville in St. Tammany Parish, a favorite of the Tea Party movement who ran against the defeated Mary Landrieu and the victorious Bill Cassidy in the race for Louisiana's other Senate seat in 2014, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish, a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and an advisor to John Bel Edwards, Democrat Caroline Fayard, and State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy of Madisonville, the ultimate winner of the position.

"I not only fought the liberals in Washington, I also fought the leadership of my own party when they were all too willing to compromise on our conservative principles," Fleming said in his statement of candidacy.

Fleming finished in fifth place in the primary election with 204,026 votes (11 percent), just behind the Democrat Caroline Fayard, who drew 12 percent of the ballots cast. He amassed pluralities in seven parishes, six of which are in his House district: Bossier, Claiborne, Grant, Lincoln (Louisiana's 5th congressional district), Sabine, Webster, and Vernon.

Tenure

2011 tax plan comments

In a September 19, 2011 interview on MSNBC, in which Fleming criticized President Obama's proposed plan to increase taxes on the wealthy, Fleming told host Chris Jansing, "The amount that I have to invest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million.... So by the time I feed my family I have, maybe, $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations, buy more equipment." When Jansing asked Fleming if he thought the "average person" might be unsympathetic to Fleming's position, Fleming responded, "Class warfare never created a job...This is not about attacking people who make certain incomes. You know in this country, most people feel that being successful in their business is a virtue, not a vice, and once we begin to identify it as a vice, this country is going down."

Fleming's remarks were widely reported and resulted in considerable commentary. Bruce Alpert, of Louisiana newspaper The Times-Picayune, reported that "on liberal blogs, Fleming was portrayed as insensitive to millions of working Americans who are struggling to meet expenses in the face of high unemployment and stagnant wages." Conservative sources including Bill O'Reilly and the Drudge Report defended Fleming's remarks; Josh Beavers, publisher of the Minden Press-Herald in Fleming's hometown, wrote an editorial which stated, "[Fleming's] sentiment was only that the more taxes he pays the fewer people he can employ. High taxes on business owners thwart economic activity."

2012 abortion post

In 2012, Fleming attracted attention for sharing an article from the satirical news source The Onion (titled "Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex") with his Facebook followers with the apparently sincere message, "More on Planned Parenthood, abortion by wholesale". He deleted the post after commenters highlighted the article's satirical nature.

2013 budget cuts statement

In 2013, Fleming was quoted in Forbes as saying:"Republicans in general, we desperately want a reduction in spending to get government back into balance. We would rather take some cuts in areas that we are not comfortable with than have no cuts at all." Forbes noted that Fleming's district includes Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk, both major employers. At a discussion in February 2013 in DeRidder, Fleming stated he would not vote to allow the government to cut $600 million from the defense plan. Fleming voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, the act which caused the automatic budget sequestration in March 2013. In this November 21, 2011 statement Fleming criticized the Budget Control Act because of what he called "devastating cuts to military spending."

Health care

In September 2013, Fleming cosponsored and introduced the Republican Study Committee's American Health Care Reform Act, which would repeal the soon-to-be-implemented Affordable Care Act, which Fleming said was "not fixable or repairable."

Fleming's "harsh criticism of the Affordable Care Act" has drawn media attention. In 2013, Fleming called the act "the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed in Congress."

LGBT issues

In 2012, Fleming condemned a private religious ceremony that took place at Fort Polk, Louisiana, between an enlisted woman and civilian woman. (Fort Polk, a U.S. Army base, lies within Fleming's congressional district.) Fleming said that the ceremony "should not have occurred at Fort Polk, especially since the people of Louisiana have made it abundantly clear that our state does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions" and characterized the event as part of a "liberal social experiment with our military."

Fleming condemned the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Fleming stated that he was "greatly disappointed" and disagreed with the decision. Fleming was also a co-sponsor of The First Amendment Defense Act, a bill designed to protect religious institutions from being forced to perform marriage or other ceremonies that violate their teachings.

2013 military issues

In June 2013, Fleming sponsored an amendment to a Defense spending bill requiring the military to accommodate, except in cases of military necessity, "actions and speech" reflecting the "conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of the member." The amendment drew objections from the White House, with a spokesman saying that commanders need discretion to, "address potentially problematic speech and actions within their units" and that the measure would "have a significant adverse effect on good order, discipline, morale and mission accomplishment." The amendment was approved by the House Armed Services Committee, and a companion measure passed in the Senate. The amendment was criticised as allowing service members to harass gay colleagues. Fleming's amendment was subsequently stripped from the final version of the bill.

In July 2013, the U.S. House passed a measure—sponsored by Fleming—that bars the Defense Department from appointing atheist chaplains. Fleming said, "The notion of an atheist chaplain is nonsensical; it's an oxymoron." Democratic Congressman Rob Andrews of New Jersey said that it was "wrong" to tell an irreligious service member that they "must go to a mental health professional in order to receive counseling, rather than someone who comes from their philosophical faith or tradition."

Other

Fleming led an unsuccessful effort to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Committee assignments

Upon his election to the United States House of Representatives, Fleming was assigned to these committees:

• Committee on Armed Services,
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces;
• Committee on Natural Resources,
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs (Chairman)

Caucus memberships

• The Republican Study Committee
• The Tea Party Caucus
• Co-chair of the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus
• Co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus
• Co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus

See also

• Physicians in the United States Congress

External links

• John Fleming at Curlie
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart