Congressman Tom Graves (R-GA) is currently in a three-way tie for highest score on our Legislative Scorecard in the House of Representatives. He currently has a 97% rating and was elected to Congress in 2010 in a special election after former Representative Nathan Deal resigned to run for governor.
Rep. Graves was born in St. Petersburg, FL in 1970 and received a B.B.A from the University of Georgia. He was a business owner before he decided to run for public office in Georgia, where he was elected as a State Representative for Georgia's 12th district between 2003 and 2010.
During his tenure in the Georgia General Assembly, Rep. Graves authored legislation designed to help small businesses in Georgia put people back to work through incentives, tax credits and tax cuts. It received national recognition and helped Georgia create jobs. He also served on the Transportation, Ways and Means committee, as well as the Health and Human Services committee. He was also Vice Chairman of the Motor Vehicles committee and has brought to the 112th Congress a commitment to reforming how transportation funds are allocated and collected.
As a member of the United States Congress, Rep. Graves was assigned to the Appropriations Committee - a rare assignment for a freshman member - and has fought hard to hold the line on spending to reduce the size of government. He is also a member of the Republican Study Committee and Tea Party Caucus.
Rep. Graves is no stranger to hard work. He loves spending time outdoors and working on his farm in Georgia. All throughout his childhood, he was always told to work hard and never quit. He played football all his life until college, and his football coach would yell at him and his teammates to "get up, you are killing the grass." His coach taught them that, in life, you are going to get hit; it is going to be hard. But, don't expect someone else to pick you up, or to do your job, or to make it easy. This foundation has helped shape Rep. Graves throughout his adult life, and is what drives him in his work as a Congressman.
Rep. Graves and his wife, Julie, have three children, are very family-oriented and attend the Belmont Baptist Church in Calhoun, Georgia.