Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district since January 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party and chair of the Freedom Caucus.
Video Mark Meadows (North Carolina politician)
Early life, education, and business career
Meadows was born at a United States Army hospital in Verdun, France where his father was serving in the Army and his mother worked as a civilian nurse. His mother was from Sevierville, Tennessee, and his father from Pineville, Arkansas.
He grew up in Brandon, Florida and graduated from the University of South Florida in 1981 after briefly studying at Florida State University. During his collegiate years, Meadows joined Sigma Chi Fraternity.
In 1987, Meadows started "Aunt D's", a small restaurant in Highlands, North Carolina. He later sold it and used the proceeds to start a real estate development company in the Tampa, Florida area.
While living in Highlands, Meadows served as chairman of the Republican Party in Macon County, and was a delegate to several state and national Republican conventions.
Meadows previously served on North Carolina's Board for Economic Development in Western North Carolina. In 2011 he moved to Glenville, North Carolina. In the summer of 2016, he sold his house and moved into an apartment in Biltmore Park, a mixed-use community in Asheville, NC, while deciding where to buy next in either Henderson or Buncombe counties. He is currently the owner of Highlands Properties, which specializes in construction and land development.
Maps Mark Meadows (North Carolina politician)
U.S. House of Representatives
2012 election
In late 2011, Meadows announced he was running for Congress in North Carolina's 11th congressional district, for the seat being vacated by Democratic incumbent Heath Shuler. The district had been significantly altered in redistricting. New lines were drawn straight through the middle of Warren Wilson College. Notably, it lost most of Asheville to the 10th district, while picking up some heavily Republican territory in the foothills. The old 11th had a slight Republican lean, but the new 11th was on paper the most Republican district in the state. In 2011, the North Carolina state legislature re-drew the congressional districts in 2011 based on updated population information from the 2010 census. As a result, the district is now 91.2% White, 3.0% Black, 1.4% Native American and 1.0% Asian. District 11 now includes the counties of Buncombe (Asheville), Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Haywood (Waynesville), Henderson (Hendersonville), Jackson (Sylva), Macon (Franklin), McDowell (Marion), Madison, Polk, Swain, Transylvania (Brevard) and Yancey (Burnsville).
He won the Republican primary runoff, in July 2012, and in the general election in November, faced the Democratic candidate, Hayden Rogers, who had been Shuler's chief of staff. During the campaign, on August 28, 2012, Meadows spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Meadows won the general election with approximately 57 percent of the vote and took office, in January 2013.
Tenure
Meadows has signed the Contract from America, a list of ten policies assembled by the Tea Party movement.
Meadows voted against relief for Hurricane Sandy along with a group of other Republicans who cited pork barrel spending in the relief bill that had nothing to do with hurricane relief.
Meadows introduced the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014, a bill that would impose sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate transactions or money laundering on behalf of Hezbollah or its agents. Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organization in the United States. The bill passed in the House on July 22, 2014. Meadows said that "we must pass this legislation to make sure that we can do is cripple their ability to finance and put people out of harm's way."
On July 23, 2014, Meadows introduced the Federal Records Accountability Act of 2014, a bill that would change the record-keeping requirements about some types of communications to ensure that information is not lost. The bill would make it easier to fire a person who willfully and unlawfully concealed, removed, mutilated, obliterated, falsified, or destroyed any record, book, or other thing in the custody of such employee. It would also ban federal employees from using instant messaging for work purposes.
Meadows served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations up until June 20, 2015, when fellow Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz removed him from the position. Rep. Chaffetz, a member of the House Republican leadership, removed Meadows due to Meadows' vote against a procedural motion presented by Republican leadership. Meadows was one of 34 Republicans that voted against the motion to allow for consideration of President Barack Obama's request for fast-track authority on trade agreements. Speaker John Boehner supported the measure, but many Republicans felt that the move gave too much power to Democrats and President Obama, specifically. This action was seen as controversial with many prominent Republican politicians, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, speaking out against the punishment.
On July 28, 2015, Meadows filed a motion to vacate the chair in order to force Speaker of the House John Boehner from his leadership position. The action was widely seen as an escalation of the feud between a faction of conservatives and the GOP leadership. Conservatives had long urged a coup against Mr. Boehner, who they viewed as too eager to make deals with Democrats and unwilling to go to the mat fighting for conservative principles.
2013 Federal Government Shutdown
Meadows has been described as playing an important part of the United States federal government shutdown of 2013. On August 21, 2013 Meadows wrote an open letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor encouraging them to "affirmatively de-fund the implementation and enforcement of Obamacare in any relevant appropriations bills brought to the House floor in the 113th Congress, including any continuing appropriations bill." The document was signed by 79 of Meadows' colleagues in the House. Heritage Action (which opened operations in North Carolina in January 2011), ran critical Internet advertisements in the districts of 100 Republican lawmakers who failed to sign the letter by Meadows. The letter has been described as being controversial within the Republican Party.
The New York Daily News said Meadows put the federal government on the road to shutdown, saying calls to defund "Obamacare" through spending bills languished until Meadows wrote his letter. Meadows downplayed his influence, saying "I'm one of 435 members and a very small part of this." CNN described Meadows as the "architect of the brink" for his letter suggesting that "Obamacare" be defunded in any continuing appropriations bill. Meadows said that was sensationalizing his role.
John Ostendorff of the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote Meadows "said it's best to close the government in the short term to win a delay on 'Obamacare', despite the potential negative impact on the economy." Ostendorff wrote that Meadows said he was doing what Tea Party members in Western North Carolina wanted him to do. Meadows said his constituents wanted him to fight against "Obamacare" "regardless of consequences." Jane Bilello, head of the Asheville Tea Party and political action committee said Meadows "truly represents us" on the issue of "Obamacare". Meadows reportedly holds conference calls with members of the Asheville Tea Party, telling them what's going on in Congress, and about challenges he faces promoting their agenda.
In public comments, Meadows stated he was working on a compromise that involved passing appropriations bills that would fund only parts of the government, such as a bill to fund the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a bill to fund the National Institutes of Health. However, partial or "mini" funding bills were rejected by the Democratic majority in the United States Senate.
Resolution to vote to remove Speaker Boehner
On July 28, 2015, Meadows filed a resolution to vote on whether to remove John Boehner as Speaker of the House. If the resolution were successful, the House would then vote to elect a replacement Speaker of the House.
Because Meadows filed it as a nonprivileged resolution, it was sent to the House Committee on Rules for a vote first, rather than the House floor. The Committee on Rules was considered to have many members who were loyal to Speaker Boehner, so the resolution was seen as unlikely as moving forward.
Meadows said he filed the resolution because Speaker Boehner has "endeavored to consolidate power, bypassing the majority" of Congress; "through inaction, caused the power of Congress to atrophy," "uses the power of the office to punish Members who vote according to their conscience"; "has intentionally provided for voice votes on consequential and controversial legislation to be taken without notice and with few Members present"; "uses the legislative calendar to create crises for the American People"; allows members less than three days to review legislation before voting; and limits meaningful debate on the House floor.
The resolution received support from Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr.
Boehner responded, "Listen, you have a member here and a member there who are off the reservation. No big deal ... Listen, this is one member. All right. I've got broad support amongst my colleagues. And frankly, it isn't even deserving of a vote."
Despite this, on September 25 John Boehner announced his intention to resign as Speaker. He officially resigned on October 31, 2015.
In a Vanity Fair article, published October 30, 2017, Speaker Boehner said of Mark Meadows: "He's an idiot. I can't tell you what makes him tick."
Staffing controversy and sexual harassment
Meadows' former chief of staff, Kenny West, resigned after female employees accused him of inappropriate behavior but remained on the House payroll in violation of House rules, according to an independent investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Meadows paid West $58,125 from April 2015 to August 2015 even though he was no longer working in Meadows' office, according to the Office of Congressional Ethics.
There is "substantial reason to believe that Representative Meadows retained an employee who did not perform duties commensurate with the compensation the employee received and certified that the compensation met applicable House standards, in violation of House rules and standards of conduct," the OCE report said.
In October 2014, a group of employees reported to the deputy chief of staff "they were uncomfortable with Mr. West's inappropriate behavior towards them," the OCE report said. Meadows asked the chief of staff of Rep. Trey Gowdy to interview the employees, and Meadows eventually limited or prohibit West's presence in Meadows' offices, the report said.
As of January 2018, the ethics committee investigation was still open, with a former Meadows aide testifying to the House Ethics Committee that top staff and, perhaps even Meadows himself were made aware of West's behavior far earlier than has been publicly reported, according to the Daily Beast. West denies he sexually harassed anyone.
2016 Election
Congressman Meadows appeared with candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in July 2016 just after the Republican National Convention, leading the crowd in a chant, "Lock her up," the latest anti-Hillary Clinton refrain.
2018 Election
Meadows continued to support Trump's agenda after the 2016 election, referring to Trump as a "conservative president" in 2017 and suggesting Republicans that didn't support Trump should be removed from office.
In January 2018, Meadows planned to travel to Davos, Switzerland, with a congressional delegation for the elite summit, the World Economic Forum, along with a White House delegation including Trump and cabinet members including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
Democratic candidates included Dr. Scott Donaldson, a urological surgeon from Hendersonville, Phillip Price, of Dysartsville in McDowell County, owner of a business that reclaims lumber, and Steven Woodsmall of Brevard, a professor at Brevard College and coordinator of its Business and Organizational Leadership Program.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
- Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
- Subcommittee on Government Operations
- Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs
- Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Subcommittee on Aviation
- Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
- Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Western Caucus
Political positions
Abortion
Meadows is a pro-life supporter and has called abortion a 'tragedy'. He opposes any federal funding for abortion and believes parents should be notified of underage abortion procedures. He also opposes churches and other religious sites being forced to provide birth control options.
Budget
Meadows is part of a group that has advocated for a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. In addition he opposed the recent federal stimulus spending and has expressed desire for the federal spending growth rate to be capped at the inflation rate. He supports a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget has been balanced. Meadows opposes any cuts to military spending levels.
Climate change
In December 2016, Meadows presented to Donald Trump a wish list of regulations that must be repealed. It included a demand to get rid of all federal funding to study climate change. He also requested Trump repeal several environmental regulations including the Renewable Fuel Standard, stop the prohibition of drilling oil on federal lands, and pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Civil rights
In February 2013, Meadows voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act. Meadows has said he casts his votes based not on his personal feelings but on what the majority of his constituents in "God's Country" tell him to do.
Energy
Meadows has stated that cap-and-trade emission policies are ineffective and have minimal impact on the global environment. He has proposed that the United States should tap into oil and gas reserves to keep energy prices low, and to develop energy independence. He supports tapping into off-shore oil and gas supplies.
Gay marriage
Meadows opposes same-sex marriage. In March 2013 he stated that if the Supreme Court allowed gay marriage, it would cause a constitutional crisis if the Federal government decided to dismiss state decisions and thus infringe on state's rights.
Gun control
Meadows opposes any restrictions on gun purchases and opposes a national gun registry that would list detailed information about firearm ownership.
Healthcare
Meadows opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), and states that it should be replaced by private enterprise.
Meadows, who at the time had been in office for less than a year, wrote the letter which initially urged House Speaker John Boehner to shut down the government unless the ACA was defunded. He has been criticized by some constituents for being responsible for the government shutdown and has been labeled its "chief architect" by the Washington Post. His district in North Carolina lost up to $1 million per day during the shutdown from the national parks being closed.
In January 2017, Meadows voted yes on a budget resolution that initiated the process of repealing Obamacare.
On May 4, 2017, Meadows voted for the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would partially repeal and replace Obamacare.
However, after the CBO released numbers about the AHCA's effects on Americans on May 24, 2017, there were several reports that Meadow became emotional after reading about the AHCA's likely effects on those with pre-existing conditions. Others reported he only cried after bringing up his family members who had dealt with pre-existing conditions, including his sister who had died of breast cancer, and his father who had died of lung cancer. Meadows said he wouldn't "make a political decision today that affects somebody's sister or father because I wouldn't do it to myself." When asked about the CBO numbers by reporters, Meadows said the government should ensure people with pre-existing conditions can afford health care, saying, "The president is committed to making sure pre-existing conditions are covered in principle and in practice, which means that funding has to be there to make it work." He continued, "One of the critical things that we are going to make sure of is there is the appropriate funding to do that."
Jobs
Meadows supports lowering corporate tax rates as a strategy to promote new employment and thus create more jobs. In addition he has called for free trade.
Net neutrality
Meadows opposes regulations that require all internet providers provide internet at equal speeds to all parties. He delivered a list of regulations to repeal to Trump in 2016, which included net neutrality regulations by the Federal Communications Commission.
Russia investigation
Meadows, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been a harsh critic of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. During Trump's presidency, Meadows regularly conferred with Trump about Mueller's probe. In May 2018, Meadows called for a financial audit of the Mueller investigation.
In July 2018, along with Jim Jordan, Meadows called on the Department of Justice to "review allegations that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena phone records and documents from a House Intelligence Committee staffer". An aide termed the deputy AG's threats "downright chilling". In their written request, they wrote that in his use of investigative powers, Rosenstein retaliated "against rank-and-file staff members", therefore abusing his authority. Furthermore, during a Fox News interview by Laura Ingraham that same month, he "threatened to force a vote on the GOP resolution" that would impeach the deputy AG. Arguing he could force the resolution to the floor as a "privileged motion", he elaborated: "we hope it doesn't have to come to that". He had filed articles of impeachment against Rosenstein on July 25, although the measure cannot be "brought straight to the House floor".
Taxes
Meadows has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, and he opposes a raise in all taxes, including the income tax. Meadows supports a flat-rate income tax for all income-earners, and a repeal of the raise in the capital gains tax. He also supports the elimination of the estate tax.
Wages
Meadows presented a letter to Donald Trump in 2016 which demanded the repeal of the federal requirement that public works projects must pay laborers and mechanics the local prevailing wages, which was initially made to protect traveling black workers in the South from being paid far less than local workers. The letter also demanded the repeal of the overtime rule from the Obama administration, which said people making less than $47,000 a year must be paid for overtime hours, compared to the previous requirement that those making over $23,000 a year could be denied overtime pay if the worker's duties could be considered "managerial." The letter also demanded the end of regulations requiring federal contractors to be paid for sick leave.
Notes
References
External links
- Congressman Mark Meadows official U.S. House website
- Mark Meadows for Congress
- Mark Meadows at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Mark Meadows on IMDb
- Mark Meadow's Commencement address at Patrick Henry College
Source of article : Wikipedia
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