David Scott (Georgia politician)

Early life and education

Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina and attended high school in Daytona Beach, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida A&M University, and a master's degree in business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.Scott is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Georgia Legislature

Scott served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and in the Georgia State Senate from 1982 to 2002.

Committee assignments

Party leadership

Scott is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition.

Scott was the lead sponsor on the following legislation:

Political positions

Scott was ranked as the 18th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the second most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).

Online gambling

Scott is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling").

Healthcare Reform

David Scott voted for healthcare reform. In the discussion leading up to his vote, Congressman Scott fielded several different points of view. On August 6, 2009, Scott was confronted by a local doctor who claimed to live in Scott's district. The doctor, who later appeared in subsequent debates with his opposition candidate, asked Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to the plan implemented in Massachusetts and if he supported a government-provided health care insurance option. Scott questioned whether or not the doctor was a resident of Scott's district, although the local TV station WXIA-TV's news department confirmed that the doctor did live and work in Scott's district. Scott also noted that Dr. Hill had not called Scott's office for setting up a meeting concerning health care but this has not been verified.

Fiscal policy

Although Scott voted against the first version of the 2008 bailout, he backed the final version "after being assured the legislation would aid homeowners facing foreclosures. Scott crafted an added provision dedicating $14 billion to aid those homeowners."

Same-sex marriage

Scott supported two failed pieces of legislation in 2004 and 2006 that aimed to establish a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. However, in May 2013 thinkprogress.org reported receiving an email from a spokesman of Scott saying, 'Congressman Scott fully supports marriage equality.' The Human Rights Campaign's profile of Scott also contains this sentence as his statement under 'position on marriage equality'.

Iran deal

Scott has announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, saying that “It’s a good deal for Iran, for Russia, China and probably Hezbollah, but is it not, definitely not a good deal for Israel or for the United States or our allies – especially Jordan and Saudi Arabia . . . "

Personal life

David Scott is brother-in-law to baseball hall of fame member Hank Aaron.

In 1978 David Scott founded owned Dayn-Mark Advertising (from the names of his two daughters, Dayna and Marcie), which places billboards and other forms of advertising in the Atlanta area. Scott's wife, Alfredia, now heads the business. In May 2007, it was reported that the business owes more than $150,000 in back taxes and penalties. Scott's campaigns have paid the company more than $500,000 over the eight years totalling from 2002 until current date - for office rent, printing, T-shirts, and other services. He has also paid his wife, two daughters, and son-in-law tens of thousands of dollars for campaign work such as fund raising and canvassing. In 2007, Scott was named one of the 25 most corrupt members of Congress by the political watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Scott has allegedly received death threats over his support of the Affordable Care Act. A swastika was found spray painted on a sign outside of his congressional office in his congressional district.