Scott Rigell

Scott Rigell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Glenn Nye
Personal details
Born	Edward Scott Rigell (1960-05-28) May 28, 1960 (age 64) Titusville, Florida[1]
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Teri Rigell[1]
Children	Four children[1]
Alma mater	Mercer University (B.B.A.) Regent University (M.B.A)[1]
Profession	Car dealership owner
Website	scottrigell.com
Military service
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps Reserve
Years of service	1978–1984
Rank	Sergeant

Edward Scott Rigell^[2] (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 2nd congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Rigell was raised in Titusville, Florida. He served for six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1978–1984, attaining the rank of Sergeant. His father served in the Marines in World War II, landing on Iwo Jima, and his son is a Marine. He holds an A.A. from Brevard Community College, a B.B.A. from Mercer University, and a M.B.A. from Regent University.^[3]

He and his wife Teri live in Virginia Beach and have four children.^[4]

Prior to his election to Congress, Rigell and his wife Teri established, and continue to own, two new car dealerships under the name Freedom Automotive, one in Norfolk and the other in Chesapeake/Virginia Beach.^[5]

20100-00000000

Rigell won the Republican nomination in a six-way race. The Hill rated Rigell's primary race as one of the top seven primaries in Congress for this election cycle.^[6] Rigell was considered by many to be the favorite in the primary,^[7] had support from the National Republican Congressional Committee^[8] and Eric Cantor^[9] - at least after the primary,^[10] and was endorsed by Republican Virginia governor Bob McDonnell.^[11]

Rigell came under attack from his primary opponents for having sold 138 cars under the Cash for Clunkers program, which Rigell subsequently criticized as "reckless bailouts and an out-of-control federal debt."^[12] He also came under attack for making campaign contributions to Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries and to Virginia Democrat Louise Lucas in her bid against Randy Forbes.^[13] Rigell said he believed that Hillary Clinton would have been a worse option for President.^[14]

Rigell states that his top priority is reducing government spending and that he supports replacing the health care law with market-based reforms.^[15] As of June 4, 2010, Rigell had contributed $775,000 of his personal wealth to his campaign.^[13] Rigell defeated Democratic incumbent Glenn Nye for Virginia's 2nd congressional district.

2012

Rigell was challenged by businessman and Democratic nominee Paul Hirschbiel.

Social issues

Representative Rigell has conservative views on social issues: he states he is "proudly pro-life",^[16] he opposes gay marriage and opposed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.".^[17] In 2011, Rigell cosponsored bills to prohibit abortion coverage under the national Affordable Health Care law, prohibit the use of federal funds for Planned Parenthood and prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion. Rigell supports a tax credit for heterosexual couples.^[18]

Military issues

Rigell's district includes the largest concentration of active duty and retired service members in the United States. He supported the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act, which the House and Senate passed. This bill increased the rate of compensation for veterans who were disabled in active duty.^[19] Representative Rigell supports the continued military effort in Afghanistan; he opposed a vote in 2011 to remove troops from the country. However, he also opposed deploying ground troops to Libya.^[20]

Libya

In 2011, Rigell called the President’s use of force in Libya ‘unconstitutional,’ stating that the military action violated the War Powers Resolution of 1973 since Congress was not consulted. Rigell simultaneously introduced an amendment to the Department of Defense FY'12 Appropriations bill to defund U.S. military operations in Libya, but the amendment failed in the House.

Syria

In 2013, following an alleged chemical attack by the Assad Regime in Syria, Rigell wrote a letter to the President urging him to consult Congress, as prescribed by the War Powers Resolution, before authorizing the use of any military force overseas. He was joined by 139 Members of the House of Representatives, 21 of whom were Democrats.^[21]

Rigell also supported a bipartisan congressional resolution advocating for the United Nations (UN) to create a Syrian War Crimes Tribunal.^[22] The bipartisan resolution, introduced by Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, called for an immediate ceasefire in Syria and directed the President to work with the UN to set up a tribunal to investigate war crimes committed by both the Syrian government and rebel groups in the country.

Budget

Representative Rigell supported Paul Ryan's budget plan, Path to Prosperity, which called for repeal of the 2010 Healthcare legislation. He vocally criticized Senate inaction on the House's budget plans in 2011, stating "Empirically we can show that the bottleneck is in the Senate – I hope every American stands up and says to Senator Reid: get these bills passed, we’ll go to conference, let’s work it out, we’ll work weekends and get this thing moving again."^[23] Ultimately, he voted in favor of S 627, the 2011 budget proposal which raised the debt ceiling and required a supercommittee to provide more concrete spending cuts.

Warren Buffett challenge to the GOP

Billionaire Warren Buffett challenged the GOP that he would match any donations to the Treasury they give. Rigell had already been giving back 15% of his salary, and when he flagged this for Buffett, Buffett agreed to match it.^[24]

Eric Holder Contempt of Congress

On June 28, 2012, Rigell was one of only two Republicans (along with Steven LaTourette of Ohio) who voted against a motion to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his handling of the ATF gunwalking scandal.^[25]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
• United States House Committee on the Budget

• Fix Congress Now Caucus - Co-Chairman
• Job Creators Caucus - Co-Chair
• Congressional Contaminated Drywall Caucus (CCDC) (Co-Chair)
• Wounded to Work Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Aerospace Caucus
• Air Force Caucus
• Army Caucus
• Unmanned Systems Caucus (UAV)
• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus
• Coast Guard Caucus
• Congressional Constitution Caucus
• Congressional Military Family Caucus
• Congressional Sportsman's Caucus
• Defense Communities Caucus
• EOD Caucus
• General Aviation Caucus
• International Religious Freedom Caucus
• Navy and Marine Corps Caucus
• New Media Caucus
• Prayer Caucus
• Shipbuilding Caucus
• USO Caucus
• Values Action Team
• Zoo and Aquarium Caucus
• Congressional Coastal Caucus
• Congressional Common Ground Caucus
• Congressional Defense Energy Security Caucus
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus
• Congressional Shellfish Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Problem Solvers Caucus (No Labels)

2010 Republican Congressional Primary, 2nd district^[26]

Candidate		Votes	%
Scott Rigell		14,396	39.50
Ben Loyola		9,761	26.78
Bert Mizusawa		6,341	17.40
Scott Taylor		2,950	8.09
Jessica Sandlin		1,620	4.44
Ed Maulbeck		1,371	3.76

Virginia's 2nd congressional district, general election

Year		Republican	Votes	Pct		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Independent	Votes	Pct
2010[27]		Scott Rigell	88,007	53.15%		Glenn Nye	70,306	42.46%		Kenny E. Golden	7,158	4.32%

• Congressman Scott Rigell official U.S. House site
• 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

U.S. House of Representatives Template:USRepSuccession box
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Cedric Richmond D-Louisiana	United States Representatives by seniority 332nd	Succeeded by Martha Roby R-Alabama

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