Diane Lynn Black (née Warren; January 16, 1951) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 6th congressional district since 2011. The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. A member of the Republican Party, she was previously elected to the Tennessee Senate, serving as floor leader of the Republican Caucus. She is a candidate in the 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election.
Video Diane Black
Early life and education
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Joseph and Audrey Warren, Black graduated from Andover High School in Linthicum, Maryland, in 1969. She became the first member of her family to earn a college degree after graduating from Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland with an associate's degree in nursing. She received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1991 from Belmont University.
Maps Diane Black
Career
Black worked as a registered nurse until she ran for the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1998. Later she served as an educator at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee.
Tennessee legislature
Before becoming a state senator in 2004, she had previously served as a state representative for six years from 1998. Black was the Assistant Floor Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, and the Vice-Chairwoman of the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee. She was elected the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chairwoman in 2006.
In May 2009, Black's legislative aide forwarded an email depicting a collage of United States Presidents. President Barack Obama's section of the collage was represented by a black square with two eyeballs. Black's reprimand of her aide was criticized as too lenient by two political blogs and Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Chip Forrester. Black said the email did not represent her views and that the reprimand of her aide was in keeping with the legislator's human resource policy for email guideline violations.
U.S. House of Representatives
Black is one of two female U.S. Representatives in Congress who prefer the title "congressman"; the other is Republican Marsha Blackburn, also of Tennessee.
2010 election
In December, 2009, she became a candidate for Tennessee's 6th congressional district to succeed Bart Gordon, who did not run for reelection. Her biggest competition in the Republican primary came from former Rutherford County GOP chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik and State Senator Jim Tracy. On August 5, 2010, Black won the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, over Zelenik and Tracy, who earned 30% each. Brett Carter won the Democratic nomination after well-known elected officials declined the candidacy, leading most Democratic observers to write off the seat as a Republican pickup. CQ Politics rating this race as "Safe Republican". In the November election, Black won with 67 percent of the vote.
2012 to present
In the 2012 general election, Black was a surrogate for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Black made appearances for Romney in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and in various cable news interviews. Black has been a member of the following committees: Committee on the Budget, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Tea Party Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.
In October 2013, Black introduced the Student and Family Tax Simplification Act (H.R. 3393; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to consolidate several different education tax incentives into an expanded American Opportunity Tax Credit. The American Opportunity Tax Credit, under this legislation, would provide a maximum credit of $2,500.
Black has received endorsements from Governor Sarah Palin, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Governor Mitt Romney, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, former Congressman Allen West, Tennessee Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony List, and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In October 2015, Black was named to serve on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood.
2018 gubernatorial run
On August 2, 2017, Black announced her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee in the 2018 election.
Political stances
National security
Black supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. She stated that "We should insist upon the most careful and cautious vetting possible for refugees from failed states and hostile nations and I commend the President for taking this duty seriously after the failures of the Obama administration."
Environmental Protection Agency
Black often advocated against the Obama Administration's EPA rules. She also supported the Trump Administration's repeal of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.
Black championed a loophole which allowed one trucking company (Fitzgerald) to skirt emissions rules, allowing the firm to produce trucks that emit 40 to 55 times the air pollutants of other new trucks. When the Obama administration sought to close the loophole, Black introduced legislation in 2015 to protect the loophole; the bill failed. She later appealed to the Trump administration's EPA head, Scott Pruitt, to protect the loophole, which he did. Individuals and entities related to the Fitzgerald trucking company have donated $225,000 to Black's 2018 campaign for Tennessee Governor; 12% of the total money from outside sources in her campaign. In September 2017, Fitzgerald hired its first federal lobbyist; it was a former aide to Black.
School shootings causation
In May 2018, Black said that pornography was "a big part of the root cause" of school shootings. She also said that school shootings were rising due to the "deterioration of the family," mental illness and violent movies.
Personal life
Black has over 115 assets held by her and her husband, David Black. They were valued between $32 million and $146.9 million.That compares with their 2012 range of $34.4 million to $142.19 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010#District 6
- United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2012#District 6
- United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2014#District 6
- United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2016#District 6
- Women in the United States House of Representatives
References
External links
- Congressman Diane Black official U.S. House site
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Diane Black at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Aegis Science Corporation - Science in Defense of Justice
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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