Congressman John Spratt (D-South Carolina) is Ranking Member of the Budget Committee and second ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, where he also serves on its Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

John Spratt grew up in York, South Carolina, where he still lives. He graduated from York High School and Davidson College. At both schools, he was president of the student body. He won a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford and earned a law degree from Yale. He served as a captain in the Army from 1969-71, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. In 1971, he came home to practice law. He was county and school district attorney, president of the Bank of Fort Mill, owner of a farm and small insurance agency. Active in his community, he was an elder at First Presbyterian Church, president of the Chamber of Commerce and United Way, and chairman of the Board of Divine Saviour Hospital.

First elected to Congress in 1982, John Spratt is lead Democrat on the Budget Committee and a negotiator of the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997. He sits one seat from the chair of the Armed Services Committee and is Assistant to the Democratic Leader in the House. He co-chairs the Textile Caucus, the Bearing Caucus, and the Nuclear Energy Caucus.

John is married to Jane Stacy of Filbert, a graduate of Winthrop and Smith, and former school teacher. They have three daughters. Susan and her husband, David Tendler, are doctors, and have two children: Lily and Jack. Sarah and her husband, Brian Brennan, are doctors also, and Catherine has just finished law school.

Rep. John Spratt's Official Website

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Rural America has 25 percent of the nation's people and 83 percent of the land area. (National Association of Development Organizations)