Jim Cooper

Congressman for Tennessee 's 5th District
(Davidson, Wilson and Cheatham Counties)

[Please use following text for introductions]

Jim is serving his second term as U.S. Representative for the
5th District, although his prior service in Congress gives him
eight terms of experience. Jim represents approximately
700,000 people who live in Nashville and surrounding communities like Mt. Juliet, Lebanon, Ashland City, Pegram and Pleasant View.
His job is to cut through federal red tape for people here at home and to help pass good federal laws for the nation. Jim's background is as a local businessman, attorney and teacher.

His main congressional office is in downtown Nashville at 706 Church Street, diagonally across the street from the new Public Library. In Washington, Jim serves on two different committees: the Armed Services Committee (including the Terrorism and Special Forces Subcommittee) and the Budget Committee.

Jim does not live in Washington; he goes to our nation's capital for votes and committee meetings. He and his wife Martha and their three children live in
Green Hills.

[General biographical information – Not to be used for introductions]

Sworn in January 2003 to U.S. Congress, First Term serving 5th District of Tennessee; re-elected November 2004.

• Armed Services Committee (including Terrorism and Special Forces Committee) – the only Tennessean in House or Senate on the Committee, oversees a
  $400 billion military budget
• Budget Committee– oversees the entire federal budget of $2.4 trillion
• Government Reform Committee, 2003-2004 – oversaw every federal agency with investigatory powers

Founder, Brentwood Capital Advisors, 1999-2002

• Raised private capital for Tennessee companies

Managing Director, Equitable Securities, 1995-1999

• Private capital and public offerings for high-growth regional firms
• Sold to SunTrust Bank in 1998

Adjunct Professor, Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University, 1995-2002

• Taught health care policy to MBA and Executive MBA students

U.S. Congressman, 4th Congressional District of Tennessee, 1982-1994

• Energy and Commerce Committee and Budget Committee
• According to CQ Politics in America 1994, “Cooper developed a reputation as
  an accomplished dealmaker and a political moderate during his first tour in the House” and described him as “a key player on a range of issues from telecommunications to clean air. He was a major figure in the Clinton-era debate on universal health care coverage.”
• Youngest congressman in America at the time of first election at age 28

Attorney, Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis, Nashville, 1980-1982

Education

• J.D. Degree, Harvard Law School, 1980
• B.A./M.A. Degree, Oxford University, 1977 (Rhodes Scholar)
• B.A. Degree, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Morehead Scholar)

Personal Information

Cooper was born in Nashville and raised in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He is the son of the late Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper (who served three two-year terms from 1939-1945) and Hortense Cooper.

Cooper has been married to the former Martha Hays of Gulfport, Mississippi, since 1985. They have three children: Mary (15), Jamie (13) and Hayes (9).

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