Congressman John Tanner has represented Tennessee’s 8^th District in west and middle Tennessee since 1989, and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. As co-founder of a group of moderate to conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dog Coalition, he is considered a leader in the fight to eliminate the $9 trillion federal debt. Congressman Tanner also chairs the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the civilian arm of the NATO alliance. He is past vice president of the organization and chairs its Economics and Security Committee. Congressman Tanner and his wife, Betty Ann, live in Union City, Tennessee, and have two children and three grandchildren. He and his brothers own an insurance business and farming interests in Tennessee.

Education

• Attended public schools in Union City, Tennessee.

• Entered the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on a basketball scholarship in 1962 and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in business administration in 1966.

• Earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 1968.

Military Service

• Served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1968-1972, after which he received an honorable discharge.

• Entered the Tennessee Army National Guard in 1972 and retired in 2000 at the rank of Colonel.

• Is one of few Members of Congress to have served on the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy.

Government Service

• Represented House District 77 in the Tennessee General Assembly from 1976 until 1988.

• Is serving his tenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Helped found the moderate-to-conservative Blue Dog Democrats in 1995. The group, so named because its members felt they had been “squeezed from the left and the right until they turned blue in the face,” now has 47 members.

• Served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Science until his appointment in 1997 to the Ways and Means Committee.

• Appointed as Chief Deputy Whip for the House Democratic Caucus in 109^th and 110^th Congresses.

Community Involvement

• With his wife Betty Ann, has two children, Elizabeth Tanner Atkins and John Portis Tanner, and three grandchildren, Abby Frances Atkins, Tanner Lantrip Atkins and Beck Counce Tanner.

• Is Past President of Union City Rotary Club and a Paul Harris fellow.

• Serves as an Elder of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.

• Works as active supporter of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, serving on the organization’s Professional Advisory Board.

The 8th District includes all of Benton, Carroll, Crockett, Dickson, Dyer, Gibson, Haywood, Henry, Houston, Humphreys, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, Obion, Stewart, Tipton and Weakley counties, as well as portions of Montgomery and Shelby counties.