Biography

Congressman Tom Reed was elected to represent the 29th District of New York in a special election held November 2, 2010. He took office during the “lame duck” session of the 111th Congress and began his own full two year term in the 112th Congress on January 5, 2011. 

In June 2011 Congressman Reed was recently appointed to the Committee on Ways and Means. The Ways and Means Committee has broad jurisdiction over many issues including tax policy, trade, health care, and Social Security.  He serves on the Human Resources and Oversight subcommittees of Ways and Means.

“Job creation and the nation’s financial health are the most important challenges facing the country and upstate New York,” Tom says. “Serving on Ways and Means allows me to have a direct impact on supporting job growth, simplifying the burdensome tax code and reigning in federal spending. This is why the voters of the 29th District sent me to Washington.”

Tom previously served on the Rules, Judiciary, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees.

Tom is one of 12 children raised by Tom and Betty Barr Reed – both long-term residents of the city of Corning, N.Y. His father was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Tom attended All Saints Academy, Corning East High School, and is a 1989 graduate of Horseheads High School. He graduated from Alfred University in 1993 with a degree in Political Science. While at Alfred, Tom also was captain of the men’s swim team.

“In our family, the military ethics of honor, integrity and commitment to our nation are not just terms or concepts to be thrown around haphazardly,” Tom recalls from his upbringing. “They are beliefs to be held sacred and always respected.” Tom’s father died when Tom was only two years old. “We watched as our mother carried on, moving the remaining five children with her to our hometown of Corning, where she raised us by herself in the home my grandfather built.”

Tom graduated from the Ohio Northern University College of Law in 1996 and began work in Rochester, N.Y. Tom’s wife Jean worked as a waitress while he studied for the bar exam and they started their family. “She also worked through the night at Strong Memorial, so I could start my legal career,” Tom states.  In 1999, they returned to his hometown of Corning, where he and Jean live with their children, Autumn and Will.  After opening his private practice, he spent the next 11 years building his law firm and other businesses dealing with real estate and mortgage brokerage.  Today, Tom’s businesses employ more than 25 people.

Tom has served on many community boards in the Corning area.  It was his commitment to family and friends, an enduring love for his hometown, and a deep concern about the “personal, petty political issues” he saw at City Hall that propelled him to seek political office – Mayor of the City of Corning. He served one full term from 2008 through 2009.

Concerning his approach to representing the 29th District, Tom says, “I still believe that the power of our nation is not in the government we create, but rather the honest individuals who show up day in and day out and work for a living. We must again become a nation of personal accountability - one where our government does not guarantee success to everyone, but rather simply guarantees the individual is given the opportunity to succeed.”