United States Congressman

curt clawson

Congressman Curt Clawson has been coming to Southwest Florida since his family settled in Bonita Springs in 1993. After a successful career as a business leader and former college basketball player, Clawson moved to Southwest Florida in 2011. He soon became involved in local water issues.

Urged by local leaders and motivated by his family’s generations of service to their country, Clawson decided in 2014 to run in a special election to fill the vacated seat in Florida’s 19th Congressional District. Clawson won the election on messages of constitutional conservatism, growing the economy and unifying the Republican Party of Southwest Florida.

Clawson was sworn into office by House Speaker John Boehner on June 25, 2014, one day after winning the special election by nearly forty percentage points.

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Clawson attended Batesville High School in Batesville, Indiana – a hotbed of Indiana high school basketball. As a senior in high school, Clawson led the state of Indiana in scoring and was recruited by Purdue Head Basketball Coach Gene Keady, where he later helped his team win the 1984 Big Ten Championship. As a senior captain on that 1984 Team, Clawson is known for making the first 3-point basket in Purdue history and making two clutch free throws to clinch the Big Ten Championship.

After graduating from Purdue, Clawson served a year-long Ambassadorial Scholarship for Rotary International, enrolled in graduate MBA studies in Monterrey, Mexico, and took some time to play for the local university basketball team. Clawson began his working career in manufacturing in 1986, as a supervisor on a muffler production line in Columbus, Indiana for Arvin Industries – the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive exhaust systems.

In 1990, Clawson graduated from Harvard Business School with a Masters of Business Administration degree, sponsored by Arvin. He returned to Arvin and held a variety of senior management level positions.

In 1995, Clawson joined AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) as President of the Filters and Spark Plugs Group, which manufactured Autolite® spark plugs and FRAM® filters. In 1999, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of American National Can – the world's largest manufacturer of beverage cans.

In 2001, Clawson joined Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., a global leader in wheel rim manufacturing. He served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company from September 2001 until his retirement in February 2012. During his time at Hayes, Clawson successfully led the company out of the financial distress he inherited – without taking one penny of taxpayer money – saving thousands of jobs.

While at Hayes, Clawson established, and still principally funds, a shelter for homeless teen mothers on the east side of Detroit. He also stays active advising and mentoring young athletes in Southwest Florida.

Clawson’s parents, Jack and Cherie, are residents of Bonita Springs. When not in Washington, Curt enjoys spending time with them during the autumn of their lives. Together, they enjoy walking the beach, swimming in the Gulf, and watching beautiful sunsets. Read More

Press Releases

Clawson: Putting Our Country First Means Putting the Constitution First

Clawson Reacts to Unilateral Immigration Action by the President

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Washington, Nov 20 | David James (202-225-2536) | comments

WASHINGTON – Following President Obama’s speech to the nation tonight announcing historic action on immigration by Executive Order, Congressman Curt Clawson (FL-19) issued the following statement:

“Putting our country first means putting the Constitution first, above all party and personal agendas, as public servants elected by the people.

“Tonight’s unilateral action by the President is unconstitutional and does not have the support of the Congress or the citizens of the United States. Presidents, of either party, attempting an end run around the Constitution divide our people, not unite them.

“Recently, I opposed the President’s request to the Congress to arm and train Syrian Freedom Fighters. While my vote was not on the winning side, the fact remains the President put that request before Congress, as required by the Constitution – there is no difference here.

“Our Constitution grants funding and budgeting powers to the Congress. After the President articulated his plans to implement unconstitutional immigration policies last week, I joined nearly 70 of my colleagues in asking the bipartisan leadership of the Appropriations Committee to deny any funding that may be used to implement the President’s plan. In effect, we are asking the Congress to take constitutional action to stop the unconstitutional action by the President.

“I would welcome a constructive dialogue with the President on immigration reform. I would encourage the President to work with the new Congress instead of pushing his unilateral action forward, which undermines us as a nation of laws, ignores the need to secure the border first, and overlooks those who have waited and come to this country legally and those who continue to wait to earn the right to live in our country legally.”

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