About Martha

Rep. Martha Roby (ROH-bee) Rep. Martha Roby is currently in her third term serving the people of Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to being elected to Congress, Rep. Roby worked as an attorney and served as a city councilman in her hometown of Montgomery.

In her short tenure in Congress, Rep. Roby has distinguished herself as an effective legislator and messenger for the conservative cause. In 2013, Roby shepherded the Working Families Flexibility Act, which repealed an outdated federal regulation to give employees in the private sector more options for paid time off, to House passage. Last Congress, Roby’s Senate companion bill was blocked by the gridlocked Democratic Majority. She has re-introduced the Working Families Flexibility Act and is still very much committed to providing working families with greater flexibility in overtime compensation. Always on the lookout for government overreach and abuse, Roby brought attention to a questionable Labor Department program that targeted the right-to-work Alabama automotive industry. As a strong advocate for the unborn, Roby has often spoken against the federal funding of abortion and in support of other pro-life causes.

Roby serves as a strong advocate for the military and has led multiple Congressional delegations to Afghanistan to survey conditions and visit with service members. She successfully pushed back against an Air Force plan to move the 908th Airlift Wing from Montgomery's Maxwell Air Force Base, and worked in Congress to help the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker avoid crippling budget cuts that would have decimated training capabilities. In May 2014, Speaker John Boehner appointed her to the Benghazi Select Committee, a bi-partisan committee designated to investigate the military’s preparation and response to the Benghazi terror attacks.

Roby's service in Congress has also been defined by independence and pragmatism. She played a front-and-center role in passing the 2014 Farm Bill. Roby went against her party’s leadership and voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011 due to the threat of sequestration, which led to dangerous military funding cuts.

Upon the release of startling reports from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Roby worked ceaselessly to address flagrant misconduct at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS). Many positive steps have been made including: the VA Reform Bill, Clay Hunt Act and removal of flawed leadership at CAVHCS. However, staffing and care efficiency problems remain, and Rep. Roby will continue her efforts to oversee reform.

In December of 2013, Roby was tapped to serve on the House Appropriations Committee, which has oversight on the whole range of government spending. Roby is the first representative from Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District to serve on this key committee. In addition to defense and agricultural issues, Roby’s primary areas of focus on the Appropriations Committee are improving the services and efficiencies of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and supporting the role of Career and Technical Education in workforce development.

Roby obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from New York University in 1998 and her law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2001. Martha is married to Riley Roby and they have two children, Margaret and George. The Robys are members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, where they were married, their children baptized and where they are involved in various ministries.