Rep. Bobby Scott (D) Elected 1992, 6th term
Born:	Apr. 30, 1947, Washington, D.C.
Home:	Newport News
Education:	Harvard U., B.A. 1969, Boston Col., J.D. 1973
Religion:	Episcopalian
Marital Status:	single
Elected  Office:	VA House of Delegates, 1977-82; VA Senate, 1983-92.
Military Career:	Army Natl. Guard, 1970-73; Army Reserves, 1973-76.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1973-91.
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The history of African-American slavery literally began along the tidal expanse of the James River. In 1607, the first English colonists chose one of the marshiest, least healthy spots along the broad river as the site of their settlement at Jamestown. Only a dozen years later, the first slave ship sailed up the James and offloaded its human cargo, giving birth to the biracial society of the American South. In the 21st century, the great plantation houses of the Tidewater, entire communities once adorned by the most impressive architecture of the day and attended by hundreds of slaves, still dot the banks of the James. Charles City County--the site of William Byrd II's Westover, Benjamin Harrison III's Berkeley, and John Carter's Shirley--also was the birthplace of two successive presidents, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. The county's population continues to be heavily black: The demography of the plantation remains.

The 3d Congressional District is the descendant of a black-majority district formed in 1992, and redrawn twice in the 1990s after a federal court ruled it unconstitutional and then again after the 2000 Census. Now, as in earlier plans, the district jumps back and forth across the James River to string together black precincts and communities in Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News, then upriver on the Peninsula past Jamestown and Charles City County all the way to Richmond and eastern suburban Henrico County. It includes the Army's Fort Eustis and all of the majority-black city of Portsmouth--a Navy port and industrial town with a charming old section. Politically, the 3d is by far the most Democratic district in Virginia and the only black-majority district. The economy of much of the district depends heavily on the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company (acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2001). The shipyard lies over the flat neighborhoods lining the baysides, with ships looming larger than life, their turrets and superstructures bristling with armored might. During the Cold War era, Newport News built the two of the largest tankers ever made in the western hemisphere, in addition to its Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carriers and Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarines; the Navy plans to build its CVNX class nuclear carriers here. It is the biggest private employer in Virginia after Wal-Mart and Food Lion.

The congressman from the 3d District is Bobby Scott, a Democrat elected when the district was created in 1992. He grew up in Newport News, the son of a doctor, went to Harvard, where he was a classmate of Al Gore, and then to Boston College Law School. He served in the National Guard and Army Reserves and returned home to practice law in 1973. In 1977, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and in 1983 to the state Senate, representing a multi-racial district in a community where, because of the military tradition of integration, biracial politics came more naturally than in other places. While there, he helped to raise the state's minimum wage and to give tax credits to businesses that donate to certain social services. In 1986 he ran a credible race for Congress in the 1st District and lost to Republican Herb Bateman, 56%-44%. In 1992 he ran in the new 3d. With his base in the Peninsula, and against two Richmond-based candidates, Scott won the crucial Democratic primary with 67% of the vote. He is the first black member of Congress elected from Virginia since Reconstruction.

Scott has had a solidly liberal voting record, except on occasional foreign and defense issues. He has become one of the House's most outspoken civil libertarians. He opposes the death penalty. He sought unsuccessfully to delete language mandating a life sentence for a second sex offense against a minor. When bipartisan coalitions passed legislation to permit states to display the Ten Commandments in schools or government buildings, he raised First Amendment objections, as he did to George W. Bush's plan to fund faith-based social programs. After September 11 he opposed the USA Patriot Act, arguing that it might promote racial profiling. In June 2002, he was one of three members to oppose the condemnation of a federal court decision declaring unconstitutional the words "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. "We ought to be standing up for unpopular decisions" and not voting for a resolution that "everyone knows is stupid, but it sounds popular." Occasionally, he has stood against the liberal mainstream, as when he was one of 12 Democrats voting against the Shays-Meehan campaign reform bill, which he viewed as unconstitutional. Scott has had some success on civil liberties, as with enactment of the bipartisan Death in Custody Act requiring states to report such information. "Bobby Scott is our conscience," said Massachusetts Rep. William Delahunt.

On the Judiciary Committee, Scott spoke out often against what he considered an unfair and partisan proceeding in the Clinton impeachment. He was the only Democrat to vote against Rick Boucher's motion to censure Clinton. But he also has shown skill as a consensus-builder. At the same time that he was engaging in partisan warfare in the highly publicized impeachment hearings, Scott took an active role in the highly technical and carefully bipartisan proceedings in the special committee on China chaired by Rep. Christopher Cox. He helped build consensus for a unanimous report on an intellectually difficult and politically sensitive issue. One of his goals is affordable health care for all. Remembering how his father had been denied staff privileges in a Newport News hospital, he vowed during the Clinton health care debate that any health care bill would prohibit racial discrimination against patients and health care providers.

Scott is eager to defend his views with voters. In 2002, he objected when Republican redistricters increased the Democratic percentage in his district; he thought, correctly, that they were trying to put the next-door 4th District out of Democrats' reach. "I think that your best shot is telling the truth. Then, if somebody comes and challenges you on it, you respond." But he has had little need to do so lately: he was unopposed in 2000 and 2002. He has considered running for governor, but yielded to party leaders who had other ideas.

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DC Office
2464 RHOB 20515, 202-225-8351; Fax: 202-225-8354; Web site: www.house.gov/scott

State Offices
Newport News, 757-380-1000; Richmond, 804-644-4845.

Committees

• Budget (10th of 19 D).
• Judiciary (5th of 16 D): Crime, Terrorism & Homeland Security (RMM); The Constitution.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	95	100	100	63	43	25	17	42	4	6	8
2001	100	--	100	71	--	--	12	35	4	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	83%	--	15%		74%	--	26%
Social	90%	--	0%		100%	--	0%
Foreign	77%	--	22%		84%	--	14%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform N 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities N 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  8. Arm Commercial Pilots N  9. Trade Promotion Authority N 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court N 11. Authorize Force in Iraq N 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Bobby Scott (D)	87,521	96%	$195,537
	Other	3,552	4%
2002 primary	Bobby Scott (D)	unopposed
2000 general	Bobby Scott (D)	unopposed
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (76%); 1996 (82%); 1994 (79%); 1992 (79%)

2000 presidential
	Gore (D)	134,020	66%
	Bush (R)	65,724	32%
	Other	3,603	2%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Third District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D +17
• District Size: 1,306 square miles
• Population in 2000: 643,476; 92.2% urban; 7.8% rural
• Median Household Income: $32,238; 18.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 25.8% blue collar; 55.4% white collar; 18.7% gray collar; 15.5% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 37.7% White, 56.0% Black, 1.4% Asian, 0.5% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.6% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 2.6% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 5.6% English, 5.3% USA, 5.3% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.