Dr. Scott DesJarlais was raised in rural America, where people value hard work and honesty. Scott’s father was a second generation barber and his mother was a nurse for 44 years at Fort Meade Veterans Hospital.
Growing up, Scott’s first job was shining shoes for 25 cents per shine. From shining shoes, Scott graduated to washing cars at a local dealership and was later promoted to the parts department – a job he kept while working his way through college.
After college, Scott received his medical degree at the University of South Dakota and moved to Tennessee to practice general medicine in Marion County.
A few years ago, Dr. DesJarlais noticed a change in the conversations he was having with his patients. Instead of talking about sports, hunting and family, patients were expressing their concerns over the future of this country. They were worried about jobs, government spending and healthcare.
Scott shared these concerns and even though he had never sought elected office before, he ran for Congress and won against a Democratic incumbent that was backed by the entire Washington liberal establishment.
Since arriving in Washington, Congressman DesJarlais has fought to balance the budget, and reduce the size and scope of the federal government in order to grow and create private sector jobs here at home. Scott makes it a priority to vote for fiscal responsibility and against wasteful spending. He consistently votes against any proposal that would raise taxes on hard working Tennesseans.
Congressman DesJarlais is a strong supporter of national security and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee where he advocates for our men and women in uniform. He is also a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, tirelessly working to protecting the interests of Tennessee farmers.
His independent, conservative efforts led National Journal Magazine to rank him as the fourth most conservative member of the United States House of Representatives and he is consistently recognized as one of President Trump’s earliest and most ardent supporters. President Trump loves to call his friend Scott DesJarlais, “the most beautiful name in politics.”
Additionally, Congressman DesJarlais always receives an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for his 100 percent defense of our Second Amendment Rights. He is the recipient of many awards including:
Tennessee Farm Bureau’s “Friend of the Farm Bureau”
National Federation of Independent Business’ “Guardian of Small Business”
Freedom Works’ “Freedom Fighter”
American Conservative Union’s “Award for Conservative Excellence”
United States Chamber of Commerce’s “Spirit of Enterprise”
National Retail Federation’s “Hero of Main Street”
Associated Builders and Contractors’ “Champion of the Merit Shop”
International Foodservice Distribution Association’s “Thomas Jefferson Award”
Although Dr. DesJarlais spends a lot of his time in our nation’s capital, he makes it a priority to travel back home to Tennessee’s Fourth District as much as possible to listen carefully and cultivate relationships with his constituents. He believes strongly that the path to prosperity will be paved by the ideas and ingenuity of hardworking Americans – not bureaucrats in Washington.
Scott is married to Amy DesJarlais and lives in Sherwood, TN. They are the proud parents of three children: Tyler – a United States Senate staffer, Ryan – a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, and Maggie – a student at St. Andrews School. The DesJarlais family is active in the Epiphany Episcopal Church of Sherwood, Tennessee where Amy grew up.
Budget & Spending
Congressman DesJarlais is a firm supporter of an amendment to the Constitution that would require a balanced budget each year. Hard working, law abiding citizens have to live within their means each year and they should expect their government to do the same.
Jobs & The Economy
The economy works best when people and businesses get to keep more of their money and government gets out of the way. Entrepreneurs and hard-working Americans should be rewarded and not punished for their achievements. Our government must live within its means and not burden future generations with debts they cannot hope to pay. Our national debt is a tremendous drag on our economy.
Taxes & Regulations
Congressman DesJarlais believes that hard working American should keep more of their earnings rather than send it to Washington for unnecessary spending. He supports tax reductions and simplifications for middle class Americans and job creators. He also supports a reduction in costly, burdensome government regulations that do nothing but increase costs of farmers and small businesses.
Healthcare
Americans experience the best healthcare at affordable prices when big insurance and big government aren’t meddlesome middlemen interfering in the doctor patient relationship. ObamaCare is not the answer to providing better medical care or reducing costs, but rather amplifies the problems with our current system. We can have an immediate impact on improving healthcare by removing state-by-state restrictions and encouraging national competition among insurers, implementing meaningful tort reform, and creating incentives for the use of healthcare savings account so consumers are better informed and have a financial stake in managing their health.
National Security
As a member of the House Committee on Armed Services, Scott DesJarlais believes in maintaining a strong national defense, protecting American interests both home and abroad, and providing the necessary resources to our men and women who have volunteered to serve. Our military must always be a top priority of the Congress.
Energy
We have an abundance of natural and technological resources in our country and should not be held hostage by foreign energy suppliers or by regulatory agencies in Washington. The process for oil exploration should be streamlined and expedited while we open up more regions of our country for domestic production. Our energy producers should not be overburdened with regulations that drive up prices and limit supply. An “all of the above” responsible approach should utilize our domestic oil and gas supplies, nuclear energy capabilities, coal and hydroelectric production as well as renewable energy efforts.
Agriculture
Scott DesJarlais believes farmers deserve to have congressional attention paid to the important role they play in providing food sources to this country and the rest of the world. Too often, the Farm Bill – legislation designed to protect and nurture the interests of the agricultural community – has been utilized by liberal special interests in Washington to cover non-agricultural interests at the expense of the farming community. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman DesJarlais is consistently recognized as a supporter of returning the committee to a focus on the needs of farmers.
Immigration & Border Security
Illegal immigration burdens taxpayers, compromises national security, increases criminal activity, and erodes the significance of being an American citizen. We must secure our border with physical barriers to illegal entry and devote resources to enforcing current immigration law, which includes partnering with state and local law enforcement organizations.
Medicare and Social Security
People and organizations of every political background and persuasion agree on the fiscal reality that Medicare will be broke in ten years. Social Security funds, which were originally designated to be untouchable except for beneficiaries, have been raided year after year by short-sighted politicians of every description. If these programs are not reformed, our present day leadership will have irresponsibly failed to address one of the most crucial challenges faced in our lifetime for our country’s peace and prosperity. We must phase in incremental solutions to give younger generations an opportunity to participate in these programs and to secure their futures, while keeping the promises made to our current seniors 55 and older.
2nd Amendment
The right to bear arms is a constitutionally protected right and we will fight to make sure those rights are not eroded. Congressman DesJarlais has an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and will always vote to protect those cherished rights.
Veterans
Those who serve and have served in our armed forces should be treated with respect, dignity, and be afforded the resources commiserate with the sacrifices they have made. The promises made to them should be kept and always prioritized.