Since Rob was first elected to serve the First Congressional District of Virginia, his top priority has always been the constituents of the First District. From rebuilding our military, to securing jobs throughout Virginia, to increasing access to broadband, to making sure our children have a 21st-century education, Rob is constantly working for the First District.
Rob is a leader in the fight against reckless government spending and returning common sense principles to the budget process. Rob serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources, where he is well-positioned to represent the needs of the First District.
Rob currently serves as the vice chairman of the House Armed Services committee, which has historically been one of the most bipartisan committees in Congress. On the committee, he serves as chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. He previously served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, and chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
He also currently serves on the House Select Committee on Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), where he works with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take measures that will counter the CCP’s military build-up and confront the CCP’s use of diplomatic and economic coercion around the world. Rob is a leading voice on key defense issues in Congress and is a consistent champion of our nation’s brave service members.
With a father who served in the Army in World War II, Rob is a strong advocate for our veterans, fighting to ensure they can access the health care benefits and educational and job opportunities they have earned and deserve. Rob has introduced multiple pieces of legislation that would require more transparency from the Veterans Administration (VA), streamline processes for veterans seeking care, and help transition veterans into the civilian job market after service.
A champion of protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay, Rob serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, to which he brings his professional expertise in water quality, the environment, fisheries, and other natural resources issues. He is a leading voice for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay and is outspoken in supporting its recovery programs. His Chesapeake Bay Accountability Act, signed into law in 2014, increased transparency for how cleanup dollars are spent. Rob has also succeeded in achieving long overdue federal recognition for six Virginia Indian tribes after decades of efforts to get his legislation signed into law. Rob received his undergraduate degree in biology from Virginia Tech and has spent his career fighting to protect our environment so that it can be enjoyed by future generations.
Rob learned from a young age the valuable contributions small businesses make to our nation. He was a short-order cook for Shoney’s restaurant in Henrico, worked for the Richmond Braves baseball team selling tickets, and then as the mascot. He worked the parking lot at Kings Dominion, on a fishing boat on the Chesapeake Bay, in a tomato cannery in Westmoreland, and as a bag boy in a mom-and-pop grocery store, so he knows the value of hard work and determination.
Throughout his time in Congress, Rob has remained focused on creating more jobs and opportunities for all Americans and passing pro-growth policies to support our small businesses. He believes we must continue to incentivize rehiring, remove regulatory barriers to job creation, and return our supply chain from China. He believes the government’s role should be to eliminate barriers to success, not create them.
Rob holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.
Rob has served in several levels of government, from his local town council to the U.S. Congress. Prior to his election to Congress, Rob spent 26 years working as a health specialist for the Virginia Department of Health’s Division of Shellfish Sanitation and as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia’s Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions.
Rob’s wife, Kathryn, who worked for 41 years as a teacher at Cople Elementary School in Hague, is a Westmoreland County native whom he met when he spent high school and college summer recesses working in a Leedstown tomato cannery and on a Reedville fishing boat in the Northern Neck. Rob grew up in Henrico County, where his mother taught middle school and high school. Since 1985, Rob and Kathryn have lived in the same home in Montross where they raised their two children: a daughter, Devon, and a son, Josh. Rob and Kathryn are proud grandparents to six wonderful grandchildren. Rob is an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoys spending time on the water.