Representative Sue Myrick Beyond Terrorism - The Whole Story
Representative Sue Myrick (NC-9) came to Congress in 1995 after building a successful advertising and public relations business, and serving two terms as mayor of Charlotte, NC, the state’s largest city and commercial hub. She is currently in her eighth term representing North Carolina's 9th district, which covers portions of Union, Mecklenburg, and Gaston Counties.
Sue serves on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, which is the oldest legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It enjoys the broadest legislative responsibility of any House committee, including public health, telecommunications, energy, consumer protection, food and drug safety, air quality, environmental health, and interstate and foreign commerce. In addition, the jurisdiction extends over five Cabinet-level departments and seven independent agencies. Sue is a member of the Health subcommittee, and the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection subcommittee.
In 2009, Sue was selected by House Leadership to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Intelligence Committee has jurisdiction over the Intelligence community, including intelligence-related activities of the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency, and other agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury.
From 2002 to 2004, Sue served as chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) , the largest voting bloc in Congress. The RSC is a group of House Republicans that are organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative economic and social agenda for America. Under Sue’s tenure, the RSC grew from 65 to over 96 members and became an influential force in shaping policy in Congress. Her leadership of this group and dedication to controlling government spending has made her a national voice for House conservatives.
In January 2003, Sue was appointed as a Deputy Whip of the 108th Congress. As Deputy Whip, Sue was one of only a handful of Republican House members with a seat at the leadership table. Due to her hard work, she continues to serve as a Deputy Whip into the 111th Congress.
A breast cancer survivor, Sue co-chairs the House Cancer Caucus. She has successfully championed legislation aimed at stopping the deadly disease through increased research, education, early detection, and development of promising new medical therapies.
A small businesswoman herself, Sue is the former President and CEO of Myrick Advertising and Public Relations and Myrick Enterprises. Before Congress, she served on the Charlotte City Council and was a two-term mayor of the City of Charlotte. Sue remains the first and only female mayor in Charlotte history.
As Mayor, Sue hit the streets, going nose-to-nose with drug dealers, telling them to get the heck out of the neighborhoods. Sue also gained much praise for greatly improving Charlotte’s transportation infrastructure, while never raising taxes.
Sue has extensive experience in disaster relief and recovery from tornadoes, floods and hurricanes. She knows local communities can’t always depend on the federal government to help solve their emergencies. Many times, they are on their own. She also understands the role that FEMA, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and organizations like the Mennonite Disaster Service play in emergency situations, having worked extensively on-site in coordination with them.
Sue is also leading the charge nationally on issues related to terrorism. She is the founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, which has more than 120 Members. This caucus meets with experts on terrorism and works to educate the public about the dangers we face from Islamofascism.
Sue is a wife; a mother of two children and three step-children. She and her husband, Ed, have 12 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
