5 Questions With...
CONGRESSMAN BURGESS By Amy Schoppman NMEDA DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) is a senior member of two of the most powerful committees in Congress: the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Rules. Rep. Burgess also currently serves as the Ranking Member (and former Chairman) of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, and he recently announced his decision to run for Ranking Member or Chairman – the role will depend on whether or not Republicans secure a majority of House seats after the 2020 elections – of the full Energy and Commerce Committee (which notably has jurisdiction over the vast majority of any autonomous vehicle legislation that will be debated, advanced, and/or voted on in the House). The Congressman’s 17-year career as a public servant, and potential ascent to one of the most influential positions on arguably the most powerful House committee, has been somewhat unexpected. After spending nearly three decades practicing medicine in North Texas, he launched a long-shot campaign for Congress in 2002…and won. Now he is the most senior medical doctor of either party serving in the House of Representatives, and is routinely involved in decisions impacting healthcare policy. Having developed a reputation as a problem-solver who is willing to “reach across the aisle” to arrive at sensible legislative solutions, NMEDA’s Government Relations team recently met with Rep. Burgess to speak with him directly about issues important to our members. Learn more about Congressman Michael Burgess in this edition of “5 Questions With…”
1. What inspired you to run for public office? The events of September 11, 2001. At that time, I had my life mapped out as a tidy sequence of relatively low-risk, five-year plans that strategically built upon one another until they led to a day that I suspected I would retire. But was this what I was supposed to be doing? What could I do that would be more meaningful and contributory? And if I could identify such a path, would I even have the
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courage to abandon my secure and
Majority Leader. The odds were
familiar existence and embark upon
against me but my tenacity, focus,
it? Three months after 9/11, when the
and determination led to what was
Congressman who had represented
considered a surprise victory.
the 26th district in Texas announced that he would not be seeking to run for Congress. Many people
2. What skill(s) do you utilize most frequently on Capitol Hill?
called me naïve when they found
Many of the skills I learned and
out that a small-town doctor with
developed in medical school, along
no political experience was running
with 25 years in practice, are the ones
for Congress. Others called me
that serve me best today. Doctors
crazy when they realized I would be
must be good listeners, and no other
running against the son of the House
skill has served me as well as learning
reelection, I submitted the paperwork
