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The Honorable Eric Cantor, R-Va., has represented Virginia"s 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2001. After the 2010 midterm elections, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as the majority leader for the 112th Congress. A former small-businessman, Cantor has emerged as a leading voice on the economy and job creation. His commentary is often featured in publications focusing on a wide range of issues, including economic matters, health care, foreign policy and defense. He serves as the chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.
In Congress, Cantor has worked to lower taxes, eliminate excessive regulation, strengthen small businesses and encourage entrepreneurship. He was the chief sponsor of a 2006 bill to make permanent the slashed individual income tax rates for capital gains and dividends. He also authored the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006. As minority whip, Cantor assembled a highly effective team that, in early 2009, coordinated the effort in which no Republicans voted for the nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill. During the lead-up to that vote, then-Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, tapped Cantor to head up the Republican Economic Solutions Group that produced the Republican alternative economic plan.
Cantor co-authored the New York Times best-seller "Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders" with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Cantor received his law degree from The College of William and Mary and his master"s degree from Columbia University.