Lynn and his wife of 41 years, Joan.

Lynn's Bio

U.S. Congressman Lynn Westmoreland was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2005, and currently represents Georgia’s Third Congressional District, which stretches from the southern suburbs of metro Atlanta into Middle Georgia. During his first three terms, Congressman Westmoreland served as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Small Business Committee, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Beginning in the 112th Congress, Westmoreland began serving on the Financial Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Steering Committee.

The House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction over the housing and financial services sectors, including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities. Georgia is a growing financial center and serves as headquarters for numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Coca-Cola, Aflac, and Home Depot. Georgia has been hit especially hard by the current economic downturn. The state has had more bank failures since 2008 than any other state in the country and is also one of the top ten states for foreclosures. Westmoreland believes it is important that Georgia is represented by a conservative, free-market voice on the committee that speaks for Georgia.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is charged with oversight of the United States Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Westmoreland understands that ensuring our nation's security at home and around the world requires a strong intelligence community and works with his fellow committee members to make sure they have the resources they need to carry out their important mission.

The House Steering Committee is a leadership position selected by other Members of Congress and is charged with selecting members for each of the House committees and selecting the leadership within those committees. It does not meet regularly, but rather meets at the start of each Congress and then at intervals determined when seats on committees become available.

In the 112th Congress, Representative Westmoreland is also proud to serve as the Vice Chairman for Redistricting for the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the Republican Deputy Whip Team. As the Vice Chairman for Redistricting, Lynn worked closely with each state’s delegation to ensure they had the tools necessary to head into their state redistricting process. It was the first redistricting cycle since McCain/Feingold was passed into law. Prior to that, he co-chaired the candidate recruitment efforts with now Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Throughout the course of the two year election cycle, he and Kevin traveled around the country meeting with prospective candidates for Congress that ultimately gave the Republicans a majority in the House of Representatives and removed Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker. McCarthy and Westmoreland spearheaded the recruiting efforts that led to the largest number of Republican freshman members of congress in over 50 years. Congressman Westmoreland was also instrumental in building and branding the successful Young Gun's program within the NRCC. The Young Guns program developed a list of criteria and goals that all candidates had to meet in order to be eligible for campaign funding.

While serving in the Georgia State House for 12 years, he was a leading advocate for lower taxes and less government and rose to the position of Republican Leader. He is credited with playing a pivotal role in elevating Republicans to the majority in the Georgia State House for the first time in the state’s history.

Congressman Westmoreland and his wife Joan have been married 42 years and currently reside in Coweta County. Prior to that, they spent more than 25 years in Fayette County, where he started his building company L.A.W. Builders. They have three children and seven grandchildren.