FL-16 Vern Buchanan (R)
PROFILE
About Buchanan:
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan is co-chair of the bipartisan 29-member Florida congressional delegation and currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, international trade, health care, welfare, Social Security and Medicare. Buchanan is the lead Republican of the Trade Subcommittee, a panel that oversees tariffs, customs, bilateral and regional trade agreements and international trade rules and organizations.
Buchanan served as chairman of the Tax Policy Subcommittee and played a role in the passage of a sweeping tax cut bill last Congress.
Serving his seventh term, Buchanan serves on the Health and Social Security subcommittees on Ways and Means. Buchanan is a member of the Health Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and employer-provided health insurance benefits.
Buchanan grew up with five siblings in a blue-collar household in a small town near Detroit, Mich. He served six years in the Air National Guard and worked his way through college. He chaired both the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Board of the U.S. Chamber, and in 2005 he was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.
Buchanan lives in Longboat Key, Fla., with his wife of more than 40 years. Vern and Sandy Buchanan have two grown sons, James and Matt.