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Senator Jim Webb

Jim Webb presently serves as the senior Senator from Virginia. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Jim Webb is a descendent of the Scots-Irish settlers who came to this country in the 18th century and became pioneers in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. As a combat Marine in Vietnam, an attorney, a senior defense department official, an Emmy-award winning journalist, a film-maker, and the author of nine books, Webb has maintained a life-long commitment toward protecting America's national security interests, promoting economic fairness and social justice here at home, and increasing the accountability of government. In 2007, following his first-ever run for political office, he brought those passions with him to the United States Senate. On his first day in office, Webb introduced a comprehensive 21st century GI Bill for those who have been serving in our military since 9/11, and within 16 months had guided the most significant veterans legislation since World War Two through both houses of Congress, prompting The Atlantic Magazine to term him "the master of the Senate." Along with Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, he created the Wartime Contracting Commission, with responsibility for bringing accountability for fraud, waste and abuse brought about by the often-unsupervised contract processes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Long dedicated to reforming our criminal justice system, Webb designed and chaired a series of committee hearings and conferences to examine the issues of mass incarceration and policies toward drugs, and became one of the strongest voices in Congress on the need for a top-to-bottom restructuring of the criminal justice system. In addition, Webb has remained an active voice on military, economic and foreign affairs through his membership on the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Joint Economic and Veterans Affairs committees. With long experience overseas that predates his time in the Senate, particularly in Asia, Webb serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs on the Foreign Relations Committee. He also serves as the chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee.