Barbara Jean Comstock is an American attorney and politician who served as the US representative for Virginia's 10th congressional district from 2015 to 2019.
39 Facts About Barbara Comstock
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Barbara Comstock has worked in numerous positions for various government agencies, including as chief counsel of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, as director of public affairs at the Department of Justice and as a congressional staffer.
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Barbara Comstock is the daughter of Sally Ann Burns, a teacher, and John Ferguson Burns, national manager of polymer sales for Shell Chemicals.
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Barbara Comstock graduated from Westchester High School in Houston, Texas in 1977.
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In college, Barbara Comstock spent a semester interning for Senator Ted Kennedy.
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Barbara Comstock then attended law school at Georgetown University, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1986.
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Barbara Comstock then served as chief investigative counsel and senior counsel for the US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform from 1995 to 1999, working as one of Washington's most prominent anti-Clinton opposition researchers.
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Barbara Comstock is credited with writing the Republican "playbook" defending Bush nominees such as John Ashcroft for US Attorney General.
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Barbara Comstock later served as director of public affairs for the Justice Department from 2002 to 2003.
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Barbara Comstock Olson died in the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks.
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Barbara Comstock was a founding partner and co-principal of the public relations firm Corallo Comstock.
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Barbara Comstock assisted the defense teams of both Scooter Libby and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
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In 2005, Barbara Comstock was hired by Dan Glickman to lobby on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.
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In 2008, Barbara Comstock was a consultant on the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.
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In 2009, Barbara Comstock was elected to a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
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Barbara Comstock defeated incumbent Democrat Margaret Vanderhye by 316 votes.
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Legislation sponsored by Barbara Comstock called for union votes by secret ballot, prevented employers from giving employees' information to unions, and prohibited awarding contracts for state-funded construction projects exclusively to unionized firms.
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Barbara Comstock was re-elected to her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2011 and 2013.
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Barbara Comstock was succeeded by Democrat Kathleen Murphy, who had been her opponent in 2013.
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On January 7,2014, Barbara Comstock announced her candidacy for the US House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th District, following the announcement that incumbent Frank Wolf would retire at the end of the 113th Congress.
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Barbara Comstock received the endorsements of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and both the Virginia Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.
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Barbara Comstock won the election on November 4,2014, defeating Democrat John Foust with 56 percent of the vote.
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Barbara Comstock faced Democrat LuAnn Bennett, a real estate executive and ex-wife of former Virginia Congressman Jim Moran, in the 2016 election.
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Barbara Comstock had been named as a potential candidate for the US Senate against incumbent Tim Kaine in the 2018 election but decided not to run against him.
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Barbara Comstock was the last Republican to represent a significant part of the Washington metropolitan area in Congress.
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Barbara Comstock was ranked as the 82nd most bipartisan member of the US House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center.
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Barbara Comstock was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.
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In 2011, Barbara Comstock voted in favor of HB 462, which required women to have transvaginal ultrasounds before receiving an abortion.
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Barbara Comstock supported making birth control available to women over the counter.
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In March 2017, Barbara Comstock signed onto a Republican resolution acknowledging the impact of human activities on global climate.
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In 2015, in the wake of a Federal Communications Commission ruling protecting net neutrality, Barbara Comstock said that net neutrality is "government overreach" and "robs the internet of its freedom".
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Barbara Comstock suggested tracking people entering the US like "FedEx can track packages coming in here all of the time".
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In 2018, the US Senate passed a bill introduced by Barbara Comstock which gave the federal government greater latitude in deporting immigrants who were suspected of gang activity.
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Barbara Comstock supported the nomination of Tracy Thorne-Begland to the Richmond Circuit Court in 2013, Virginia's first openly gay judge.
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Barbara Comstock has voted in favor of legislation to strengthen schools' anti-bullying policies.
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In February 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law the INSPIRE Women Act, a bill sponsored by Barbara Comstock, which compels the director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to encourage women and girls to pursue an education in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
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In 2017, Barbara Comstock joined first lady Melania Trump and first daughter Ivanka Trump in the Oval Office as the president signed Barbara Comstock's bill, the INSPIRE Women Act, which encouraged women and girls to study math and science as well as pursue aerospace careers.
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In February 2018, Barbara Comstock told a House subcommittee that women were being pushed out of jobs in science and technology.
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Barbara Comstock has been married to Elwyn Charles Comstock, whom she had met in high school, since October 9,1982.