Richard Burr

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, Richard served five terms in the House and is currently serving North Carolina in his third term in the U.S. Senate. During his time in the House, he led legislation modernizing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and began his work to improve our nation’s biodefense and pandemic preparedness capabilities.

In the Senate, Richard serves as Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Promoting innovation in America’s healthcare system has been a priority for him throughout his time in Congress. Richard has led on a number of significant legislative priorities, including the creation of today’s pandemic response framework through the passage and reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), improving FDA’s ability to regulate cutting-edge treatments for patients, and consistently championing funding for medical innovation and research.

Richard has also been a leader in education policy. In 2013, the government was set to double interest rates on student loans. Richard worked with a group of his colleagues to write the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act. This bill, which is now law, dramatically reduced interest rates for students who have school loans. Nationally, this law has saved nearly $100 billion for students and their families.

In addition to leading Republicans on the HELP Committee, Richard also serves as a senior member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Finance Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging.

The son of a minister, Richard and his family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina when he was a young child. He attended Wake Forest University on a football scholarship, and after graduating, he began his career far from the halls of Congress by spending seventeen years in business with Carswell Distributing, a wholesale commercial products company.

He also serves as a Board Member of Brenner Children’s Hospital and on the West Point Board of Visitors. Richard and his wife, Brooke, have two sons.