South Carolina Democratic Rep. John Spratt

John Spratt represents South Carolina's 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He is serving his 10th term and as ranking member of the Budget Committee and was a key negotiator of the Balanced Budget Agreement.

Spratt is also a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, where he has wored to keep Shaw Air Force Base, near Sumter, S.C., a top-notch base.

Spratt's first step as congressman was to set up offices in the three corners of the 5th District -- in Rock Hill, Sumter, and Darlington.  From these offices, Spratt's staff pays regular visits to city halls and courthouses all over the district.

Spratt practiced law in York from 1971 until his election to Congress in 1982. He was county attorney and attorney to two of the county's school districts. In addition, he was president of the Bank of Fort Mill and director of the Bank of York, and he owned a small insurance agency and a farm.

As a captain in the Army, Spratt served in the Operations Analysis Group in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). At the end of his two-year stint, the Army awarded him the Meritorious Service Medal.

Active in his community, Spratt was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of York; president of the Western York County United Way; and president of the York Chamber of Commerce. He served as chairman of the Board of Divine Saviour Hospital and on the Board of Piedmont Legal Services, Inc. He has been chairman of the Board of Visitors at Winthrop College and at Davidson, and was a member of the Board of Visitors at Coker College. He now serves on the Board of Trustees at Davidson College.

Spratt grew up in York and graduated from York High School in 1960 and Davidson College in 1964. At both schools, he was president of his student body. At Davidson, he was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and won a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied economics and political science from 1964-66. He earned his law degree at Yale in 1969.

Spratt keeps his home in York, in the same house where he grew up. He is married to Jane Stacy.  They have three daughters.