Congressman Thomas Cotton

The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing the 51^st Combat Veteran For Congress; he is a fiscal and constitutional conservative who will work to rein in the out-of-control spending of the Obama Administration.  Former Captain Thomas B. Cotton, USA http://www.cottonforcongress.com resides in Dardanelle in Yell County, Arkansas, and is running for the seat in Arkansas’ 4^th Congressional District.  Tom Cotton is running for the seat Cong Mike Ross held for 12 years; Cong Ross announced he will not be running for re-election in 2012.  A sixth-generation Arkansan, Tom Cotton was born on May 13, 1977 and raised in Dardanelle, Arkansas on his family’s cattle farm.  He graduated from Dardanelle High School in June 1995 and went on to attend Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass where in June 1998 he graduated with Honors with a BA in Political Science.  He subsequently matriculated and graduated from Harvard Law School where he earned a JD Degree in June 2002.

Following the September 11^th attack on the World Trade Center, Tom felt the call to serve his country in uniform; he ultimately left his law practice to join the US Army.  He declined offers of a direct commission as an Army JAG Officer, volunteering instead to serve as an infantryman.  Tom was sworn in the US Army in Houston Texas as an enlisted man, E-4, on January 11, 2005 and entered Officer’s Candidate School in March 2005; he completed training and was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant on June 30, 2005. After commissioning, 2^nd Lt Cotton entered a 14 week Officer’s Basic Course at Fort Benning, GA which he completed in November 2005.  He then completed Ranger School, earning his Ranger Tab, and Airborne School, earning his Parachutist Badge.   On May 19, 2006, 2^nd Lieutenant Cotton deployed on Operation Iraqi Freedom to Baghdad as a platoon leader with the 101^st Airborne Division.  2^nd Lt Cotton was responsible for a 41 man air-assault infantry platoon, and planned and led daily combat patrols.  He completed his first combat tour in Iraq on November 20, 2006, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and various campaign/service medals; he was promoted to 1^st Lieutenant on December 30, 2006.  Following his Iraqi deployment, 1^st Lt Cotton was assigned as a platoon leader at The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, where he was responsible for conducting military honors funerals for Veterans of World War II to today’s combat operations in the world wide war on terrorism.  In 2008, 1^st Lt Cotton volunteered to return to combat duty, was promoted to Captain on August 1, 2008, and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on October 15, 2008.  He was assigned to Laghman Province, just north of the Tora Bora Mountains in eastern Afghanistan.  He was assigned duty as the Operations Officer of a Provincial Reconstruction Team, where he planned and resourced daily counterinsurgency and reconstruction operations for an 83-member joint and interagency team; he returned from Afghanistan on July 20, 2009.  For his second tour in Afghanistan he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the NATO Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and various campaign/service medals.  He was honorably discharged from the US Army on September 26, 2009 at Fort Meyer, VA.

After completing law school, Tom clerked for Federal Appellate Judge Jerry Smith, in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston, TX.  Then he entered private practice, where he concentrated in labor, employment, and constitutional law, in cases at all levels of state and federal courts.  Following Active Duty service, he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey and Company.   As a Business Consultant, Tom has advised some of America’s most respected companies on business strategy, operations, finance, and marketing.  His business experience includes agribusiness, health care, oil and gas, food processing, insurance, and aerospace.  Tom has appeared on numerous television and radio programs as an expert with firsthand knowledge of America’s policy on Afghanistan.  These appearances included interviews on Fox & Friends, Larry King Live, CNN American Morning, The Hugh Hewitt Show, and the Laura Ingraham Show.  Tom is member of the VFW, the NRA, the Yell County Republican Committee, the Arkansas State Bar, the Yell County Wildlife Federation, the Military Officers Association, and the First United Methodist Church of Dardanelle.  Tom’s father, Len Cotton, is a Vietnam veteran; he served with the 4th Infantry Division and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Len is the Vice Chair of the American Legion Boys State and a Commissioner on the Arkansas Veterans Commission.  Tom enjoys working on his family cattle farm, spending time with his family and friends, and running marathons.  Tom has been endorsed by Arkansas State Senator Michael Lamoureux and the Combat Veterans For Congress PAC.

If you review Tom Cotton’s positions on various issues, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC are pleased to endorse Tom Cotton, look forward to working with him, and is pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for U.S. House of Representatives.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in the state of Arkansas, kindly pass this email onto them and ask them to support Tom Cotton by working in his campaign, providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.  We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress that General George Washington would have approved of.  A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The Unites States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”