Meet Brad

"I'm tired of Washington politicians telling us what North Carolina values are. North Carolina values are the values I've learned from a lifetime in North Carolina--from my parents, from my church, and from attending North Carolina public schools.

My father grew up on a farm outside of Spring Lake, North Carolina. He got a job at the post office in Fayetteville not long after he married my mother. He was the manager of a branch post office when he died in 1965, when I was 12 years old.

My mother grew up at the Baptist orphanage in Thomasville, North Carolina. She worked as a bookkeeper to put me through college and law school. My mother is past 90 now. She's pretty proud that her son is in Congress."

Brad Miller was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1953. He attended public schools and graduated from Terry Sanford Senior High School in 1971. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master's degree from the London School of Economics, and a law degree from Columbia University. He served as law clerk to Judge J. Dickson Phillips, Jr. of the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for one year following his graduation from law school.

Brad practiced law in Raleigh from 1980 until his election to Congress.

In 1992, Brad was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where he served two years. As a member of the House, he wrote North Carolina's safe gun storage law. In 1993, the year the law was enacted, there were 74 juvenile gun deaths in North Carolina. In 2002, there were 32 juvenile gun deaths in North Carolina.

Brad was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1996, where he served six years. As a member of the North Carolina Senate, Brad introduced legislation to expand North Carolina's domestic violence law; to reduce air pollution from cars and trucks; to freeze new or expanded hog lagoons; to limit the influence of political patronage in state government hiring; and to protect consumers from dishonest automobile mechanics by prohibiting garages from charging for work not authorized by the consumer. As a Judiciary Committee chairman, Brad helped guide into law legislation to address "Driving While Black," or racial profiling.

In 2002, Brad was elected to Congress to represent a new district gained by North Carolina after the 2000 Census. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Brad has quickly become a leader in protecting vulnerable consumers from unconscionable practices by the financial services industry. He is lead sponsor of legislation to protect consumers from predatory mortgage lending practices, legislation supported by a broad coalition of consumer and civil rights organizations.

Brad has been a leader for working Americans caught in a painful economic transition. Brad founded the Community College Caucus in the House to rally support for the important role of community colleges in adult education and job training.

As a member of the Science Committee, Brad has been a leader in supporting basic research. He is the lead sponsor of legislation to help research universities obtain patents and prepare business plans for commercial uses for the product of their research.

Brad has been married to Esther Hall since 1981. Brad and Esther attend the Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh, where Esther is a member of the vestry. Brad and Esther live in Raleigh with their dog Harper, a pampered 85-pound former stray.