Bio, via Bachus & Brom, LLC:

Mr. Bachus graduated from Auburn University in 1969 and began his legal career in 1973 after graduating from the University of Alabama School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Bachus earned the Somerville Prize for distinguished legal scholarship. Mr. Bachus served in the Alabama National Guard from 1969 to 1971, during the Vietnam War, while attending law school. Mr. Bachus maintained a private law practice until he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Bachus won appointment to such important committees as Transportation and Infrastructure, Judiciary, and the Financial Services Committee. His accomplishments for his district and state include his work on I-22, the Northern Beltline, and other major highway and infrastructure projects ; the establishment of the National Computer Forensics Institute; the creation of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge; and the construction of the Alabama National Cemetery to honor veterans and their families. Selected by his Republican colleagues as their leader on the Financial Services Committee as Ranking Member and Chairman (2006-2012), Mr. Bachus assumed his responsibilities as the U.S. financial system confronted its greatest challenges since the 1930s. Working with a strong team of committee members and his highly-respected committee staff, Mr. Bachus strove to find solutions to the critical issues facing the nation’s economy. During the depths of the crisis in Fall 2008, Mr. Bachus advocated capital injections to help stabilize the financial sector, the approach ultimately adopted by the Treasury Department. According to Act of Congress by Robert Kaiser, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson “asked his staff to figure out how to do just what Spencer Bachus had suggested on September 18…” Bachus was named Chairman Emeritus of the Committee for the 113th Congress. The legislative accomplishments of Mr. Bachus include the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, deposit insurance reform, Check 21, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and originating the provisions that became the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. One of his proudest legacies is debt relief, which has been credited with reducing hunger and poverty in poor countries and which the singer and humanitarian activist Bono wrote in a private note has allowed more than 51 million children to attend school. A voice for racial understanding and reconciliation, Mr. Bachus received the Houghton-Lewis Leadership Award from the Faith and Politics Institute. As Dean of the Alabama delegation, he worked on a bipartisan basis with his Birmingham area colleague, Representative Terri Sewell, to authorize a Congressional Gold Medal honoring the Four Little Girls who died in the civil rights movement era bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.