Rep. Eric Cantor Climbs GOP Ladder; The sole Jewish member of the House Republican Caucus, Rep. Eric Cantor impresses observers with his solid conservative values and strong leadership

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 10, 2003

We have to have a strong defense against these terrorists. But the message coming out of the Democrat camp is, "We shouldn't be so aggressive, we shouldn't be in Iraq, we shouldn't be out there trying to meet this threat, because it's really not that bad."

Well, I'm sorry. I'm not willing to take that risk. The president has to defend this country, and the Congress has to support him in doing that.

John Berlau is a writer for Insight magazine.

Personal Bio

Currently: Represents Virginia's 7th District; chief deputy majority whip, U.S. House of Representatives; chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.

Personal: Born, June 6, 1963; Richmond,

Va.; wife, Diana; three children, Evan, Jenna and Michael.

Education: College of William and Mary, J.D.; Columbia University, M.A., real-estate finance; George Washington University, B.A., political science.

Political career: Elected to Virginia House of Delegates, 1991; elected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2000.

Civic involvement: Appointed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council; nominated by President George W. Bush to the board of trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, which seeks to improve teaching of the U.S. Constitution; board of trustees, Virginia Holocaust Museum.

Favorite books: Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. While he strongly disagrees with Rand's atheism, Cantor says "the general message of the power of the individual impressed me then and remains with me today."