Diane Black

Before becoming a state Senator in 2004, she had previously served as a state Representative for six years from 1998. Prior to her election as a Republican state representative, Black had voted in two Democratic primaries in 1996.[7] Black was the Assistant Floor Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, and the Vice-Chairwoman of the Senate General Welfare, Health, and Human Resources Committee. She was elected the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chairwoman in 2006.[4]

In May 2009, Black's legislative aide forwarded an e-mail depicting a collage of United States Presidents. President Barack Obama's section of the collage was represented by a black square with two eyeballs.[8] Black's reprimand of her aide was criticized as too lenient by two political blogs and Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Chip Forrester.[9] Black said the e-mail did not represent her views, and that the reprimand of her aide was in keeping with the legislator's human resource policy for e-mail guideline violations.[10]

Black was one of two female U.S. Representatives who prefer the title "congressman"; the other was Republican Marsha Blackburn, also of Tennessee.[11] Both departed the House at the end of the 115th Congress.

In December, 2009, she became a candidate for Tennessee's 6th congressional district to succeed Bart Gordon, who did not run for re-election.[12] Her biggest competition in the Republican primary came from former Rutherford County GOP chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik and State Senator Jim Tracy. On August 5, 2010, Black won the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, over Zelenik and Tracy, who earned 30% each.[13] Brett Carter won the Democratic nomination, after well-known elected officials declined the candidacy, leading most Democratic observers to write off the seat as a Republican pick-up. CQ Politics rated this race as "Safe Republican".[14] In the November election, Black won with 67 percent of the vote.[15]

In the 2012 general election, Black was a surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.[16] Black made appearances for Romney in Pennsylvania,[17] Wisconsin,[18] and in various cable news interviews.[19] Black has been a member of the following committees: Committee on the Budget, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Tea Party Caucus, Republican Study Committee, and the United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus.[20]

In October 2013, Black introduced the Student and Family Tax Simplification Act (H.R. 3393; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to consolidate several different education tax incentives into an expanded American Opportunity Tax Credit.[21][22] The American Opportunity Tax Credit, under this legislation, would provide a maximum credit of $2,500.[23]

Black has received endorsements from Governor Sarah Palin,[24] The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB),[25] Governor Mitt Romney,[26] Congresswoman Michele Bachmann,[27] former Congressman Allen West,[27] Tennessee Right to Life,[28] Susan B. Anthony List,[29] and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.[30]

(Left to right) Seema Verma, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Diane Black, and Penny Nance with Donald J. Trump, after Trump signed H.J. Res. 43, a Title X-related policy, into law.

In October 2015, Black was named to serve on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood.[31]

Black was a member of the U.S.-Japan Caucus.[32]

On August 2, 2017, Black announced her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee in the 2018 election.[33] In March 2018, the Tennessean reported that Black had missed over 50 votes in the U.S. House, the most out of any member of the Tennessee delegation. The newspaper noted that it is typical for members of Congress running for a higher office to miss votes, but that some votes were on major pieces of legislation, including re-opening the government following the 2018 shutdown and funding the U.S. military.[34] Black lost to Bill Lee in the Republican primary on August 2, 2018.

Black often advocated against the Obama administration's EPA rules.[36] She also supported the Trump administration's repeal of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.[37]

Black championed a loophole which allowed one trucking company (Fitzgerald) to skirt emissions rules, allowing the firm to produce trucks that emit 40 to 55 times the air pollutants of other new trucks.[38][39] When the Obama administration sought to close the loophole, Black introduced legislation in 2015 to protect the loophole; the bill failed.[38] She later appealed to the Trump administration's EPA head, Scott Pruitt, to protect the loophole, which he did.[38] As of February 2018, individuals and entities related to the Fitzgerald trucking company had donated $225,000 to Black's 2018 campaign for Tennessee Governor; 12% of the total money from outside sources in her campaign.[38] In September 2017, Fitzgerald hired its first federal lobbyist; it was a former aide to Black.[38]

Black opposed sanctuary cities.[35] She supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, stating "We should insist upon the most careful and cautious vetting possible for refugees from failed states and hostile nations and I commend the President for taking this duty seriously after the failures of the Obama administration."[40]

In May 2018, Black said that pornography was "a big part of the root cause" of school shootings.[41] She also said that school shootings were rising due to the "deterioration of the family," mental illness, and violent movies.[42][43]