Gwinnett GOP Honors Linder

Supporters and elected officials celebrated the 18-year career of retired U.S. congressman John Linder on March 5 during the Gwinnett County Republican Party's monthly breakfast rally. More than 150 attendees heard words from those who worked and spent time with the Minnesota native.

Linder previously represented Georgia's District 7, which is now led by U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall. The seventh congressional district includes Snellville.

Gwinnett GOP chairman Bruce Le'Vell remembered Linder's ability to reach out to his constituents as well as maintain a clean political record with "not one shed of corruption." Member-at-Large Scott Haggard, whose first job in Washington, D.C. was working in Linder's congressional office, spoke about his unwavering commitment to his duties as a United States congressman.

"There are not a lot of people who would serve in Congress and endure the things they have to endure for as long as he did, and actually believe that they were doing the right thing for the country."

Other notable guests included county commissioners Lynette Howard and Mike Beaudreau, state house representative B.J. Pak, U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, several judges and the mayor of Suwanee Dave Williams. Also honored at the breakfast was Bert Nasuti, who served eight years as a Gwinnett County commissioner.

Linder announced that he would not seek re-election in February 2010, which, for him and his constituents, came as a surprise. That move allowed Linder's now-former Chief of Staff Rob Woodall to seek and eventually win his congressional seat.

Prior to being in politics, Linder received his bachelor's in 1964 and a doctorate in dental surgery in 1967 from the University of Minnesota. He then went on to serve as a captain in the United States Air Force for four years before relocating to Georgia with his wife, Lynne, to start a dental practice. Linder served in the Georgia General Assembly for seven years before winning his first U.S. congressional seat in 1992. From there, he maintained a strong GOP presence in northeast Atlanta, despite district lines changing twice in his voting districts.

As a U.S. congressman, Linder voted along party lines against controversial legislation such as abortion, stimulus spending and health care. Most notably, his position on the powerful Ways and Means Committee gave him a pulpit to advocate for the FairTax, a national retail sales tax that would replace all existing federal income taxes.

Linder sponsored H.R. 25, known as the FairTax bill, and subsequently penned a book with conservative radio commentator Neal Boortz in 2005 titled "The FairTax Book." Those efforts gained the grassroots tax plan national attention, though the bill has yet to be put up for a vote. Linder noted that he is already traveling on behalf of his tax proposal post-retirement and that Woodall would continue the fight in Congress.

Linder said that there still is work to be done in the Beltway. His number one issue is cutting spending. "We've got to get balance back."