From Roy Blunt's official biography:

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt came to the United States House of Representatives in 1997 with a background as a public servant, university president and administrator.

Blunt, who became Majority Whip earlier in his career than any Member of Congress in the last seven decades, was reelected to a second term as Whip in November 2004. As Whip, the third highest job in the House, Congressman Blunt is responsible for corralling the votes necessary to complete the Republican agenda. He selects and leads a team of Deputy and Assistant Whips, which columnist Robert Novak has described as “the most efficient party whip operation in congressional history.”

The people of Southwest Missouri have sent Blunt to Washington to represent them five times, returning him to Congress with more than 70% of the vote against three opponents in 2004.

Having served on then-Governor George W. Bush’s original ten person exploratory committee and as the liaison between the House and the Bush campaign, Blunt has close ties to the Bush Administration. When Blunt was named Missouri’s Republican of the Year in 2000, President Bush described him as “a leader who knows how to raise his sights and lower his voice.”

Blunt serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. As the panel with the broadest jurisdiction, the Energy and Commerce Committee has principal responsibility for the promotion of commerce and the public’s health and marketplace interests. Blunt is also on leave from the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Financial Services. Blunt has served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is responsible for oversight of intelligence resources and intelligence activities.

Blunt fought for President Bush’s $1.35 trillion tax cut, working twenty-nine hours through the night to reach agreement on the largest tax cut in a generation. Continuing his focus on tax fairness, Blunt worked to enact four major tax relief packages in the four years of President Bush’s first term, putting more money in the hands of the people who earned it and helping the economy rebound from a recession and the September 11th attacks.

Blunt was the principle sponsor of the Charitable Giving Act, legislation designed to encourage more Americans to help more charities. The legislation, which passed the House and Senate overwhelmingly, would provide 86 million Americans who do not itemize on their tax returns the opportunity to deduct a portion of their charitable contributions, and provide incentives for individuals to make contributions to charity from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

Blunt, Missouri’s chief election official for two presidential elections, was the first Republican Secretary of State in more than 50 years. Before coming to Congress, Blunt served four years as the president of his alma mater, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri.

Blunt is married to Abigail Blunt. He has three children: Missouri Governor Matt Blunt; Amy Blunt, an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri; and Andy Blunt, an attorney in Jefferson City, Missouri; and four grandchildren: Davis Mosby, Ben Blunt, Branch Blunt, and Eva Mosby.