Former Congressman George R. Nethercutt, Jr., who is the founder and chairman of the Nethercutt Foundation, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2005. Mr. Nethercutt's historic 1994 victory unseated then-Speaker of the House Tom Foley, the first defeat of a sitting Speaker since 1860.
In addition to his Foundation work, Mr. Nethercutt serves on several corporate boards, is Chairman of Nethercutt Consulting LLC, and is Of-Counsel to BlueWater strategies. Nethercutt Consulting and BlueWater Strategies provide regulatory, business, and government relations advice and manage major projects for U.S. and international corporations.
Mr. Nethercutt represented Washington State’s 5th Congressional District until choosing to run for the U.S. Senate in 2004. While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, he was a member of the prestigious House Committee on Appropriations and the House Science Committee. Prior to his election to Congress, Mr. Nethercutt was a practicing attorney in Washington State, specializing in estate planning, probate and adoption law. He previously served as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, working on such issues as agriculture, fisheries, timber and mining.
Mr. Nethercutt co-founded the private, non-profit Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery for the prevention of child abuse. He has also served as president of the Spokane chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and is now a member of the international JDRF board.
Mr. Nethercutt currently serves on the board of directors of the Washington Policy Center in Seattle, a nonpartisan free-market think tank. He also serves as of-counsel to the Spokane, Washington-based law firm Paine Hamblen LLP and is U.S. Chairman of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense-U.S./Canada, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005.
Mr. Nethercutt earned a bachelor's degree in English from Washington State University before graduating from Gonzaga University School of Law. He and his wife, Mary Beth, have two children.
