Roger F. Wicker

Bio:  Sen. Roger F. Wicker has represented the state of Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since 2007. He is a member of the Senate Republican leadership team. As a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, he chairs the Subcommittee on Seapower. He also serves on the following committees: Budget; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Rules. Wicker is co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and has served as the 1st Committee Chair in the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly since 2014. Wicker also served as a member of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Congressional Board of Visitors.

From 1995 to 2007, Wicker served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He started his career in public service in the Mississippi Senate representing Lee and Pontotoc counties. He received his bachelor and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Wicker and his wife, Gayle, have three children and four grandchildren.

Military Bio:  Sen. Roger F. Wicker, R-Miss., served on active duty as a judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force from 1976 to 1980. Beginning in 1980, Wicker joined the Air Force Reserve, retiring in 2004 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Wicker was the first Mississippian to serve on the United States Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. As the son of a World War II veteran and the father of an Air Force officer, Wicker understands the issues affecting our nation’s veterans. During his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Wicker coauthored the bill that gave the Department of Veterans Affairs the largest funding increase in history. In the Senate, he continues to fight to make sure our nation’s veterans receive the highest quality of medical care possible. Wicker also supported legislation to expand the education benefits included in the Montgomery G.I. Bill, giving veterans even more opportunities as they leave the service and transition into civilian life.

Wicker now serves as a senior member on the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower that oversees all maritime issues, including the Navy and Marine Corps programs, and sits on the Subcommittee on Personnel. In 2014, Wicker introduced the “Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014,” a bipartisan bill to advance efforts in military suicide prevention. Additionally, he worked in 2013 to halt military benefit cuts.

Legislation:

• Authored “Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014” (May 2014)
• Worked with Sens. Ayotte and Graham to stop cuts to the cost of living benefits for military retirees under age 62 (December 2013)
• Supported Montgomery G.I. Bill by cosponsoring “The Enhancement of Recruitment, Retention, and Readjustment through Education Act” to strengthen G.I. benefits, improving education benefits for service members, veterans and members of the Guard and Reserve (2008)
• Coauthored the House bill that gave the Department of Veterans Affairs the largest funding increase in history (2007)