Leon Acton "Lynn" Westmoreland (born April 2, 1950) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2017 and the from 2005 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life, education and career Westmoreland was born in Atlanta, the son of Margaret Ferrell (née Lawson) and Leon Acton Westmoreland. He grew up in Metro Atlanta. He has no degree beyond a high school diploma. He attended Georgia State University, but dropped out to work in a family construction business in which he later became an executive. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005, rising to the position of House Republican Leader in 2001. He held that position until 2003 when he stepped down in order to devote time to his Congressional campaign in late 2003. He continued to serve in the Georgia House until his election to the US House in 2005. As Republican Leader in the Georgia House, he led the fight against intense partisan gerrymandering during the redistricting process controlled by the Democratic majority in 2001. He abandoned his opposition and was instrumental in the mid-decade redistricting that took place in 2005, after Republicans won control of the Georgia legislature in the 2004 elections. U.S. House of Representatives Tenure During his first term in the 109th United States Congress, Westmoreland was appointed to the U.S. House Committee on Small Business, U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, and the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.. In January 2015, the House Intelligence Committee was reorganized, and a subcommittee on Cybersecurity and the National Security Agency was created with Westmoreland appointed to be the subcommittee's first chairman. As a U.S. congressman, Westmoreland cosponsored a bill to place the Ten Commandments in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Westmoreland also sponsored a bill that the Ten Commandments could be displayed in courthouses in a historical setting. In May 2006, political humorist Stephen Colbert interviewed Westmoreland for The Colbert Report show segment Better Know a District, and during the interview, asked Westmoreland to name the Ten Commandments. Westmoreland was able to name only three of them. Govtrack.us ranked Westmoreland as tied for the most conservative member of the 112th Congress. Westmoreland led a group of congressmen who opposed the 2006 renewal of certain provisions in the Voting Rights Act that require nine Southern states and a number of