Charles Hart Taylor (born January 23, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing North Carolina's 11th congressional district from 1991 to 2007. Early life and education Taylor was born in Brevard, North Carolina. He attended Wake Forest University, where he received his BA in 1963 and his Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1966. Career He served in the North Carolina General Assembly as a Republican from Transylvania County from 1967 to 1975 — serving in the State House from 1967 to 1973 and the State Senate from 1973 to 1975. He then returned to his business interests until entering Congress. In 1988, Taylor ran against Democratic incumbent Jamie Clarke and lost by just over 1,500 votes. He sought a rematch against Clarke in 1990 and won by 2,700 votes. He was reelected with 54 percent of the vote in 1992, even as Bill Clinton carried the district. He was reelected six more times from the 11th, which includes most of North Carolina's share of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In his first term, as a member of the Gang of Seven, a group of first-term Republican Representatives, Taylor worked to expose the 1992 House banking scandal. In 2006, Taylor's Democratic opponent was Heath Shuler, a native of Swain County and a former quarterback for the University of Tennessee and the Washington Redskins. Shuler defeated Taylor, earning 54 percent of the vote to Taylor's 46 percent. In December 2007, Taylor announced that he would not seek a rematch with Shuler in 2008. Positions Taylor was one of the most conservative members of the House. He had a lifetime rating of 92 from the American Conservative Union. He was a member of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative Republican congressmen. Environment Taylor was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, on the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. Taylor served on the advisory board of the National Wilderness Institute, a "deceptively named" pro-timber group which worked to promote timber companies' private property rights and reduce environmental safeguards. Spending In 2005 and 2006, Taylor made national headlines for delaying full funding by the federal government for a $60 million memorial to United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. Taylor's preference was for federal funding to be lowered