Alan Dupree Wheat

Congressman Alan Wheat represented Missouri’s 5th Congressional District from 1983 to 1995 (98th-103rd Congresses). Before Congress, Wheat worked as an economist for the federal government and local organizations. He also served in the Missouri General Assembly. Wheat received a coveted spot on the House Rules Committee as a freshman in Congress. Wheat’s seat on the Rules Committee was instrumental in allowing him to push significant legislation through the House. For example, in 1989, he helped institute a ban on smoking on most domestic flights by attaching the bill to a routine procedural measure to avoid undue attention from tobacco lobbyists and other opponents. In his position on the Rules Committee, he played an integral part in the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1990, a comprehensive measure to combat employment discrimination. Wheat also served on the District of Columbia Committee, chairing the Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs Subcommittee during his final four terms. He also served on the House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families and the Select Committee on Hunger. Wheat advocated a strong stance on civil rights. He co-sponsored legislation to provide financial assistance to historically Black colleges and universities with other CBC members, and the measure became part of the Higher Education Act of 1992. After his congressional service, Wheat served as vice president of SmithKline Beecham pharmaceutical company and Vice President of public policy and government relations of the global relief organization CARE. He also remained engaged in politics, serving as deputy campaign manager for the Clinton-Gore presidential-election campaign and founding Wheat Government Relations, a political consulting firm in Virginia. Wheat earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Grinnell College.