BACKGROUND
• Born in East Chicago, Indiana and grew up on the East Side of Chicago.
• Lives in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife Nona, son Ruben and daughter Catherine.
• First moved to the 10th District of Virginia in 1988. Learn more.

Click here for Vern's wikipedia entry.

ABOUT VERN MCKINLEY

• McKinley Family
• Early Years
• Political Development
• Professional Experience
• Charitable Work

McKinley Family
Vern McKinley lives in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife Nona, son Ruben and daughter Catherine. Vern and Nona met in Yerevan, Armenia where Vern was advising the Central Bank of Armenia on legal issues. Vern first moved to the 10th District of Virginia in 1988.

Early Years
Vern was born in East Chicago, Indiana and grew up on the East Side of Chicago. Like most parts of Chicago, this neighborhood was a stronghold of the Democratic Party. However, this was during a time when Democrats actually had a few good ideas regarding the economy.

Hear JFK on Tax Cuts.

Political Development
During the early 1980s Vern's political development took a turn for the better as he was heavily influenced by the Reagan Revolution and Milton Friedman's writings. While attending the University of Illinois he worked on the Reagan re-election campaign and Congressman Tom Corcoran's unsuccessful challenge of liberal Republican Senator Charles Percy in 1984. He also worked that year for the Senate Republican Policy Committee chaired by Senator John Tower, primarily undertaking research on the big-spending, big-government approach of the Mondale/Ferraro ticket. Ever since that time, Vern has always taken a Republican ballot.

Professional Experience
During the 1980s and 1990s Vern's work experience was concentrated in a variety of management and staff positions for financial sector agencies within the federal government, including:

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
• Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC)
• Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision

While at the RTC, Vern attended George Washington University School of Law's evening program.

Independent Policy Analyst
During these years, Vern also conducted independent policy analysis for the Cato Institute and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). His policy work for Cato covered:

• Analysis of the regulatory and legislative process
• Government sponsored housing enterprises
• The community reinvestment act
• Consumer bankruptcy

Vern also testified before a House Judiciary Subcommittee, spoke at the Cato Institute and debated Congressman Jerrold Nadler regarding consumer bankruptcy legislation during 1998. Finally, Vern presented a paper at AEI regarding the government sponsored housing enterprises.

Watch Vern McKinley's Debate with Congressman Jerrold Nadler on Consumer Bankruptcy.

Legal and Policy Advisor
Over the past eight years, Vern has worked as a legal and policy advisor on financial/fiscal matters to domestic and foreign governments. His primary focus has been to advise foreign governments transitioning to more open and free-market based economic systems, often funded by the US government, consistent with US policy, in China, Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Kenya, South Sudan, Libya, Armenia, Yugoslavia (now Montenegro), Serbia, Kosovo and Tajikistan. His primary policy focus during these years has been research on the issue of how central banks around the world undertake their responsibilities.

Charitable Work
Vern's favorite charity is The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), an educational organization based in Washington, DC. TFAS has been educating young leaders on the values of freedom, democracy and free-market economies since 1967. Nine institutes around the world bring college students together for educational programs engaging them in a rigorous examination of economic concepts, political systems and moral philosophy. Vern attended TFAS' Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems in Washington, DC in 1984. Since that time he has arranged internships and job interviews for students and former students, regularly donated to TFAS, served on the TFAS Alumni Council, recruited students from many of the countries in which he has worked and mentored students attending the summer institutes in Washington, DC.

Vern's mix of experiences living in Northern Virginia and helping Nona raise their children, as well as his work experience on US and international legal and policy matters combined with his adherence to the principles of Ronald Reagan make him highly qualified to represent the 10th District of Virginia.