South Christian High School
Brian Mast went to which school from 1998 to 1999?
Brian Mast Brian Jeffery Mast ( born July 10 , 1980 ) is an American politician and U.S . military veteran who has served as the U.S . Representative for Floridas 18th congressional district since 2017 . He is a Republican . A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom , Mast lost both of his legs while serving as a U.S . Army explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan in 2010 . Early life and education . Mast was born and raised in Grand Rapids , Michigan . He is the son of James Mast and Tixomena Trujillo . His maternal grandparents were immigrants from Mexico . Mast graduated from South Christian High School , in 1999 . In 2016 , he obtained an A.L.B . from Harvard University Extension School , with a field of economics and minors in government and environmental studies . Military service . After graduating from South Christian High School in 1999 , Mast enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in May 2000 and went to become a combat engineer . In 2006 , he transitioned to the active U.S . Army and became an explosive ordnance disposal technician . Mast later joined the elite 28th Ordnance Company , a special operations explosive ordnance disposal unit that works alongside personnel of the 75th Ranger Regiment . He served in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom . On September 19 , 2010 , while clearing a path for United States Army Rangers in Kandahar , Mast took a wrong step into an IED along the road . The explosion resulted in the amputation of both his legs and his left index finger . Mast and his family were the recipients of a custom ADA-compliant home awarded to them by the non-profit organization Helping a Hero . Civilian career . After his honorable discharge from the U.S . Army , Mast was hired as an explosives specialist for the United States Department of Homeland Security . While recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center , Mast provided explosive and counter-terrorism expertise to the Office of Emergency Operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration from July 2011 to February 2012 and as an instructor of Home Made Explosives for the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives . U.S . House of Representatives . Elections . - 2016 Mast first considered running for office while recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center . It was reported in May 2015 that Mast was considering a run for Congress . On June 8 , 2015 , Mast announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination United States House of Representatives in Floridas 18th congressional district . Mast faced five opponents in the August 30 , 2016 , primary ; he won with 38% of the vote . Mast faced Democratic businessman Randy Perkins in the November 2016 general election . During the 2015-2016 election campaign , Masts largest donors were Duty Free Americas ( owned by the pro-Israel Falic family ) , NextGen Management ( a condo property firm ) , and Superior Foods ( frozen foods ) . Mast won the November 8 , 2016 , general election with 53% of the vote . In 2016 , Mast was briefly linked with World Patent Marketing , a company the Federal Trade Commission would shut down as an invention promotion scam . World Patent Marketing donated money to Masts campaign fund and said in a press release that he sat on their advisory board . Mast claimed no knowledge of being given a position on the board and said he only had a couple encounters with members of the company . In 2018 , Anthony Bustamante , a campaign consultant who had worked on Masts 2016 campaign , told The Wall Street Journal that he had used data hacked from the Democratic National Committee by Guccifer 2.0 , a front for Russias GRU military intelligence service , to adjust Masts campaign strategy . The hacked data had been leaked by Guccifer 2.0 to the HelloFLA blog . - 2018 On April 25 , 2018 , physician Mark Freeman announced a primary challenge to Mast , focusing on his promise to defend the Second Amendment and be an unwavering partner to President Trump . Freeman called Mast an establishment candidate and complained about Masts shift on gun control issues after the Parkland school shooting . Mast defeated Freeman in the Republican primary and moved onto a general election battle against Democratic nominee Lauren Baer , an attorney and foreign policy expert who served as an official in the Obama Administration . Mast received 54% of the vote in the general election , defeating Baer . During the 2017-2018 election campaign , Masts largest donors were Duty Free Americas ( as in the 2016 campaign ) and Amway/Alticor ( run by the DeVos family ) . Between March and June 2018 , Masts campaign received thousands of dollars from Soviet-born Igor Fruman , one of two business associates of Rudy Giuliani who would later face charges of violating federal campaign finance laws . After this allegedly illegal contribution was discovered and reported on by the press , Masts spokesman said he would disgorge the funds to the Treasury Department , but less than two weeks later Mast would say , I think we donated it to charity . - 2020 Mast ran for the seat again in the 2020 election , going up against Democrat Pam Keith . In August 2020 he apologized for what he called disgusting and inappropriate jokes that he made on Facebook in 2009 and 2011 . Tenure . Mast was sworn in on January 3 , 2017 . He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Climate Solutions Caucus . After voting in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 , his constituents rated him at a 40 percent approval rating and 45 percent said they were disappointed with his work in Congress . In May 2018 , the Associated Press reported that Mast was under consideration by the Trump administration to become the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs . Committee assignments . - Committee on Foreign Affairs - Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa - Subcommittee on Terrorism , Nonproliferation , and Trade - Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation - Subcommittee on Economic Development , Public Buildings and Emergency Management - Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Caucus memberships . - Republican Main Street Partnership Political positions . During the 117th United States Congress , which commenced in January 2021 , Mast has voted with his party 97.5% of the time , ranking him as the 95th most bipartisan member of the U.S . House . During Donald Trumps presidency , Mast voted in line with the presidents stated position 90.6% of the time . In the first session of the 115th United States Congress , Mast was ranked the 32nd most bipartisan member of the House by the Bipartisan Index , a metric published by The Lugar Center and Georgetowns McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship . Abortion . Mast believes abortion should be illegal except in cases where the womans life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest . Agricultural subsidies . In April 2018 , Mast said he would probably vote for legislation to reduce support for sugar farmers , who under the then current Farm Bill were protected by fixed minimum prices , by limits on imports and on domestic production , and by government loans to sugar growers . I expect Ill be supporting it when it comes up for a vote next week , Mast said of the Sugar Policy Modernization Act , because its important to the community I represent , and our waterways . The proposed act , reported TCPalm , would make sugar import quotas more flexible and protect taxpayers from government-funded buyouts of surplus sugar . Mast said he would probably be the only representative in the history of this district to vote against the sugar industry . That said , Mast also accepted over $15,000 in campaign donations from the executives at Florida Crystals ( sugar company ) and the Fanjul family that owns the company . Cannabis . In December 2020 , Mast was one of only five House Republicans to vote for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement ( MORE ) Act . The act aimed to correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color ; it included provisions to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act , impose a federal tax on cannabis products , and use the proceeds of the tax to fund restorative justice programs . A month prior to the vote , Mast invested between $15,000 and $50,000 in the cannabis company Tilray and disclosed the purchase on December 1 . Donald Trump . In June 2016 , Mast said he supported Donald Trump unanimously and wholeheartedly in the 2016 presidential election . After the Billy Bush tape became public , he called Donald Trumps remarks inexcusable and disgusting . In February 2017 , he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request ten years of Trumps tax returns , which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session . On December 18 , 2019 , Mast voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump . Of the 195 Republicans who voted , all voted against both impeachment articles . Gay rights . Mast believes it was a mistake for the US Supreme Court to get involved with the same-sex marriage issue . Gun policy . Mast wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times in support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms , but it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms . Mast supports a ban on assault weapons in the United States , citing his military background—I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill the children I swore to defend . Mast rejects the idea that the Second Amendment protects the rights of civilians to bear any and all arms . Following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting , Mast announced his support for the following policies : prohibiting the sale of assault and tactical firearms without confiscating such weapons that are already owned , ensuring that all firearm purchasers undergo a background check , improving background checks , banning the sale of gun accessories that enhance the firing rate of weapons , such as bump stocks , preventing those who have been detained for mental illnesses from purchasing firearms , ensuring that those on the Terror Watch List cannot purchase firearms , and placing anyone who makes threats of violence against schools on an FBI watch list for a long time . Mast also supports conducting further research on gun violence , which is currently prohibited in some ways by federal law . Mast has blamed violent video games and violent movies as at least partly responsible for school shootings . In March 2017 , Mast voted in favor of the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act . The measure passed the House of Representatives , but ultimately stalled in the Senate . During 2015–2016 , Mast accepted US$4,950 in campaign donations from the NRAs Political Victory Fund . Healthcare . Mast is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act ( Obamacare ) . On May 4 , 2017 , he voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass the American Health Care Act . Immigration . In June 2018 , commenting on the Trump administration family separation policy , Mast said : It is our duty as an American government to deal compassionately with any child from any nation just as it is the responsibility of foreign families seeking asylum in the U.S . to choose only legal means to enter our nation so they can avoid family disruption . I am confident this process will be improved . Citing his own Mexican grandparents , he said , The way that they got to work , the way that they assimilated to the American way of life and became a part of our system is not what were seeing across the board . In June 2018 , a volunteer for the Democratic Party of Martin County who was angry about the Trump administrations immigration policy , was arrested after threatening to kill Masts children . The first trial in the case ended in a mistrial in April 2019 . International diplomacy . Mast said he would support a Republican proposal to cut U.S . funding to the United Nations . Mast was critical of Obamas Middle East policy . ISIS is as strong as it is because of a lack of US leadership , he said in 2016 ISIS could have been defeated at the time of the Arab Spring if we had sent in special operations forces . Whats being done now is too little too late . Its going to require an all-out military effort . The only way to guarantee peace is to make the enemy surrender . Iran nuclear deal . Mast views Obamas Iran nuclear deal as a betrayal by the US of its own national security as well as that of Israel , Jordan , and other regional allies . The deal has aligned us with a Shia regime , which is just enabling extremism . This is going to make it very hard to get Sunni regimes to align with us , and Putin is now the go-to player in Syria with his alliance with Assad , he said in 2016 . Israel . Mast is a vocal supporter of Israel and Israelis , reported The Times of Israel during his 2016 campaign . If anyone was lobbing rockets into the US , guys like me would be sent to kill them , and Americans would applaud us , he said . Military and veterans affairs . Mast , who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee , was the first Member of Congress to open an office inside a federal agency . The office in question , which was opened in 2018 , was inside the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs facility . In 2018 he introduced a House bill that would make it easier for other House members to do the same . But in 2019 , the Department of Veterans Affairs would evict Representative Mast from the West Palm Beach office . Mast sent the VA Secretary Robert Wilkie a letter of complaint regarding the eviction . Taxes and budget . In October 2017 , Mast voted against the original version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 due to out of control federal spending , fear of the national debt growing , and a desire to see lower tax rates with loopholes closed . In December 2017 , he voted in favor of the final version of the bill . He says the bill provides a lot of confidence to a lot of people and is a great moment for our country and our community . Honors . During his twelve years of service in the U.S . Army , he received the Bronze Star Medal , Purple Heart , Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal with V for valor device . He was invited by President Barack Obama as a guest to his 2011 State of the Union Address and was seated with First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden . Mast was named one of 10 House freshmen to watch by the Washington , D.C . newspaper The Hill , out of 55 new members of the House elected in 2016 . Personal life . Mast lives in Palm City , Florida , with his wife Brianna and their four children , Madalyn , Maverick , Magnum , and Major . As of a 2016 news story , he attended the evangelical Calvary Chapel . In January 2015 , Mast volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces , working at a base outside Tel Aviv , packing medical kits and moving supplies .