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American politician (born 1943)

Virginia Brown Waite (born Virginia Frances Kniffen; October 5, 1943) is an American politician who served as U. S. Representative for from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Republican Party and a founder of Maggie's List. The district stretched along several counties in western and central Florida, including territory in the metropolitan area of Tampa Bay.

Virginia Frances Kniffen was born in Albany, New York, on October 5, 1943. She attended Albany’s Vincentian High School. In 1976, she graduated from Empire State College, State University of New York (Northeast Center) with a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies. She was the first member of her family to earn a college degree. She later earned a master's degree in public administration from Russell Sage College. She served as a staffer in the New York State Senate, working there for 17 years and eventually rising to the role of legislative director. During this time, she divorced her first husband and married Harvey Waite, a New York state trooper. After Harvey Waite’s retirement in the mid 1980s, they moved to Brooksville, Florida.

Since entering Congress, Brown Waite has garnered a lifetime rating of 90 from the American Conservative Union. However, she broke with her party on a few occasions. She criticized George W. Bush for fielding questions from hand picked crowds. "Let me tell you the difference between a GWB town hall meeting – George W. Bush – and a GBW – Ginny Brown Waite – town hall meeting: I don't load the audience with just the choir," she once said. She was one of five Republicans who voted against a bill to give Terri Schiavo's parents the right to sue in federal court to keep her alive (Schiavo's home was located in the 5th). She is a member of Republican groups such as Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too, Mike Castle's Republican Main Street Partnership, and The Wish List. Brown Waite's district has one of the highest concentrations of retirees in the country. In early 2005, she referred to the current Social Security system as a "Ponzi scheme". However, she was skeptical of the president's proposal for personal accounts, saying that he hadn't done a good job of selling it to seniors. Brown Waite voted against an amendment that would have cut off funding for Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations. Brown Waite is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, she supported H. R. 4411, the Goodlatte Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act In 2008, she opposed H. R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U. S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling"). An ardent opponent of gun control, Brown Waite was known for proudly carrying a gun on trips to her district. in the process angering French officials and constituents. She also caused a minor controversy when, commenting on the economic stimulus package proposed by President Bush in early 2008, she referred to the peoples of Puerto Rico and Guam as "foreign citizens" (when they are, in fact, American citizens and nationals, respectively). She has since clarified those comments with an article on the Orlando Sentinel. On September 29, 2008, Brown Waite voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and also voted against the amended version which was enacted. The House version of the American Recovery and Investment Act was passed on January 28, 2009. Brown Waite was the only Republican to abstain from voting. All other 177 House Republicans voted against the Act.

In September 2006, Brown Waite was told about an incident from 2003 or 2004 when an apparently inebriated Mark Foley had tried to gain access to the pages' dormitory. On September 28, 2006, an inappropriate e mail that Foley sent was posted on ABCNEWS. com's "The Blotter". Brown Waite launched her own investigation and alerted Republican leadership on September 29 both about the dorm incident and about pages who had been made to feel uncomfortable by Foley. Foley resigned that day and the scandal erupted that evening with news of the lurid instant messages he had sent former pages.

The 5th District had been represented by Democrat Karen Thurman since its formation in 1993. After the 2000 Census, the Republican controlled Florida legislature redrew the 5th to be more friendly to Republicans. For the most part, the new 5th overlapped Brown Waite's state senate district. Brown Waite won the Republican primary, then won a narrow victory in November 2002 over Thurman

Brown Waite was re elected in 2004 with 66% of the vote against attorney Robert Whittell.

Brown Waite was re elected to a third term in 2006, receiving 59% of the vote against Democrat John Russell.

Brown Waite was re elected to a fourth term in 2008, receiving 61% of the vote against Democrat John Russell. Land o' Lakes Republican Jim King joined the race as a conservative candidate, attacking the moderate Congresswoman from the right on matters of national security, immigration, taxation, and supporting the troops, which is one of Brown Waite's signature issues. He also made an appeal to conservative Christian primary voters. In the first three fundraising quarters, King raised $40,000, an amount dwarfed by the $176,000 Brown Waite raised during that period, yet still large enough for King's campaign to have begun running local radio ads nine month in advance of primary day. Three Democrats declared their candidacies: 2006 nominee John Russell, H. David Werder and Carol Castagnero. Castagnero placed third in the Democratic primary for governor in 2006 and took 40% of the vote against State Senator Paula Dockery in 2004. John Russell was the Democratic nominee in the general election against Ginny Brown Waite in 2006. On November 26, 2007, it was reported that after years of hosting town hall meetings on the issue and calling for full hearing on the implications of the FAIR Tax, Brown Waite had endorsed the FairTax proposal on September 24. King accused her of only changing her stance because of his support for it.

On April 30, Brown Waite announced she would be retiring at the end of her current term. In a statement, she cited long running health problems, particularly with her pancreas. Brown Waite endorsed Hernando County sheriff Richard B. Nugent as her successor.

Brown Waite considered running for local office in 2012.