Hugh Thompson Rice Jr. (born August 4, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district from 2013 to 2023. The district serves most of the northeastern corner of the state and includes Myrtle Beach, the Grand Strand, Florence, Cheraw, and Darlington. A Republican, Rice was first elected in 2012 and was a member of the freshman class chosen to sit at the House Republican leadership table. Rice was reelected in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Gloria Bromell Tinubu in a rematch of the 2012 election.[1][2]
Rice was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on August 4, 1957. He was four years old when his parents divorced, and his mother, a teacher, took him and his brother Clay to Myrtle Beach. Rice's first job was a busboy when he was 12, and he was variously a night shift fry cook, a grocery store bag boy, and miniature golf course manager while still in high school. Rice was 16 when his father died.[citation needed]
After college, Rice worked at the accounting/consulting firm of Deloitte & Touche in Charlotte, where he earned his CPA certificate. In 1985 he returned to Myrtle Beach to practice tax law with the law firm Van Osdell, then established his own practice, Rice & MacDonald, in 1997.[9] He was elected chair of the Horry County Council in 2010, serving until he resigned from the position on December 31, 2012, in order to take his seat in Congress.[10]
Rice was elected to the U.S. House in 2012 as the first representative for the newly created 7th district. He defeated Jay Jordan, Randal Wallace, Dick Withington, James Mader, Chad Prosser, Katherine Jenerette, and Renee Culler in the June 12 Republican primary to advance to a runoff. In the June 26 runoff he defeated Andre Bauer. Rice defeated Gloria Bromell Tinubu in the November 6 general election.[2][11]
On November 11, 2013, Rice was appointed to the water resources conference committee, which helped resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013. The version that passed the House would allow for the dredging of the Georgetown port, a $33 million project that would boost the local economy; Rice said, "I have made it my goal to do whatever it takes to champion South Carolina's ports."[17][18][19][20]
Rice has co-sponsored several pieces of legislation including Safe Schools Act of 2013, a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and others.[21]
Rice has pushed changes to port funding[22][23] and offered victims help to replace Social Security cards and other federal documents after a massive fire destroyed 26 condo buildings in the Myrtle Beach area.[24]
On December 18, 2019, Rice joined all House Republicans in voting against impeaching Trump on both articles.
On January 13, 2021, Rice was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump a second time.[27] As late as two days before the impeachment debate, he opposed impeaching Trump.[28] But Rice told The Post and Courier that Trump's response to the storming of the Capitol changed his mind. He criticized Trump for neither offering condolences to those who were injured nor expressing regret about the two police officers who died. In a press release, Rice also upbraided Trump for his lack of contrition. Ultimately, Rice said, Trump's "utter failure" in the matter forced him to vote for impeachment.[29][30] He did so later that day, alongside nine other Republicans.[4]
On January 30, 2021, the South Carolina Republican Party voted to formally censure Rice for his impeachment vote.[31]
On February 1, 2022, Trump endorsed state representative Russell Fry in the Republican congressional primary in retaliation for Rice's vote for impeachment. Trump said, "Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2, must be thrown out of office."[33] In March, after a Trump rally in South Carolina where Fry had spoken, Rice responded, calling Trump "a would-be tyrant, because, like no one else I've ever met, he is consumed by spite."[6] "I took one vote he didn't like and now he's chosen to support a yes man candidate who has and will bow to anything he says."[6] "If you want a Congressman who supports political violence in Ukraine or in the United States Capitol...who supports a would-be tyrant over the Constitution...then Russell Fry is your candidate.”[6]
On June 5, 2022, Rice was interviewed on ABC and asserted that he had "no regrets" about his action. When the interviewer told him that, in his obituary, "the first sentence is going to be 'Tom Rice, who was a Republican member of Congress, voted to impeach Donald Trump'", Rice's reply was, "So be it," he said. "I'll wear it like a badge. So be it."[34]
Rice was interviewed by NBC News on June 13, 2022, and when asked about Trump's actions, he said, "He threw a temper tantrum that culminated with the sacking of the United States Capitol" and "It's a direct attack on the Constitution, and he should be held accountable".[8]
Rice voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.[37][38]
LGBT rights
On July 19, 2022, Rice and 46 other Republican Representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[39]
Rice and his family live in Myrtle Beach. He married his wife Wrenzie in 1982 and they have three sons.[52] He is an Episcopalian.[53]
In late May 2020, Rice announced that he refused to wear a face mask in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States while in Congress; in mid-June, he announced that he, his wife, and his son, had all been infected with COVID-19.[54]
^Axelrod, Tal (January 30, 2021). "South Carolina GOP votes to censure Rep. Rice over impeachment vote". The Hill. Retrieved January 30, 2021. Congressman Rice's vote unfortunately played right into the Democrats' game, and the people in his district, and ultimately our State Executive Committee, wanted him to know they wholeheartedly disagree with his decision.
^"Committees". Congressman Tom Rice. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
^"Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
^"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
