GROWING UP
Lee McInnis is a native Alabamian and a disabled veteran of the United States Army. Born at Carraway Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the youngest of two brothers. His father, Bill McInnis, served as an Infantry Company First Sergeant during the Korean War in one of the first racially integrated combat units in the US Army. After returning home, Bill worked for the Jefferson County Engineering Department, where he taught himself civil engineering and eventually supervised one of the largest water treatment plants in Alabama.
On his mother’s side, Lee comes from a strong union family. Lee’s maternal grandfather helped organize sheet metal workers in Birmingham in the 1920s. His uncle and several cousins were miners and members of the United Mine Workers. His mother, Rubie, was a 46-year employee of the telephone company and a member of the Communications Workers of America union her entire career.
MILITARY CAREER
Lee graduated from Homewood High School and Auburn University, where he earned his BA in communications. After college, Lee joined Army Intelligence and served for six years in both the Active and Reserve Components. Lee used the GI Bill to go back to graduate school at Auburn, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Communications and International Relations.
He then started his career in the Defense Intelligence Community. His career included seven years of overseas service, with assignments in the United Kingdom, Qatar, Bahrain, a deployment to Iraq, and two deployments to Afghanistan. His final position was as the Acting Director of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance with the Joint NATO/USA Special Operations Task Force in Kabul, Afghanistan. During that deployment, he received the Joint Staff Civilian Commendation Medal. Upon leaving federal service, Lee was honored with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Director’s Intelligence Award for his 28 years of service.
TODAY
After Lee retired from federal service, Barb’s job took them to Augusta, GA, where Lee taught Communications and American Government courses at a local college. After Barb retired from federal service, they moved to Opelika, and Lee enrolled again in Auburn’s graduate school, where he earned a Master’s Degree in History and a Graduate Certificate in Public History.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives write and vote on federal laws, including the federal budget. Each represents one district and serves a two-year term. Tax bills must start in the House, only the House can impeach federal officials, and members oversee federal agencies through their committees.