Congressman Andrew Clyde is a combat veteran, small business owner, and a proud Georgian. After earning his commission from the University of Notre Dame, he served as an U.S. Navy officer for 28 years, which included three combat deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. After receiving an honorable discharge, Congressman Clyde made his home in Athens, Georgia and earned a master’s degree in Corporate Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Georgia. He established Clyde Armory in 1991 and grew the company into a nationwide firearms business which currently operates two brick-and-mortar locations in Georgia. Congressman Clyde was elected to the 117th Congress in November 2020 as the representative for Georgia’s Ninth Congressional District. He currently serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Homeland Security Committee. The Congressman and his wife, Jennifer, are residents of Jackson County.
In the last two decades, the growth and widespread use of the internet has fundamentally transformed the way in which we interact, work, and engage in education and hobbies. Like generations before us that saw widespread adoption of electricity and telephones, the Internet is now inextricably linked to our lives and has developed into essential infrastructure. The pandemic has made evident the breadth and width of the digital divide in our unserved and underserved rural communities. We desperately need to bridge this gap in order to help commerce thrive, help families communicate, and increase access to education.
I will work with my colleagues to remove regulatory barriers of entry for emerging wired and wireless broadband technologies and seek to improve the process for delivering broadband grant funding to our communities in the Ninth District and across Georgia. Additionally, I believe the Internet is infrastructure and we must ensure there is robust investment in rural broadband in any bipartisan infrastructure package developed by this Congress.
Andrew's career in the Navy began after he earned his commission as an officer from the University of Notre Dame. He then spent the next 28 years of his life in service to our country including three combat deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. During his service, he earned a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, four Navy Commendation Medals, a Navy Achievement Medal, Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal w/Marine Corps Combat Operations Insignia, Iraq Campaign Medal, Expert Rifleman Medal, Expert Pistol Shot Medal, and multiple other medals.
After completing his active military service, Andrew homesteaded in Athens and decided to pursue a master’s degree from UGA in Corporate Finance and Entrepreneurship. In 1991 he started a small firearms business called Clyde Armory. What started as a hobby business in his garage has grown into a nationwide company with two brick-and-mortar locations here in Georgia. As a veteran turned small business owner, Andrew was truly living the American dream.