Scott Perry brings a unique background of hard work, small business, military leadership and community involvement to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served 3 terms as a Pennsylvania State Representative, where he established a record for protecting Taxpayers’ interests in Harrisburg. He was assigned to the Committees on Appropriations, Consumer Affairs, Labor Relations, Veterans Affairs, Emergency Preparedness, and Rules. He earned the privilege of serving as the Congressman from Pennsylvania’s 4th Congressional District (York, Adams & part Cumberland) in 2013. He earned re-election to the newly-redistricted 10th District (Dauphin, part York, and part Cumberland) in 2018, and presently serves on the U.S. House Committees on Transportation & Infrastructure, and Foreign Affairs. He also recently was elected by the House Freedom Caucus as its newest Chairman.
Scott is the grandson of Colombian immigrants, and the son of a single mom who fled two abusive situations and worked several jobs to survive and support her children – with whom she finally landed in Central Pennsylvania in their first home on Berryhill Street in Harrisburg, and ultimately moving to Dillsburg. Scott and his family were on public assistance for several years during his youth. He was raised in a spartan home, which initially had no electricity and plumbing, required bathing in a steel tub on the porch, pumped water from a well, and cut firewood with his older brother to keep the family warm in winter.
Perry began working at age 13 picking fruit at Ashcombe’s Farm in Mechanicsburg. Since then, he’s worked as a mechanic, dock worker, draftsman and a licensed insurance agent. He’s a 1980 graduate of Northern High School and the Cumberland-Perry Vo-Tech School. He put himself through college while working a full-time job, and graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1991, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration Management.
In 1993, Perry and his mom started their own mechanical contracting firm, initially in their garage – Hydrotech Mechanical Services, Inc. The Dillsburg-based business provided contract construction and maintenance services to municipal and investor-owned utilities from North Carolina to New York and specialized in large meter calibration.
Perry began his military service when he enlisted in 1980. He attended basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and graduated Advanced Individual Training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as a technical drafting specialist. He graduated as the president of his Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery branch. He soon branch-transferred to Army Aviation, where he earned qualifications in almost every aircraft in the Army’s rotary wing inventory (Huey, Cayuse, Kiowa, Cobra, Chinook, Apache, and Blackhawk), as well as the Instructor Pilot rating. He’s commanded at the company, battalion and brigade levels; notably, then-Lieutenant Colonel Perry commanded the 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion, which deployed to Iraq from 2009-2010, during which he flew 44 combat missions. In 2011, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, became Commander of the Fort Indiantown Gap National Training Site, and was selected to attend the coveted United States Army War College, from which he earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies. Perry was privileged to be selected for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General in 2014 and served as the Assistant Division Commander of the 28th Infantry Division – the Army’s oldest, actively serving Division. After serving in his final position as the Assistant Adjutant General, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Brigadier General Perry retired on 1 March 2019, upon nearly 40 years of military service.
Perry’s service to his community also has included serving as the chairman of the Carroll Township Planning Commission and as a member of the township Source Water Protection Committee. He was chairman of the Dillsburg Area Wellhead Protection Advisory Committee and served on the Dillsburg Revitalization Committee. He remains active in the Jaycees and held the office of regional director for the state organization. He’s is a member of Dillsburg Legion Post #26, Dillsburg VFW Post #6771, and is a Lions Club International Member.
Scott and his wife, Christy, are the proud parents of two daughters.
