I chose Brian as our new Political A Lister for two reasons:
1) His role and commentary in the new feature film “Don’t Tread on Me.” This is first class conservative street cred. Period.
2) His work on HJR 88 regarding State Sovereignty. People are waking up to the merit of this bill that went all the way through the Senate Committee. We saw too little of this bill because of extraordinary focus on the Healthcare portion of the Sovereignty issue. This was largely a reaction to Obamacare so while understandable, it is a lesson to act rationally and not react to what is happening in the political realm. Ultimately, this resulted in a statutory change, rather than Nieves’ CONSTITUTIONAL change that would have had teeth, and frankly, chutzpah. Brian has promised this will be his first bill out of the gate if he is elected Senator this November, and that he would make the internal sacrifices necessary to “pass it clean.” That costs political capital that Brian has repeatedly demonstrated he has the character to expend when it comes to doing what’s right.
This is why Brian would be such a great addition to the State Senate–He had solid vision that was broad and rational at a time when the electorate was reacting to Obamacare. This is precisely the level headed leader we need at this time, and it is why he is my A Lister this week! Congratulations, Brian!
Bio
Brian Nieves was elected to his first term in the Missouri House of Representatives in November 2002 and sworn into Missouri’s 92nd General Assembly in January 2003. Soon thereafter, Nieves was elevated to a leadership position as a member of the majority whip team.
With less than two months under his belt, Brian accomplished something perhaps no other freshman legislator had and was appointed to serve as Chief Deputy Majority Whip. With this position he was also invited to have a seat at the Speaker’s leadership table. Recognizing his hard work and dedication, Brian’s colleagues have re-elected him each year to serve as their Majority Whip. He has now served almost eight years in that capacity and has the longest tenure of any current member of House Leadership.
As a senior member of House Leadership, Representative Nieves is an ex-officio member of all House committees and routinely serves as Presiding Officer of the House during debate. Brian also holds a full-time seat on the House Immigration Reform Committee and Fiscal Oversight and Review. Representative Nieves feels that after the protection of innocent life, few things are of more importance to us than the preservation of our language, borders and culture. Brian knows asserting our State sovereignty is a key element in restoring our liberties and pushing back an out of control Federal Government.
Prior to serving in the Missouri Legislature, Representative Nieves served approximately ten years on active duty in the U.S. Navy as a Corpsman; with the majority of his time spent alongside U.S. Marines. During his naval service, Brian received many Leadership Awards as well as several medals and commendations.
While on active duty Brian started a small business – Nieves Enterprises International. Upon his return to Franklin County, Brian was able to expand the company into many states, even conducting business regularly in the country of Colombia. The discipline he obtained while serving in the military, combined with the entrepreneurial spirit he grew up with, proved to be instrumental as his company’s sales hit $1,000,000 before he reached the age of 30.
Brian currently owns and operates a leadership consulting company concentrating on teaching character based, principle centered leadership and a sales & marketing company. In recent years, Representative Nieves has also enjoyed substitute teaching in Washington, Missouri, where he was regularly requested by students and faculty alike.
The center of Brian’s life is and has always been his family. He and his wife Julie have been blessed with three children – Alexandra (18), Moriah (13) and Victor (10). Brian and Julie have been married 22 years and enjoy raising their children in Washington, Missouri