Family

I met my wife, Samuela, while I was living and working in Washington, DC. I was supposed to show her the attractions of the city one Saturday, and before we knew it, we had spent four hours lost in conversation in the exact spot where we had met up that morning. She had come to the U.S. to do an internship that was required for the completion of her college degree. She majored in foreign languages at the Universita di Bologna, in Bologna, Italy. She speaks five languages and is a talented painter and drawer. Her hobbies are many; painting, drawing, volleyball, dance and she is nothing short of brilliant in the kitchen. Italian food is her specialty, of course.

She is the reason I wake up with a smile and the reason I wear one most of the day. We were married in May of 2007 in her hometown of Pineto, on the Adriatic Coast in Central Italy. My mother-in-law's name is Linamina and my father-in-law is Attanasio. Samuela has three younger siblings, Morena, Roberto and Poldo.

My mother and father raised us to be hardworking, independent thinkers with good old Missouri values. My mother Vicki is an ex-hunter/jumper with a passion for old architecture and design. My father David is an ex-pro quarterback whose career was cut short by a motorcycle accident. He is now a high school teacher and coach who spends his free time remodeling kitchens and bathrooms. I have a sister, Daisy and a brother, Tim. They enjoy making fun of me during our family get-togethers. 

My cousin, Scott, played football for Notre Dame and in 11 years in the NFL. We enjoyed 5 of those years together in Detroit with the Lions. Scott's father, my uncle Bob, played 13 seasons in the NFL as an offensive guard. My uncle Allen is the Director of Marketing worldwide for Yahoo. He held the same position previously with Apple Computers.

Early Life

I grew up in the heart of the 9th district: the farming community of Hermann, MO. I went to grade school there, worked as a farmhand for my grandfather and on other local farms, and started playing organized sports.

When I was 11 years old, I went to my Dad after a rough day at football practice where the coaches had told me I was too small and slow to be a running back. My Dad listened to my complaints, went upstairs to the attic, and came back with a poster which promptly was placed on my bedroom wall. That poster, with the message, "When you're not training, somebody, somewhere is and when you meet that person, they will win," lit a fire in me that still burns to this day. I went on to win the running back position, start at Hermann High School, then on to St. Francis Borgia Regional High School in Washington, MO, where I became the captain of the undefeated State Champions in 1993 and was also named high school football player of the year in the State of Missouri.

College Years

After winning the state high school football championship for St. Francis Borgia Regional High School in Washington, MO, there was no other choice in my mind or my heart: I was going to be a Missouri Tiger. While they may have tried to recruit me, no other school or state stood a chance of luring me away from my dream of playing at Mizzou.

Being a part of Coach Smith's team, where I was allowed to show my athletic ability and allowed to let my work ethic be the example that the rest of the team followed, was another dream come true. We fought and clawed our way back to respectability and then college football prominence after 13 years of losing seasons.

While we ended up losing the game in 1997 on the most impossible of flukes, let me tell you that when I caught the pass from Corby Jones scoring the touchdown that put us up against #1 Nebraska 24-21, Faurot physically shook. I swear the earth trembled in the end zone. I will never be more proud, outside of my marriage, than I was at that moment, for I achieved it with the word MIZZOU on my chest. I hope you enjoyed that moment as much as I still do. (Congratulations to Coach Pinkel and the current team for taking the Tigers to even greater heights.)

Along the way in 1997, I earned the inaugural Mosi Tatupu Award as the top special teams player in college football. In 2003, I joined 6 other former Tigers when the University retired my jersey #27 and placed it on the Wall of Honor at Faurot Field.

I achieved in my studies as well. You may know that I was tapped into the University of Missouri's Mystical Seven Secret Honor Society for leadership in the classroom and on the athletic field. I earned my Bachelor's at Mizzou, and after five years in the National Football League and several more in Washington, D.C., I earned a Masters at the Universita di Bologna in Italy.

The National Football League

From 1998 to 2002, I was a Running Back/Special Teams player for the Detroit Lions. If you don't know this already, the NFL really means 'Not For Long', as the average career of a player on the field is just over one season, due to injuries. I was fortunate to make it from 1998 - 2002 without a serious injury. I made it through five before voluntarily retiring.

While with the team the six-day workweek required the highest level of discipline in maintaining physical and mental fitness in addition to an intense work and travel schedule. I was required to learn more than 400 individual plays and schemes. As a special teams captain, I led the team in tackles on "teams" for three seasons and I was nominated to two Pro-Bowls as a special teams all-purpose player.

In the off season, I acted as my own agent during contract negotiations with team management and personnel.

I played with and against many Hall of Fame players, took the field in many Monday Night and Sunday Night ESPN games, and even made it to the NFL Playoffs in 1999.

Washington, D.C.

After voluntarily leaving the NFL, I moved to Washington, D.C., and began working for The National Italian American Foundation. There I was a program manager for the Culture and Education department. I designed and coordinated programs that promoted and preserved the Italian culture in America. I also served as assistant liaison between the NIAF and Italian business and congressional figures, working to strengthen the rapport between Italy and the United States. Another part of my job involved assisting our Legislative Liaison with the Congressional Italian caucus and the Italian Embassy. I also helped work on legislative issues important to Italian-Americans with elected officials, such as dual citizenship.

Italy

While working in our nation's capitol, I was extremely fortunate to meet the love of my life, Samuela. Samuela is a native Italian and I soon found myself living in Bologna, Italy. Samuela and I decided to continue our education and enrolled in the Universita di Bologna, which is considered the most prestigious institution of higher learning in Italy. I earned my Masters Degree in Marketing and Communications at the University's ALMA Graduate School.

I also founded Olivo Consulting, which fostered business and trade relationships between small and medium size American and Italian manufacturers. I helped American companies explore business opportunities in new international markets for their products.

When Samuela and I decided to begin planning a family, it was our mutual decision that our children would be born and raised in Missouri. So we returned to my home area to begin a new phase of our lives together.

Roots in Agriculture

Growing up I not only worked my grandfather's 900 acre farm in Gasconade County, I worked summers and spring breaks as a farmhand in the community of Hermann. I've mended fence, helped deliver calves in the middle of the night, bucked bales and I had to roll-start that old Farmall C with the sickle mower every morning! Agriculture has long played a significant role in our family; my grandfather raised Polled Herefords and Black Angus and of course, being from Missouri, corn and soybeans. My parents have been in the equine industry for over 40 years. My sister resides on a 300-acre horse farm near Columbia, MO, and is picking up right where my parents are leaving off. She is breeding thoroughbred race horses and competitive hunter/jumpers. My wife's family comes from a farming community in Italy, about two and-a-half hours east of Rome, on the Adriatic Coast. Her family has raised livestock and olives and grapes in the mountains of Abruzzo for seven generations. We look forward to passing our agriculture roots on to our children.

Education

Masters in Marketing and Communications, ALMA Graduate School
– Universita di Bologna (Italy).

English Creative Writing and Literature degree, University of Missouri.

St. Francis Borgia Regional High School, Washington, MO.

Football Achievements

Volunteer Offensive Coach and Special Teams Coach of one of the most successful organizations in Italy. Bologna Warriors American Football Team. Led the team in special teams tackles during five years with Detroit Lions. Led the Detroit Lions Special Teams Unit in points for production (grading system). Served as a Captain of special teams units often throughout NFL career. Pro-Bowl Nominee in 1999 and 2001. Earned full four-year scholarship to play football for the University of Missouri-Columbia. Left Missouri as all time leading rusher and scoring leader. National College Football Special Teams Player of the Year in 1997. College jersey #27 retired in 2003. Tapped into the University of Missouri's Mystical Seven Secret Honor Society for leadership in classroom and on the athletic field. Captain of undefeated State Champion St. Francis Borgia R.H.S. Knights in 1993. Gatorade Missouri High School Player of the Year in 1993.

WHERE I STAND

Economy & Jobs

As the only candidate in this race with international business experience, I would bring a unique perspective to breaking down trade barriers and finding even more markets for our American products.

I will always support a tax cut, be it targeted or far reaching. I support the proposed federal tax waiver on gasoline for this reason. I support the repeal of the death tax. I also support the repeal of the corporate tax. I would also encourage a focus on training students and adults to strengthen their personal financial literacy.

I believe businesses create jobs, not the government. I would work to lower taxes and eliminate the bureaucratic burdens on entrepreneurs and small business owners to allow them to create more jobs. Business owners should be investing in and expanding their businesses, not making up the deficit Congress created.

Two issues that need immediate action with regard to business owners:

1. Make tamper-proof the E-Verify system so that business owners can make new hires without having to worry about fraudulent documents on illegal aliens slipping through the cracks.

2.Make health care affordable and therefore available for employees. 90% of Americans are employed or dependent upon small business, therefore, if we fix health care for small business, we fix health care for America.

Immigration

I am three generations removed from my great-grandparents who left Italy to come to America. My wife, who is a native Italian, is now following the proper procedures to become a naturalized American citizen, so I bring a more personal approach to this issue. If immigrants come here legally, they should be allowed to stay and learn, work, or live as they have applied to do so. If they choose not to play by the rules, they should be treated like anyone else who has broken the law. The laws are in place and we need to enforce them. I favor a strong border patrol on all of our borders. We need to be aware of the fact that illegal immigrants are coming from all over the world.

The problem with border security goes way beyond just building a fence or a wall. We can't put a finger in the dike and expect the problem to go away. The saying "where there's a will there's a way" is a reality that we must address. We must support our border patrol - the boots on the ground. They need to know they can do their job without the fear of being prosecuted for taking action when needed. We also need to recognize the porous areas of the border that fall within our Native American reservations. These areas are vast and offer very little security due to a lack of resources, not a lack of will. I have met with military personnel that have decades of border patrol experience and every one of them points out the lack of security within the Indian nations. We need to implement immediate action to collaborate with the various reservations on the borders.

I do not condone amnesty, the guest worker program or social services for current illegal residents. I believe we should work to utilize and improve upon the temporary visa worker program. We should also turn some of our Homeland Security efforts towards maintaining a vigilant eye on visitors here on visa. These people can no longer be unaccounted for and as a result, stay here past their permitted time. Let us not forget which legal loopholes the 9/11 hijackers exploited. I am against sanctuary cities and support any means or funding that federal, state, or local law enforcement need to do their jobs.

International Relations

I support the War on Terror. I believe one of the most important objectives of government is to protect its citizens. I support our troops and will listen to our military leaders whose boots are on the ground. I realize that Missouri has one of the largest numbers of actively deployed National Guardsmen, and a very high number of deployed men and women in the armed forces. I also respect the ultimate sacrifice that so many Missourians have made in order to serve our nation. Our military personnel will have no greater ally in Congress than Brock Olivo. I will do everything in my power to ensure that our troops have every means necessary to get the job done. I will also encourage an investment for increased access to mental health training and therapy before, during, and after active duty for soldiers and their families.

Our friends and allies in other nations across the world should always be able to trust America. The leaders of rogue nations where citizens suffer from oppression, hunger, and disease should also trust that America will not tolerate or condone their actions.

Taxes

I will support every tax cut and will work against any tax increase that comes before me. I believe federal taxes are too high. High taxes are a burden to American families and businesses. The mass exodus of U.S. manufacturers can in part be attributed to the fact that we have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, at 35%. The current tax code is antiquated and crippling and it punishes hard working Americans – the harder we work and the more we earn, the more we are punished with higher taxes. There are many tax reform solutions on the table. I support the Fair Tax and believe it can simplify our tax code and allow Americans to lead more productive and profitable lives. We must also remove estimated taxes for tips earned by waitresses, waiters, and other service industry employees. We should work to lower our tax burden in every way possible. Lower taxes mean small business owners and entrepreneurs will have more money to invest in their workforce, creating more jobs. With more people at work and with a Congress that will only spend within its means, America can bounce back from our economic downturns. Washington has proven that it is not the best steward of our tax dollars. That is why we should allow Americans to keep more of their paychecks to spend how they choose.

National Debt

We should be appalled at the size of our national debt: $9 trillion. This is a gross mismanagement of our tax dollars. Some claim the deficit has grown to pay for protective purposes, but a large portion of our debt is due to wasteful government spending. Congress continues to spend more than it takes in from hard-working taxpayers, and that practice is what continues to cause record deficits. Fiscal responsibility is all but extinct in DC, not even our conservative brothers and sisters can claim sound fiscal management as of late. I believe fiscal stewardship and transparency should be the highest priority when having the privilege to serve the public.

Health Care

I believe the United States has the highest quality of healthcare in the world. Having lived abroad for some time, I feel comfortable making this statement. Our historical problem has always been the availability of our healthcare system, or I should say, the lack thereof. The lack of availability of health care can mostly be attributed to the scandalously high costs.

Finding solutions to these challenges will be one of my principle objectives while in Congress. Ninety percent of U.S. citizens are employed or dependent upon small business. Given that, if we fix health care for small business, we fix health care for America. Some ideas that I would like to explore:

Employee-centric health care

Currently, our system is an employer-centric system where the majority of business owners find themselves in the health care business, too. Unfortunately, no matter where someone works, most of the time their healthcare is not portable, meaning they can't take it with them from job to job. I propose we give individuals ownership of their health care policies, just like a 401(k). Why can an employee take his/her 401(k) with them to another job, but not their health care policy? This is deterring many people from taking job offers and making career moves that could be beneficial to themselves and our society.

Increase Competition – Let the Free Market work

Why can we shop for car insurance across state lines for the lowest prices, but we can't do the same for health care? Why can corporations like Boeing, Microsoft, and the Teamsters, the United Steel Workers, etc., organize nationally to create affordable health care for their employees, but small businesses and farmers cannot associate to form economies of scale? I believe that until we know the true cost of health care, prices will continue to rise. We can see each box of cereal on the shelf, the price, the label, the ingredients, all helping us make the decision we believe is best for us. I want to see the same basic principles of the Free Market working in the health care industry. People have the right to know about the cost and quality of the care they receive. I know there are limitations as to how far the Free Market can reach in our health care arena, but we must increase competition between the insurance companies and help to restore faith and accessibility to our health care system.

Preventative health care

I believe one of the most effective ways to improve our health care system is to inspire a cultural change towards preventative measures and healthy lifestyles. This begins at home through educating younger Americans on the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. As part of this initiative, I will work to help curb the childhood obesity epidemic that is happening here at home. Our children need to be encouraged to live healthy lives and all it takes is a little education early on.

As I mentioned above, we enjoy the highest quality health care in the world. That may be one of the reasons our newest generation may not live to be as old as their parents. We may tend to rely too much on a quick fix, or a mask of the symptoms through drugs, that could otherwise have been prevented by a diet rich in fiber or anti-oxidants or an exercise regime that kept that extra weight at bay. As a former professional athlete who knows the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, this will be a challenge that I will gladly accept while in Congress as it is vital to the well-being of our country.

We must inspire a cultural change towards preventive measures and healthy lifestyles. This should begin at home with our younger Americans and be followed throughout our lives.

Human Cloning

I will work to ban human cloning in America.

I would not abdicate a federal ban on stem cell research. Adult stem cell research has proven to be an effective tool in the research for cures for diseases. I believe the voters or elected representatives of each individual state should continue to have control as to whether or not they want to allow ethical stem cell research.

2nd Amendment

I support the right to keep and bear arms. I own guns and I shoot guns. Anyone, or any court, that tries to further erode our liberties of self defense and private property rights will have a lot of explaining to do to me when I am in Congress.

Free Speech and Personal Liberties

If it is a right guaranteed to us in the Constitution or put forth in the Declaration of Independence, I support it. The First Amendment is one of things that separates our great country from other democracies around the globe. I can attest to this first-hand because I have lived overseas.

Tourism

Tourism is a top employer in the 9th district. Our lakes, wineries, historic areas, and sporting events draw hundreds of thousands of people and millions of dollars in revenue to our area. I learned about the importance of tourism watching my hometown of Hermann fill up on May and October weekends and then at the University of Missouri as our football teams filled Faurot for the first time in years. I will do my best to promote our resources, enhance our infrastructure, and encourage more Missourians and Americans to sample the fruits and pleasures of our area.

Education

The cost of higher education has reached ridiculous heights. I was fortunate to receive a full-ride athletic scholarship to college, but many of my teammates and classmates did not. Talking with students and their parents, this is their largest concern for the future. We are slowly squeezing out the middle class from a quality education. We can do better.

I would like to see full ride scholarships for American students with academic achievement, civic involvement and military service. We can also expand educational opportunities to more students at lower costs by utilizing distance teaching and virtual classrooms over the internet. I would have supported legislation such as the College Cost Reduction Act (H.R. 2669), which provides an increase in the number of Pell Grants and their dollar amount, an increase in the number of Stafford student loans with lower interest rates and increased grants for teachers wanting to further their education in math, science and foreign languages. We also need to make the FAFSA application process less cumbersome so students and their families can apply for loans more easily.

When we talk about the importance of education in the U.S., we need to talk about our public schools. I believe that our public schools, from K-12 are what will define the success of our country for the coming generations. Not everyone is cutout for college, but we should make it a goal to provide the best possible K-12 education for our kids. I believe that literacy should be one of the highest priorities of our educators. The capacity to read and write provides the fundamentals and the basic skills that every trade or career requires. An emphasis on math and science does no good without first being able to read and comprehend. We need to have faith in our teachers to achieve this goal, but we have to hold them accountable as well. Is No Child Left Behind the answer? A lot of educators and administrators tell me that the intentions were good, but that there are many shortcomings in NCLB. NCLB is comprised of nine components from Annual Testing to Academic Improvement. These happen to be the two most controversial components according to teachers that I have spoken with. While annual testing is a great tool to monitor the progress of an individual student and a school district, the largest problem lays with the states. Academic improvement is monitored from the annual testing, but the flaw with measuring this improvement is the wide range of testing among the states. In other words, there are too many inconsistencies. Under current NCLB law, the states can select, design, and implement their own testing assessments. Some states have very different tests, while others have what are regarded as easier tests, and some states have eased the scoring of their state’s tests.

The academic improvement section instructs that all school students must be proficient in testing areas by 2014, and this is noted by a designation of adequate yearly progress (AYP). If a district or state does not follow the AYP, they are subject to loss of funding amd must offer supplemental services. This requires all students, including high-risk and students with disabilities, to be tested yearly. While proficiency by 2014 is a great goal to have, it is virtually impossible for every student to score profecient on any standardized tests. It is unreasonable to believe that someone who has severe learning disabilities should test at the same level as a normal student.

NCLB should be reauthorized with key language and purpose changes. Students, teachers and adminstrators alike should be involved in these discussions, as we try to make our students more competitive in the U.S. and around the world.

Another education area that I am focused on is personal financial literacy. Elementary and secondary education decisions should always be made at the local level, but the Department of Education should encourage a national focus on developing a skill that seems to be sorely lacking. According to just released U.S. Commerce Department figures, the personal savings rates of Americans dipped to 0.7% of income.http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm

Here in Missouri, we now have a one semester graduation requirement for our high school seniors, but it is the only required subject students can test out of. There is also no qualification as to who can teach the class, meaning many times financial professionals and experts aren't allowed into the classroom.

Many local educators are trapped by red tape from teaching students about the financial life skills they need. We need to arm our students with knowledge now to prevent them from beginning life on their own with student loan and personal debt loads equivalent to a mortgage. We should do this without creating another big government program that hands out items from the cradle to the grave.

Home Schooling and private schools should also remain important alternatives to public schools, as long as they do not diminish the focus on the importance of our public schools.

Transportation

An important part of America that is being left behind is our transportation infrastructure. As the cost of transporting goods and people grows every day, we should be making an effort to increase the means, modes, and safety of our transportation methods.

We must invest in a greater and safer interstate highway system. Interstate 70 in the 9th District is continually clogged and in need of repair. Federal dollars also go into our state highways like 63, 61, 50, and 36. All of these, and more routes, should be a minimum of 4 lanes from start to finish.

Our navigable rivers must be managed by a modern system of locks and dams, and pallid sturgeon or no pallid sturgeon, we must have sensible management practices on the Missouri River. Farmers and their crops rate a lot higher in my book than a fish that doesn't know how to procreate. Making sure the Missouri and Mississippi rivers are viable sources for transportation needs to be a priority in Congress. One barge tow is the equivalent to about 60 semi tractor trailers, which crowd our highways and create safety hazards for Missouri families.

Our regional and local airports also deserve to be upgraded. Longer runways and better navigation systems will increase safety and traffic.

Veterans

We must remember to whom we owe the freedoms we enjoy in our country: our Veterans. Quality and efficient healthcare for Veterans must be a priority. The majority of the Veterans I have spoken to are not enrolled in the VA system and this is where we need to concentrate: of the 25 million Veterans in the U.S., only five and a-half million are enrolled. I want to increase awareness among our Veterans of the different programs offered by the VA and to restore trust in the VA healthcare system. The VA offers a variety of programs for mentally and physically disabled Veterans, there is a suicide hotline, PTSD assistance and a pharmaceutical program. Also, it is unacceptable that we make our Veterans stand in line or navigate red tape to get benefits they have defended our country for. We must hold the VA accountable for streamlining the process to make it efficient and effective. If that means that I will be making trips in person to the VA hospital in Columbia, or the five outpatient clinics in the 9th District, that is what I will do.

Seniors

I want to eliminate the federal double taxation on our seniors for their Social Security and other public pension benefits. It is not right that they work their entire lives, pay the 6.2% FICA tax for Social Security out of every paycheck they earn, and then when they retire, they have to pay taxes again on up to 85% of the Social Security benefits they receive. We eliminated this double taxation on the state level here in Missouri, it’s time to do the same on the federal level.