On Dan’s third deployment in 2012, his life changed forever. After six months of combat operations, he was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was evacuated and awoke from his medically induced coma learning that his right eye had been destroyed in the blast and his left eye was badly damaged. Dan was completely blind and the doctors did not believe he would ever see again. Tara stood by him every day and night, keeping faith and praying he would see again. After several difficult surgeries and months of fighting a tough diagnosis, Dan eventually regained sight in his left eye, a miracle according to the head surgeon. Dan refused to quit and went on to deploy twice more, first back to the Middle East in 2014 and then South Korea in 2016.
Dan was medically retired in September of 2016 as a Lieutenant Commander after serving ten years in the SEAL Teams. He left service with two Bronze Stars (one with Valor), the Purple Heart, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor, among others. Soon after, Dan completed his Master’s in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Dan then returned to Houston, where his community was hit by Hurricane Harvey. The storm brought devastation the region had never seen. He spent his time volunteering in areas of Katy, helping his neighbors recover from the damage. He saw first-hand the unthinkable losses that Texas suffered, but he also saw Texan grit and resilience. This inspired him to do more for his community. Dan and Tara decided that the best way to serve the people of Texas would be in elected office.
In November 2018, Dan was elected to represent the people of Texas’s Second Congressional District. In Congress, he serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has the broadest jurisdiction of any legislative committee in Congress. On this Committee, Dan serves on the Subcommittee on Health, as well as the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, & Critical Materials, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Dan also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. On this Committee, he serves on the Central Intelligence Agency Subcommittee and National Intelligence Enterprise Subcommittee.
Dan believes in service before self and understands that there is no higher calling than service to the American people. Although he can no longer fight on the battlefield, the integrity, leadership, vision, and tenacity he learned in the SEAL teams are present every day in his fight for common sense solutions in Congress.