John McKee Spratt Jr. (November 1, 1942 – December 14, 2024) was an American politician who was the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 5th congressional district from 1983 to 2011.

[1] Spratt was a captain in the Army from 1969 to 1971, serving in the Operations Analysis Group in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) at the Pentagon, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

[1] For his work in Congress, Spratt won praise from Columbia's newspaper The State, which called him "one of his party's most reliable 'bridges' to the Republican side.

"[4] National Journal featured him on its cover as "a stand-out" in Congress, comparing his legislative skills to the "best infielders in baseball.

"[5] In a Washingtonian magazine survey, Congressional staff voted him a "Workhorse" and "House Member I'd Like to See Win the Presidency in 2008.

[8] In the 111th Congress, Spratt supported legislation such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, extension of unemployment benefits, increased infrastructure and labor workforce funding, increased federal financial aid packages, increased home foreclosure and small business assistance, reduction in estate taxes for 99.8 percent of estates, clean water legislation, health insurance reform, expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, reforming of medicare payment plans, clean energy legislation, pay as you go legislation, defense authorization for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and increased VA hospital investment.

"I was where the action was when the bill had to be called from the clerk's desk," he told The Herald, a Rock Hill, South Carolina newspaper.

In reporting on the appointment, Dow Jones Newswires called Spratt "one of the staunchest fiscal conservatives among House Democrats.

Spratt was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, succeeding fellow Democrat Kenneth Holland.

He defeated Bigham by a slightly larger margin in 1996, but from 1998 to 2008 Spratt usually won with relatively little difficulty due to his popularity and campaigning skills.

[17] He lamented that Spratt was no longer fiscally conservative like he had once been in 1997 when he helped balance the nation's budget and criticized his relationship with Nancy Pelosi.

[26] [27] At the funeral service, a eulogy was delivered by Jim Clyburn, congressman for South Carolina's 6th congressional district and Spratt's colleague in congress from 1993 to 2011.