Thomas Jerome Bliley Jr. (January 28, 1932 – November 16, 2023) was an American businessman, Navy veteran, and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from the commonwealth of Virginia.

[1] From 1981 to 2001, he served ten consecutive terms in Congress, including six years as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In 1980, Bliley won the Republican nomination for Congress representing Virginia's 3rd congressional district after eight-term incumbent David Satterfield announced his retirement.

[6] It had been one of the first areas of Virginia where the old-line Byrd Democrats started splitting their tickets and voting Republican in presidential elections.

Bliley now represented one of the most Republican districts in Virginia and the South, and he was handily reelected to four more terms, retiring in January 2001.

In 1995, when the Republican Party gained control of Congress,[7] Bliley was elected Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, a position he held for six years.