Scott was born in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from Harvard University and Boston College Law School. Scott was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates as a Democrat in 1977 and he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1982. He first ran for Congress in 1986 from the 1st District, which included his home in Newport News, but lost to Republican Herb Bateman. But, in 1992, he was elected to the Congress in Virginia's 3rd District, which was created after the Department of Justice directed the Virginia legislature to draw a black-majority district after the 1990 census. He is the first African American Representative from Virginia since Reconstruction, and has been reelected five times with no substantive opposition. Also, having a maternal grandfather of Filipino ancestry gives Rep. Scott the distinction of being the first American with Filipino heritage to serve in the United States Congress.

Scott is opposed to the Death Penalty and the Patriot Act. He was one of three representatives to vote against a resolution condemning the Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow decision regarding the Pledge of Allegiance. Scott didn't have Republican opposition in 2000 and 2002. He faced former State Delegate Winsome Sears in the 2004 election, and won with 69f the vote. He considered a run for Governor of Virginia but was persuaded not to run for that office.

Scott is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.