David Dreier
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| David Dreier | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 5, 1981 |
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| Preceded by | James F. Lloyd |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | July 05, 1952 (age 54) Kansas City, Missouri |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | single |
| Religion | Christian Science |
David Timothy Dreier (born July 5, 1952), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since January 1981, representing the California's 26th congressional district (map). He was first elected to the U.S. House at age 28 in 1980.
Dreier was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where his family continues to be active in real estate development; he is Vice President of Dreier Development Company in Kansas City. He graduated with a BA from Claremont Men’s College (now Claremont McKenna College) in 1975 and an MA from the Claremont Graduate School in 1976. He was director of corporate relations for Claremont McKenna College before entering the House.
Dreier served as chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee from 1999 until 2007. He has also served as chairman of California's Republican Congressional Delegation since 2001. Dreier was a major player in helping elect Arnold Schwarzenegger in California's 2003 recall election, and is a frequent guest on the political talk show circuit especially the Hugh Hewitt Show. Whenever Dreier recognizes his colleagues to yield time, he usually mentions the hometown of the member, not just the state that member represents as all other representatives do.
Throughout his early Congressional service, Dreier established a record as a strong supporter of tax cuts and of President Reagan's anti-Communist foreign policy. One of the youngest as well as the first Californian Rules Chairman in history, Dreier plays a pivotal role in fashioning legislation promoting Republican Party positions on Social Security, child education, taxes, and national security.
Locally, Dreier is well known for supporting local institutions such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Metro Gold Line, and advocates for transportation improvements such as railroad grade separations and highway expansion. He supported bi-partisan efforts to create legislation to remedy the California and the U.S. film industry's "runaway film production" problem.
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[edit] 2005 quest for Majority Leader
Following the indictment of Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, Dreier was widely expected to temporarily assume the position of House Majority Leader. [1]. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert favored Dreier for the position, presumably because Dreier has consistently adhered to the views of the Republican leadership and would have been willing to relinquish the title immediately should DeLay be able to return to the Majority Leader position. However, a conference of rank-and-file Republican representatives disapproved of the choice of Dreier in such a senior position largely because many conservative Republican House members believe that Dreier is too politically moderate. Another reason for their opposition had to do with their unwillingness to place a supposed homosexual in such a visible leadership position (see documentation below). Yet according to Dreier spokeswoman Jo Maney, Dreier declined the temporary Majority Leader position because he "would have had to give up his chairmanship of the Rules Committee to move to another position, and that's not something that he wanted to do." [2]
The position instead went to then Majority Whip Roy Blunt, though both Dreier and then Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia shared in some duties. [3]. Rep. John Boehner was later elected House Majority Leader.
[edit] Campaign 2004
Due to what some radio talk show hosts viewed as his support for a lax policy on curbing illegal immigration, a vigorous campaign ensued against David Dreier. [4] Dreier was accused of not supporting reimbursement of expenses incurred by state and local governments to serve illegal immigrants, supporting increases in the numbers of H1B visas allowed for skilled workers, not acting effectively enough in obtaining the extradition of a suspect who allegedly killed a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy, and supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. The immigration attacks were especially damaging.
The National Republican Congressional Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) against one radio talk show (The "John and Ken Show," on Los Angeles station KFI) alleging that the hosts, employees of Clear Channel Communications, were engaging in an illegal contribution to Matthews' campaign. The hosts held regular anti-Dreier rallies at his Glendora field office, had Matthews on frequently to discuss her positions on immigration, and dissected statements made by Dreier to other media outlets. While Dreier was not the originator of the complaint, and disavowed orchestrating the complaint, many political analysts suspected Dreier's involvement as an attempt to muzzle two critical talk radio hosts. The hosts continued the allegedly infringing activity through the election and on February 24, 2006, the FEC declared that the charges were without merit. In an interview on KABC's Doug McIntyre program, Dreier denied the charges regarding immigration. [5]
In spite of outspending his opponent by nearly 30-1 [6], having his opponent ostracized by the Democratic Party, and representing a Republican-leaning district, Dreier won his 2004 race with 54% of the vote, the lowest incumbent win for any U.S. representative from California [7] in the 2004 election and Dreier's worst total since 1980.
Dreier has served for many years as a trustee of Claremont McKenna College. According to Roll Call magazine, Dreier has a personal fortune in excess of $7.5 million.[8]
Dreier is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.
[edit] Dreier's sexual orientation
In the fall of 2004, Dreier was formally "outed" in print by journalist Doug Ireland in an alternative newspaper, L.A. Weekly, in its issue of September 24-September 30, 2004. [9][10] The L.A. Weekly reported that Dreier has had a romantic relationship with his longtime chief of staff Brad W. Smith, who collects a $156,600 government salary. Smith collects the highest possible salary allowed by law for a committee staff member[11] and is reportedly the highest-paid chief of staff working for any House of Representatives committee chair. ("By comparison," wrote Ireland, "the chief of staff to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee makes $126,000, while the chief of staff to the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee makes just $100,696.")[12] [13] [14]
The "outing" was a result of Dreier coming under increasing scrutiny from gay rights groups because of what they characterize as an anti-gay voting record in Congress, which includes support of the Defense of Marriage Act (signed by President Clinton), as well as votes against gay adoption, and against inclusion of homosexuality as a protected status in hate crime and employment discrimination legislation. As with all "outings" of allegedly anti-gay politicians, the question has arisen as to whether, if the rumors are true, the politician's record reflects hypocrisy, or whether the sexual orientation of politicians is an irrelevant private matter and the "anti-gay" votes merely reflected the wishes of constituents.
Dreier's 1998 and 2000 Democratic opponent, Janice Nelson, alleged that his relationship with Smith had been an open secret for many years. His 2004 opponent, Cynthia Matthews, came out of the closet and demanded that Dreier do the same. Dreier did not publicly respond to these charges, which were discussed on local radio programs in his district. At the time, the mainstream U.S. print media did not pick the story up (although the controversy was later, in June 2005, addressed in the British press [15] after it was announced that British prime minister Tony Blair's son Euan would work as an unpaid intern for Dreier's committee during the summer of 2005).
In the midst of the controversy, Dreier voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment on September 30, 2004. He explained his opposition to the amendment by stating that he felt the Constitution was not the appropriate tool for restricting rights. He also has voted against the Flag Desecration Amendment.
Dreier has yet to comment on his sexual orientation.
[edit] Campaign 2006
On October 2, 2005, Dreier announced he would be running for re-election. Flanked by the mayor of the city of San Dimas and the Los Angeles County Sheriff, Dreier said he would campaign on a platform of being tough on illegal immigration, supporting the War on Terror, and supporting harsher penalties for those who commit crimes against law enforcement. La Cañada businessman Sonny Sardo challenged Dreier for his seat in the June 6, 2006, Republican Primary. Dreier received 65% of the vote, while Sardo received 27% of the vote and Melvin Milton 8% of the vote.
Democrats Russ Warner and Cynthia Matthews ran for the right to oppose Dreier in the general election. Matthews won the election with 47% of the vote compared to 38% for Warner and Hoyt Hilsman with 15% of the vote. On November 7, 2006, Dreier defeated Matthews, along with minor party candidates Elliott Graham (American Independent Party), and Ted Brown (Libertarian Party).
[edit] Trivia
Dreier, currently the Ranking Member of the Rules Committee, claims to be a distant relative of Richard Bland Lee, a congressman who served on the first Rules Committee empaneled by the House of Representatives.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ David Dreier, CQ's Politics in America 2006, 109th Congress, Congressional Quarterly Publications (2006)
[edit] 26th District statistics
As of 2002, there are 639,088 people in the 26th District of California.
- 35.4% are registered Democratic
- 46.4% are registered Republican
- 5.2% are African American
- 16.7% are Asian-American
- 24.4% are Hispanic
In the 2000 general election, the voters of the 26th District of California voted:
- 43.3% for Al Gore
- 52.5% for George W. Bush
In the 2004 general election:
- 43.7% for John Kerry
- 55.1% for George W. Bush
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/sov/2004_general/contents.htm
Median Household Income: $58,968
- 8.4% are below the poverty line
Occupation:
- 17.3% blue collar
- 70.7% white collar
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman David Dreier official House site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Congress.org - David Dreier
- Federal Election Commission - David Dreier campaign finance reports and data
- On the Issues - David Dreier issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org - David Dreier campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart - Representative David T. Dreier (CA) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia - David Dreier profile
- Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: David Dreier voting record
- David Dreier for U.S. Congress official campaign site
Articles
- Republicans rebuffed congressman in part due to speculation he was gay, congressman and reporters say John Byrne, Raw Story, October 12, 2005
- The Outing Doug Ireland, LA Weekly, September 23, 2004, David Dreier and his straight hypocrisy
- Direland: The Outing Of David Dreier Doug Ireland, September 22, 2004
- Dreier, Berman Reintroduce Runaway Production Legislation Congressman Howard Berman, February 12, 2003
| Preceded by James F. Lloyd |
United States Representative for the 35th Congressional District of California 1981–1983 |
Succeeded by Jerry Lewis |
| Preceded by Wayne R. Grisham |
United States Representative for the 33rd Congressional District of California 1983–1993 |
Succeeded by Lucille Roybal-Allard |
| Preceded by Julian C. Dixon |
United States Representative for the 28th Congressional District of California 1993–2003 |
Succeeded by Howard L. Berman |
| Preceded by Howard L. Berman |
United States Representative for the 26th Congressional District of California 2003– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Gerald B.H. Solomon |
Chairman of the United States House Committee on Rules 1999–2007 |
Succeeded by Louise Slaughter |
