David Dreier

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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 26th District of California (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 has served as chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee since 1999. 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.

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.

Among bipartisan polls of congressional aide staff, Dreier is consistently ranked as the best dressed member of the House of Representatives.[1]

1 Recent events
2 Campaign 2004
3 Campaign 2006
4 26th District statistics
5 External links

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Recent events

Following the indictment of Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, Dreier was widely expected to temporarily assume the position of House Majority Leader. [2]. 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, according to some sources, because of Dreier's long-rumored homosexuality, and also because many conservative Republican House members believe that Dreier is too politically moderate. 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." [3]

The position instead went to Majority Whip Roy Blunt, though both Dreier and Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia shared in some duties. [4]. Rep. John Boehner has since been elected House Majority Leader.

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Campaign 2004

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. [5][6] 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 for his services to Dreier. Smith collects the highest possible salary allowed by law for a committee staff member,[7], 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.")[8] [9] [10]

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, came forward to claim that his relationship to 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 [11] 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.

While being hit from the left, Dreier was also attacked from the right, due to what some radio talk show hosts viewed as his support for a lax policy on curbing illegal immigration.[12] 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. [13]

In spite of outspending his opponent by nearly 30-1 [14], 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 [15] in the 2004 election and Dreier's worst total since 1980. Anti-illegal immigration advocates predict that he will face a formidable conservative challenger in his 2006 primary, although most political observers believe that the Republican Party will actively support Dreier's bid for re-election.

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.[16]

Dreier is a member of the Moderate/Liberal Republican Main Street Partnership.

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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 will campaign on a platform on 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 has announced that he will challenge Dreier for his seat in the June 6, 2006, Republican Primary. Russ Warner, a Democrat, has announced his intention to run against Dreier in the 2006 General Election, as has his 2004 challenger, Cynthia Matthews.