David Dreier

David Timothy Dreier (born July 5, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and Republican Party politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1981 to 2013.

Elections

Before 2004

In 1978, Dreier decided to run for the United States House of Representatives at the age of 25. He ran against incumbent Democrat James Fredrick Lloyd, who had first won in an upset in a Republican-leaning district in 1974. Though unknown, Dreier ran a spirited campaign. Lloyd won that race by 54% to 46%. In 1980, Dreier ran again and defeated Lloyd 52% to 45%, winning on the coattails of former California Governor Ronald Reagan's presidential election. After the 1980 United States Census, his district was renumbered to the 33rd, and defeated U.S. Congressman Wayne Grisham in the Republican primary of 1982, 57% to 43%. He won the 1982 general election with 65% of the vote. He won re-election every two years after that with at least 57% of the vote until his 2004 re-election campaign. His district was renumbered to the 28th after the 1990 United States Census and to the 26th district after the 2000 United States Census.

2004 election

Rep. David Dreier's photo for the 109th Congress.

In 2004, Dreier faced strong criticism on his stances on illegal immigration from opponent Cynthia Matthews.

Dreier was not the originator of the NRCC complaint and disavowed orchestrating the complaint. 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.

Dreier won with 54% of the vote.

After 2004

In 2006, he won re-election in rematch against Matthews 57% to 38%, despite the fact Republicans lost the majority that year. In 2008, Dreier won re-election against Democrat Russ Warner with 53% of the vote, his worst re-election performance of his career. In 2010, he defeated Warner in a rematch with 54% of the vote.

After the 2010 United States Census, the voter-created California Citizens Redistricting Commission put Dreier and longtime Republican congressman Jerry Lewis into the newly drawn 31st congressional district. Drier eventually decided to retire.

Tenure

Dreier served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1999 until 2007. The Democrats gained control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections and Drier served as ranking member for the 110th and 111th Congresses. With the Republicans regaining control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections, Dreier again assumed the chairmanship during the 112th Congress.

Dreier supported the Defense of Marriage Act and against inclusion of homosexuals as a protected class in hate crime law. However, in 2007 he did vote for employment discrimination legislation to protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dreier voted against the Matthew Shepard Act and voted against the repeal of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. In December 2010, Dreier voted in favor of repealing the policy in a standalone bill.

Dreier has served for many years as a trustee of Claremont McKenna College, his undergraduate alma mater, which falls within his Congressional district.

According to Roll Call magazine, Dreier has a personal fortune in excess of $7.5 million and as much as $29 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Dreier is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. He was a leading member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.

Dreier also publicly supported a provision in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 that excludes many legal immigrants from receiving federal tax rebates.

Dreier has been a longstanding supporter of closer ties between the United States and countries of Latin America and has met frequently with executive and legislative branch leaders throughout the region. On one occasion, during his visit to Colombia's lower house chamber on August 28, 2007, he drew criticism from some opposition lawmakers when he sat on the edge of a podium during informal remarks to Colombian legislators. Dreier later apologized and insisted he intended no disrespect. In comments released August 30, 2007 he said "I meant absolutely no offense. I simply wanted to demonstrate my warm feeling and affection."

Dreier was elected to the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology in 2013.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Rules (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process
  • Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House

Caucus memberships

• International Conservation Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• U.S.-Mexico Congressional Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus

Leadership bid

Following the indictment of Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, Dreier was widely expected to temporarily assume the position of House Majority Leader. 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 have been 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 believed that Dreier was too politically moderate. 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".

The House Majority Leader 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.

On February 29, 2012, Dreier announced that upon completion of his current term he would not seek re-election.

Dreier is a descendant of Richard Bland Lee, a congressman from Virginia who served on the first Rules Committee impaneled by the House of Representatives. He currently resides in Beverly Hills, California.