Look up reserve or reserves in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Reserve (sometimes Reserves) may refer to:

Economic[link]

• Official gold reserves, held by central banks as a store of value
• Foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities
  • Reserve currency, a currency which is held in significant quantities as part of foreign exchange reserves
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency petroleum store maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy
• Fractional-reserve banking
• Bank reserves, holdings of deposits in central banks plus currency that is physically held in bank vaults
• Reserve (accounting), any part of shareholders' equity, except for basic share capital
• Reserve (project management), an element of the total project budget provided for realized project changes
• Mineral reserves, natural resources that are economically recoverable, e.g. Oil reserves
• Actuarial reserves, a liability equal to the present value of the future expected cash flows of a contingent event
• Reserve Primary Fund, a money market fund which "broke the buck"
• Auction Reserve, a minimum amount of money bid required for a sale in an English auction

Military[link]

• Military reserve, military units not initially committed to battle
• Military reserve forces, are units formed of military personnel making a long term commitment to train part-time and maintain military skills, typically sacrificing one weekend in four to serve as civilian soldiers who are available to fight when a nation mobilizes for war. Most reserve personnel have served with their regular forces before entering civilian life, and may in addition to their weekend training commitment, serve a longer annual training deployment between two weeks and a month in length.
• Reserve components of the United States armed forces, "the Guard and Reserves"
• Canadian Forces Primary Reserve, the "Canadian Forces" Reserve Forces
• War Reserve Stock, a collection of warfighting material held in reserve in pre-positioned storage to be used if needed in wartime
• Regular Army Reserve of Officers, British Army officers holding regular commissions who are in receipt of retired pay and are held on the strength of the Regular Army until they reach the age of fifty five. RARO officers retain their rank and commissions and are liable for recall to active duty as required by the Ministry of Defence.

Land Management[link]

• Game reserve, land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or hunting
• Indian reserve, in Canada, a tract of land reserved for the use and benefit of a band
  • Indian reservation, an equivalent concept in the United States
• Nature reserve, a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest

Sports[link]

• Reserve clause, in North American professional sports contracts
• Reserve team, the second team fielded by a sports club, often football-soccer

Placenames[link]

In the United States:

• Reserve, Kansas
• Reserve, Louisiana
• Reserve, Montana
• Reserve, New Mexico
• Reserve, Wisconsin

Other[link]

• Reserve wine, a wine that specially designated
• Course reserve, library materials reserved for particular users
• Dynamic reserve, the set of metabolites that the organism can use for metabolic purposes
• Fuel reserve, an extra fuel tank, or extra fuel in the main fuel tank
• Recreation reserve, a park with sporting or other recreational facilities
• Reserve stockpile, bulk materials reserved for future use
• Reserved decision, where a judge takes time to review evidence and the law and delivers a decision at a later time

See also[link]

• Reservation (disambiguation)
• Preserve (disambiguation)
• Reservoir (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Alan Grayson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 8th district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Ric Keller
Succeeded by	Daniel Webster
Personal details
Born	Alan Mark Grayson (1958-03-13) March 13, 1958 (age 54) The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Lolita Grayson
Children	5
Residence	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Judaism[1][2]
Website	Grayson for Congress

Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is a former U.S. Representative for Florida's 8th congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district Grayson represented lies in central Florida and includes portions of Orange Lake, Marion, and Osceola Counties. Most of Orlando is in the district, including Walt Disney World. Grayson was defeated for re-election in 2010 by Republican Daniel Webster.^[3]

Early life and education[link]

Grayson was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to a Jewish family, the son of Dorothy Ann (née Sabin) and Daniel Franklin Grayson.^[4][5] He graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1975 and worked his way through Harvard College as a janitor and nightwatchman, graduating in 1978 in the top two percent of his class, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. in economics.^[6][7] After working two years as an economist, he returned to Harvard for graduate studies.^[2] In 1983, he earned a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Additionally, he completed the course work and passed the general exams for a PhD in government.^[6][8]

Grayson wrote his masters thesis on gerontology and in 1986, he helped found the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research (AAR) in Washington, D.C., and served as an officer of the organization for more than twenty years.^[9]

Law career[link]

Grayson was employed as a law clerk at the Colorado Supreme Court in 1983,^[10] and at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals from 1984 to 1985, where he worked with two judges who later joined the U.S. Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.^[2] He was an associate at the Washington D.C. firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson for five years, where he specialized in contract law.

In 1991 he founded the law firm Grayson, Kubli which concentrated on government contract law. He was a lecturer at the George Washington University government contracts program and a frequent speaker on the topic.^[8] In the 2000s, he worked as a plaintiffs' attorney specializing in whistleblower fraud cases aimed at Iraq war contractors. One contractor, Custer Battles, employed individuals who were found guilty of making fraudulent statements and submitting fraudulent invoices on two contracts the company had with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.^[11][12] On behalf of his clients, Grayson filed suit under the False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions.^[11] The jury verdict was more than $13 million, which was upheld on appeal in April 2009. The case remains the only successful prosecution of those who profited illegally from the war in Iraq. The Iraq war contractor fraud case brought Grayson his first national attention.^[13] In 2006, a Wall Street Journal reporter described Grayson as "waging a one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq" and as a "fierce critic of the war in Iraq" whose car displayed bumper stickers such as "Bush lied, people died".^[14]

President of IDT Corp.[link]

Grayson made his fortune as the first president of IDT Corporation (International Discount Telecom), which pioneered competition and discount pricing in the long-distance telecommunications industry and became a $2-billion-a-year Fortune 1000 company.^[9][15]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Grayson is considered a progressive Democrat and he represented a district that was historically Republican. He supported Barack Obama in 2008. He was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which he was vice-chairman.^[16]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Legislation head sponsored by Grayson[link]

• Pay for Performance Act (H.R. 1664)
• Public Option Act (H.R. 4789)
• War Is Making You Poor Act (H.R. 5353)
• Shareholder Protection Act (H.R. 4790)
• Paid Vacation Act of 2009 (H.R. 2564)

Political positions[link]

Federal Reserve transparency[link]

During his first term in office, Grayson supported Ron Paul's Audit the Fed legislation.^[17] Grayson gained attention for exchanges with Federal Reserve System Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and Inspector General Elizabeth A. Coleman.^[18] The 5-minute examination of Coleman in the House Financial Services Committee was posted on the Grayson's official YouTube page. As of December 2010, it has been viewed more than 4 million times.^[19]

Following the AIG bonus payments controversy, Grayson joined with fellow freshman Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut to introduce the Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act, legislation to require that all bonuses paid by companies that had received funds under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 be "based on performance".^[20] The bill was co-sponsored by eight other members of the House. On March 26, the bill was approved by the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 38–22 and on April 1, the bill was passed by the full House of Representatives by a vote of 247–171.^[21]

Grayson was a co-sponsor of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, which would provide additional provisions to audit the Federal Reserve, including removing several key exemptions.^[22]

Economic stimulus[link]

Grayson made it a priority to increase the amount of federal money coming back to the 8th Congressional District. He often said that people in the 8th District have been "exporting taxes and importing debt." During his first year in office, the amount of federal grant dollars returning to the district nearly doubled (98 percent increase).^[23][24] Grayson established a grant notification system that notifies subscribers immediately when a federal grant opportunity in their areas of interest becomes available. He also hired a full-time grants coordinator who focused solely on helping people navigate the federal grants process.

Grayson twice broke ranks with Democratic leadership and joined Republicans to oppose the raising of the federal debt limit (Roll no. 46, 2/4/10, Roll no. 988 12/16/09). He said at the time of the February vote, "We need to live within our means. We need to eliminate wasteful spending. If we did those two simple things, we would not need to raise the debt limit."^[25]

Grayson supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and has been outspoken in favor of extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs. Grayson argues that the government has never cut off unemployment insurance when the unemployment rate was higher than eight percent. Grayson also voted for the FDA Oversight of Tobacco Products, which gives the FDA power to regulate tobacco products.

On a September 2009 Alex Jones Show segment, Grayson criticized Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke's senior adviser Linda Robertson, saying "Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, this lobbyist, this K-Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics!"^[26][27] Robertson had previously worked as a lobbyist for Enron.^[28] Grayson's language was widely criticized as inappropriate,^[29] and Grayson apologized.^[28]

Health care reform[link]

In response to Republican arguments that the Obama administration's preferred health care bill was too long and complicated, Grayson on March 9, 2010, introduced H.R. 4789, the Public Option Act (sometimes called the Medicare You Can Buy Into Act), a short four-page bill which would allow all citizens and permanent residents of the United States to buy into the public Medicare program at cost.^[30] The bill attracted 82 co-sponsors and was referred to the Ways and Means Committee.

Grayson later voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act^[31] and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.^[32] He voted in support of Eliminating Adjustments of Medicare Rates of Payment. He also voted against Republican substitutes for the health care amendment and insurance law amendments.^[33]

Civil rights[link]

Grayson voted in support of the Hate Crimes Expansion Act, which expands the definition of hate crimes and strengthens enforcement of hate crime laws. He also voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Grayson supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that allows victims of wage discrimination to sue for punitive damages.^[33]

Environment[link]

Grayson voted for the House's 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act (also known as the Cap and Trade Bill). The bill would provide for a $50 million "Hurricane Research Center" in Central Florida, and Grayson claimed it would immediately generate new jobs.^[34] Grayson noted after the passage of the ACES Act his concern about our dependence on foreign oil, the need to promote green technologies and renewable energy sources, and the job creation from the bill (an estimated 95,000 jobs in Florida). "This bill unleashes American ingenuity to solve the energy crisis. It lets us solve our problems by being Americans and thinking our way out of it. We will become an international energy power," he said in a news release.

The BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico affected Florida's number one industry, which is tourism. The lack of a relief well prevented company officials from shutting down the leak immediately. Instead, it took months to drill a new relief well, while millions of gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf each week.^[35] In response, Grayson introduced the Emergency Relief Well Act (H.R. 5666). It requires that an emergency relief well be drilled at the same time as any new exploratory well.

Defense[link]

Grayson has been an outspoken critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In May 2010, he introduced the "War Is Making You Poor Act" (H.R. 5353). The bill requires the President to fund the wars from the Department of Defense's FY '11 base budget of $550 billion. It uses the $159 billion in "supplemental funding" to eliminate federal income taxes for everyone's first $35,000 a year. The bill does not necessitate an end to the wars or mandate a cut-off date. In addition to the tax cuts, the bill cuts the federal deficit by $15.9 billion.^[36]

Grayson has tried to combat wasteful spending by government defense contractors by introducing his "Gold Plating Amendment." The amendment requires that cost or price account for half of the evaluation of bids for defense contracts. The law at the time allowed for cost to account for only one percent of the evaluation. The amendment passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2647) in June 2009. However, the language was stripped from the final bill during the conference committee between Senate and House leaders. Grayson worked successfully to get the amendment inserted into the IMPROVE Acquisition Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 28, 2010.^[37]

Grayson voted for the 2009–2010 Defense Appropriations, which authorizes $681 billion of appropriations for the Department of Defense.^[38] He also supported the 2009–2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Authorizations, which provided $46.18 billion in appropriations for 2009–2010.^[39]

Combating federal waste, fraud, and abuse[link]

Grayson has worked to combat federal waste, fraud, and abuse. In the September 6, 2009 edition of The New York Times, columnist Gretchen Morgenson thanked Grayson for uncovering the fact that, due to the federal bailout of mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae, taxpayer money had been funding the legal defense fees for former top executives at the institution. Grayson requested information about these legal costs after a June 2009 hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Grayson's work uncovered that, between September 6, 2008 and July 21, 2009, taxpayers spent $6.3 million defending Fannie Mae executives Franklin Raines, J. Timothy Howard, and Leanne Spencer. Taxpayers paid an additional $16.8 million to cover legal expenses of workers at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie’s former regulator.^[40]

In September 2009, Grayson used a parliamentary maneuver called an “extension of remarks” to provide crucial instruction on H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, a bill that, among other things, included a provision that prohibited funding for ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). Grayson’s extension of remarks directed that the legislation defund any organization that cheats the federal government, not just ACORN. The defunding measure passed the House with a final vote of 253–171.^[37] Grayson also encouraged the public to report companies covered by the bill and set up a method to report offending companies via his Congressional web site.^[41]

“Teach the Constitution Week”[link]

On September 14, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Grayson’s “Teach the Constitution Week” resolution (H.Res. 686). The bill urged high schools to spend one week each September teaching the United States Constitution to high school seniors and also encouraged students to petition the government on an issue of personal importance to them to demonstrate their understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States. The non-partisan resolution was passed by a voice vote and featured 222 co-sponsors.^[37][42][43]

New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act[link]

On the 40th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Grayson’s New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009 (H.R. 2245). The bill asked the President to present Congress’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, as well as John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Only about 200 medals have ever been awarded in the country’s history. The New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009 passed the House unanimously on July 20, 2009.^[44][45]

Controversial public remarks[link]

Grayson quickly gained a reputation as an elected official who was "not shy about his opinions."^[46] He was unrestrained in his criticism of right-wing positions, politicians, and pundits, particularly those employed by and/or frequently appearing on Fox News Channel.^[13] His sharp characterizations in public remarks earned him national attention both positive and negative.

Health care[link]

In September 2009, during the debates leading to the passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act by the House in November, Grayson summed up the "Republican health care plan" as "'Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.'"^[47] His remarks were widely condemned by Republican politicians but, according to Grayson, were well received by his constituents. Grayson reported that his comments resulted in over 5,000 campaign contributions and that the positive emails he received outnumbered the negative ones by a four-to-one margin;^{[48][49][50][51]} the comments also generated funds from the Democratic National Committee towards his upcoming 2010 campaign race.^[51][52] Grayson raised $347,000 for his reelection campaign during the third quarter, much of it attributed to his remarks.^[53][54]

He defended his comment and in a House Floor speech stated, “I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America." Grayson, who is Jewish, apologized to the Anti-defamation League for those offended by his generic use of "holocaust".^[55][56][57] He also maintained that Congressional Republicans have failed to offer a feasible plan.^[58][59] In October 2009 he launched www.NamesOfTheDead.com, a website to "memorialize Americans who die because they don’t have health insurance." He subsequently read stories of the dead submitted through the Names of the Dead site on the House floor.^[60]

Political campaigns[link]

Grayson is the second Democrat to represent this district since its formation after the 1970 census (it was the 5th District from 1973 to 1993 and has been the 8th District since 1993). The only other Democrat to represent this district, Bill Gunter, gave it up after only one term to run for the United States Senate in 1974.

2006[link]

In 2006, Grayson first entered into electoral politics, losing the 2006 Democratic primary for Florida's 8th Congressional District to Charlie Stuart, a prominent local businessman and center-right Democrat.^[61] Stuart went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Ric Keller.^[62] In late 2007, Grayson announced that he would run again for the 8th District seat, and again faced Stuart in the primary. During the primary, his campaign retained the services of Bill Hillsman.

2008[link]

In the August 26, 2008 Democratic primary, Grayson prevailed, receiving 48.5 percent of the vote. Stuart trailed with 27.5 percent, with three other candidates splitting the remaining 24 percent.^[63] During the general election campaign, Grayson maintained a consistent lead over Keller, who had barely eked out renomination in the Republican primary over attorney Todd Long. On Election Day, Grayson received 172,854 votes, or 52 percent, to Keller's 159,490 votes, or 48 percent.^[64] Although Keller won three out of four counties in the district, Grayson won by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent in Orange County, home to Orlando and by far the largest county in the district. Grayson was also helped by a massive voter registration drive by the Democratic Party in the 8th District that gave Democrats a slight edge in registered voters.

2010[link]

Grayson was challenged by Republican nominee Daniel Webster, Florida TEA Party nominee Peg Dunmire, Independent candidate George Metcalfe, and write-in Florida Whig Party candidate Steve Gerritzen.^[65]

Grayson ran a September 2010, commercial calling Webster a "draft-dodger,"^[66] (Webster had received student deferments and a draft classification as medically unfit for service),^[67] and a later 30-second commercial calling Webster "Taliban Dan" and warning viewers that "Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom, in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida."^[68] Grayson's ads were criticized for editing video mid-sentence to make Webster appear to be saying things he did not say.^[69][70] Grayson released a toned-down version without the edited video or Taliban references in early October.^[71][72]

Grayson was targeted by conservatives and conservative groups in commercials and the media, and on the Internet. On Glenn Beck's radio show, Sarah Palin agreed with a co-host's remark, "It’s okay if the Republicans lose every seat in the Senate and the House except for one. As long as that one is Alan Grayson losing."^[73] Conservative Newsweek columnist George Will called Grayson "America's worst politician."^[74] Grayson was also heavily targeted in attack ads funded by groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the 60 Plus Association.^[75] The Chamber of Commerce ads were in turn criticized by Grayson and his supporters as "deeply dishonest".^{[citation needed]}

Grayson was endorsed by 8th District resident, former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), who characterized Webster as having "13th-century views" on women's issues.^[76] Former DNC Chair and Vermont governor Howard Dean called Grayson a "healthcare hero."^[77] Grayson received more votes for "progressive hero" from Democracy for America than any other candidate in the country.^[78] Moveon.org, in an appeal to its members, termed Grayson "a populist hero who's never afraid to call out the pernicious corporate influence in Washington."^{[citation needed]}

Grayson conceded the race on the evening of November 2 after Webster showed a clear lead.^[79] Election results were: Grayson 38 percent Webster 56 percent^[80]

2012[link]

On the evening of July 11, 2011, Grayson announced in an e-mail to supporters that he planned to run once again for Congress.^[81] Grayson was the only Democrat running in a newly-created Democratic-oriented District (renumbered as the 9th) in Central Florida as of February 2012. The district's voters are 42% Hispanic and could favor a Hispanic Democrat if one sought the party's nomination.^[82] The new District, one of two newly created due to population growth, was designed for the Hispanic population of Central Florida.^[83]

Personal life[link]

Grayson was ranked as the 11th-wealthiest member of Congress in 2010, based on financial disclosure forms with a minimum net worth of $31.41 million, according to Roll Call.^[84] Grayson disclosed that his attorney fees and costs for the war contractor case had exceeded $4 million.^[12][14]

While pursuing the whistleblower cases, Grayson worked from a home office in Orlando, where he lives with his wife and five children.^[13]

Grayson reportedly ran a red light on his way to a fundraiser in downtown Orlando on March 10, 2012, entering cross traffic and striking a Lynx bus. Three passengers on the bus were hospitalized with minor injuries and Grayson's 2009 Mercedes Benz was severely damaged, but he and his passenger were not hurt. Police issued a citation to Grayson, who said he did not know what color the light was when he entered the intersection.^[85][86]

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Alan Grayson on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Alan Grayson for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Alan Grayson: "Bipartisanship Has Become Code Word for Appeasement" – video report by Democracy Now!