Ed Royce
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 40th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Jerry Lewis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	William E. Dannemeyer
Succeeded by	Linda Sánchez
Member of the California State Senate from the 32nd district
In office 1982–1993
Preceded by	John G. Schmitz
Succeeded by	Rob Hurtt
Personal details
Born	(1951-10-12) October 12, 1951 (age 60) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Marie Therese Porter Royce
Residence	Fullerton, California, U.S.
Alma mater	California State University, Fullerton
Occupation	Tax consultant
Religion	Roman Catholic

Edward Randall "Ed" Royce (born October 12, 1951) is the U.S. Representative for California's 40th congressional district, and previously the 39th, serving in Congress since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district lies in northern Orange County, including portions of Stanton, Cypress, Buena Park, Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia, and Orange. Redistricting will force Royce to run in the newly created 39th congressional district in 2012. Rep. Gary Miller has decided to run in the 31st district rather than oppose Royce in the 39th.

Early life, education, and pre-congressional career[link]

Born in Los Angeles, California, and graduating from Katella High School in Anaheim, Royce went on to earn his B.A. in Accounting and Finance in 1977 from the California State University, Fullerton. He was a business owner and corporate tax manager for a Portland cement company before becoming a California State Senator in 1983, serving in that post until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Royce is married to the former Marie Porter.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

After redistricting following the 1990 United States Census, incumbent Republican U.S. Representative William Dannemeyer decided to retire and run for the 1992 U.S. Senate election. Ed Royce, a State Senator, won the Republican primary for California's 39th congressional district and defeated Democrat Molly McClanahan in the general election with 57% of the vote.^[1] He won re-election to the 39th district four more times with at least 63% of the vote. After redistricting after the 2000 United States Census, his district was renumbered the 40th, and won re-election five more times, with at least 67% of the vote (except in 2008 he got 63%).^[2]

Tenure[link]

GovTrack rates Royce as a "moderate Republican," i.e., a moderate within his party,^[3] based an analysis of the bills he has sponsored. 58 percent of his campaign contributions from individuals, 34 percent from PACs. Of the PAC contributions, 96 percent were from business groups, none from labor, and 4 percent from single-issue groups.^[4] The Sunlight Foundation gave Royce's web site a 24 percent rating for transparency,^[5] with 40 percent being considered a passing score. Royce's website highlights support from conservative^[6] and business organizations such as the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, and 60 Plus. On the Issues defines Royce as a hard-core conservative and his American Conservative Union lifetime score is 98 percent.

Domestic policy

Royce's voting record, his scores on VoteMatch, and ratings by Cato Institute indicate mixed or moderate positions on free trade,^[7][8] privatization of social security,^[7] campaign finance,^[7] and tax reform.^[8]

Royce's most important focus as a representative has been banking deregulation. The legislation he has sponsored shows a focus on tax policy, small businesses, credit, and deregulation of banking,^[9] and many of his biggest campaign contributors have been banks: his five top contributors in 2006 were Credit Union National Assn, Irvine Co., Wells Fargo, Orange County Teachers Fed Credit Union, and GUS plc. He is among the representatives receiving the largest percentage of their campaign contributions from the banking industry.^[10]

Royce is a fiscal conservative. He was co-chair of the House "porkbusters" coalition.^[11] As part of the porkbusters, he supported a deficit lockbox amendment, and he got a rules change requiring unauthorized spending to be listed separately in appropriations bills.^[12] Royce is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.^[13] He has received 14 "Taxpayer Friend Awards" from the National Taxpayers' Union.^[14] Royce opposes funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).^[15] Royce feels that these overseas investments expose taxpayers to a serious potential liability, just like the S&L crisis did.^[16]

Royce is a social conservative,^[7] having voted against same-sex marriage and gay adoption, and in favor of school prayer and school vouchers.^[8] He has a 92 percent rating from the Christian Coalition in terms of his voting record on families and children.^[8] He is pro-life,^[7] his votes resulting in NARAL's most consistent possible score.^[8] He has voted in favor of a constitutional amendment forbidding flag burning, and in favor of making the USA PATRIOT Act permanent.^[8] He has an A rating from the NRA.^[8]

Royce was criticized for attending an anti-Muslim rally in his home county, in which members of anti-Muslim groups supported by Royce chanted at Muslim-American families attending a charity event that they should "go home." Royce replied that the anti-Muslim chants were done by a splinter group, not the main group of protesters, and he disavowed the chants, saying "those remarks and conduct were disrespectful and offensive".^[17][18]

As a state senator^[19] and US representative,^[20] Royce sponsored bills and ballot initiatives on stalking and victims' rights.^[21][22][23]

Foreign policy

In foreign policy, Royce's voting record has earned the most pro-military possible rating from SANE.^[8] In 2002, he voted in favor of authorizing President George W. Bush to use force in Iraq.^[24] In 2003, he voted yes on an emergency appropriation of $78 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[8] In every year from 2003 to 2006, he has voted in favor of the annual supplemental spending bill to continue funding for the Iraq war.^[24][25] In 2005, he voted against Amendment 214 to HR 1815, which called on Bush to develop a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq; in favor of Amendment 488 to HR 2601 to keep troops in Iraq; and in favor of HR 612 opposing a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq.^[26] In 2006, he voted for HR 861, a resolution labeling the war in Iraq as part of a global war against terrorism.^[24] Royce had a mixed voting record on the 2011 US involvement in Libya.^[27]

Royce is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, serving as a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade in the 110th Congress. In previous Congresses, Royce served as chairman of the International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation. During his tenure as Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Royce held hearings on Islamic terrorist threats and weapons of mass destruction. Royce led efforts in the House to either secure or destroy shoulder-fired missiles around the world that otherwise may be susceptible to terrorists.^[28] In the summer of 2006, Royce held much publicized Congressional hearings in San Diego, California, and Laredo, Texas, focusing on border vulnerabilities and international terrorism.^[29]

Royce also serves as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia. He and has been especially involved in policy regarding North Korea, working on issues such as human rights, counterfeiting of U.S. currency, nuclear proliferation,^[30] and stopping repatriation of refugees.^[31] Royce's district includes Fullerton, which has a large population of Korean immigrants. He has supported U.S. broadcasting efforts in Asia, initiating legislation to create Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Afghanistan on the model of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.^[32]

He is chair of the Africa Subcommitte,^[33] Royce co-led with Colin Powell a delegation to observe Nigeria's historic elections in 1999 and led a delegation into Darfur, Sudan to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in 2005 and led efforts in the House to bring Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, to stand trial before the Special Court of Sierra Leone.^[34]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade (Chairman)
• Republican Study Committee

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional International Observation Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Human Rights Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Tea Party Caucus

References[link]

External links[link]

• U.S. Representative Ed Royce official U.S. House site
• Ed Royce for Congress official campaign site
• 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
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• 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

Howard Berman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 28th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	David Dreier
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
In office February 11, 2008 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Tom Lantos
Succeeded by	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 26th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	John H. Rousselot
Succeeded by	David Dreier
California State Assembly Majority Leader
In office 1974–1980
Preceded by	Jack R. Fenton
Succeeded by	Willie Brown
Member of the California State Assembly from the 43rd district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Michael D. Antonovich
Succeeded by	Gray Davis
Member of the California State Assembly from the 57th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975
Preceded by	Charles J. Conrad
Succeeded by	Mike Cullen
Personal details
Born	Howard Lawrence Berman (1941-04-15) April 15, 1941 (age 71) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Janis Berman
Children	Brinley Berman Lindsey Berman
Residence	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Judaism[1]

Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is the U.S. Representative for California's 28th congressional district, serving since 1983. The district, numbered as the 26th District from 1983 to 2003, includes about half of the San Fernando Valley. Berman is a Democrat.

Early life, education, and legal career[link]

Berman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Eleanor (née Schapiro) and Joseph Berman. His maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia.^[2] Berman grew up in modest circumstances. He graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) (1959), and earned his B.A. (1962, International Relations) and LL.B. (1965) at University of California, Los Angeles. Blanche Bettington, his high school civics teacher, inspired him to enter politics and government.^[3] He was a VISTA volunteer (1966–1967) in Baltimore and San Francisco, and was an associate at a Los Angeles law firm (1967–72) specializing in labor relations.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Berman was active in the Bruin Democrats at UCLA. He began his friendship with Henry Waxman there in 1960, when both were still undergraduates. Waxman was head of the YD liberal caucus, and through it ran the YDs. Both of them supported Adlai E. Stevenson's pursuit of the presidential nomination up to the eve of the 1960 convention. Berman was President of the California Young Democrats 1967-1969. He and Waxman co-founded the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which grew to become one of the largest young professional clubs in Southern California.

Berman was a convention delegate to the 1968 (Chicago), 1976, and 1984 Democratic National Conventions.

California Assembly[link]

Elections[link]

Berman won election to the Assembly in 1972 from a district in the Hollywood Hills, unseating the incumbent Republican Speaker pro-tempore. His brother Michael, campaign manager in Henry Waxman's 1968 Assembly race, again ran a targeted mail operation.

Tenure[link]

In 1974 Berman and Waxman both opposed Willie Brown's unsuccessful revolt against Speaker of the California State Assembly Leo McCarthy, who rewarded Berman's loyalty by appointing him the youngest majority leader in the Assembly's history. McCarthy fired Berman when he tried to replace him in 1980. Although McCarthy failed to retain the Speakership, Berman failed to win it; and Brown became Speaker. Other members remarked on what a tough politician he was; the Bermans helped arrange a primary defeat for at least one colleague (Jack R. Fenton) who had opposed his bid.^{[4][7][10][11][12]}

Committee assignments[link]

He also served as Chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and on the Policy Research Management Committee of the Assembly.^[7]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

After redistricting made the 26th District significantly more Democratic, incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman John Harbin Rousselot decided to run in California's 30th congressional district in 1982. Berman won the Democratic primary for the open seat with 83%.^[13] He won the general election with 60% of the vote.^[14] He has been reelected 14 times, never dropping below 61% of the vote.^[15]

Following redistricting, Berman will run in California's 30th congressional district in 2012 against fellow Democrat Brad Sherman.

Tenure[link]

Berman was the House sponsor of the 1986 False Claims Act that authorized civil litigation by whistleblowers. It led to recoveries for the United States Government exceeding one billion dollars.^[7]

Berman has championed protecting American film industry jobs from outsourcing ("runaway production"). He has also voted against amending the constitution to require a balanced budget, banning the desecration of the American flag,^[4] the Defense of Marriage Act, and restrictions on abortion.^[4]

However, Berman concurs with many on the right on a number of issues—particularly foreign affairs and trade. Berman voted in support of the invasion of Iraq in both 1991 and 2003, as well as for the FISA Amendments Act of 2008,^[5][16] positions that have hurt his standing among many liberals in his district.^{[17][citation needed]} While he generally supports free trade—for instance voting in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)^[6] and various trade agreements with specific countries—he voted against the more recent Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).^[5] He opposes withdrawing U.S. support for the World Trade Organization. In that same year, he also voted to phase out many farm subsidy programs put into place by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal.

Berman is known for his staunch protection of copyright interests and his alliances with the entertainment industry; he is sometimes referred to as the "representative from Hollywood." He was an original co-sponor of SOPA, otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act and has publicly referred to it as a "perfect document."^[18] The major industry contributing to his election campaigns has been the entertainment industry.^[19] He proposed legislation under which copyright holders would be able to employ technological tools such as file blocking, redirection, spoofs, and decoys—among others—to curb piracy (Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act). He has been named as one of the primary politicians involved in the creation of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).^[20] In a September 2008 hearing of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee, Berman criticized the National Institutes of Health's policy requiring NIH-sponsored research to be submitted to a database open to the public by saying that "the N in NIH shouldn't stand for Napster".^[21][22] In addition to Hollywood, his district also covers roughly the eastern half of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley districts and the city of San Fernando.

Berman is also a strong supporter of Israel, telling the Jewish newspaper, The Forward after being appointed Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Even before I was a Democrat, I was a Zionist."^[18] He has sponsored the Anti-Boycott Act in the House, which prohibits American individuals and organizations from actively boycotting Israeli goods.^[23]

In Congress, Berman led the investigation into the conduct of house members in the Mark Foley Page scandal.^[24]

In 2003, Berman expressed his concerns over the Patriot Act with then US Attorney General John Ashcroft, specifically on the method to hold illegal immigrants until they prove they are not terrorists.^[25]

In 2000, Berman along with then US Senator from Oregon, Gordon Smith, proposed an amnesty, which would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented farm laborers. In exchange, requirements that growers provide housing to guest workers, and pay them a minimum wage adjusted annually for inflation, would have been relaxed.^[26] In 2005, Berman was part of the bipartisan group in Congress who fought against immigration reform efforts.^[27] That path to citizenship was also supported by President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain.

Investments

The Center for Responsive Politics named 151 members of Congress who had investments (as of year end 2006) in companies that do business with the United States Department of Defense, suggesting that such holdings conflict with their responsibility for U.S. security policy. The most important such companies, ranked by estimated total value of members' holdings, were Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Pepsi, ExxonMobil, Berkshire Hathaway, IBM, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, H. J. Heinz Company, and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. CRP identified the top ten members of Congress, and the report named no other members among the 151, save committee chairmen Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Rep. Berman.^[28][29] None of the firms listed above ranked among the top ten DOD contractors in 2008,^[30] nor in the top twenty for 2009.^[31]