U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 1998 In 1998, Collins challenged 24-year incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman
John J. LaFalce in
New York's 29th congressional district. During the campaign, Collins was one of the first congressional candidates to call for President
Bill Clinton's resignation in the wake of the
Monica Lewinsky scandal. LaFalce touted his record of
bringing home the bacon and defeated Collins by a margin of 58% to 41%.
2012 After losing his County Executive re-election campaign in 2011, Collins initially ruled out a future bid for elected office. In January 2012, he was reported to be considering running for Congress On June 26, 2012, Collins won the Republican primary, defeating
Iraq War veteran
David Bellavia by a margin of 60%–40%. Collins had the Republican and Conservative party lines for the November general election and defeated Hochul 51%–49%, a difference of 4,312 votes.
2014 Collins won re-election to a second term by defeating Democratic opponent Jim O'Donnell 72%–28%.
2016 Collins won re-election to a third term by defeating Democratic opponent Diana K. Kastenbaum 220,885 (67.7%) to 107,832 (32.3%).
2018 On August 11, following his arrest on federal charges of
insider trading, Collins announced that he was suspending his reelection campaign; he added that he intended to serve out the balance of his term. Under New York election law, Collins would remain on the ballot for the November election unless he died, accepted a nomination for a different office, moved out of state, or was disqualified. According to
CNN, Republican officials considered nominating him for a town clerk position; this move would allow Collins to be removed from the ballot and replaced with a different candidate. In either case, the eight Republican county chairs in the district would then select a replacement in a vote weighted by county population. On September 17, 2018, Collins reversed his decision about the upcoming election, stating that he would remain on the ballot and campaign for another term in office. Collins was re-elected by a much narrower margin than he had been in prior years, defeating Democrat
Nate McMurray, 49.1% to 48.8%.
Tenure 113th Congress Collins was sworn in on January 3, 2013. Prior to taking the oath of office, House Republican leadership appointed him to serve on both the Agriculture and Small Business committees in the 113th Congress. Soon after taking office, House Small Business Committee Chairman
Sam Graves tapped Collins to chair the subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology. On March 20, 2014, Collins chaired a field hearing, titled
Expanding Broadband Access and Capabilities to Small Businesses in Rural New York. This field hearing was held at the Orleans County Legislature in
Albion, New York, examining access to broadband in rural communities, and the role of the federal government in expanding these capabilities to small businesses. Following the field hearing, Collins hosted a roundtable discussion with local community leaders to continue the discussion on the importance of access to broadband in rural communities. In announcing his committee assignments, Collins said one of his top goals as a member of Congress would be to work with his colleagues to pass a new Farm Bill. On May 15, 2013, Collins voted to approve the 2013 Farm Bill. On January 29, 2014, Collins voted to approve the Conferenced Farm Bill, known as the Agricultural Act of 2014. President Obama signed the 5 year Agricultural Act of 2014 into law on February 7, 2014. In response to a proposal by New York State Governor
Andrew Cuomo to provide state prison inmates with a publicly financed college education, Collins introduced the Kids Before Cons Act in February 2014. The bill would prohibit states from using federal funding for the purpose of providing a college degree to convicted criminals. Collins called the Governor's proposal an insult to law-abiding taxpayers who are struggling to put themselves or their children through college. Collins' bill would allow federal dollars to be used for GED and working training programs in prisons and correctional facilities. Cuomo later abandoned his proposal to use public money to fund his initiative. facility in
Lockport, New York, in 2015 ;Committee assignments •
Committee on Agriculture •
Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management •
Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture •
Committee on Small Business •
Subcommittee on Health and Technology (Chair) •
Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations •
Committee on Science, Space and Technology •
Subcommittee on Research and Technology •
Subcommittee on Space 114th Congress In the 114th Congress, Congressman Collins served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He stated his priorities on the Energy and Commerce Committee would be securing American energy independence, ensuring companies at the
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus receive a fair amount of funding in the competitive grants offered by the
National Institutes of Health, continuing oversight of the government's approval for new drugs and medical treatments, and increasing access to broadband Internet service in rural areas. ;Committee assignments •
Committee on Energy and Commerce •
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology •
Subcommittee on Health •
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 115th Congress In June 14, 2017, a left-wing domestic terrorist
shot several GOP Congress members who were training for an annual Washington DC charity game that pits Democrats versus Republicans. Collins blamed Democrats for the attack, saying, "I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric. The rhetoric has been outrageous in the anger directed at Donald Trump." Shortly after making that comment, Collins noted that it was important for everyone, including himself, to tone down partisan rhetoric and "recognize that we are all one country and all proud Americans." Collins also vowed to start carrying a gun with him "from this day forward." On August 8, 2018, following his arrest by the
FBI for
wire fraud,
conspiracy to commit securities fraud, seven counts of securities fraud, and
lying to the FBI, ;Committee assignments Collins served on the following committees before being removed by House Speaker
Paul Ryan in the wake of Collins' indictment on insider trading charges: •
Committee on Energy and Commerce •
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology •
Subcommittee on Health •
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 116th Congress Although Collins was re-elected in 2018, the Republicans adopted new caucus rules that barred Congressmen from serving on any committees if they are indicted for felonies. The rule was aimed at Collins and another Republican who was reelected while under felony indictment,
Duncan D. Hunter of
California. In August 2019, Collins was listed as the
13th wealthiest member of Congress, with a net worth of $43.5 million.
Resignation Collins submitted his resignation from Congress on September 30, 2019. It became official on October 1 after it was presented on the floor of the US House of Representatives. That same day, Collins appeared at a Manhattan federal courthouse and pleaded guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI. Collins endorsed Trump on February 24, 2016, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to endorse him. He cited shared pasts in business and a need for businessmen in the
White House as having influenced his decision. According to
The New York Times, Collins is "one of Donald Trump’s earliest and most ardent supporters". Following the 2016 election, Collins served on Trump's presidential transition team. On November 28, 2016, Collins made strongly negative remarks about
Mitt Romney, who was being considered by President-elect Trump for the position of
Secretary of State. On the TV show
New Day, Collins said, "What do I know about Mitt Romney? I know that he's a self-serving egomaniac who puts himself first, who has a chip on his shoulder, and thinks that he should be president of the United States." On February 10, 2017, Collins told
Chris Cuomo on
CNN's
New Day that elected officials should not have to release their respective tax histories. This comment was made in response to the
ongoing controversy concerning Trump's refusal to release his tax forms.
Health care On May 4, 2017, Collins voted in favor of repealing the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and to pass the
American Health Care Act. Collins made headlines for admitting he had not read the full health care bill before voting. In an interview with a
Buffalo News reporter, Collins admitted that he was unaware but unconcerned that New York would lose $3 billion worth of federal funds annually under the AHCA, by losing New York's Essential Health Plan, an optional ACA program that provided low-cost health insurance to thousands of "low- and middle-income people who d[id]n't qualify for Medicaid", to which Collins responded, "No. [I was not aware] But it doesn't surprise me for you to tell me that there were two states in the nation that were taking advantage of some other waiver program and New York was one of the two states." In an interview in
The Batavian on June 24, 2012, Collins said: "People now don't die from prostate cancer, breast cancer and some of the other things. The fact of the matter is, our healthcare today is so much better, we're living so much longer, because of innovations in drug development, surgical procedures, stents, implantable cardiac defibrillators, neural stimulators – they didn't exist 10 years ago." In response, Elise Foley of
The Huffington Post wrote, "An estimated 577,190 people in the United States will die from cancer this year, including about 39,920 deaths from breast cancer and 28,170 from prostate cancer", citing data from the
American Cancer Society.
Artvoice wrote, "The implantable cardiac defibrillator and neural stimulators, or TENS devices, were both invented and patented in the late 60s or early 70s; therefore, they existed '10 years ago'".
Law enforcement In response to a proposal by New York State Governor
Andrew Cuomo to provide state prison inmates with a publicly financed college education, Collins introduced the Kids Before Cons Act in February 2014. The bill would prohibit states from using federal funding for the purpose of providing a college degree to convicted criminals. Collins called the Governor's proposal an insult to law-abiding taxpayers who are struggling to put themselves or their children through college.
National security Collins supported President Donald Trump's 2017
Executive Order 13769 restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that "I get a little frustrated with the folks who don't like Trump trying to make something into something it's not. So I'm just disappointed that we can't have a true and honest debate without someone inflaming the situation and claiming there's religious overtones."
Taxes Collins was one of only two House members from New York state (along with
Tom Reed) to support the provision in Republican tax overhaul bill introduced November 2, 2017, eliminating personal deductions for state income taxes on federal tax forms. In response New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo labeled the two lawmakers "the Benedict Arnolds of their time", claiming that the loss of the deduction would cost New York State taxpayers nearly $15 billion and do grave damage to the state. Collins said that under Cuomo, New York is the highest-taxed, most regulated, least business-friendly state in the nation and urged Cuomo to cut the state's budget. Asked if his donors were pleased with the House's tax reform plan so far, Collins said, "My donors are basically saying 'get it done or don't ever call me again.'" ==Legal problems==