U.S. House of Representatives
Elections Early career In 1978, Dreier ran for the
United States House of Representatives at the age of 25. He challenged incumbent Democrat
James Fredrick Lloyd, who had first won in a Republican-leaning district in 1974. Though unknown and living in Phillips Hall at
Claremont McKenna College, Dreier lost by 54% to 46%, less than expected for an undergraduate college student. In 1980, Dreier ran again and defeated Lloyd 52% to 45%, winning on the coattails of former
California Governor Ronald Reagan's
presidential election. Dreier was sworn into office as one of the youngest-ever members of the House of Representatives. Dreier became the first person to defeat two incumbent members of Congress in back to back elections. 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. 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 In 2004, Dreier faced strong criticism for his position on illegal immigration from opponent Cynthia Matthews and several
talk radio hosts who felt he was not tough enough on illegal immigrants. Dreier won with 54% of the vote.
After 2004 In 2006, he won reelection in a rematch against Matthews 57% to 38%, despite Republicans losing the majority that year. In 2008, Dreier won reelection against Democrat Russ Warner with 53% of the vote. In 2010, he defeated Warner in a rematch with 54% of the vote. Dreier ceased all campaign fundraising for more than a year, leading many to believe that he was planning to leave Congress. After the
2010 United States census, the voter-created
California Citizens Redistricting Commission renumbered Dreier's district as the
31st district, and reconfigured it as a Democratic-leaning, majority-
Latino district. Dreier chose not to run for reelection in 2012 and encouraged his
Republican colleague
Gary Miller to move into the 31st after Miller's old district was merged with the district of another Republican,
Ed Royce. Beginning with Dreier's chairmanship in 1999, the chairman of the Rules Committee became part of the nine-member elected Republican leadership. Following the indictment of
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, House Speaker
Dennis Hastert asked Dreier to assume temporarily the position of majority leader, as Dreier had consistently adhered to the views of the Republican leadership on many issues and would have been willing to relinquish the title should DeLay have returned to the position. However, rank-and-file Republican representatives disapproved of the choice of Dreier allegedly because many conservative members believed that he was "too politically moderate". According to Dreier spokeswoman Jo Maney, Dreier did not seek 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 position instead went to then-
Majority Whip Roy Blunt of
Missouri, though both Dreier and then-Deputy Majority Whip
Eric Cantor of
Virginia shared in some duties.
Trade ,
California on October 14, 2006 Along with House colleagues
Jim Kolbe and
Jerry Lewis, Dreier was the first member of Congress to propose a North American free trade agreement in 1987. He was instrumental in the creation and passage of what became
NAFTA in 1993. During the
signing ceremony for NAFTA, President
Bill Clinton recognized Dreier's contribution to the ultimate success of the legislation. Dreier opposed President
Donald Trump's threats to abandon NAFTA, instead advocating for an updated NAFTA, which would include digital trade, among other subjects. On August 28, 2007, while building support for the
United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Dreier addressed the Colombian parliament. Dreier drew criticism from some opposition lawmakers when he sat on the edge of a podium during informal remarks to the legislators. Dreier later apologized and insisted he intended no disrespect. In comments released on August 30, 2007, Dreier said, "I meant absolutely no offense. I simply wanted to demonstrate my warm feeling and affection." Dreier also founded the bipartisan House Trade Working Group, working closely with five American presidents of both parties on every free trade agreement into which the United States has entered. Dreier was a member of the
Republican Main Street Partnership.
Foreign affairs Dreier attended and led congressional delegations (CODELs) to dozens of nations during his tenure. He was the founder and first chairman of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), which works to strengthen parliaments in new and re-emerging democracies on six continents.
Transportation Dreier supported the expansion of public transportation in his district. He secured federal funding for the
Metro Gold Line, connecting
Downtown Los Angeles and
Pasadena via light rail.
Gay rights Dreier initially supported the bipartisan
Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President
Bill Clinton in 1996. Joining columnists such as
William Raspberry in opposing "thought police," Dreier voted against the
Matthew Shepard Act that expanded federal hate-crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived
gender,
sexual orientation,
gender identity, or disability. Dreier initially supported the
Don't ask, don't tell policy, which prevented
LGBT members of the armed forces from serving openly. However, in December 2010, Dreier voted in favor of legislation that repealed the policy. Dreier opposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Other activities Pervez Musharraf in
Islamabad in 2007. From left to right: Rep.
Joe Wilson (
R-
South Carolina), Rep.
Darrell Issa (
R-
California), President Musharraf, Sen.
Bob Corker (
R-
Tennessee), and Dreier. He served as parliamentarian for four
Republican National Conventions.
Committee assignments Chairman of the
Committee on Rules (1999–2007, 2011–2013) •
Committee on Rules (1991–2013) •
Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process •
Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House •
Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (July 1981–1991) •
Committee on Government Operations (January 1981–July 1981) •
Committee on Small Business (1981–1991)
Caucus memberships •
International Conservation Caucus • Sportsmen's Caucus • U.S.-Mexico Congressional Caucus (co-chair) • Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus == After Congress ==