 | This articlecontainspromotional content. Please helpimprove it by removingpromotional language and inappropriateexternal links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from aneutral point of view.(April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
David Dreier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair ofTribune Publishing | |
| In office January 2019 – February 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Justin Dearborn |
| Succeeded by | Phillip Franklin |
| Chair of theHouse Rules Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Louise Slaughter |
| Succeeded by | Pete Sessions |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Gerald Solomon |
| Succeeded by | Louise Slaughter |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | James F. Lloyd |
| Succeeded by | Gary Miller (redistricted) |
| Constituency | 35th district (1981–1983) 33rd district (1983–1993) 28th district (1993–2003) 26th district (2003–2013) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Timothy Dreier (1952-07-05)July 5, 1952 (age 73) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Claremont McKenna College (BA) Claremont Graduate University (MA) |
| Awards | Order of the Aztec Eagle Order of Saint Agatha (Knight Commander) Order of San Carlos |
David Timothy DreierOAE (/draɪər/DRY-ər; born July 5, 1952) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as aRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromCalifornia from 1981 to 2013. He was one of the youngest members ever elected to theUnited States Congress.[1][2] Dreier was the youngest chairman of theHouse Rules Committee in U.S. history, serving from 1999 to 2007 and from 2011 to 2013. He was instrumental in passing theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993.[3][4] After leaving Congress, Dreier served on theForeign Affairs Policy Board underPresidentBarack Obama. He served as the chairman of theTribune Publishing Company from 2019 to 2020. Dreier is also founder and chair of theFallen Journalists Memorial Foundation.[5]
In 1978, Dreier ran for theUnited States House of Representatives at the age of 25. He challenged incumbent DemocratJames Fredrick Lloyd, who had first won in a Republican-leaning district in 1974. Though unknown and living in Phillips Hall atClaremont McKenna College,[6] Dreier lost by 54% to 46%, less than expected.
In 1980, Dreier ran again and defeated Lloyd 52% to 45%, winning on the coattails of formerCalifornia GovernorRonald Reagan'spresidential election.[7] Dreier was sworn into office as one of the youngest members of the House of Representatives in U.S. history.[1]
After the1980 United States census, his district was renumbered to the 33rd. Dreier defeated CongressmanWayne Grisham 57% to 43% in the Republican primary of 1982.[8] 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.[9] 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 the1990 United States census and to the 26th district after the2000 United States census.[10]
In 2004, Dreier faced strong criticism for his position on illegal immigration from opponent Cynthia Matthews and severaltalk radio hosts who felt he was not tough enough on illegal immigrants.[11]
Dreier won with 54% of the vote.[12][13]
In 2006, he won reelection in a rematch against Matthews 57% to 38%, despite Republicans losing the majority that year.[14]
In 2008, Dreier won reelection against Democrat Russ Warner with 53% of the vote.[15][16]
In 2010, he defeated Warner in a rematch with 54% of the vote.[17] Dreier ceased all campaign fundraising for more than a year, leading many to believe that he was planning to leave Congress.[18]
After the2010 United States census, the voter-createdCalifornia Citizens Redistricting Commission renumbered Dreier's district as the31st district, and reconfigured it as a Democratic-leaning, majority-Latino district.[19] Dreier chose not to run for reelection in 2012 and encouraged hisRepublican colleagueGary Miller to move into the 31st after Miller's old district was merged with the district of another Republican,Ed Royce.[18]
Dreier is the youngest chairman of theHouse Rules Committee in U.S. history.[20][2] As well as being the only Californian to hold that position, he is the third-longest-serving chairman of the Rules Committee and the longest-serving chairman since 1967. When the Democrats gained control of the House in the2006 midterm elections, Dreier served asranking member for the110th and111th Congresses. With the Republicans regaining control of the House in the2010 midterm elections, Dreier again assumed the chairmanship during the112th Congress.[21]
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 ofHouse Majority LeaderTom DeLay on September 28, 2005, House SpeakerDennis 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".[22] The position instead went to then-Majority WhipRoy Blunt ofMissouri, though both Dreier and then-Deputy Majority WhipEric Cantor ofVirginia shared in some duties.[23]
Along with House colleaguesJim Kolbe andJerry Lewis, Dreier was the first member of Congress to propose a North American free trade agreement in 1987.[24] He was instrumental in the creation and passage of what becameNAFTA in 1993.[25][26] During thesigning ceremony for NAFTA, PresidentBill Clinton recognized Dreier's contribution to the ultimate success of the legislation.[27]
Dreier opposed PresidentDonald Trump's threats to abandon NAFTA, instead advocating for an updated NAFTA, which would include digital trade, among other subjects.[28][4]
Dreier has been a longstanding supporter ofcloser ties between the United States and the countries ofLatin America and has met frequently with executive and legislative branch leaders throughout the region. He has received the nation's highest honors from the presidents ofColombia,Mexico, andNicaragua.[29] On August 28, 2007, while building support for theUnited States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Dreier addressed the Colombian parliament.[30] 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."[31]
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.[32] Dreier was a member of theRepublican Main Street Partnership.[33]
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.[34]
Dreier supported the expansion of public transportation in his district. He secured federal funding for theMetro Gold Line, connectingDowntown Los Angeles andPasadena via light rail.[35]
Dreier initially supported the bipartisanDefense of Marriage Act, signed into law by PresidentBill Clinton in 1996.[36] Joining columnists such asWilliam Raspberry in opposing "thought police,"[37] Dreier voted against theMatthew Shepard Act that expanded federal hate-crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceivedgender,sexual orientation,gender identity, or disability.[38] Dreier initially supported theDon't ask, don't tell policy, which preventedLGBT members of the armed forces from serving openly.[39] However, in December 2010, Dreier voted in favor of legislation that repealed the policy.[40][41] Dreier opposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.[42]
He served as parliamentarian for fourRepublican National Conventions.[43]
Chairman of theCommittee on Rules (1999–2007, 2011–2013)
On February 29, 2012, Dreier announced that upon completion of his term he would not seek re-election.[18] Upon leaving Congress, Dreier, in an unprecedented move, joined theObama Administration from 2013 to 2015, serving as a member of theForeign Affairs Policy Board.[44] He also served on the board of thePacific Council on International Policy. Currently, he serves as a trustee of theLibrary of Congress' Congressional Office for International Leadership.[45]
Dreier is founder of the Dreier Roundtable atClaremont McKenna College (hisalma mater), where he serves as a trustee. In 2013, Dreier was elected to the board of trustees ofCaltech.[46] He serves on the Space Innovation Council at theJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and is a member of theThirty Meter Telescope (TMT) working group.[46]
Dreier also became chairman of the Annenberg-Dreier Commission atSunnylands, which aims to promote the free flow of goods, services, capital, information, ideas, and people throughout the greater Pacific.[47] He is also on the advisory board of theUSC Annenberg School Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. Dreier is a distinguished fellow at theBrookings Institution,[48] a member of theCouncil on Foreign Relations,[49] and a leading member of the board of directors of theInternational Republican Institute.[50] He also serves on the boards of the Los Angeles Mission Foundation andJames Madison's Montpelier.[51] Dreier was an executive producer of the 2020 documentaryEnding Disease. He was also the co-executive producer of the 2018 U.S.-China relations documentaryBetter Angels.[52]
In January 2019, Dreier was named chairman of the board ofTribune Publishing Company,[53][54] succeeding formerTribune Publishing CEOJustin Dearborn. Dreier had served on theTribune Publishing board since 2016.
In February 2020, Dreier stepped down as chairman. He left the board in June 2020.[55]
On June 26, 2019, Dreier founded theFallen Journalists Memorial Foundation (FJM Foundation), the main objective of which is to build a permanent memorial near theNational Mall inWashington, D.C. to commemorate journalists who have been killed.[56] One year earlier on June 28, 2018, the offices ofCapital Gazette Communications, home toThe Capital newspaper inAnnapolis, Maryland, became the site of thedeadliest attack against journalists in United States history when five were gunned down in their office. This mass shooting atThe Capital, owned byTribune Publishing Company, inspired Dreier to launch the FJM project.[57] He serves as the chairman of the FJM Foundation.
At the 5th AnnualDirectors Guild of America Honors Gala in 2004, Dreier and RepresentativeHoward Berman received aDGA Honor for their efforts in fighting runaway film and television production.[58] The award was presented byRob Reiner,Sidney Pollack, andWarren Beatty. Also in 2004, the American Political Science Association (APSA) gave Dreier the Hubert Humphrey Award.[59]
In 2013, Dreier was inducted into theOrder of Saint Agatha as a Knight Commander by theRepublic of San Marino, the world's oldest republic.[60]
In 2017, PresidentEnrique Peña Nieto ofMexico inducted Dreier into theOrder of the Aztec Eagle.[61] Dreier has also been awarded theOrder of San Carlos by the president ofColombia and the Order ofRubén Darío by the president ofNicaragua.[51]
Dreier is a member of theAlfalfa Club.[62]
He has been awarded the Clean Air Award by theSierra Club.[63]
Dreier lost hisMalibu home in theWoolsey Fire in late 2018.[64][65][66]
Drier is a descendant ofRichard Bland Lee, a congressman fromVirginia who served on the firstHouse Rules Committee.[67]
In his earlier years in Congress, Dreier appeared on "most eligible bachelor" lists for Washington DC. At one point in the 1990s he datedBo Derek.[68]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 35th congressional district 1981–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 33rd congressional district 1983–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 28th congressional district 1993–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Rules Committee 1999–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Howard Berman | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 26th congressional district 2003–2013 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of the House Democracy Partnership 2005–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Louise Slaughter | Ranking Member of theHouse Rules Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of the House Democracy Partnership 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Louise Slaughter | Chair of theHouse Rules Committee 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the House Democracy Partnership 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
Chairs of theU.S. House Committee on Rules (1880–present) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
