Dan Lungren

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Dan Lungren
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Doug Ose
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 42nd district
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Mark W. Hannaford
Succeeded by	Dana Rohrabacher
Born	September 22, 1946 (1946-09-22) (age 62) Long Beach, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Bobbi Lungren
Residence	Gold River, California
Alma mater	University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University Law Center
Occupation	attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Daniel Edward (Dan) Lungren (born September 22, 1946), is a Republican of the United States House of Representatives representing California's 3rd congressional district (see map) since 2005. The district is located in the southeastern suburbs of Sacramento. He'd previously represented the Long Beach area from 1979 to 1989.

[edit] Biography

Lungren was born in Long Beach, California of Irish and Swedish extraction.^[1] Lungren's father was the long-time personal physician, beginning in 1952 when Lungren was a child, and a close friend of President Richard Nixon.^[2] He is married to Bobbi Lungren and has three children and five grandchildren.

After graduating from St. Anthony High School in 1964, Lungren earned a A.B. with honors in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1968, upon which he returned to California to chair Youth for Nixon during Nixon's first successful run for the presidency.^[3]

Lungren began law school at the University of Southern California and later transferred to Georgetown University Law Center from which he earned his J.D. in 1971. During his years at Georgetown, Lungren worked on the staff of U.S. Senators George Murphy (R-CA) and Bill Brock (R-TN). He also was special assistant to the Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 1971 to 1972. In addition, during his period of time in Washington, Lungren's wife worked in the Nixon White House.^[4]

Lungren later returned to Long Beach, where he joined a law firm and practiced civil trials for a short time before he first ran for Congress in 1976. He was unsuccessful, but tried a second time and was elected in 1979.^[5]

During his bid for Governor, rumors circulated that Lungren was being considered as a potential Vice-Presidential candidate on the Dole ticket. After Lungren lost his gubernatorial bid, those rumors dried up and Dole ultimately picked another running mate.

[edit] Member of Congress (1979-1989)

Lungren first served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to 1989, representing portions of Long Beach and Orange County. He was one of Newt Gingrich's chief lieutenants during this time, and was a founding member of the Conservative Opportunity Society. He served on the House Judiciary Committee, where he pushed for sanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants, but supported a temporary guest-worker program. He was the principal House cosponsor of the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill, which became the Immigration Reform Act of 1986. He also independently sponsored a "guest worker" bill, designed to allow for importation of "temporary" immigrant laborers.

[edit] California statewide offices

Lungren retired from the House when California Governor George Deukmejian appointed him as California's acting State Treasurer, but was never confirmed. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Democrats "praised Lungren's integrity, but said they were unwilling to vote for a Republican whose congressional voting record was so conservative." However, Lungren was later elected as California Attorney General in 1990 and served from 1991-1999. Lungren worked in passing such legislation as "Megan's Law," "3-Strikes-and-You're-Out," "Sexual Anti-Predator Act," and the "California's Safe Schools Plan." From 1993 to 1998, California saw a 30 percent decrease in crime.

In 1996, he was considered as a possible running mate for Republican nominee Bob Dole.

In 1998 Lungren ran as the Republican candidate for governor against Democratic Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis. Davis received 57.9% of the votes, while Lungren got 38.4%. During the campaign, Davis maintained that Lungren, who presented himself as the political heir to former California Governor and US President Ronald Reagan, was too conservative for California. Davis also criticized Lungren's hesitancy, as California Attorney General, to enforce laws restricting assault weapons and his waiting until the last minute to become part of a class action lawsuit against the cigarette industry.

[edit] Return to Congress

Lungren ran for Congress again in the 3rd Congressional District after six-year incumbent Congressman Doug Ose announced his retirement. http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/754937.html] Lungren has stated that his desire to serve in Congress again was rekindled by the September 11, 2001 attacks. He won a come from behind victory in a three-way primary against Mary Ose and State Senator Rico Oller http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/polltrack/2004/races/house/ca/ca03.htm?].

Lungren was reappointed to the Judiciary Committee based on his previous five terms of seniority, and also serves on the Budget and Homeland Security committees. He has expressed an interest in becoming involved in immigration issues again. In 2005, Lungren supported the "USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act,", which renewed the Federal Government's ability to perform secret surveillance including wiretaps of citizens and monitoring of public and private computer packet-switched networks to prevent terrorism from hitting the United States. In 2006, Lungren and Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) authored the SAFE Port Act, which improves security at the ports including additional requirements for maritime facilities, foreign port assessments, container security initiatives and Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support. In 2007, Lungren was appointed to the House Administration Committee.

Lungren was one of the first Members of Congress to introduce "tele-town halls," which the congressman would call constituents throughout the district to invite them to engage in a discussion and forum on legislation, policies and events facing the nation. It is way to connect with constituents in the district while the Members are back in Washington, DC.

On April 4, 2007, Lungren cosponsored a bill indicating that U.S. citizenship is a privilege and should be granted to children born to U.S. citizens or residents with legal immigration status in the U.S., not grant automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens

On July 29, 2008, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6295, introduced by Lungren. This legislation is to stop the use of submersible and semi-submersible vessels used to transport drugs and other contrabands, which pose a threat to communities and national security.

Shortly after the 2008 election, a newly reelected Lungren challenged Congressman John Boehner for Minority Leader. Lungren did not win the post. Despite the challenge, Boehner appointed Lungren as Ranking Republican Member of the House Administration Committee. To serve on this new role, Lungren left his spot with the Budget Committee.

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on House Administration (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Capitol Security (Ranking Member)
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law
• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology (Ranking Member)
• Joint Committee on Printing (Ranking Member)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Dan Lungren official House site
• Dan Lungren at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Daniel E Lungren campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Dan Lungren issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Dan Lungren campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Dan Lungren (CA) profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Dan Lungren voting record