Dave Camp

Dave Camp
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Fred Upton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 10th district
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Bill Schuette
Succeeded by	David Bonior
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 102nd district
In office 1988–1990
Succeeded by	James McNutt
Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 2011
Preceded by	Sander M. Levin
Personal details
Born	July 9, 1953 (1953-07-09) Midland, Michigan
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nancy Camp
Residence	Midland, Michigan
Alma mater	Albion College, University of San Diego
Occupation	[Attorney]
Religion	Roman Catholic

David Lee "Dave" Camp (born July 9, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 4th congressional district, serving since 1991. He is a member of the Republican Party and the current Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Early life, education, and early career

Camp was born in Midland, Michigan to Norma L. Nehil and Robert D. Camp. He graduated from H.H. Dow High School in 1971. He attended the University of Sussex, Brighton, England, 1973–1974 and earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in 1975 from Albion College in Albion, Michigan. He earned a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1978.

From 1979 to 1991, he was a partner with the law firm Riecker, Van Dam & Barker Private Counsel. During this time, Camp also worked as a member of the Midland County, Michigan board of canvassers and a member of the Midland County Republican executive committee. He was special assistant to the Michigan attorney general from 1980 to 1984. He served on the staff of his longtime friend U.S. Representative Bill Schuette (R-MI) from 1984 to 1987. In 1988, he ran and won Michigan's 102nd District of the Michigan House of Representatives and served one term.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

When U.S. Congressman Schuette of Michigan's 10th congressional district decided to retire in 1990 to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent U.S. Senator Carl Levin, Camp ran to replace him and quickly won the endorsement of his former boss. But in the Republican primary he faced former U.S. Congressman James Dunn and former State Senator Alan Cropsey. Despite trailing Dunn in early polls, Camp won the Republican primary with a plurality of 33%. He defeated Cropsey (30%), Allen (19%), Dunn (18%), and Simcox (1%). He won the general election with 65% of the vote.

After redistricting, he decided to run in Michigan's 4th congressional district. He won the general election with 62% of the vote. He never won re-election with less than 61% of the vote and never had a primary challenge.

Tenure

Camp is a member of both the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership and the conservative Republican Study Committee, two groups with conflicting positions on policy. For example, the RMSP supports stem cell research and opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, while the RSC opposes stem cell research and supports the FMA. He also received a score of 50 out of 100 from the John Birch Society's "Freedom Index", a Congressional Scorecard.

Camp was listed as a rising star within his party during his freshman term in Congress. In the 108th Congress, he served as a deputy majority whip and on the House Ways and Means Committee, a position that he used to advance welfare reform. Time magazine listed Camp's efforts as crucial to the passing of this new policy.

Legislative Accomplishments

• In the 112th Congress (ongoing) Camp was a key architect of House Republicans’ January 2011 repeal efforts of the new health care law. While the Senate thus far has refused to take action on full repeal of the Democrats’ 2010 health care law, Chairman Camp did lead the successful repeal of the health care law’s onerous 1099 tax reporting requirement – a burden the nation’s small businesses said would hurt their operations and ability to employ workers.

• In the 111th Congress (2009–2010), Camp served as Ranking Member of the full committee. During his tenure as Ranking Member, Camp crafted and advanced commonsense and affordable Republican alternatives to the 2009 stimulus law and 2010 health care law. The Camp alternative to the 2009 stimulus law would have provided critical tax relief to every American family that pays income taxes and incentives to encourage small businesses to grow, hire, and invest. Using the methodology of the President’s own economic advisors, the Camp alternative would have created twice as many jobs at half the cost of the 2009 stimulus law. Likewise, during the 2010 debate on health care reform, Ranking Member Camp offered a more reasoned alternative that would have insured millions of Americans and reduced annual health care premiums for families by up to $3,200 per year, without raising taxes or spending $1 trillion as the 2010 health care law did.

• In 2010, Camp was one of three House Republicans appointed by then-Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, commonly known as the Bowles-Simpson Commission. The Commission, formed in February 2010, was charged with identifying policies to improve the U.S. fiscal situation in the medium term, and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long term. While on the Commission, Camp co-led the Tax Reform Working Group and was a member of the Mandatory Spending Working Group.

• In the 110th Congress (2007–2008) and 109th Congress (2005–2006), Camp served as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, respectively. During his tenure on the committee, he has served seven terms as a Member of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, and six terms as a Member of the Subcommittee on Trade. As a junior Member of the committee in 1996, Camp made his mark by playing a pivotal role in the passage of historic welfare reform legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. TIME magazine credited Camp’s contribution as the “decisive breakthrough” that led to the bill’s enactment.

• In the 108th Congress (2003–2004), Camp was selected by Speaker Denny Hastert to serve on the Select Committee on Homeland Security, which was created by the House of Representatives on January 7, 2003. While on the select committee Camp served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security, where he played an integral role in developing policies to better secure U.S. land and maritime borders in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

• In the 102nd Congress (1991–1992) Camp served on the House Committee on Agriculture. For his work on behalf of Michigan agriculture, Camp received the Golden Plow Award in 1998, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s highest honor given to only one Member of the House in each Congress.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Rep. Camp may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees. Created by the first U.S. House of Representatives on July 24, 1789, Ways and Means is the oldest committee of the Congress. The responsibilities vested in the committee have placed it at the center of some of the most critical legislative decisions faced by the Congress. The committee has jurisdiction over taxes, the management of the public debt, tariff and trade laws, and the Social Security and Medicare systems. Camp has served on the committee since the 103rd Congress (1993–1994).
• Joint Committee on Taxation (Chairman)
• The Joint Committee on Taxation is a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926. The Joint Committee operates with an experienced professional staff of Ph.D economists, attorneys, and accountants, who assist Members of the majority and minority parties in both houses of Congress on tax legislation. The Joint Committee is chaired on a rotating basis by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the first Session of each Congress the House has the Chair and the Senate has the vice-chair; during the second session the roles are reversed.
• Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
• Camp was chosen by Speaker Boehner to serve on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a 12-member panel (made up of 3 House Republicans, 3 House Democrats, 3 Senate Republicans and 3 Senate Democrats) created under the Budget Control Act (PL 112-25). The committee ceased on Nov. 23, 2011.

Caucus memberships

• Building a Better America Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Life Insurance Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus

Criticism

Camp has been accused of being a rubber stamp for various entities.

Congressman Camp has been criticized for dismissing charges against senior staffer Aharon Friedman as “gossip.” Friedman had been formally charged with contempt of proceedings by the Rabbinical Council of America for refusing to give his wife, Tamar Epstein, a Jewish divorce. In the Orthodox Jewish community, a woman whose husband refuses to give her a get is called an agunah and is considered to still be married.

External links

• U.S. Congressman Dave Camp official U.S. House site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• 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

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Bill Schuette	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 10th congressional district 1991–1993	Succeeded by David E. Bonior
Preceded by Fred Upton	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 4th congressional district 1993–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Sander Levin Michigan	Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee 2011–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by John Boehner R-Ohio	United States Representatives by seniority 56th	Succeeded by Rosa DeLauro D-Connecticut
Preceded by in the 112th Congress, with John Boehner as Speaker, David Price D-North Carolina