Howard Berman
Encyclopedia
Howard Lawrence Berman is the U.S. Representative
for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party
. He earlier served in the California State Assembly
from 1974 to 1982, and as the U.S. Representative
for from 1983 to 2003.
(1962, International Relations
) and LL.B.
(1965) at University of California, Los Angeles
. Blanche Bettington, his brilliant high school civics teacher, inspired him to enter politics and government. He was a VISTA
volunteer (1966–1967) in Baltimore
and San Francisco, and was an associate
at a Los Angeles
law firm
(1967–72) specializing in labor relations
.
Berman was active in the Young Democrats at UCLA. He began his friendship with Henry Waxman
there in 1960, when both were still undergraduates. Waxman was head of the YD liberal caucus, and through it ran the YDs. Both of them supported Adlai E. Stevenson's pursuit of the presidential nomination up to the eve of the 1960 convention. Berman was President of the California Young Democrats 1967-1969. He and Waxman co-founded the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which grew to become one of the largest young professional clubs in Southern California.
Berman was a convention delegate
to the 1968 (Chicago)
, 1976
, and 1984 Democratic National Convention
s.
, unseating the incumbent Republican Speaker pro-tempore.
His brother Michael, campaign manager
in Henry Waxman's 1968 Assembly race, again ran a targeted mail operation.
In 1974 Berman and Waxman both opposed Willie Brown
's unsuccessful revolt against Speaker of the California State Assembly Leo McCarthy, who rewarded Berman's loyalty by appointing him the youngest majority leader
in the Assembly's history. McCarthy fired Berman when he tried to replace him in 1980.
Although McCarthy failed to retain the Speakership, Berman failed to win it; and Brown became Speaker. Other members remarked on what a tough politician he was; the Bermans helped arrange a primary
defeat for at least one colleague (Jack R. Fenton
) who had opposed his bid. He also served as
Chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and on the Policy Research Management Committee of the Assembly.
in 1982. Berman ran for the open seat in California's 26th congressional district
, and won the Democratic primary with 83%. He won the general election with 60% of the vote. He has never won re-election with less than 61% of the vote.
Following redistricting, Berman will run in California's 30th congressional district
in 2012. He will face fellow Democrat U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman
.
Berman was the House sponsor of the 1986 False Claims Act
that authorized civil litigation by whistleblowers. It led to recoveries for the United States Government exceeding one billion dollars.
Berman is a supporter of Stop online Piracy Act
, which would effectively shut down Youtube
, Reddit
, and many other websites.
Berman has championed protecting American film industry jobs from outsourcing
("runaway production
"). He has also voted against amending the constitution to require a balanced budget
, banning the desecration of the American flag
, the Defense of Marriage Act
, and restrictions on abortion.
However, Berman concurs with many on the right on a number of issues—particularly foreign affairs
and trade
. Berman voted in support of the invasion of Iraq
in both 1991
and 2003, as well as for the FISA Amendments Act of 2008
, positions that have hurt his standing among many liberals in his district. While he generally supports free trade
—for instance voting in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and various trade agreements with specific countries—he voted against the more recent Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He opposes withdrawing U.S. support for the World Trade Organization
. In that same year, he also voted to phase out many farm subsidy programs put into place by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal
.
Berman is known for his staunch protection of copyright
interests and his alliances with the entertainment industry; he is sometimes referred to as the "representative from Hollywood." The major industry contributing to his election campaigns has been the entertainment industry. He proposed legislation under which copyright holders would be able to employ technological tools such as file blocking, redirection, spoofs
, and decoys—among others—to curb piracy (Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act). Recently, he has been named as one of the primary politicians involved in the creation of the Stop Online Piracy Act
(SOPA) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
(ACTA). In a September 2008 hearing of the House Intellectual Property
Subcommittee, Berman criticized the National Institutes of Health
's policy requiring NIH-sponsored research to be submitted to a database open to the public by saying that "the N in NIH shouldn't stand for Napster
". In addition to Hollywood, his district also covers roughly the eastern half of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley
districts and the city of San Fernando
.
Berman is also a strong supporter of Israel
, telling the Jewish newspaper, The Forward
after being appointed Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Even before I was a Democrat, I was a Zionist." He has sponsored the Anti-Boycott Act in the House, which prohibits American individuals and organizations from actively boycotting Israeli goods.
In Congress, Berman led the investigation into the conduct of house members in the Mark Foley Page scandal.
In 2003, Berman expressed his concerns over the Patriot Act with then US Attorney General John Ashcroft, specifically on the method to hold illegal immigrants until they prove they are not terrorists.
In 2000, Berman along with then US Senator from Oregon, Gordon Smith, proposed an amnesty, which would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented farm laborers. In exchange, requirements that growers provide housing to guest workers, and pay them a minimum wage adjusted annually for inflation, would have been relaxed.
In 2005, Berman was part of the bipartisan group in Congress who fought against immigration reform efforts. That path to citizenship was also supported by President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain.
Investments
The Center for Responsive Politics
named 151 members of Congress who had investments (as of year end 2006) in companies that do business with the United States Department of Defense
, suggesting that such holdings conflict with their responsibility for U.S. security policy. The most important such companies, ranked by estimated total value of members' holdings, were Procter & Gamble
, General Electric
, Pepsi
, ExxonMobil
, Berkshire Hathaway
, IBM
, Microsoft
, Johnson & Johnson
, H. J. Heinz Company
, and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
. CRP identified the top ten members of Congress as
The report named no other members among the 151, save committee chairmen Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Rep. Berman.
None of the firms listed above ranked among the top ten DOD contractors in 2008, nor in the top twenty for 2009.
Fundraising
Berman paid his brother Michael Berman's consulting firm Berman & D'Agostino $195,000 from campaign funds from 2001 to 2006. This included $70,000 in consulting fees for the 2006 election. In 2005, $50,000 in consulting fees were paid to the company, and Michael Berman himself was paid a further $80,500 in campaign management and consulting fees. In the 2002 campaign, Berman & D'Agostino was paid $75,000 in political consulting fees.
Ethics
Alan Mollohan
, ranking member
of the House Ethics Committee, resigned from the committee after he himself became the subject of an ethics complaint. Berman had been its senior Democrat 1997-2003, and on 2006-10-05 Minority leader
Nancy Pelosi
reappointed him to replace Mollohan. Berman served on the subcommittee investigating the House's page program
in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal
.
"This is an honor I could have done without."
Center for Public Integrity
reported in 2006 that members of the House Ethics Committee and their staffs had taken many privately sponsored trips, about 400 trips from 2000 to mid 2005, at a total expense nearly $1 million. Of these, Democrats took about 80% of the trips at about 70% of the cost. Berman and his staff were at the top of the chart, with trips costing more than $245,000. Berman himself had taken 14 trips at the Aspen Institute
's expense, including two to China
with Mrs. Berman. Aspen replied that its events for members were like graduate seminars, and did not push any policy agenda. "Gene Smith, Berman's chief of staff, said that the bulk of the congressman's foreign travel can be attributed to his being a senior member on the House Committee on International Relations." Five private groups (Campaign Legal Center
, Democracy 21
, the League of Women Voters
, Public Citizen
and U.S. PIRG) jointly sent a letter to the ethics committee urging it ban or restrict such travel.
Redistricting
The 2000 census allocated California one new House seat, 53 in all. Howard Berman, "dad of the delegation" on redistricting, made a deal with Republicans Tom Davis
and David Dreier
keeping 34 safe seats for Democrats, and adding one new Republican district while protecting 19 incumbent Republicans. Every California Democrat in the House and California State Senate
hired Michael Berman as a redistricting consultant, for a fee of $20,000 each. When the August 2001 plan was unveiled, Brad Sherman
complained that it undermined the safety of his seat with too many Hispanic
voters. "Howard Berman stabbed me in the back." Berman agreed to redraw the boundary between their districts, giving himself 55.6% and Sherman 36.5% Latino
population. The redistricting plan survived (June, 2002) MALDEF
's court challenge, arguing it diluted Hispanic representation. The Republicans suffered some slippage; they had only 19 members in the delegation to the 110th Congress.
Memberships and awards
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. He earlier served in the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
from 1974 to 1982, and as the U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for from 1983 to 2003.
Early life, education, and legal career
He is the son of the former Eleanor Schapiro and Joseph Berman, and grew up in modest circumstances. He graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) (1959), and earned his B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(1962, International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
) and LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
(1965) at University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. Blanche Bettington, his brilliant high school civics teacher, inspired him to enter politics and government. He was a VISTA
Volunteers in Service to America
VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
volunteer (1966–1967) in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and San Francisco, and was an associate
Associate attorney
An associate attorney is a lower-level employee of a traditional law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner.-Attorneys:An associate may be a junior or senior associate, but normally does not yet hold an ownership interest in the firm even if they have been associated with the...
at a Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
(1967–72) specializing in labor relations
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
.
Berman was active in the Young Democrats at UCLA. He began his friendship with Henry Waxman
Henry Waxman
Henry Arnold Waxman is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1975. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is considered to be one of the most influential liberal members of Congress...
there in 1960, when both were still undergraduates. Waxman was head of the YD liberal caucus, and through it ran the YDs. Both of them supported Adlai E. Stevenson's pursuit of the presidential nomination up to the eve of the 1960 convention. Berman was President of the California Young Democrats 1967-1969. He and Waxman co-founded the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which grew to become one of the largest young professional clubs in Southern California.
Berman was a convention delegate
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
to the 1968 (Chicago)
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
, 1976
1976 Democratic National Convention
The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia for President and Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota for Vice...
, and 1984 Democratic National Convention
1984 Democratic National Convention
The 1984 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select a candidate for the 1984 United States presidential election. At the convention Walter Mondale was nominated for President and Geraldine...
s.
California Assembly
Berman won election to the Assembly in 1972 from a district in the Hollywood HillsHollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
, unseating the incumbent Republican Speaker pro-tempore.
His brother Michael, campaign manager
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
in Henry Waxman's 1968 Assembly race, again ran a targeted mail operation.
In 1974 Berman and Waxman both opposed Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
's unsuccessful revolt against Speaker of the California State Assembly Leo McCarthy, who rewarded Berman's loyalty by appointing him the youngest majority leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
in the Assembly's history. McCarthy fired Berman when he tried to replace him in 1980.
Although McCarthy failed to retain the Speakership, Berman failed to win it; and Brown became Speaker. Other members remarked on what a tough politician he was; the Bermans helped arrange a primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
defeat for at least one colleague (Jack R. Fenton
Jack R. Fenton
Jack R. Fenton represented California's 51st State Assembly district and California's 59th State Assembly district 16 years in the California State Assembly. He was part of the Democratic leadership, majority leader in 1972, and helped establish California's occupational health and safety...
) who had opposed his bid. He also served as
Chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and on the Policy Research Management Committee of the Assembly.
Elections
After redistricting, incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman John Harbin Rousselot decided to run in California's 30th congressional districtCalifornia's 30th congressional district
California's 30th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district includes many of the upper-class suburbs of Los Angeles, most notably Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Agoura Hills,...
in 1982. Berman ran for the open seat in California's 26th congressional district
California's 26th congressional district
California 26th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that spans the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley from La Cañada Flintridge to Rancho Cucamonga...
, and won the Democratic primary with 83%. He won the general election with 60% of the vote. He has never won re-election with less than 61% of the vote.
Following redistricting, Berman will run in California's 30th congressional district
California's 30th congressional district
California's 30th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district includes many of the upper-class suburbs of Los Angeles, most notably Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Agoura Hills,...
in 2012. He will face fellow Democrat U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman
Brad Sherman
Bradley J. "Brad" Sherman is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing ....
.
Tenure
Political positionsBerman was the House sponsor of the 1986 False Claims Act
False Claims Act
The False Claims Act is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud governmental programs. The law includes a "qui tam" provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions on behalf of the government...
that authorized civil litigation by whistleblowers. It led to recoveries for the United States Government exceeding one billion dollars.
Berman is a supporter of Stop online Piracy Act
Stop Online Piracy Act
The Stop Online Piracy Act , also known as H.R.3261, is a bill that was introduced to the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S...
, which would effectively shut down Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
Reddit
reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text "self" post. Other users then vote the submission "up" or "down," which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site's pages and front page.Reddit was originally...
, and many other websites.
Berman has championed protecting American film industry jobs from outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
("runaway production
Runaway production
Runaway production is a term used by the American film industry to describe filmmaking and television productions that are "intended for initial release/exhibition or television broadcast in the U.S., but are actually filmed in another country."...
"). He has also voted against amending the constitution to require a balanced budget
Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government....
, banning the desecration of the American flag
Flag desecration
Flag desecration is a term applied to various acts that intentionally destroy, damage or mutilate a flag in public, most often a national flag. Often, such action is intended to make a political point against a country or its policies...
, the Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
, and restrictions on abortion.
However, Berman concurs with many on the right on a number of issues—particularly foreign affairs
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...
and trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
. Berman voted in support of the invasion of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in both 1991
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and 2003, as well as for the FISA Amendments Act of 2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2008
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 is an Act of Congress that amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.-Background:...
, positions that have hurt his standing among many liberals in his district. While he generally supports free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
—for instance voting in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) and various trade agreements with specific countries—he voted against the more recent Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He opposes withdrawing U.S. support for the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
. In that same year, he also voted to phase out many farm subsidy programs put into place by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
.
Berman is known for his staunch protection of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
interests and his alliances with the entertainment industry; he is sometimes referred to as the "representative from Hollywood." The major industry contributing to his election campaigns has been the entertainment industry. He proposed legislation under which copyright holders would be able to employ technological tools such as file blocking, redirection, spoofs
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, and decoys—among others—to curb piracy (Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act). Recently, he has been named as one of the primary politicians involved in the creation of the Stop Online Piracy Act
Stop Online Piracy Act
The Stop Online Piracy Act , also known as H.R.3261, is a bill that was introduced to the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S...
(SOPA) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement...
(ACTA). In a September 2008 hearing of the House Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
Subcommittee, Berman criticized the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
's policy requiring NIH-sponsored research to be submitted to a database open to the public by saying that "the N in NIH shouldn't stand for Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
". In addition to Hollywood, his district also covers roughly the eastern half of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
districts and the city of San Fernando
San Fernando, California
San Fernando is a city located in the San Fernando Valley, in northwestern region of Los Angeles, California, United States. The population was 23,645 at the 2010 census, up from 23,564 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
Berman is also a strong supporter of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, telling the Jewish newspaper, The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
after being appointed Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Even before I was a Democrat, I was a Zionist." He has sponsored the Anti-Boycott Act in the House, which prohibits American individuals and organizations from actively boycotting Israeli goods.
In Congress, Berman led the investigation into the conduct of house members in the Mark Foley Page scandal.
In 2003, Berman expressed his concerns over the Patriot Act with then US Attorney General John Ashcroft, specifically on the method to hold illegal immigrants until they prove they are not terrorists.
In 2000, Berman along with then US Senator from Oregon, Gordon Smith, proposed an amnesty, which would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented farm laborers. In exchange, requirements that growers provide housing to guest workers, and pay them a minimum wage adjusted annually for inflation, would have been relaxed.
In 2005, Berman was part of the bipartisan group in Congress who fought against immigration reform efforts. That path to citizenship was also supported by President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain.
Investments
The Center for Responsive Politics
Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
named 151 members of Congress who had investments (as of year end 2006) in companies that do business with the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, suggesting that such holdings conflict with their responsibility for U.S. security policy. The most important such companies, ranked by estimated total value of members' holdings, were Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
, Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
, H. J. Heinz Company
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
, and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
The William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging...
. CRP identified the top ten members of Congress as
| Top ten members (biggest investments) |
|---|
| Sen. John Kerry John Kerry John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W... (D-MA Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... ) |
| Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen Rodney Frelinghuysen Rodney P. Frelinghuysen is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:... (R Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... -NJ New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware... ) |
| Rep. Robin Hayes Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes is the current chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. For five terms from 1999 to 2009, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives.-Early life:... (R-NC North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte... ) |
| Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner Jim Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner, Jr. is an American politician who has been a member of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives since 1979, representing . The district, the state's richest, includes many of Milwaukee's northern and western suburbs, and extends into rural... (R-WI Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is... ) |
| Rep. Jane Harman Jane Harman Jane Margaret Lakes Harman is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.... (D-CA) |
| Rep. Fred Upton Fred Upton Frederick Stephen Upton is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. He is a member of the Republican Party and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The district, based in Kalamazoo, stretches along the Michigan-Indiana border in the southwestern part of the state.-Early life,... (R-MI Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... ) |
| Sen. Jay Rockefeller Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985... (D-WV West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east... ) |
| Rep. Tom Petri Tom Petri Thomas Evert Petri is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1979. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes most of the east-central part of the state.-Early life, education, and early career:... (R-WI) |
| Rep. Kenny Marchant Kenny Marchant Kenny Ewell Marchant is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes several wealthy areas around Dallas and Fort Worth.-Early life, education and career:... (R-TX) |
| Rep. John Carter (R-TX Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... ) |
The report named no other members among the 151, save committee chairmen Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Rep. Berman.
None of the firms listed above ranked among the top ten DOD contractors in 2008, nor in the top twenty for 2009.
Fundraising
Berman paid his brother Michael Berman's consulting firm Berman & D'Agostino $195,000 from campaign funds from 2001 to 2006. This included $70,000 in consulting fees for the 2006 election. In 2005, $50,000 in consulting fees were paid to the company, and Michael Berman himself was paid a further $80,500 in campaign management and consulting fees. In the 2002 campaign, Berman & D'Agostino was paid $75,000 in political consulting fees.
Ethics
Alan Mollohan
Alan Mollohan
Alan Bowlby Mollohan is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, ranking member
Ranking member
In United States politics, a ranking member is the second-most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the majority party. Another usage refers to the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. This second usage, often...
of the House Ethics Committee, resigned from the committee after he himself became the subject of an ethics complaint. Berman had been its senior Democrat 1997-2003, and on 2006-10-05 Minority leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
reappointed him to replace Mollohan. Berman served on the subcommittee investigating the House's page program
United States House of Representatives Page
United States House of Representatives Page Program was a program run by the United States House of Representatives, under the office of the Clerk of the House, in which appointed high school juniors acted as non-partisan federal employees in the House of Representatives, providing supplemental...
in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal
Mark Foley scandal
The Mark Foley scandal, which broke in late September 2006, centers on soliciting e-mails and sexually suggestive instant messages sent by Mark Foley, a Republican Congressman from Florida, to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congressional pages...
.
"This is an honor I could have done without."
Center for Public Integrity
Center for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
reported in 2006 that members of the House Ethics Committee and their staffs had taken many privately sponsored trips, about 400 trips from 2000 to mid 2005, at a total expense nearly $1 million. Of these, Democrats took about 80% of the trips at about 70% of the cost. Berman and his staff were at the top of the chart, with trips costing more than $245,000. Berman himself had taken 14 trips at the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
's expense, including two to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
with Mrs. Berman. Aspen replied that its events for members were like graduate seminars, and did not push any policy agenda. "Gene Smith, Berman's chief of staff, said that the bulk of the congressman's foreign travel can be attributed to his being a senior member on the House Committee on International Relations." Five private groups (Campaign Legal Center
Campaign Legal Center
Campaign Legal Center is a nonpartisan group that promotes greater transparency in election laws...
, Democracy 21
Democracy 21
Democracy 21 is a non-profit organization in the United States that works to remove the influence of private money from politics . It was founded in 1997 by longtime activist Fred Wertheimer, and is based in Washington, DC...
, the League of Women Voters
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...
, Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
and U.S. PIRG) jointly sent a letter to the ethics committee urging it ban or restrict such travel.
Redistricting
The 2000 census allocated California one new House seat, 53 in all. Howard Berman, "dad of the delegation" on redistricting, made a deal with Republicans Tom Davis
Thomas M. Davis
Thomas Milburn "Tom" Davis III was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia's 11th congressional district in Northern Virginia. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John...
and David Dreier
David Dreier
David Timothy Dreier is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and business career:...
keeping 34 safe seats for Democrats, and adding one new Republican district while protecting 19 incumbent Republicans. Every California Democrat in the House and California State Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
hired Michael Berman as a redistricting consultant, for a fee of $20,000 each. When the August 2001 plan was unveiled, Brad Sherman
Brad Sherman
Bradley J. "Brad" Sherman is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing ....
complained that it undermined the safety of his seat with too many Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
voters. "Howard Berman stabbed me in the back." Berman agreed to redraw the boundary between their districts, giving himself 55.6% and Sherman 36.5% Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
population. The redistricting plan survived (June, 2002) MALDEF
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is a national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States...
's court challenge, arguing it diluted Hispanic representation. The Republicans suffered some slippage; they had only 19 members in the delegation to the 110th Congress.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs (Ranking Member)
- Committee on the JudiciaryUnited States House Committee on the JudiciaryThe U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
- Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the InternetUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the InternetThe House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee. It was established in 2011.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Children's Working Group
- Congressional Diabetes Caucus
- International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- LGBT Equality Caucus
Personal life
Berman married Janis Gail Schwarz in 1979; they have two daughters, Brinley and Lindsey.Memberships and awards
- First Annual Farmworker Justice Award, 2000
- President, California Federation of Young DemocratsYoung Democrats of AmericaThe Young Democrats of America , founded in 1932, is the official youth arm of the Democratic Party of the United States, although it severed official ties with the Democratic National Committee following passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and became an independent 527 group...
, 1967–1969 - President's award, National Music Publishers AssociationNational Music Publishers AssociationThe National Music Publishers Association is the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of...
, 2007 - NATO Parliamentary AssemblyNATO Parliamentary AssemblyFounded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Karl A...
- Mexico Parliamentary Group
External links
- Congressman Howard L. Berman official U.S. house site
- Howard Berman for Congress official campaign site