Ed Royce
Encyclopedia
Edward Randall "Ed" Royce (born October 12, 1951) is 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 , and previously the 39th, serving in Congress since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party
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...

. The district lies in northern Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

, including portions of Stanton
Stanton, California
Stanton is a city located in western Orange County, California. The population was 38,186 at the 2010 census, up from 37,403 at the 2000 census. Like most of Orange County, it is more politically conservative compared to the rest of the state. The City was incorporated in 1956 and operates under...

, Cypress
Cypress, California
Cypress is a suburban city located in the northern region of Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 47,802 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, Buena Park
Buena Park, California
Buena Park is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. As of Census 2010 the population was 80,530. The city is adjacent to the city of Anaheim and is 12 miles northwest of downtown Santa Ana. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa...

, Fullerton
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...

, Anaheim
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...

, Placentia
Placentia, California
-Local: Placentia is a Charter city with an elected city council and professional city manager. Placentia City Council*Mayor- Scott W. Nelson*Mayor Pro Tem- Jeremy Yamaguchi*Council Member- Joe Aquirre*Council Member- Constance Underhill...

, and Orange
Orange, California
Southern California is well-known for year-round pleasant weather: - On average, the warmest month is August. - The highest recorded temperature was in 1985. - On average, the coolest month is December. - The lowest recorded temperature was in 1950...

. Redistricting will force Royce to run in the newly created 39th congressional district in 2012, and the Republican primary will be contested by Rep. Gary Miller
Gary Miller
Gary Gene Miller is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 41st, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...

.

Early life, education, and pre-congressional career

Born in Los Angeles, California
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...

, and graduating from Katella High School
Katella High School
Katella High School is a public high school in Anaheim, California and is part of the Anaheim Union High School District. It serves 2,700 students in grades nine through twelve...

 in Anaheim, Royce went on to earn 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...

 in Accounting and Finance in 1977 from the California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...

. He was a business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 owner and corporate tax
Corporate tax
Many countries impose corporate tax or company tax on the income or capital of some types of legal entities. A similar tax may be imposed at state or lower levels. The taxes may also be referred to as income tax or capital tax. Entities treated as partnerships are generally not taxed at the...

 manager for a Portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...

 company before becoming a California State Senator
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...

 in 1983, serving in that post until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Royce is married to the former Marie Porter.

Elections

After redistricting following the 1990 United States Census, incumbent Republican U.S. Representative William Dannemeyer decided to retire and run for the 1992 U.S. Senate election
United States Senate election in California, 1992
The 1992 United States Senate election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the special election to the United States Senate in California. Incumbent Democrat Alan Cranston decided to retire. Democrat Barbara Boxer won the open seat. Both of California's present...

. Ed Royce, a State Senator, won the Republican primary for California's 39th congressional district
California's 39th congressional district
California's 39th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district covers part of southeastern Los Angeles County and includes Lynwood, Cerritos, Lakewood, La Mirada, and Whittier....

 and defeated Democrat Molly McClanahan in the general election with 57% of the vote. He won re-election to the 39th district four more times with at least 63% of the vote. After redistricting after the 2000 United States Census, his district was renumbered the 40th, and won re-election five more times, with at least 67% of the vote (except in 2008 he got 63%).

Tenure

GovTrack rates Royce as a "moderate Republican," i.e., a moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....

 within his party, based an analysis of the bills he has sponsored. 58 percent of his campaign contributions from individuals, 34 percent from PAC
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...

s. Of the PAC contributions, 96 percent were from business groups, none from labor, and 4 percent from single-issue groups. The Sunlight Foundation gave Royce's web site a 24 percent rating for transparency, with 40 percent being considered a passing score. Royce's website highlights support from conservative and business organizations such as the National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union is a taxpayers advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. NTU advertises that it is the largest and oldest grassroots taxpayer organization in the nation, with 362,000 members nationwide. It is closely...

, Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste is a 501 non-profit organization in the United States. It functions as a think-tank, 'government watchdog', and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes...

, and 60 Plus. On the Issues
On the Issues
On The Issues or OnTheIssues is a non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to voters about candidates, primarily via their web site. This organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is currently run primarily by volunteers.The president and CEO of On the...

 defines Royce as a hard-core conservative and his American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...

 lifetime score is 98 percent.

Domestic policy
Royce's voting record, his scores on VoteMatch, and ratings by Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...

 indicate mixed or moderate positions on 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...

, privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

 of social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

, campaign finance, and tax reform.

Royce's most important focus as a representative has been banking deregulation. The legislation he has sponsored shows a focus on tax policy
Fiscal policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy....

, small businesses, credit, and deregulation of banking, and many of his biggest campaign contributors have been banks: his five top contributors in 2006 were Credit Union National Assn, Irvine Co., Wells Fargo, Orange County Teachers Fed Credit Union, and GUS plc. He is among the representatives receiving the largest percentage of their campaign contributions from the banking industry.

Royce is a fiscal conservative. He was co-chair of the House "porkbusters" coalition. As part of the porkbusters, he supported a deficit lockbox amendment, and he got a rules change requiring unauthorized spending to be listed separately in appropriations bills. Royce is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He has received 14 "Taxpayer Friend Awards" from the National Taxpayers' Union. Royce opposes funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Royce feels that these overseas investments expose taxpayers to a serious potential liability, just like the S&L crisis did.

Royce is a social conservative, having voted against same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

 and gay adoption, and in favor of school prayer
School prayer
School prayer in its common usage refers to state-approved prayer by students in state schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, organized prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited...

 and school vouchers. He has a 92 percent rating from the Christian Coalition in terms of his voting record on families and children. He is pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...

, his votes resulting in NARAL's most consistent possible score. He has voted in favor of a constitutional amendment forbidding flag burning, and in favor of making the USA PATRIOT Act
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...

 permanent. He has an A rating from the NRA
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...

.

Royce was criticized for attending an anti-Muslim rally in his home county, in which members of anti-Muslim groups supported by Royce chanted at Muslim-American families attending a charity event that they should "go home." Royce replied that the anti-Muslim chants were done by a splinter group, not the main group of protesters, and he disavowed the chants, saying "those remarks and conduct were disrespectful and offensive".

As a state senator and US representative, Royce sponsored bills and ballot initiatives on stalking and victims' rights.

Foreign policy

In foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...

, Royce's voting record has earned the most pro-military possible rating from SANE
Sane
Sane is an English word meaning "of sound mind"; see Sanity.Sane or SANE may also refer to:* Sane Ancient Greek city* An archaeological site and a modern name of Sani, Greece*Sane, Mali...

. In 2002, he voted in favor of authorizing President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 to use force in Iraq. In 2003, he voted yes on an emergency appropriation of $78 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. In every year from 2003 to 2006, he has voted in favor of the annual supplemental spending bill to continue funding for the Iraq war.
In 2005, he voted against Amendment 214 to HR 1815, which called on Bush to develop a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq; in favor of Amendment 488 to HR 2601 to keep troops in Iraq; and in favor of HR 612 opposing a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. In 2006, he voted for HR 861, a resolution labeling the war in Iraq as part of a global war against terrorism
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

. Royce had a mixed voting record on the 2011 US involvement in Libya.

Royce is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, serving as a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade in the 110th Congress. In previous Congresses, Royce served as chairman of the International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation. During his tenure as Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Royce held hearings on Islamic terrorist threats and weapons of mass destruction. Royce led efforts in the House to either secure or destroy shoulder-fired missiles around the world that otherwise may be susceptible to terrorists. In the summer of 2006, Royce held much publicized Congressional hearings in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, and Laredo, Texas
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...

, focusing on border vulnerabilities and international terrorism.

Royce also serves as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia. He and has been especially involved in policy regarding North Korea, working on issues such as human rights, counterfeiting of U.S. currency, nuclear proliferation, and stopping repatriation of refugees. Royce's district includes Fullerton, which has a large population of Korean immigrants. He has supported U.S. broadcasting efforts in Asia, initiating legislation to create Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that operates a radio station and Internet news service. RFA was founded by an act of the US Congress and is operated by the Broadcasting Board of Governors . The RFA is supported in part by grants from the federal government of the United States...

 and Radio Free Afghanistan
Radio Free Afghanistan
Radio Free Afghanistan is the Afghan branch of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s broadcast services. It broadcasts 12 hours daily as part of a 24 hour stream of programming in conjunction with Voice of America . RFA first aired in Afghanistan from 1985 to 1993 and was re-launched in January 2002...

 on the model of Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...

/Radio Liberty.

He is chair of the Africa Subcommitte, Royce co-led with Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...

 a delegation to observe Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

's historic elections in 1999
Nigerian presidential election, 1999
Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 27 February 1999, the first since the 1993 military coup. The result was a victory for Olusegun Obasanjo of the People's Democratic Party, who defeated Olu Falae, who was running on a joint Alliance for Democracy-All People's Party ticket. Voter...

 and led a delegation into Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in 2005 and led efforts in the House to bring Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, to stand trial before the Special Court of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Financial Services
    United States House Committee on Financial Services
    The United States House Committee on Financial Services is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries...

    • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
    • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
      United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
      The U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit is a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services.-Jurisdiction:...

  • Committee on Foreign Affairs
    • Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
    • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
      United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
      The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade is a standing subcommittee within the House Foreign Affairs Committee.-Jurisdiction:...

       (Chairman)
  • Republican Study Committee
    Republican Study Committee
    The Republican Study Committee [RSC] is a caucus of over 170 conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives...


Caucus memberships

  • Congressional International Observation Caucus (Co-Chair)
  • Human Rights Caucus
  • International Conservation Caucus
    United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
    The 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...

     (Co-Chair)
  • Sportsmen's Caucus
  • Tea Party Caucus
    Tea Party Caucus
    The Tea Party Caucus is a caucus of the United States House of Representatives and Senate launched and chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on July 16, 2010. The caucus is dedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the movement's interpretation of...


External links

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