Jerry Lewis (politician)
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Charles Jeremy "Jerry" Lewis (born October 21 1934. Seattle, Washington), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1979, representing the ([map]). He was born in Seattle, Washington, was educated at University of California, Los Angeles, and was an insurance businessman, a staff member for Representative Jerry Pettis and a member of the California State Assembly before entering the House. Lewis is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership and supports Stem-Cell Research.
On January 6 2005 he was named chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for funding all federal programs. He is the past chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee as well as the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee.
Early life
Lewis graduated from San Bernardino High School, in San Bernardino, California in 1952, where he captained the swim team and was a basketball star, his basketball jersey later retired, [link]. He received a B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles in 1956.Career
After college, Lewis was in the insurance business before becoming a member of the San Bernardino School Board, 1964-1968. He was on the staff of United States Congressman Jerry Pettis of California in 1966. He was a member of the California state assembly, 1969-1978. In January 1974, he ran in a special election for the California state senate, losing to Democrat Ruben Ayala. In the campaign, Ayala noted that two-thirds of the $130,000 that Lewis raised came from 43 donors - 22 of whom were Sacramento lobbyists.[link]In November 1978, Lewis was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-sixth United States Congress, and has served there ever since. He was chair of the House Republican Conference from 1989 to 1992. In January 1995, Lewis became chairman of the Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations subcommittee. In January 1999, he became chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. In January 2005 he became chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Lewis, Lowery, and earmarks
There is currently a large amount of controversy over the the relationship between Lewis and a lobbying firm, known as Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White, where his good friend and former U.S. Congressman Bill Lowery has been a partner since 1993.
The basic allegations are that Lewis, by virtue of his chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee (since January 2005), and his prior chairmanship of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, has been able, through earmarks and other methods, to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to clients of Lowery's firm. Lowery and his firm have earned millions of dollars in fees from these clients. Lowery and others in his firm, in turn, have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Lewis' campaign committee and political action committee. Defense contractors who are clients of the lobbying firm have also given hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lewis, who not faced serious opposition in his re-election campaigns in the past ten years, has used his campaign and PAC funds in support of other Republicans, something that helped him become chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
In addition, two key individuals on Lewis' staff (Letitia White and Jeff Shockey) went to work for Copeland Lowery, earning millions of dollars for themselves; Richard White, Letitia's husband, has seen a steep increase in his income since he switched to being a lobbyist for defense firms; Lewis' stepdaughter has benefited from his ties to the lobbyists; and Jeff Shockey, upon returning to work of Lewis in 2005, was paid two million dollars by Copeland Lowery as "severance", based upon projected revenues of the lobbying firm for the eleven months following his departure.
No individual has been formally charged with any wrongdoing, but there is now an ongoing federal investigation being run by the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles, and a federal grand jury in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas to at least eight local governments and universities.
Military Aide
Lewis' aide in charge of tracking defense appropriations "is a military officer on the Pentagon's payroll, an apparent violation of House rules and a possible conflict of interest"http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020206/news2.html. Department of Defense regulations state that military personnel can work on committee staffs but not on the personal staff of an individual member. Lewis' aide, Marine Lt. Col. Carl Kime, has apparently worked for Lewis since 2001 while being on the Pentagon payroll. Congressional watchdogs call Kime's role a conflict of interest and defense experts state that his position may give the Marines greater leverage over contracts and earmarks in the Appropriations Committee.On February 22, 2006 The Hill reported that the Pentagon was recalling Kime from Lewis's office. Kime's "service for Lewis appeared to violate the Members' Congressional Handbook issued by the Committee for House Administration, which defines a detailee as a 'non-congressional federal employee assigned to a committee for a period of up to one year.' The handbook also states that 'detailees may not be assigned to a member office' and cites the relevant section of U.S. law: 2 USC Section 72a(f)."http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/022206/lewis.html
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