Free Republic

Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, announced today he will not seek reelection The rules committee chairman made the announcement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Mr. Speaker, I have chosen to leave Congress at the end of this term," Dreier said. "I take the unusual step of announcing this from the floor of Congress for two reasons. First, this is where my fellow Californians sent me to represent them. Second, I am a proud institutionalist, and I believe that this institution is as great as it has ever been." Dreier currently represents the 26th District, which has...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is praising the House for passing legislation to end the Pentagon policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. The legislation awaits Senate action now. The House passed the measure 250-175. Obama says the legislation permits a smooth transition from the Clinton-era 'don't-ask-don't-tell' standard. Obama says the legislation will give the military "the clarity and certainty it deserves."

ACORN’s radical allies are now attempting to rewrite history to cast the organized crime syndicate as victim instead of as the prolific victimizer that it has been ever since it was created in 1970. ACORN online campaign director Nathan Henderson-James served notice in February that a propaganda effort was about to begin. “[T]here will be a fight over the narrative of ACORN’s demise,” he wrote to members of Townhouse, a discussion forum run by Matt Stoller, senior policy adviser to Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). The other side wants “a narrative about the corruption of popular organizations and how they are...

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls for consideration of the Senate version of Obamacare sometime early this afternoon, it won't be under the now-infamous "deem and pass" procedure, but rather a highly restrictive "Supermax" rule that stifles debate and limits the minority's right to offer amendments.

Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA), House Rules Committee Ranking Republican, is joining his Republican colleagues today in calling for an open and transparent process when the Rules Committee considers healthcare reform, including the presence of cameras so that the American people can see what kind of procedural gimmicks are being employed there. “We’ve been asking for months for cameras to be installed in the Rules Committee hearing room and now the American people understand why it’s so necessary,” Dreier said. “With proposals like the Slaughter Solution being embraced by Speaker Pelosi, the American people now understand, the Rules Committee...

(CNSNews.com) – House Rules Committee Ranking Republican David Dreier (Calif.) said he is committed to doing “everything I possibly can” to prevent Democrats from using House procedural measures to pass a health care bill without actually voting on the bill. In an exclusive interview with CNSNews.com, Dreier, a past chairman of the House Rules Committee, said he was committed to exposing a legislative tactic he described as “outrageous.”

House Republicans will bring to the floor a resolution preventing the use of a self-executing rule, known in this instance as the “Slaughter Solution”, to “deem” the Senate bill passed without a direct vote. The House’s newest Republican, Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) will reportedly sponsor the resolution. Rep. David Dreier (R., Calif.), ranking member of the Rules Committee, pledged support for the measure. In an e-mail Dreier said “This resolution would ensure that voters get what they are demanding and what they deserve – a fair, open, transparent vote that clearly puts each Member of Congress on record for the...

Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee, indicated yesterday that he was resigned to letting congressional Democrats make the Senate health-care bill the law of the land without ever holding a vote on it in the House of Representatives by passing a rule governing debate on another bill, the budget reconciliation, that "deems" the health care bill as passed. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, however, expressly states that for any bill to beome law "the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by the yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons...

Over the past week, I have repeatedly heard from Republicans troubled by the rumors that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the National Republican Senatorial Committee's choice in the 2010 Senate primary, is gay. At age 52, Crist had never wed until he married Florida businesswoman Christine Rome two weeks before Christmas last year. Those who profess concern about "civility" would say -- or at least, should say -- that the rumors are thereby disproven. But . . . Let me share with you a message I received yesterday from someone I don't know, and who wishes to remain anonymous: I have...

NEW YORK — High-profile New York lawyer Marc Dreier pleaded guilty on Monday to criminal charges of running a $400 million investment fraud involving fake promissory notes, and a judge released him into house arrest until sentencing. The Harvard-educated Dreier, once head of 250-member law firm Dreier LLP on New York's exclusive Park Avenue, was arrested last December on charges of swindling hedge funds and investment funds in a four-year-long scheme that unraveled in the financial crisis. Dreier, who turns 59 on Tuesday, said in a prepared statement in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff that he...

California GOP Rep. David Dreier and a number of other politicians are the unwilling stars of a controversial new documentary with an explosive premise - it's time to blow open the closet door on prominent politicians who have hidden their homosexuality while actively working against gay causes. The film "Outrage," which opens today at the Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco, presents interviews and documentation charging that a number of prominent legislators - including Dreier, the U.S. representative from San Dimas (Los Angeles County), Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former New York Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat - have remained...

Shift could create 'the most closed Congress in history.' U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has brought back archaic procedures in order to silence conservatives. On Tuesday, the full House passed the Rules Package for the 111th Congress, 242-181. The changes limit the GOP's ability to use procedural rules like the Motion to Recommit, which is the last opportunity for the minority party to amend a bill before it passes. “The new rules consolidate power in the hands of a few and attempt to silence Republican input on key policy debates, in addition to making a mockery of the Democratic...

Prosecutors have expanded their investigation of prominent New York attorney Marc Dreier, uncovering hundreds of millions more of missing funds in what they characterize as an "extraordinary" fraud played out over two years. A federal magistrate judge ordered Dreier to remain behind bars Thursday, denying bail because of the "enormous risk of flight." Dreier was arrested in New York Sunday evening and has been charged with fraud in an alleged brazen scheme to bilk sophisticated hedge funds.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Streeter said in court Thursday the loss from the alleged fraud is $380 million, well more than the $113 million...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A U.S. congressman said on Thursday he meant no offense when he hoisted himself onto the lectern of Colombia's lower house to address his Andean colleagues, some of whom were offended or simply amused by the faux pas. Colombian newspapers carried pictures of Rep. David Dreier, a California Republican, sitting on top of the wooden podium and talking with local legislators on Tuesday while on an official visit.

Congressman Dreier issued the following statement on Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean: “I was shocked by the verdict in the Ramos/Compean case. It raises serious concerns regarding the Border Patrol’s ability to effectively do their job. The Border Patrol must have the capability to combat drug smugglers and apprehend illegal immigrants. That is why I expressed my concern to House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and the Department of Justice. I fully support Chairman Sensenbrenner’s plan to investigate the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Attorney’s...

The Duplicity of Peter Drier on Affordable Housing in the Dupli-City of Los Angeles The Pasadena Pundit - April 13, 2007 Sum: The impossible affordable housing problem in Los Angeles is propelled by images of two persons who never talk to each other. One is of the pro-immigration activist; the other the technocratic affordable housing official, academic and politician. The insolvability of the housing problem is that of the two images are personified by the same person - Pasadena's Dr. Peter Drier. There is a prominent professor of urban policy at a local Los Angeles university who is an apparent...

New York, Mar 13 - The Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee today announced the latest members of a growing California team supporting Rudy Giuliani for President. The endorsements follow a successful swing through the state and an overwhelming response by Californians to Mayor Giuliani’s optimistic vision for the future and proven leadership. In addition to Rep. David Dreier, Rep. Mary Bono and Rep. Devin Nunes, who have already been working to elect Rudy Giuliani President, the Mayor gained the support of Rep. Jerry Lewis, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Board of Equalization Member Michelle Steel, Assemblyman...

The ethics scandals roiling Washington and the subsequent erosion of support for the Republican Party have had little impact on Rep. David Dreier. The Glendora congressman and chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee appears poised to extend his quarter-century in the House of Representatives. Polls show him with a comfortable lead over Democratic challenger Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews in the predominantly Republican 26th District. His nearly $2.3 million campaign war chest, the largest among the state's congressional incumbents, dwarfs Matthews' $67,000. But despite his financial strength, political longevity and squeaky clean ethical track record, Dreier, like many lawmakers these days,...

Illegal Aliens: A Few Myths to Keep in Mind . . . Mexico City. Last Tuesday the Pew Hispanic Center announced that 41 percent of Mexicans surveyed in February and 46 percent questioned in May stated they would live in the United States if given "the means and opportunity." Indeed, two out of 10 people interviewed said they were prepared to enter the U.S. illegally. These figures could have amazing consequences because our Spanish- speaking neighbor has a population of nearly 106 million inhabitants.

Bringing San Diego to the forefront of the immigration debate, House Republicans will hold field hearings on the issue Wednesday at an Imperial Beach border patrol station. Two opposing immigration bills from the House and Senate will head for negotiations after the hearings senators and representatives are holding across the country this summer. San Diego area representatives have been heavily involved in the debate, some authoring sections of the House bill. Measures proposed in the House bill, H.R. 4437, include: making illegal presence in the country a felony, building 698 miles of fencing along the border, requiring employers to use...