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HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp says he sees no problem keeping a $2,500 contribution from the political action committee of Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, even though the two congressmen and former housemates ended up on opposite sides of the vote on the health care overhaul. Wamp, of Chattanooga, said after a recent campaign appearance in Hendersonville that the contribution was due to a "long-standing friendship" with the Michigan congressman who played a crucial role in securing House approval of the bill. Wamp said his friendship with Stupak "transcends politics." Stupak announced Thursday he won't seek re-election...

“I will fight any mandate forced on us by the federal government that hurts our state’s economy and costs us more jobs, and the Pelosi healthcare bill will cost us thousands of jobs and threatens to bankrupt our state,” said Wamp. “State sovereignty gives us the right as Tennesseans to say no to Washington, and I will defend it with every ounce of my being.” “Not only am I fighting and voting this week to prevent this unprecedented attempt by the federal government to takeover our healthcare, but I vow as Tennessee’s next governor to work with the state...

In one of the more profound pronouncements of the gubernatorial campaign so far, Ron Ramsey declared last week that Tennessee is "an island of sanity" in a nation that is headed in a frightening direction. Then he added: "The 10th Amendment means the 10th Amendment." This remark got a "hearty round of applause" at one of those anti-Washington rallies that have come into fashion since Barack Obama moved into the White House, according to a Kingsport Times-News report on the event. As a matter of rhetorical flourish, of course, this is also reminiscent of Ramsey's predecessor at lieutenant governor and...

Rep. Zach Wamp told members of the Chattanooga Pachyderm Club on Monday that Sen. Bob Corker is gaining clout around the country as a potential presidential candidate. He noted that Sen. Corker was chosen to deliver Friday night's Silver Elephant Banquet speech at the convention of the South Carolina Republican Party. Rep. Wamp said, "They could have had Palin, but they chose Corker. That is a big, big deal. It is a landmark beginning into the national political environment for our senator." He said the choice of Sen. Corker for the speech "was a high compliment and shows the stature...

I'd been trying unsuccessfully, in recent weeks, to catch up with Congressman Zach Wamp to see what he thought of the Obama administration's apparent push to move the Nuclear Weapons Complex out of the Dept.of Energy and over to the Dept. of Defense. Few members of Congress are more intimately knowledgeable of the nuclear weapons program than Wamp, and he's been a big supporter, in part because of the Y-12 warhead plant in his home district. On Friday, at an event at Y-12's New Hope Center, I had a few minutes to talk with Wamp, and I asked him for...

Rep. Zach Wamp will be crisscrossing the state next week as he begins seeking support in the governor's race. He has stops in Nashville, Jackson and Memphis on Monday. Later in the week he will be in Oak Ridge, Maynardville, Tazewell, Rutledge, Dandridge, Cleveland and back in Chattanooga for a breakfast at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. He will be honored at a breakfast in Chattanooga this Saturday morning. Here is his upcoming schedule: January 12, 2009 Congressman Wamp will visit Nashville, Jackson and Memphis. 10:30 a.m. CST Congressman Wamp will tour the FedEx Institute of Technology on the campus of...

Rep. Zach Wamp (R) announced Monday that he will seek the governorship of Tennessee in 2010, abandoning the seat in the House he has held since 1995. “I believe the time is at hand for me to expand my service to help even more people in our great state by pursuing the office of governor,” Wamp said in a statement. “I will file the paperwork necessary to begin raising money as a candidate for governor of the great state of Tennessee,” he added. The decision comes shortly after former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) demurred from pursuing the governorship,...

WASHINGTON — Congress may have adjourned for a five-week recess, but the House floor has not remained silent. All last week, House Republicans held court over an empty chamber, despite the dimmed lights and lack of C-SPAN coverage, sounding off against Congress’ adjournment without passing legislation to address high gasoline prices. Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Nathan Deal, R-Ga., say they may join their colleagues later this month in their first-of-its kind protest. “I voted against adjourning for recess and will continue fighting for a responsible energy policy that brings down gas prices,” Rep. Wamp said in a statement. “I...

WASHINGTON — Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., are urging President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing this year, unless China’s human rights and environmental records improve. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., became the highest profile lawmaker to urge a presidential boycott this week in the wake of China’s crackdown on Tibetan protesters. “We can’t let the Olympics be a validation that China is conducting themselves in an acceptable manner on the world stage of public opinion,” said Rep. Wamp, who visited China in January and has co-sponsored several resolutions that...

WASHINGTON — Hoping to block a $120 million sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia that goes through on Friday, Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and two other Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged their colleagues to oppose President Bush’s plans. A resolution signed by 80 Democrats and 13 Republicans opposes the sale of 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions to Saudi Arabia. Rep. Wamp called it “a mistake” to be selling high-tech weapons to a country that consistently bankrolls terrorist organizations. “We have tried to buy friends with arms, but usually it doesn’t work, and they turn around and use them against us,”...

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) said Monday that he expects former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) to soon join the race for the White House. “My view is that he’ll enter the race at some point just in the coming days,” said Wamp, a key supporter of Thompson. The lawmaker said the actor turned senator turned actor did not want to join the race too soon but is “doing everything a presidential candidate should do.” Thompson has long been expected to join the race and the Law & Order star has traveled the country and raised millions. He will take part in...

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), described by ABC News as "Fred Thompson's top cheerleader on Capitol Hill," after Thompson's visit with GOP lawmakers today said that Thompson's entry into the race is "a matter of when -- not if." ABC News reports: Wamp offered his assessment that Thompson is going to jump into the presidential race after the Law & Order actor met at the Capitol Hill Club with 50 to 60 House Republicans. Among the many questions that Thompson faced from the members of Congress he met with were ones about his divorce and his faith. Wamp told ABC News...

WASHINGTON - As East Tennessee Rep. Zach Wamp was campaigning for the No. 3 House leadership post, he compared the U.S. Congress to a church-building committee. "There are well-intended people getting together to do important work, but they have the capability of really messing things up," Wamp said. His House colleagues often laughed, though there was some truth to the comparison. Wamp, whose district includes Oak Ridge and Chattanooga, spent recent weeks trying to become the first Tennessean in 70 years to win a top House leadership post. He said that he talked to more than half of the 231...

Give us more power, says GOP class of '94 By Alexander Bolton The GOP freshman class of 1994 is growing restless and dissatisfied with being frozen out of leadership positions in the House. Members of that revolutionary class, which came to Congress 74 strong 11 years ago, are talking among themselves about the need to become more outspoken and to take at least an informal leadership role within the Republican caucus. They held a reunion last weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they reminisced about their capture of nearly 50 Democratic seats a decade ago and the triumphs and disappointments of...

Wamp’s Bad Vote Don’t count on the Tennessee Republican when the chips are down. By NRO Staff Representative Zach Wamp apparently has a short memory. He was elected to Congress in 1994, and has already forgotten why he came to Washington. Back then Wamp ran as a conservative, with some silly populist ideas like paying members of Congress the same as a lieutenant colonel and making them live in officer housing, according to The Almanac of American Politics. Now, Wamp has grown in office and instead advocates silly establishment ideas, like instituting new "paygo" rules that would make it almost...

Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) said he is a staunch supporter of President George Bush, but he said he won't go along with the president's immigration plan. "I cannot support amnesty for 8-10 million people who are here illegally," Rep. Wamp told the East Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. Saying he will vote No on the plan, Rep. Wamp said the policy "waters down the rule of law." He said it also says to others across the border "to come on, come on." Rep. Wamp said the U.S. does need a guest worker program here. But he said if there...

Wamp eyeing run for Senate in 2006 By Richard Powelson, News-Sentinel Washington bureau November 24, 2002 WASHINGTON - All three of Tennessee's U.S. House members who ran for statewide office this year lost, but U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp said he remains interested in campaigning to succeed U.S. Sen. Bill Frist in 2006. "I'd like to run, and it's likely," said Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican. "But it's not certain." Frist first ran and won in 1994, promising to serve in the Senate no more than 12 years (two terms), and he's told friends he'll keep his pledge. Wamp also ran and...