Ed Royce

Edward Randall "Ed" Royce (born October 12, 1951) is an American politician who currently serves as a member of the United States House of Representatives for CA's 39th congressional district, and previously the 40th, serving in Congress since 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Royce became the Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2013. The district lies in northern Orange County, including portions of Stanton, Cypress, Buena Park, Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia, and Orange.

Early life, education, and pre-congressional career
Born in Los Angeles, California, and graduating from Katella High School in Anaheim, Royce went on to earn his B.A. in Accounting and Finance in 1977 from the California State University, Fullerton. He was a business owner and corporate tax manager for a Portland cement company before becoming a California State Senator 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. Ed Royce, a State Senator, won the Republican primary for California's 39th congressional district 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 63% of the vote.


 * 2012

After redistricting, Royce ran in the 39th District. He defeated Jay Chen in the general election.

Tenure
GovTrack rates Royce as a "moderate Republican," based an analysis of the bills he has sponsored. 58 percent of his campaign contributions come from individuals and 34 percent are from PACs. 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, Citizens Against Government Waste, and 60 Plus. On the Issues defines Royce as a hard-core conservative and his American Conservative Union lifetime score is 98 percent.

In 2011, Royce voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

Royce's voting record, his scores on VoteMatch, and ratings by Cato Institute indicate mixed or moderate positions on free trade, privatization of social security, campaign finance, and tax reform.
 * Domestic policy

The legislation he has sponsored shows a focus on tax policy, small businesses, credit, and banking deregulation. 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 and gay adoption, and in favor of school prayer 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, 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 permanent. He has an A rating from the NRA.

Royce was criticized for attending a rally in his home county, in which members of anti-Muslim groups chanted at Muslim-American families attending radical Islamic "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, Royce's voting record has earned the most pro-military possible rating from SANE. In 2002, he voted in favor of authorizing President George W. Bush to use force in Iraq. In 2003, he voted yes on an emergency appropriation of $78 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 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. Royce had a mixed voting record on the 2011 US involvement in Libya.

Royce is the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, previously serving as a Chair of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade in the 112th 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, and Laredo, Texas, 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 and Radio Free Afghanistan on the model of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

He was formerly chair of the Africa Subcommittee, Royce co-led with Colin Powell a delegation to observe Nigeria's historic elections in 1999 and led a delegation into Darfur, Sudan 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.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Financial Services
 * Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
 * Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
 * Committee on Foreign Affairs, Chair
 * Republican Study Committee

Caucus memberships

 * Congressional International Observation Caucus (Co-Chair)
 * Human Rights Caucus
 * International Conservation Caucus (Co-Chair)
 * Sportsmen's Caucus

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