David Dreier

David Timothy Dreier OAE (/draɪər/; born July 5, 1952) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1981 to 2013.

[3][4] After leaving Congress, Dreier served on the Foreign Affairs Policy Board under President Barack Obama.

In 1980, Dreier ran again and defeated Lloyd 52% to 45%, winning on the coattails of former California Governor Ronald Reagan's presidential election.

When the Democrats gained control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections, Dreier served as ranking member for the 110th and 111th Congresses.

Following the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, House Speaker Dennis Hastert asked Dreier to assume temporarily the position of majority leader, as Dreier had consistently adhered to the views of the Republican leadership on many issues and would have been willing to relinquish the title should DeLay have returned to the position.

However, rank-and-file Republican representatives disapproved of the choice of Dreier allegedly because many conservative members believed that he was "too politically moderate".

[23] Along with House colleagues Jim Kolbe and Jerry Lewis, Dreier was the first member of Congress to propose a North American free trade agreement in 1987.

[25][26] During the signing ceremony for NAFTA, President Bill Clinton recognized Dreier's contribution to the ultimate success of the legislation.

[28][4] Dreier has been a longstanding supporter of closer ties between the United States and the countries of Latin America and has met frequently with executive and legislative branch leaders throughout the region.

[29] On August 28, 2007, while building support for the United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Dreier addressed the Colombian parliament.

[30] Dreier drew criticism from some opposition lawmakers when he sat on the edge of a podium during informal remarks to the legislators.

He secured federal funding for the Metro Gold Line, connecting Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena via light rail.

[35] Dreier initially supported the bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

[36] Joining columnists like William Raspberry in opposing "thought police,"[37] Dreier voted against the Matthew Shepard Act that expanded federal hate-crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

[18] Upon leaving Congress, Dreier, in an unprecedented move, joined the Obama Administration from 2013 to 2015, serving as a member of the Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

[46] He serves on the Space Innovation Council at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and is a member of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) working group.

[46] Dreier also became chairman of the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands, which aims to promote the free flow of goods, services, capital, information, ideas, and people throughout the greater Pacific.

This mass shooting at The Capital, owned by Tribune Publishing Company, inspired Dreier to launch the FJM project.

President Ronald Reagan meeting with Congressman David Dreier and Hazrat Khan, an Afghan boy whose family was killed during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Dreier at the Walnut Family Festival Parade in Walnut , California on October 14, 2006
Members of a congressional delegation that met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad in 2007. From left to right: Rep. Joe Wilson ( R - South Carolina ), Rep. Darrell Issa ( R - California ), President Musharraf, Sen. Bob Corker ( R - Tennessee ), and Dreier.