Zach Wamp

Zach Wamp was a conservative Republican politician in the United States House of Representatives representing the 3rd Congressional district of Tennessee from 1995 to 2011. The district is based in Chattanooga and includes large parts of East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge.

Iraq War
Wamp voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Term-limit pledge
Wamp pledged to serve no more than six terms in Congress during his initial campaign for Congress in 1994. He broke the pledge, however, when he opted to seek a seventh term in 2006. 

(See Congresspedia page on term limits in Congress)

Pays wife for campaign work
In October 2006, the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit organization which advocates better transparency in government, reported that Wamp’s campaign committee paid his wife $34,040 for work during 2005-2006. 

Background
Wamp was born on October 28, 1957 in Fort Benning, Georgia and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before transferring to the University of Tennessee. Wamp worked in real estate before running for the House of Representatives as a Republican in 1992 against Marilyn Lloyd.

Congressional Career
Wamp lost but Lloyd retired after her term ended, giving him the opportunity to run for the seat again in 1994. Proposing a plan to pay Congressmen the same as Lieutenant Colonel's, and linking his opponent to Bill Clinton, Wamp won the election by six percentage points. He has never faced another race nearly this close, scoring over 60 percent of the vote in each of his five reelection campaigns.

Positions and Views
During his 1994 election campaign, Wamp admitted that he had had a problem with cocaine but asserted that he had stopped using it years ago. Although a conservative Republican, Wamp has vigorously supported the Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the largest government-owned firms in the United States. Wamp endorsed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill. Wamp has also proposed legislation to allow the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

When he was elected to the House in 1994, Wamp pledged to serve just twelve years (six terms) in the House, meaning that he would have left the House in 2007. However, shortly after winning reelection to a sixth term, Wamp announced he would run again in 2006 after all, citing his status as Tennessee's only member of the powerful Appropriations Committee.

Wamp explored seeking a seat in the Senate to succeed Bill Frist, who had only promised to serve two terms in that chamber. However, he decided against running for that seat in 2004.

In the wake of Tom DeLay's indictment in September 2005, Wamp moved quickly to campaign among his fellow Republican House members to become the majority whip, the number three position in the Republican House leadership. Shortly thereafter, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne named Wamp as one of four lawmakers capable of leading an anticorruption reform of the Republican party. 

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated Terry Stulce to face Wamp in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006)  Wamp retained his seat.

Money in politics
cid=N00003159&cycle=2008

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Water
 * Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Ranking Member

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies
 * Subcommittee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Interior and Environment and Related Agencies

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe
 * Co-Chair, Congressional Fitness Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Caucus
 * Helsinki Commission
 * National Guard & Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization
 * Co-Chair, Public Broadcasting Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Co-Chair, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Speaker's Task Force for a Drug Free America
 * Republican Steering Committee
 * Chairman, TVA Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

 * Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe
 * Co-Chair, Congressional Fitness Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Caucus
 * Helsinki Commission
 * National Guard & Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization
 * Co-Chair, Public Broadcasting Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Co-Chair, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, 108th Congress
 * Speaker's Task Force for a Drug Free America
 * Republican Steering Committee
 * Chairman, TVA Caucus
 * Youth Violence Working Group

Twitter
 Zach Wamp posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/zachwamp/

Latest posts: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/zachwamp.rss|title=none| max=3| short See all the members of Congress who Twitter

Articles

 * "A Blow Against The Machine" by E. J. Dionne Jr

Resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * Sunlight Foundation: Congressional Family Business Project