David George Reichert

David George Reichert, a Republican, has represented the Eighth Congressional District of Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005.

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

Positions on energy and environment
Reichert voted yes on Energy Policy Act of 2005 but supported the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment, to strike language from the bill that will allow oil and gas explorations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He again broke ranks with Republicans and voted against the development of ANWR again in September 2005. In June 2005, Reichert voted yes to allow nuclear waste to be stored at Reichert broke also broke ranks with Republicans and voted no on Endangered Species Reauthorization bill, a bill that overhauls the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Critics of this legislation say that the bill would cripple the current Endangered Species Act and "punch loopholes in the law on behalf of greedy developers, oil companies and other special interests."

Campaign Finance Scandal
Riechert recieved $20,000 in campaign contribtuions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ARMPAC. According to The Hill, Over $150,000 was funneled by DeLay and several special interest groups into Reichert's campaign.

Since DeLay has been charged with criminal money laundering], several lawmakers have urged donating the questionable money to charitable causes, but Reichert has so far not done so. Reichert also accepted, but later gave to charity, a $1000 donation from Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, who pleaded guilty in a corruption case.

Background
Reichert was born August 29, 1950 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. His family moved to Washington in 1951 living first in Renton. Later, they moved to Kent, where he attended Kent Meridian High School. In 1970, Reichert earned an Associates degree from Concordia Lutheran College in Portland, Oregon.

Before he began his career as a politician, Reichert served with the King County Sheriff's Department beginning in 1972. He was a SWAT Commander, Commander-Hostage Negotiation, Commander-Bomb Disposal Unit, Commander-Traffic Unit, and an Acting Commander-Internal Investigations. Reichert was a leading member of the, which was formed to track down the so-called "." He and partner Robert Keppel extensively interviewed from 1984 until Bundy's execution in 1989, in order to develop a psychological profile of the killer.

In 1997 he became its first elected (non-partisan) Sheriff in 30 years in King County, Washington. He served two terms from 1997 to 2004, and won the 2004 National Sheriffs' Association's Sheriff of the Year award.

Congressional Career
During the 2004 campaign, Reichert touted himself as a moderate conservative to appeal to swing voters in the largely suburban 8th district. His top priority in his campaign was security, both of his district and of the U.S. as a whole.

In the 2006 campaign for re-election, the incumbent Reichert is being challenged by ex-Microsoft Product Manager of Carnation. As such, Reichert has been identified by the GOP in the list of top ten representatives at risk.. By the fall of 2005, he had amassed more than $1,000,000 for his re-election campaign. A fundraiser featuring Vice President Dick Cheney yielded over $100,000 to his campaign.

Recently Reichert has steered away from the Republican party's oil drilling stance and has aligned himself with environmentalists in hopes to gain favor with his constituents as more of a moderate candidate. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are not expected to help Reichert with additional fundraisers.

Abortion and Gay Marriage
Reichert is pro-life and opposes the use of federal money for sex education. Reichert is against gay marriage and has promised to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage.

Economy and Trade
In his campaign, he promised to keep taxes low. As a proponent of supply side economics, he believes the tax cuts given by the Bush administration will grow the economy and eventually balance the budget. . Believing that the tax cuts would aid the middle class and small business, he promised help make President Bush's tax cuts permanent. He also supports free trade policies and voted for [[CAFTA00 in July 2005.

Foreign Affairs
Reichert voted no on East Asia Security Act of 2005, a bill that requires the President to report all information to Congress relative to any foreign individual or country who transfers arms or related technology to the People's Republic of China. He also Reichert voted no on United Nations Reform Act of 2005, a bill that limits the United States' contribution to the U.N. by up to one-half by the year 2007, if the following reforms are not made. Reichert voted no on Bans Use of Funds to Enforce Cuba Regulations Amendment, an amendment to prohibit use of funds in the bill to implement, administer, or enforce regulations relating to amendments made to the Code of Federal Regulations relating to license exemptions for gift parcels and humanitarian donations for Cuba.

Guns
Reichert favors destruction of seized semiautomatic assault weapons, rifles and shotguns to prevent them from returning to the streets. Reichert also voted to protect firearms manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits resulting from the misuse of their products by others.

Immigration
On February 10, 2005, Reichert voted yes on Real ID Act of 2005, a bill that amends the Immigration and Nationality Act and grants the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.


 * February 10, 2005: Reichert praises the passage of the Real ID Act and says "A driver's license is a bridge to many things. For a terrorist, it is a walkway to weapons, planes and other forms of identification." Reichert acted to close loopholes as recommended in the 9-11 Commission Report.

Patriot Act
On July 21, 2005 Reichert voted yes on USA PATRIOT &amp; Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act, a bill that reauthorizes and extends certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and adds new provisions to the act. On the same day he voted no on USA PATRIOT &amp; Terrorism Prevention Act- Motion, a motion to recommit the bill with instructions to set an expiration date of December 31, 2009 for all provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act originally set to expire on December 31, 2005.

2006 elections
In 2006, Democrats nominated Darcy Burner to face Reichert in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Reichert's race against Burner was very close, as he held a 3,120-vote lead after an initial count. The count, however, did not include as many as 50,000 mail-in votes. he was eventually declared the winner and retained his seat.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism
 * Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment
 * House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
 * Subcommittee on Aviation
 * Subcommittee on Highways, Transit &amp; Pipelines

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

 * House Committee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness Science and Technology - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Investigations
 * Subcommittee Management Integration and Oversight
 * House Committee on Science
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Research
 * Subcommittee on Environment Technology and Standards
 * House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
 * Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
 * Subcommittee on Highways Transit and Pipelines

Boards and other Affiliations

 * King County Criminal Justice Council
 * King County Domestic Violence Council
 * Executive Board Member, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
 * Co-Chair, Washington State Partners in Crisis
 * President, Washington State Sheriff's Association

S.E.A
Science policy tracking by Michelle Brook, SEA (International Science Policy) Intern

Energy
Dave Reichert Speaks About Energy Efficiency Incentives http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5kyXiavPk 6th May 2010

Congressman Dave Reichert speaks in support of the Expanding Building Efficiency Incentives Act Although he agrees that issues such as energy efficiency are critical, he believes “there is a more effective way to achieve these goals rather than a rebate check” recommending instead that the House “instead take up a bipartisan package of tax incentives that I authored... H.R. 4226”, claiming it to be a “more effective approach for several reasons - it puts incentives directly in the hands of the consumers through the tax code, it gives the people more choices to meet their needs, it's easier to administer [than rebate checks]”.

Environment
Leaked audio reveals how Reichert cynically takes environmentalists “out of the game” http://horsesass.org/?p=27103 May 19, 2010

Unedited leaked audio of Dave Reichert from the 8th Congressional District Republican PCO's. He explains that there are “certain things that you must, uh, do” to hold onto the district such as support Wild Sky and Alpine Lakes, appeasing environmental groups in his district even if it means going against his views and those of his party.

Reichert has questions, not answers, on Gulf oil spill http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2012154994_reicherthasquestionsnotanswersongulfoilspill.html June 18, 2010

The Seattle Times asked Rep. Dave Reichert whether he “supported the move to make BP set up an escrow account, whether [he] approve of the six-month moratorium on offshore drilling, whether [he] want to see a permanent ban on offshore drilling on the West Coast and if [he] think the liability cap for oil producers should be raised.” Reichert did not respond to any of the questions, instead a reply came through his campaign spokesman Jeff Harvey saying that “before [Reichert] answers a series of yes or no questions, he has some questions of his own that need to be answered”.

Washington reps: Drill safely - or else! http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/212979.asp?source=rss 29th June 2010

Dave Reichert and Jay Inslee (D-Wash) are introducing the Offshore Drilling Safety Improvement Act, a bill requiring oil companies to use the best technology available and to ensure that all oil and gas drilling and production would have safety and environmental management systems in place.

Murray, Hastings: Don't dump Yucca Mtn. http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/213674.asp July 6, 2010

David Reichert is one of 91 Congressmen who have signed a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, asking the department not to abandon Yucca Mountain in Nevade as a national nuclear dump site. The letter further charges that the administration has "overstepped its bounds" and "ignored congressional intent" in its decision to dump the dump site.

Scorecard Names "Greenest Republicans in Congress” http://www.rep.org/opinions/press_releases/release10-7-14.html July 14, 2010.

Congressman Dave Reichert has been named one of the “Greenest Republicans in Congress” for 2009 by the Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP). Three New Jersey congressmen - Leonard Lance (7th District), Frank LoBiondo (2nd District), and Christopher Smith (4th District had a perfect score of 103, however Dave Reichert was not far behind with a score of 97.

Health
Rep. Tom Petri Rebukes Steve King's Discharge Petition To Repear Affordable Care Act http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/08/king-repeal-petri/ July 8th 2010

As of the 8th July 2010 Dave Reichert had yet to sign up to Rep. Steve King's petition which would force a vote repealing health reform

Health care reform: Are Rossi, Reichert for or against? http://www.seattlepi.com/local/423658_healthcare20.html?source=rss July 20th 2010

Reichert has been accused of contradicting himself over the Health Care Reform Bill in saying “Yes, we do need to reform and strengthen our health care system, but this should be done without saddling Americans with massive tax hikes in the middle of a recession." Democrats have pointed out that not only was the individual mandate an idea promoted by the conservatives in the 1990s, but that the insurance mandate and higher Medicare taxes subsidise “the most popular parts of the plan, like expanding coverage, keeping adults children on parents plans longer and the removal lifetime coverage limits”

Innovation
Reichert reverses position on net neutrality http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/deepmedia/reichert_reverses_position_net2821 May 28, 2010

Dave Reichert signs a letter urging the FCC not to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service despite having previously voted in support of net neutrality

2008 Campaign Contact Information
Official Reichert for Congress campaign website

Friends of Dave Reichert P.O. Box 53322 Bellevue, WA 98015

Phone: 425-455-DAVE (3283)

[mailto:dave@davereichertforcongress.com dave@davereichertforcongress.com]

Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * The Reichert Report

Articles

 * Les Blumenthal, "Reichert makes pitch for security committee," The News Tribune, November 18, 2004.
 * Bill Wilson, Domestic Violence Act Renewed With Kid Power, Family News in Focus, September 29, 2005.
 * Congress passes bill to shield gun makers, Associated Press (Seattle Times), October 21, 2005.
 * Beth Gallapsy, Homeland group to visit SE Texas, The Beaumont Enterprise, October 28, 2005.
 * Christine Clarridge, "Well-known GOP activist held in sex-predator sting," The Seattle Times, December 1, 2006.

Published Works by Dave Reichert

 * Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer July 2004. Non-fiction book. ISBN 0316156329.

Local blogs and discussion sites
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