Jerry Lewis (California)
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Charles Jeremy Lewis (October 21, 1934 – July 15, 2021) was an American politician who was a
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
, last serving . He was first elected to Congress in 1978, and previously represented the 40th, 35th, and 37th districts. A Republican, he was chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Co ...
, serving in that role during the
109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, du ...
. In January 2012 he announced that he was not running for re-election and would end his congressional career in January 2013.


Personal life

Lewis was born in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
. In 1952, he graduated from
San Bernardino High School San Bernardino High School (SBHS) is an American public high school and city located at 1850 North E Street within San Bernardino, California and a member of the San Bernardino City Unified School District. SBHS was granted charter as a city in 196 ...
in
San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
, where he captained the swim team. In 1956, he received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. Lewis served as a
Coro Foundation Coro is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization best known for its fellowship program dedicated to teaching skills useful in leadership in public affairs to young adults. The organization was founded in San Francisco in 1942 by W. Do ...
fellow in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. After college, Lewis was in the insurance business. Lewis died on July 15, 2021, in
Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...
, at the age of 86.


Early political career

He was a member of the San Bernardino City Unified School District from 1964 to 1968. He was on the staff of Congressman
Jerry Pettis Jerry Lyle Pettis (July 18, 1916 – February 14, 1975) was an American politician and a four-term Congressman from California from 1967 to 1975. He was also a rancher, teacher, aviator, religious leader, and businessman. Pettis was the first ...
in 1966. He was a member of the
California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...
from 1969 to 1978. In January 1974, he ran in a special election for the
California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...
, losing to Democrat
Ruben Ayala Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...
. In the campaign, Ayala noted that two-thirds of the $130,000 that Lewis raised came from 43 donors — 22 of whom were
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
lobbyists.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections

In November 1978, Lewis was elected as a Republican to the
96th United States Congress The 96th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1979 ...
, in what was then the 37th Congressional district, with 61% of the vote. He was subsequently re-elected 16 times. He never won re-election with less than 61% of the vote. In fact, he only dipped below 65% four times (1990, 1992, 2006, and 2008). In 2008, Lewis received his strongest challenge in decades from San Bernardino attorney Tim Prince, who won a 4-candidate Democratic primary. Lewis was forced to spend over a million dollars to retain his seat. He declined Prince's challenges for a debate. The incumbent defeated him with 62% of the vote. On January 12, 2012, Lewis announced his retirement.


Tenure

Lewis employed his wife, Arlene Willis, as the chief of staff in his office. Before they were married, Willis was her husband's top aide when he came to
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
in 1979. In 1994, he was named chairman of the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee, where he worked until 1999 to improve oversight to uncover fraud and abuse in large housing programs and reduce spending on wasteful programs within a number of federal agencies. He steered federal dollars to the state and to the region for projects such as the planning and construction of the Seven Oaks Dam near
Highland, California Highland (inc. East Highlands) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States located 65 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles and roughly 50 miles west of Palm Springs, California. The city's population, inclusive to its neighbor ...
. Among his proudest achievements came early in his career as a state assemblyman, pushing for the establishment of the first air quality committee in the state Legislature, which led to the formation of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District The South Coast Air Quality Management District, also using the acronym South Coast (AQMD), formed in 1976, is the air pollution agency responsible for regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachel ...
in the mid-1970s. In 1998, he secured start-up funding for
Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...
's Proton Beam treatment center, which has led to the installation of similar cancer treatment centers across the U.S. Lewis placed special riders in a series of appropriations bills that freed up nearly $100 million to the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
, the state and the county to remove more than a million trees in the
San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernar ...
killed by drought and bark beetle infestation. He worked with U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...
to secure an additional $500 million to reduce the fire danger in the
San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...
and throughout
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. Lewis also secured $15 million for a pilot program to refurbish houses repossessed by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
and providing them to qualified low income families. The program, according to Lewis' office at the time was successful in Redlands, Highland, and San Bernardino.


Political positions

Lewis was a member of the
Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original cent ...
and supported
stem-cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are Cellular differentiation, undifferentiated or partially differentiated Cell (biology), cells that can change into various types of cells and Cell proliferation, proliferate indefinitely to produce more ...
. Lewis considered himself to be
pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...
, opposed most public funding of
abortions Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnanci ...
, but encouraged
family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...
efforts which are opposed by many
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. He voted against banning adoption by
same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...
in the
District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. He thought gun-control efforts should center on stiff prison terms for repeat criminals who use firearms, but was open to considering requiring
trigger lock Gun safety is the study and practice of managing risk when using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms, airguns and ammunition in order to avoid injury, illness or death. Gun safety includes the training of users, the design of fi ...
s and other child safety measures for law-abiding gun owners. The
American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...
gave Lewis' 2008 voting record 84 out of 100 points. The liberal
Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting p ...
gave him 0 out of 100 for 2005 (most recent available). Lewis was a signer of the
Taxpayer Protection Pledge Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a conservatism in the United States, politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, Flat tax, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." Accordi ...
.


Controversies

In its 2009 report,
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), is a progressive nonprofit 501(c)(3) watchdog organization devoted to U.S. government ethics and accountability.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 ...
(CREW) named Lewis one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress, saying that his "ethics issues stem primarily from the misuse of his position as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks to family and friends in direct exchange for contributions to his campaign committee and political action committee." Lewis was also included in the group's report in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2010, the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
closed the case without filing charges. It was never submitted to federal prosecutors.


Military lobbyist relationships

Lewis' aide in charge of tracking defense appropriations, Marine Lt. Col. Carl Kime, was "a military officer on
The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
's payroll, an apparent violation of House rules and a possible conflict of interest".
U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...
regulations state that military personnel can work on committee staffs but not on the personal staff of an individual member. Kime apparently worked for Lewis since 2001 while being on the Pentagon payroll. Congressional watchdogs call Kime's role a conflict of interest and defense experts state that his position may have given the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
greater leverage over contracts and earmarks on the Appropriations Committee. On February 22, 2006, '' The Hill'' reported that the Pentagon was recalling Kime from Lewis's office. Kime's "service for Lewis appeared to violate the Members' Congressional Handbook issued by the Committee for House Administration, which defines a detailee as a 'non-congressional federal employee assigned to a committee for a period of up to one year.' The handbook also states that 'detailees may not be assigned to a member office' and cites the relevant section of U.S. law: 2 USC Section 72a(f)."


Barracks Row earmarks

In July 2007, ''
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
'' reported that since 2004, Lewis had earmarked $2.75 million for the "
Barracks Row Barracks Row is a commercial strip along 8th Street SE that connects the Navy Yard and Capitol Hill neighborhoods in the Southeast of Washington, D.C., south of Eastern Market, between M Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The area takes it ...
" area of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. "Neither I nor my spouse has any financial interest in this project," Lewis said of the improvements being funded by the earmarks. But the congressman's wife, who was also his chief of staff, owns a three-bedroom home valued at $943,000 that is four blocks from the work being paid for by the earmarks. CBS also reported that Tip Tipton, a property owner in the area and a member of the board of directors of the redevelopment project receiving the earmarks, is a top Washington lobbyist who is also a longtime Lewis friend and campaign donor.


Loma Linda University

From 1998 to 2003,
Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...
received $167.2 million in congressional earmarks. That made it the number one academic recipient in the country, with its total nearly $60 million more than the runner up, the
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...
. In 2000, Loma Linda University was the single largest recipient of higher education earmarks, at $36 million, largely brought in by Lewis. Several grants were from the
U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...
, including $5 million from
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
for space radiation research. In 2008, Loma Linda University received nearly $9.5 million, of which $5 million came from the Defense Department.


Committee assignments

Lewis was chair of the
House Republican Conference The House Republican Conference is the party caucus for Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It hosts meetings, and is the primary forum for communicating the party's message to members. The conference produces a daily pu ...
from 1989 to 1992. In January 1995, he became chairman of the Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations subcommittee. He was the first representative from California to be chairman of the powerful
House Appropriations Committee The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Co ...
. He also served as chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee from 1999 to 2005. Lewis was the chairman of appropriations committee during the
109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, du ...
. In the
110th congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...
and
111th congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with t ...
, he was the Ranking Member on the committee. He sought the chairmanship for the
112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...
, but it was instead given to Harold Rogers (R-KY). * Committee on Appropriations ** Subcommittee on Defense (Vice Chair) ** Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development ** Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies ** Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies ** Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs


Caucus memberships

* Congressional Fire Services Caucus * Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus * International Conservation Caucus * Sportsmens Caucus


Electoral history


References


External links


Official website
* *
''Associated Press'' profile

Join California Jerry Lewis
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jerry 1934 births 2021 deaths American Seventh-day Adventists Government of Riverside County, California Republican Party members of the California State Assembly People from Redlands, California Politicians from Greater Los Angeles Politicians from Seattle Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California School board members in California UCLA College of Letters and Science alumni 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the California State Legislature