Dave Camp

Dave Camp
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Fred Upton
Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 2011
Preceded by	Sander M. Levin
Personal details
Born	July 9, 1953 (1953-07-09) (age 58) Midland, Michigan
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nancy Camp
Residence	Midland, Michigan
Alma mater	Albion College, University of San Diego
Occupation	attorney, political assistant
Religion	Roman Catholic

David Lee "Dave" Camp (born July 9, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 4th congressional district, serving since 1991. He is a member of the Republican Party and the current Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Early life, education and career

Camp was born in Midland, Michigan to Norma L. Nehil and Robert D. Camp.^[1] He graduated from H.H. Dow High School in 1971. He attended the University of Sussex, Brighton, England, 1973–1974 and earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in 1975 from Albion College in Albion, Michigan. He earned a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1978.

Camp worked as a member of the Midland County, Michigan board of canvassers and a member of the Midland County Republican executive committee. He also briefly served as a private practice lawyer. He was special assistant Michigan attorney general from 1980 to 1984. He served on the staff of U.S. Representative Bill Schuette of Michigan, 1984–1987. He served one term in the Michigan House of Representatives, 1989–1990.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Rep. Camp may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.
• Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

Caucus memberships

• Building a Better America Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Life Insurance Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus

Camp is a member of both the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership and the conservative Republican Study Committee, two groups with conflicting positions on policy. For example, the RMSP supports stem cell research and opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, while the RSC opposes stem cell research and supports the FMA. He also received a score of 50 out of 100 from the John Birch Society's "Freedom Index", a Congressional Scorecard.

Camp was listed as a rising star within his party during his freshman term in Congress. In the 108th Congress, he served as a deputy majority whip and on the House Ways and Means Committee, a position that he used to advance welfare reform. Time magazine listed Camp's efforts as crucial to the passing of this new policy.

Controversial Employee

Aharon Friedman

Aharon Friedman is a tax aide on Rep. Camp's Ways and Means Committee. Friedman, however, has attracted some controversy owing to his failure to grant his wife a religiously binding divorce. As noted in the New York Times from January 3, 2011, "Mr. Friedman, an Orthodox Jew, finds himself scrutinized in the Jewish press, condemned by important rabbis, and attacked in a YouTube video showing about 200 people protesting outside his Silver Spring, Md., apartment...[on account of] Mr. Friedman’s refusal to give his wife, Tamar Epstein, 27, a Jewish decree of divorce, known as a get." ^[2]

According to the traditional Jewish law, only men can initiate a Jewish divorce. Although neither party can remarry without a get Epstein cannot initiate divorce proceedings and is thus still "chained" to Friedman at Friedman's sole discretion. Women thus bound to men who refuse to grant a divorce are traditionally referred to as agunot--literally translated as "chained".

On October 5, 2011, the Vaad HaRabanim of Greater Washington (the council of Orthodox Rabbis) published an announcement declaring that all Jewish organizations in the city should deny Friedman membership, remove him from committees or any position of leadership, and refuse to grant Friedman any honors.^[3]

According to an article written by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Washington, DC's National Synagogue, "Camp's office has said that this is an internal religious matter in which they do not want to get involved." ^[4]

Other articles about Friedman's offense can be found in the archives of the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and other media sources.

Political campaigns

In 1990, Camp was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 10th congressional district to the 102nd Congress. After the 1990 census, the districts were redrawn and his home in Midland wound up in the 4th district. He was re-elected from the new 4th district in 1992, serving from January 3, 1993 to the present.

2006

In 2006, Camp had no opponent in the Republican primary election and defeated Democratic candidate Mike Huckleberry, a restaurant owner and also the 2004 nominee, in the general election.

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2008#District 4

Camp was challenged by Democratic nominee Andrew Concannon, a Saginaw Township attorney,^[5][6] but he won re-election.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2010#District 4

Camp was challenged by Democratic nominee Jerry M. Campbell.

References

1. ^ camp
2. ^ OPPENHEIMER, MARK (January 3, 2011). "Religious Divorce Dispute Leads to Secular Protest". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/us/04divorce.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
3. ^ Vaad Harabanim of Greater Washington. "Letter from 7 Tishrei 5772". Letter. Vaad Harabanim of Greater Washington. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/12959149/670177561/name/vaad-letter-friedman%2Epdf. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
4. ^ Herzfeld, Rabbi Shmuel (10/10/2011). "Aharon Friedman Withholding Get: Should Congressman Dave Camp Care?". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuel-herzfeld/withholding-get-should-dave-camp-care_b_1003334.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
5. ^ WOODTV.com & WOOD TV8: Grand Rapids news, weather, sports and video | Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Camp seeking another term
6. ^ Campbell, Dick (March 22, 2008). "Saginaw Democrat enters House race". Argus-Press. http://www.argus-press.com/articles/2008/03/23/news/news5.txt. Retrieved 2010-01-10. 

External links

• U.S. Congressman Dave Camp official U.S. House site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Bill Schuette	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 10th congressional district 1991–1993	Succeeded by David E. Bonior
Preceded by Fred Upton	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 4th congressional district 1993–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Sander Levin Michigan	Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee 2011–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by John Boehner R-Ohio	United States Representatives by seniority 56th	Succeeded by Rosa DeLauro D-Connecticut
Preceded by in the 112th Congress, with John Boehner as Speaker, David Price D-North Carolina

Persondata
Name	Camp, David Lee
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 9, 1953
Place of birth	Midland, Michigan
Date of death
Place of death