Jerry Lewis Chairs House Appropriations VA/HUD Subcommittee

In the 104th Congress, California Republican Jerry Lewis gains a position very important to the scientific community by taking over chairmanship of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies. This is the subcommittee responsible for funding NSF and NASA, as well as EPA, the Veterans’ Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and numerous other federal programs. As has been true in the past, the chairman of an appropriations subcommittee has tremendous power over the funding for programs under his jurisdiction. Lewis and his Senate counterpart (rumored to be Sen. Christopher Bond of Missouri) will be the major players in determining the fiscal year 1996 budgets for NSF and NASA.

Lewis replaces Democrat Louis Stokes of Ohio, who now becomes the ranking minority member. The new subcommittee roster follows:

Republicans:

Jerry Lewis (CA
Tom DeLay (TX)
Barbara Vucanovic (NV)*
James Walsh (NY)*
David Hobson (OH)*
Joe Knollenberg (MI)*
Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ)**
Mark Neumann (WI)**

Democrats:

Louis Stokes (OH)
Alan Mollohan (WV)
Jim Chapman (TX)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)

*New Member of subcommittee **New Member of Congress

Lewis represents California’s 40th district, which contains most of San Bernardino County and much of the Death Valley National Monument. It includes a number of military bases, two of which are slated to be closed. As a member of the Appropriations Committee for over a decade, Lewis has been successful in directing military funding to his district, as well as funding for earthquake damage and for an earthquake research site. Academic institutions in the 40th district are Barstow College, California State University at San Bernardino, Crafton Hills College, Loma Linda University, University of Redlands, and Victor Valley College.

Lewis, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, won his 1994 election handily, with 71 percent of the vote. On the Appropriations Committee, he has been an advocate for bipartisan cooperation.

In an analysis of his 1993 voting record, Lewis voted with the GOP 83 percent of the time, and was given an 89 percent ranking by the Conservative Coalition. He voted with President Clinton on 42 percent of votes, and against him 56 percent. In the previous year, when Bush held office, Lewis voted with the President 77 percent of the time.

Lewis has shown an interest in the science community, expressing concern over language in the fiscal year 1994 Senate Appropriations report advocating that NSF pursue more strategic research. He warned that it sent a “chill” through the academic community. In 1993 and 1991 Lewis voted in support of the SSC, while voting against it in 1992. He is consistent on the space station, supporting it every year of the past four, and on Star Wars, voting against termination or reduced funding three times in a row.

The following zip codes are fully or partly within the 40th district:

* Zip code shared by more than one congressional district.

The address of the VA/HUD/IA subcommittee is:

H-143 Capitol Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3241