Howard Berman

Howard Berman
U.S. House, California, District 28
Former member
In office
1983-2013
Party	Democratic
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 2, 1982
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
California State Assembly
1973-1982
Education
Bachelor's	University of California, Los Angeles
Other	LL.B., University of California, Los Angeles
Personal
Birthday	April 15, 1941
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Jewish
Websites
Campaign website

The information about this individual is current as of when his or her last campaign ended. See anything that needs updating? Send a correction to our editors

Howard Berman (b. April 15, 1941) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House representing California's 28th congressional district from 1983 to 2013. He lost his re-election bid in 2012.

Berman ran for re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 30th District as a Democrat. He was displaced from the 28th district by redistricting.

The primary battle between Berman and Brad Sherman made Politico's list of the 5 ugliest member vs. member battles.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Berman was a "moderate Democratic leader".

Biography

Berman was born in Los Angeles, California. He earned his B.A. and his LL.B. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1962 and 1965 respectively.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Berman's academic, professional and political career:

• 2003-2013: U.S. House of Representatives, California's 28th congressional district
• 1983-2003: U.S. House of Representatives, California's 26th congressional district
• 1973-1982: California State Assembly
• 1968, 1976, 1984: Delegate, Democratic National Convention
• 1966-1967: VISTA volunteer

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2011-2012

Berman served on the following committees:

• Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
• Judiciary Committee
  • Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet

Issues

House Judiciary Committee

Congressman Berman was first appointed to the House Judiciary Committee shortly after he was sworn into office in January of 1983. Berman served on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

The Congressman participated in the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Lobbying position after leaving office

Berman was listed in March 2013 by USA Today as one of 16 former lawmakers who took on a lobbying related position after leaving office. 16 of the 98 total lawmakers who have retired or were ousted by voters since January 2011 hold lobbying-related jobs. USA Today looked at lawmakers who retired, resigned or lost their seats in the last Congress — along with the handful who left their posts during the first months of the new Congress.

Despite rules in place to prevent the constant rotation of lawmakers into lobbying positions, many former lawmakers are entering into positions with either lobbying firms or trade associations. Former House members are barred from lobbying their former colleagues for a year, and former senators, are barred for two years.

There are no restrictions, however, on providing behind-the-scenes advice to corporations and others seeking to shape federal legislation. Ex-lawmakers can immediately lobby the executive branch and officials in state and local governments. Many former lawmakers are taking advantage of this slight distinction, and are taking positions after their political careers end as consultants and strategists.

Campaign themes

2012

Berman's campaign website listed the following issues:

• Jobs and the Economy

Excerpt: "Getting our economy moving again has been one of Howard’s top priorities in Congress. He knows that job growth is largest in new companies, and that the biggest problem faced by today’s small businesses is fewer customers with less money to spend."

• Veterans

Excerpt: "He has made it a priority to help veterans facing hard times get back on their feet. He’s pushed for funding of programs to help treat homeless veterans with substance abuse and other mental health issues. He’s sought funds to improve the VA’s Supportive Housing program, and coordinated and co-hosted a veterans home buyers workshop."

• Intellectual Property Rights

Excerpt: "Howard believes that robust protection of intellectual property and prevention of copyright theft protects local investments and creates jobs. The Chamber of Commerce has noted that America’s IP-intensive industries employ more than 19 million workers–at all educational and skill levels. From 2000 to 2007, the annual salary of all workers in IP-intensive industries averaged about 60% more than for similar workers in non-IP-intensive industries."

• Middle East

Excerpt: "Howard has been one of the boldest and most effective Congressional voices in support of close US-Israeli relations since his first days in office. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2008-2010, and now as its top Democrat, he’s been the recognized leader of annual efforts to whip Members of the House to support full funding for aid to Israel."

• Foreign Policy and National Security

Excerpt: "In addition to his indispensable work on Israel, Iran and the Middle East, Howard has been a major force on a wide range of other foreign policy and national security issues."

• Education

Excerpt: "As a graduate of Los Angeles’ public schools, including Hamilton High School and UCLA, Howard knows firsthand that a strong public school system is key to our nation’s global competitiveness and our children’s futures."

• The Environment

Excerpt: "The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Act was enacted in 1979 by Assembly Bill 1312, authored by Assemblyman Howard Berman. Since it became law, it has provided the means to preserve over 60,000 acres of parkland in both wilderness and urban settings, and improve more than 114 public recreational facilities in the Santa Monica Mountains."

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Berman voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Elections

2012

See also: California's 30th congressional district elections, 2012

Berman ran for re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 30th District as a Democrat. He was displaced from the 28th district by redistricting. He and district 28 incumbent Brad Sherman (D) advanced past the June 5, 2012, blanket primary, defeating Vince Gilmore (D), Mark Reed (R), Susan Shelley (R), Navraj Singh (R), and Michael Powelson (G). They faced off in the November 6, 2012, general election and Sherman won. Berman and Sherman were both considered vulnerable incumbents in the election.

The race between Berman and Brad Sherman heated up further in a debate on October 11 when the two candidates nearly had a physical altercation. Berman moved over to Sherman's side of the stage and put a finger in his face. Sherman responded by putting his arm around Berman and asking "Do you want to get into this." A sheriff's deputy soon walked between the men, calming them down.

U.S. House, California, District 30 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Brad Sherman Incumbent	60.3%	149,456
	Democratic	Howard Berman Incumbent	39.7%	98,395
Total Votes				247,851
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010

On November 2, 2010, Berman won re-election to the United States House. He advanced past the June 5, 2012, blanket primary, defeating Merlin Froyd (R) and Carlos A. Rodriguez (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 28 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Howard Berman Incumbent	69.5%	88,385
	Republican	Merlin Froyd	22.4%	28,493
	Libertarian	Carlos A. Rodriguez	8%	10,229
Total Votes				127,107

Polls

2012

Brad Sherman vs. Howard Berman
Response	SurveyUSA (September 20, 2012)	Average
Brad Sherman	45%	45%
Howard Berman	32%	32%
Undecided	23%	23%
Number polled	628	628
Margin of error	+/-4	4%
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Campaign donors

2012

Breakdown of the source of Berman's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Berman did not win election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Berman's campaign committee raised a total of $4,684,926 and spent $5,772,180.

U.S. House, California District 30, 2012 - Howard Berman Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$4,684,926
Total Spent	$5,772,180
Total Raised by Election Winner	$3,201,860
Total Spent by Election Winner	$6,172,614
Top contributors to Howard Berman's campaign committee
National Amusements Inc	$55,250
Comcast Corp	$54,860
News Corp	$53,800
Walt Disney Co	$38,750
Sony Corp	$38,250
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
TV/Movies/Music	$511,010
Lawyers/Law Firms	$402,064
Retired	$256,250
Pro-Israel	$220,470
Real Estate	$168,750

2010

Breakdown of the source of Berman's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Berman won re-election to the U.S. House in 2010. During that election cycle, Berman's campaign committee raised a total of $1,914,073 and spent $1,124,915.

His top 5 contributors between 2009-2010 were:

U.S. House, California District 28, 2010 - Howard Berman Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,914,073
Total Spent	$1,124,915
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$39,636
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$39,509
Top contributors to Howard Berman's campaign committee
News Corp	$30,350
Time Warner	$24,300
Walt Disney Co	$24,250
Akin, Gump et al	$20,222
NorPAC	$18,400
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
TV/Movies/Music	$286,400
Lawyers/Law Firms	$170,622
Pro-Israel	$127,750
Computers/Internet	$73,539
Real Estate	$73,250

Endorsements

2012

Berman was endorsed by Senator Barbara Boxer over his primary opponent and fellow incumbent Brad Sherman. She stated, "Because of Brad’s campaign mailing, which outrageously tries to connect you to the San Bruno tragedy, I will no longer stay neutral in this race." This is referring to a 2010 explosion in San Bruno, which resulted in eight deaths, caused by PG&E's failure to maintain their gas line.

Berman was also endorsed by Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham as well as Independent Joe Lieberman.

Personal

Berman and his wife, Janis, have two children.

Analysis

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Berman paid his congressional staff a total of $1,048,441 in 2011. He ranked 104th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 115th overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, California ranked 5th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

Staff bonuses

According to an analysis by CNN, Berman is one of nearly 25% of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Berman's staff was given an apparent $6,648.00 in bonus money.

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Berman's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $1,139,171 and $1,224,169. That averages to $1,181,670, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Berman ranked 122nd in the liberal rankings in 2012.

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Berman ranked 69th in the liberal rankings.

Political positions

Percentage voting with party

November 2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Howard Berman voted with the Democratic Party 94.2% of the time, which ranked 34 among the 192 House Democratic members in 2011.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Howard + Berman + California + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Howard Berman News Feed

• Hofstra student Andrea Rebello and burglary suspect killed during police shootout - New York Daily News
• Democrats seeking office have their eye on Sacramento - Los Angeles Times
• Moroccan king restoring Jewish sites - Intermountain Jewish News - Intermountain Jewish News
• Prop C, LA Measure To Overturn Citizens United, Will Be Voted On By ... - Huffington Post
• Son of 'Pacific Standard Time' - The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A.
• Congress Members Sprint for Money to Lobby After Election - Bloomberg
• The Note: Mark Sanford's Second Chance - ABC News
• Former Congress members sprint to jobs as lobbyists - Worcester Telegram
• Toby Keith to receive National Music Publishers' Association's Songwriter Icon ... - NewsOK.com (blog)
• Dean Jeffries, Car Customizer and Painter, Dies at 80 - New York Times

External links

• Official campaign website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • OpenCongress
  • Project Vote Smart
• Financial:
  • FEC
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
• Media coverage:
  • Washington Post

References

Political offices
Preceded by David Dreier	U.S. House of Representatives - California, District 28 2003-2013	Succeeded by Adam Schiff
Preceded by '	U.S. House of Representatives - California, District 26 1983-2003	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	California State Assembly 1973-1982	Succeeded by '