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Richard Pombo

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Richard Pombo

Richard William Pombo (born January 8 1961), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing California's 11th congressional district.

Biography

Pombo was born in Tracy, California; just outside Stockton. He is a descendant of Portuguese immigrants. Pombo is married and has three children. He has hosted prominent visitors of Portugal to the United States and is the co-founder of the Portuguese Caucus, a coalition of Members of Congress who promote positive Portuguese-American relations.[citation needed]

The Portuguese government bestowed Pombo with the Grand Order of Infante D. Henrique, Portugal's highest civilian honor, in recognition of his efforts to improve Portuguese-American relations.

Pombo served as a Councilmember for the City of Tracy from 1990-1992. In 1992 he was elected to Congress to replace outgoing Republican Congressman Norman D. Shumway.

In 1992 Pombo faced several candidates in the Republican primary for an open seat in a heavily Republican district. His strongest opponent in the Republican primary was moderate-Republican Sandra Smoley. Smoley was serving at that time as a State Assemblywoman. The more conservative-leaning Richard Pombo was able to defeat Smoley at the primary. Richard Pombo was elected during the general election of 1992, defeating Democrat Patti Garamendi (wife of current California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi). Pombo was assisted greatly by his family's name recognition in the Central Valley. His late uncle Ernie Pombo's real estate and land development firm, Pombo Real Estate, made the Pombo family the largest land owner in the 11th district.

Just two years later the Republican revolution occurred whereby the Republicans seized control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years under Newt Gingrich's Contract with America. Pombo was a signatory participant in the Contract with America.

Private property rights sparks interest in politics

Richard Pombo is especially known for his defense of private property rights. This was spurred by the Southern Pacific Railroad's abandonment of the Altamont Pass route through Tracy, California. Richard Pombo owned land adjacent to the abandoned railroad line. Pombo argued that the abandoned easement should legally revert to the adjacent property owners (such as himself) rather than to the local park district. He argued that as the easement was granted based on a promise that the land would be used for railroad purposes only, that the easements ended entirely when they were abandoned. Pombo's case resulted in Congress passing the Rails to Trails Act.

In a New York Times editorial (October 30, 2005), Pombo was called "an outspoken product of the extreme property rights movement." In 2005, he proposed legislation which would allow mining companies to buy lands on which they have staked claims, even if there is no evidence of valuable minerals on that land. According to the editorial, "This has nothing to do with mining, and everything to do with stealing land that is owned by the American people."

Pombo has written a book with Joseph Farah about private property issues, entitled This Land Is Our Land: How to End the War on Private Property. Farah is currently founder of WorldNetDaily and headed the Western Journalism Center linked to the Arkansas Project.

Pombo was a co-founder of the San Joaquin County Citizen’s Land Alliance. This organization was a group of farmers and other landowners who advocate private property rights and oppose government encroachment on these rights.

Committee assignments

Richard Pombo is a rancher, continuing to own a 500 acre ranch near Tracy and returning to it every week.[citation needed] Pombo is presently serving as Chairman of the House Resources Committee.[1] The committee has oversight and sets policy on matters involving natural resources, Indian Country and Indian gaming. He is also a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Congressman Pombo and his political action committee RICH PAC [2] are among a dozen leaders in the House of Representatives reportedly under investigation as part of the corruption and influence pedalling scandal centered around confessed felon Jack Abramoff, a Republican lobbyist, and policy issues including Indian gaming. Fundraisers organized by Indian gaming interests and tied to the 2005 MLB All-Star Game are among those activities under scrutiny.[3]

Pombo is also a co-Chair of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT). This team's goal is to find alternative energy solutions. Pombo's home town of Tracy, California has a large wind farm on Altamont Pass.

Pombo is a member and former Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus. The Western Caucus is made up of Western State members of Congress concerned about Endangered Species Act reform, water rights, private property rights and other issues affecting the western states. Pombo is anti-environmentalist, supporting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as proposing legislation to sell roughly a quarter of the land managed by the National Park Service. The legislation was later described by his chief of staff as a "bureaucratic exercise" designed to evaluate the costs of not drilling in ANWR. He has also led an effort to build a multilane freeway (California State Route 130) through the mostly uninhabited Diablo Range to facilitate Bay Area-bound commuting from the greater Tracy, where the congressman and his family own hundreds of acres coveted for housing development. [4] [5]

Controversies and criticism

In January 2006, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released a report naming Pombo as one of the ten most corrupt members of the House of Representatives. [6]

Corruption and Tom DeLay/Jack Abramoff

Main article: Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal

On January 8, 2006, the Los Angeles Times alleged that Pombo helped one of Jack Abramoff's clients, the Mashpee Indians in Massachusetts, gain official recognition as a tribe. In return, Pombo received campaign contributions from both the tribe and Abramoff. [7]

In the 2006 cycle, Abramoff was one of the top donors to his political action committee. (see [8]). Several of Pombo's top five donors are political influence brokers from Detroit, Michigan who mingled gambling with major league baseball when they hosted several $5,000 per person fundraisers for Pombo in their owners box at Comerica Park during the 2005 MLB All-Star Game. News reports indicated contributions from the two day fundraising event would go to RICH Political Action Committee; however, FEC reports filed by RICH PAC show only one such contribution and apparently contributions were diverted to some other entity making it difficult to track who attended and contributed.

As it is, the Ilitch family, owners of the MLB Detroit Tigers and Detroit's MotorCity Casino, are also financial backers of various Indian Tribes including one (Shinnecock Indians) seeking to build an Indian casino in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York. Various issues and tribal disputes involving the Shinnecock were before the House Resources Committee chaired by Pombo just days after the fundraiser (see [9]).

Weakening the Endangered Species Act

In September 2005, he helped rewrite the 1973 Endangered Species Act, which "was widely denounced by environmentalists as a disturbing retreat from habitat protection and a paperwork nightmare for agencies seeking to revive the 1,268 threatened and endangered plants and animals in the country, 186 of which are in California."[10]

By March 2006, it was revealed in Environmental Science & Technology that Pombo has been coordinating efforts with Pac/West Communications to weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Pac/West has created the Save Our Species Alliance, an anti-environmental front group that is campaigning for Pombo's bill to change the ESA. [11]

2003 RV trip charged to the federal government

In August 2003, Pombo and his family rented an RV and "spent two weeks on vacation, stopping along the way to enjoy ... our national parks." [12]. The 5,000-mile trip included stops in the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Mount Rushmore, the Badlands and other parks. The $4,935 cost of the rental was charged to the federal government.

When asked in February 2006 about the trip -- rules forbid government-funded travel for personal vacations, but allow lawmakers to bring family members on official trips, Pombo said that he had looked into flying into the parks by commercial air or charters, but found the costs to be excessive, and that after choosing to travel instead by RV, he invited his family along with him. [13]

At Yellowstone, Pombo had a lengthy meeting with the park superintendent, which a spokesman charactizered as non-official. Pombo's visit to the Badlands National Park is in dispute: the secretary to the superintendent said he did not show; a spokesman for Pombo said that Pombo was certain he was there and met with a group of Native American tribal leaders nearby. Reports concerning Pombo's visit to Joshua Tree are also contradictory. The Los Angeles Times was told that Pombo had shown up for his meeting but "they were not there." The Tracy Press was told that Pombo met with the park's acting superintendent.

Officials from Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks did not return calls seeking comment. [14][15]

Investigation of Charles Hurwitz

One January 8, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported, "Reps. John T. Doolittle and Richard W. Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas to oppose an investigation by federal banking regulators into the affairs of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz, documents recently obtained by The Times show."[16] Furthermore, "When the FDIC persisted, Doolittle and Pombo — both considered proteges of DeLay — used their power as members of the House Resources Committee to subpoena the agency's confidential records on the case, including details of the evidence FDIC investigators had compiled on Hurwitz."[17] "The investigation was ultimately dropped."[18]

The Times reported that "Although Washington politicians frequently try to help important constituents and contributors, it is unusual for members of Congress to take direct steps to stymie an ongoing investigation by an agency such as the FDIC."[19] The article concluded, "in the Hurwitz case, Doolittle and Pombo were in a position to pressure the FDIC and did so. "[20] [21] [22]

Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill

In November 2005, Jim Gibbons (R-NV) and Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA) co-authored an amendment to the Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill easing restrictions of sale of federal lands to mining companies. This amendment attracted fire from environmentalists, anti-growth advocates, and even some Republican Senators [23]' concerned about the measure's effects on hunting and fishing. Although the bill (and amendment) narrowly passed the House, it was defeated by the Senate.

Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

As recently as August 12, 2006, Pombo has been criticized for his push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).[24] Among these critics is Republican Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), which argue against putting at risk a fragile ecosystem (see: Exxon Valdez). Indeed, "the failure of the pipeline 'underscores our over-reliance on oil,' and more needs to be done to find alternative sources of energy," Coleman's spokesman, LeRoy Coleman, said.

Removal of data from Wikipedia

Pombo's staff has attempted to excise critical information regarding his ties to Abramoff from Wikipedia. [25] According to High Country News, as reported by the Argus, a newspaper in California's East Bay area, this was not just an attempt, but an actual "scrubbing/sanitizing" of his Wiki entry, done during the 2006 Super Bowl weekend.

War policies

Pombo has been criticized for his support of the Iraq war that taxpayers in the 11th Congressional District spent $974 million on Iraq.[26] Laura Reinhard, deputy political director for Peace Action West Voter Fund said, "It is outrageous that Representative Pombo has continued to support wasting our hard-earned dollars on Bush's fiasco in Iraq instead of spending that money here at home where its really needed."

Interstate 580

Pombo has been criticized for a 14 year lag in attention to the congestion on Interstate 580.[27] Pombo has only decided to take issue with it during the 2006 election cycle. His election opponent Jerry McNerney "If I was in Pombo's shoes, I would try to make myself look like transportation is my priority, too," he said. "But he's been in office for almost 14 years, and we haven't seen much from him."[28] McNerney "touted a four-point I-580 congestion relief platform that not only calls for new highways but offers strategies not often associated with Republicans: Higher investment in mass transit and carpool lanes."[29]

2006 re-election campaign

Main article: California's 11th congressional district

On January 23, 2006, former Republican representative of California's 11th congressional district, Pete McCloskey, announced at a press conference in Lodi, California, that he would return to the political arena by running against Pombo in the Republican Party's primary election for California's 11th Congressional district. Pombo is considered one of the key lawmakers behind efforts to weaken McCloskey's original 1973 Endangered Species Act. This, among other stances (reflecting an allegiance to the DeLay wing of the party), caused Pombo to tie with Rep. Joe Barton for the lowest score (-12) on the Republicans for Environmental Protection scorecard.

In addition to McCloskey, Pombo was also challenged in the primary by Thomas A. Benigno. On June 6, 2006, Pombo won the Republican primary, receiving 62% of the vote; McCloskey received 32%. McCloskey had been endorsed by the Sacramento Bee, the San Jose Mercury News, and the League of Conservation Voters.

On the Democratic side, Steve Filson, Steve Thomas, and Jerry McNerney competed for the Democratic nomination. McNerney won the primary with just over half of the Democratic vote, and will face Pombo in the 2006 general election in November.

As of June 30, 2006, Pombo had raised $2.2 million for his reelection campaign and had $939,000 on hand. McNerney had raised $449,000 and had $152,000 in cash as of the same date.[30]

In late July, McCloskey and Benigno endorsed McNerney. [31]

Books


  • Richard Pombo and Joseph Farah (founder of World Net Daily), This Land is Our Land: How to End the War on Private Property. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1996. ISBN 0-312-14747-3

Committees and caucus

News articles

Preceded by United States Representative for the 11th Congressional District of California
1993–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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