Bruce Braley


Bruce Lowell Braley is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his attempt to win an open seat in the 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa.

Early life, education, and law career

Braley was born in Grinnell, Iowa, the son of Marcia L. and Byard C. Braley. He has English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry. His family owned a farm in nearby Brooklyn, Iowa. Braley attended college at Iowa State University where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law. Braley worked as a trial lawyer in Waterloo with Dutton, Braun, Staack, & Hellman, PLC for 23 years, beginning in 1983.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Braley won an open seat battle in the 1st district after eight-term Republican congressman Jim Nussle stepped down to make an unsuccessful run for Governor in 2006. The 1st district had been in Republican hands since 1979. However, eastern Iowa has swung heavily Democratic since the 1990s. The district has supported the Democratic candidate for President in every election since 1988 until the 2016 United States presidential election. The district, which was numbered as the 2nd District for most of the period from Iowa's statehood until 2003, became even more Democratic when much of the Quad Cities area, including Davenport and Bettendorf was shifted into it from the old 1st District.
;2006
In the 2006 midterm election, Braley defeated Republican opponent Mike Whalen, a Quad City businessman.
;2008
Braley became the second member of Iowa's congressional delegation to issue an endorsement in the 2008 presidential race, announcing his support on December 5, 2007, for former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in a press conference in Waterloo. On April 30, 2008, Braley threw his support behind Senator Barack Obama following Edwards' withdrawal from the race.
;2010
In 2010 Braley defeated GOP challenger Ben Lange, an attorney from Independence, by only about 4,000 votes out of more than 215,000 cast. Ultimately, a 4,300 vote margin in Braley's home county, Black Hawk County, allowed him to overcome coattails from Terry Branstad and Chuck Grassley and secure a third term. Grassley carried every county in the district; Branstad carried all but three.
;2012
On April 3, 2012, Braley announced his reelection campaign in his hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Due to redistricting, Braley lost heavily Democratic Davenport but picked up equally Democratic Cedar Rapids and several other northeastern Iowa counties. Lange and Dubuque businessman Rod Blum announced their candidacy to run in a 1st District Republican primary to face Braley in a general election.
According to OpenSecrets, Braley led all Iowa Congressional candidates in out-of-state contributions, receiving about 3.5 times the amount of donations from out-of-state contributions as he has from in-state; a Republican activist and Braley's political opponent both filed House ethics complaints against Braley as a result, but the charges were found to be without merit. Braley raised an approximate total of $2.46 million for his re-election campaign, The sectors following two and three behind the lawyers and lobbyists were labor groups, and health groups, raising approximately $223,000 and $157,000 respectively. Braley spent approximately $2.11 million of what he raised being spent during the course of the campaign.
Lange won the Republican primary, and faced Braley in a rematch. In the general election, Braley won reelection by a much wider margin than in 2010.

Positions

The non-partisan, non-profit website OnTheIssues.org labels Braley a "Populist-Leaning Liberal."
;Climate change
Braley told the Des Moines Register in a December 23, 2008 article that Congress cannot wait to enact reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, saying "We have ignored this problem for far too long."
On June 26, 2009, Braley voted to pass an emissions trading measure in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions and set new requirements for electric utilities.
;Economy
Braley voted to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Braley supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.
According to a press release from four-term Pennsylvania Republican Charlie Dent, in a display of bipartisanship, Braley sat with Dent at President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address. Afterwards Braley praised the address, saying: “I’m glad the President so strongly emphasized strengthening the middle class tonight. I was especially encouraged by his focus on economic fairness, creating jobs, and investing in education. The American middle class is being squeezed more than ever, yet Wall Street bankers and big corporations are making record profits.”
Braley opposes the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
;Health care
On November 7, 2009, Braley voted for House passage of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which included a public health insurance option.
On March 21, 2010, Braley voted for the final version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
;Abortion
Braley has taken a pro-choice stance, having received 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood in 2008, 2010, and 2012, as well as 100% position ratings from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2007, and 2009 through 2012. On May 4, 2011 Braley voted against HR 3, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which passed the House 251 to 175. On October 13, 2011 he voted against HR 358, Amends Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to Prohibit Abortion Coverage. This bill passed the House and was referred by the Senate to Committee. On May 31, 2012 Braley voted against HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2012. This bill failed to pass the House.
;Firearms
Braley has received an "F" rating from the National Rifle Association of America.
;Agriculture
Braley has received varied agricultural interest group ratings in his time in office. In 2007 he received a 90% rating from the National Association of Wheat Growers, as well as a 2007-08 91% rating from the American Farm Bureau Federation and a '07-08 100 Family Advocacy Score from the National Farmers Union. His ratings were maintained for the most part in 2008 with an 86% from the National Association of Wheat Growers, and a 2009-2010 score of 100% from the National Farmers Union. However he has recently fallen out of favor with the American Farm Bureau Federation, with his 2009-2010 rating being only 43% and his 2011 rating dropping a further ten points to 33%. On February 29, 2012, Braley voted against HR 1837 - Water Resources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley which passed the House, and would require the Secretary of the Interior to reallocate water for irrigation purposes. On August 2, 2012, he voted for HR 6233 - Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 which has passed the house and would provide supplemental agricultural disaster financial assistance for the 2012 fiscal year. Braley came under harsh criticism after it emerged that he had criticized Republican Senator Chuck Grassley as "a farmer from Iowa, who never went to law school"; a later press release emphasizing his background in the agricultural sector contained misspellings of basic farming terminology.
;Tort reform
Braley has been a long time opponent of tort reform.
;Government shutdown
Braley defended keeping the House gym open for members and lamented the cutbacks to the gym's services, including cancellation of towel service. Braley noted that gym was one of the few places where Democrats and Republicans could build relationships. He further noted, "...we pay a fee to belong to the House gym. So this is no different than if you're working for an employer that offers a wellness program."
;Foreign policy
During a debate in September 2014, Braley stated that he had recently voted to authorize strikes against terrorists in Syria and Iraq. However, according to "The Weekly Standard," the vote cited by Braley was actually to arm Syrian rebels who are fighting ISIS. On June 19, 2014, Braley voted for an amendment to prohibit the use of funds for combat operations in Iraq.

Legislation

Braley sponsored 101 bills, including:

110th Congress (2007–2008)

  • H.R. 872, a bill to create a competitive grant program to promote education and training in bioenergy and other agricultural renewable energy sources, introduced February 7, 2007
  • H.R. 1873, a bill to revise and expand small business contracts, introduced April 17, 2007
  • H.R. 3381, a bill to prohibit the suspension of military active-duty deployment limits by the President for national security purposes from being used to deny the payment of a high-deployment allowance to a member of the Armed Forces if the member is otherwise qualified, introduced August 3, 2007
  • H.R. 3548, a bill to require federal executive agencies to use Plain English in official documents, introduced September 17, 2007, reintroduced in the 111th Congress as H.R. 946. H.R. 946 was signed into law October 13, 2010.
  • H.R. 5167, a bill to prohibit the President from granting immunity to the Iraqi government for torture and terrorism committed during the Gulf War unless certain conditions are met, introduced January 29, 2008
  • H.R. 5620, a bill to establish minimum standards for good manufacturing practices for the minimal processing of produce, including sanitation and water standards, introduced March 13, 2008
  • H.R. 6235, a bill to require that all flags used by the federal government be entirely manufactured in the United States, introduced June 11, 2008, reintroduced in the 111th Congress as H.R. 2853, in the 112th Congress as H.R. 1344, and in the 113th Congress as H.R. 2355
  • H.R. 6861, a bill to increase punishments for employers who willfully violate child labor requirements, introduced September 10, 2008