Biography of Congressman Wally Herger
Congressman Herger was born in Sutter County in 1945. He was raised on a cattle ranch in a small community called Rio Oso, located south of Yuba City/Marysville. Growing up, he worked on his family's ranch, and was also involved in the family's small business. He got his start in elected office as a member of the East Nicolaus School Board, serving there from [1976 to 1980]. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 1980, serving there until his election to the United States House of Representatives by the people of California's Second Congressional District. In 2006, Herger was elected to his 11th term in Congress. He is married to Pamela, and they currently reside in Chico. They are the parents of nine children, and have six grandchildren.
Congressman Herger currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, trade, Social Security, Medicare, and some federal "safety-net" programs. In the 110th Congress, he was appointed the Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee, which has primary responsibility for reviewing market-opening free trade agreements between the U.S. and other nations. Herger also serves on the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support (formerly known as Human Resources), which he chaired for six years. That subcommittee oversees the federal cash welfare, child care, child protection, child support enforcement, disability, and unemployment insurance programs.
As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Herger's primary legislative concerns include: (1) securing economic growth and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship by reducing the tax burden on American families and small businesses; (2) making government run more efficiently by reducing federal regulatory burdens and spending; and (3) responsibly reforming entitlement programs to make them sustainable and ensure that they will still be around for future generations of Americans.
As the lead Republican on the Trade Subcommittee, Congressman Herger will play a leading role in the coming year in consideration of several trade agreements pending before Congress, such as Panama, Peru and Colombia, as well as several other agreements that could increase transparency and open foreign markets to exports of U.S. made goods and services. He is an active supporter of agriculture, the economic backbone of the Second Congressional District. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Trade, Herger is focused on helping to organize efforts to work with the President, Senate and others in the House to further enhance free and fair trade opportunities for America's agricultural and non-agricultural goods and services through reducing tariffs and lowering barriers to trade with foreign countries.
During his tenure as chairman of Subcommittee on Human Resources, Congressman Herger played a leading role in the reauthorization and expansion of the landmark 1996 welfare reform law. The original 1996 welfare reform law focused on promoting work among welfare recipients, and has succeeded in reducing government dependence and lifting more than 1.4 million children out of poverty. The reauthorization measure -- enacted in 2006 -- strengthened the 1996 law to help even more parents on welfare go to work and further strengthen families. He has also been very active in efforts to improve the nation's child protection system, including conducting oversight and introducing reform legislation to help move more at-risk kids into safe, stable, and loving families. As a member of the committee, Congressman Herger championed the "Criminal Welfare Prevention Act," which was enacted as part of the 1996 welfare reform law. The provision was designed to help stop the payment of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to individuals incarcerated in state and local jails by providing law enforcement officials financial incentives to help catch offending inmates. It has since been expanded to cover other Social Security benefits. This new "prison bounty" system, along with ongoing efforts, is estimated to save taxpayers up to $500 million per year.
Herger is a strong advocate of private property rights, as well as a strong proponent of better balance in federal environmental laws and policies, particularly the Endangered Species Act. He has been a vocal and active supporter of efforts to enhance and improve flood control and water storage infrastructure to meet the public health and safety needs of growing communities in Northern California. Herger has also been a strong supporter of improved forest management to protect communities from catastrophic wildfire and provide local economic development opportunities. Accordingly, he has been a champion of several pieces of common sense forest health legislation including the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act of 1998 and the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act of 2000.
