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Portrait of Rep. Gallegly

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About Elton

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly has represented his neighbors in Congress for 23 years. On November 4, 2008, voters elected him to his 12th term in the U.S. House of Representatives with more than 58 percent of the vote. Even though he returns home virtually every weekend, he has maintained a better than 95 percent voting attendance record during his tenure in Congress.

Rep. Gallegly is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. He has fought illegal immigration since his early days in Congress. His leadership on the issue landed him the chairmanship of the 1995 Congressional Task Force on Immigration Reform. Rep. Gallegly’s Task Force published a 200-plus page report with more than 80 specific recommendations. Most of those recommendations became law the following year.

He hasn’t let up. Rep. Gallegly’s efforts earned him recognition in 2006 as one of the Top Ten Illegal Immigration Hawks in Congress by Human Events magazine and induction into the U.S. Border Control Hall of Fame.

Rep. Gallegly opposes amnesty because it encourages illegal immigration, making it even more difficult to secure our borders and putting a huge strain on our economy and health care and educational systems. In the first weeks of 2007, he introduced eleven anti-illegal immigration bills.

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In the Forefront of Homeland Security

Rep. Gallegly also is a senior member of the Natural Resources Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee and is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe. Additionally, he serves on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and its Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence Subcommittee. For years, Rep. Gallegly has been in the forefront of homeland security and the United States’ war against terrorism.

As a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gallegly has worked with our European allies to fight terrorism here and abroad. He has met with more than 50 heads of state, government delegations, or members of foreign legislative bodies here and abroad. He introduced and passed major NATO expansion legislation and represented the House of Representatives at the NATO summit in Prague at the request of President Bush.

During the 108th Congress, Rep. Gallegly chaired the Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights and, as such, chaired one of the first hearings on the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, a hearing that led to more than 10 provisions included in the final bill. In January 2004, he traveled to Libya as part of an historic congressional delegation to meet with Moammar Gadhafi after the Libyan strongman denounced terrorism and agreed to open his country to international arms inspectors.

Six weeks later he chaired a meeting with family members of the victims of Pan Am 103 to discuss progress with Libya.

His assignments build on his experience, acquired knowledge, and understanding to identify and act on threats that we may face in the future.

Crime, taxes, animal rights, and providing for our nation’s veterans are other issues Rep. Gallegly champions. He is a longtime leader on retirement security. Among the bills he authored that was signed into law raised the annual contribution limits on Individual Retirement Accounts from $2,000 to $5,000.

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On the Home Front

On the home front, Rep. Gallegly has been the primary leader in saving Naval Base Ventura County from closure and in establishing the Port of Hueneme as the only deepwater port between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He meets regularly with leaders at Vandenberg Air Force Base to discuss projects at the base and how he can facilitate federal funding and continued support for the base.

Rep. Gallegly also has been successful over the years in obtaining federal funding to help citrus growers, nursery growers, and vintners battle the glassy-winged sharpshooter. He has worked hard to protect the health and safety of his constituents through such projects as the Santa Paula Flood Control Project and has pushed relentlessly for a health study of residents near Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

During his tenure, Rep. Gallegly has also compiled a strong record of constituent service. Whether it be a city official seeking federal help for a project, a senior needing assistance in solving a Social Security concern, or a citizen seeking immigration status for a relative, Rep. Gallegly and his staff have consistently won praise for their problem-solving abilities.

Rep. Gallegly was born on March 7, 1944, in the Los Angeles suburb of Huntington Park. After attending what is now California State University, Los Angeles, he became a successful businessman and real estate broker. He settled in the Ventura County community of Simi Valley in 1968.

He entered public life in 1979 with his election to the Simi Valley City Council and, in 1982, became the City’s first directly elected mayor. He held that post until he ran for Congress in 1986 when the incumbent ran for the Senate. Outspent 2-1, Rep. Gallegly’s local ties gave him a landslide victory in the 1986 primary over Tony Hope, son of comedian Bob Hope.

Rep. Gallegly and his wife, Janice, have four children and ten grandchildren. The couple makes their home in Simi Valley.

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