The congressman from the 40th District is Ed Royce, a Republican first elected in 1992. His lifetime almost precisely spans the area’s growth. He grew up in Fullerton and belonged to the conservative Young Americans for Freedom at Cal State Fullerton. He was later the head of Youth for Reagan in California during Reagan’s 1976 challenge to Gerald Ford. Royce worked several years as a tax and capital projects manager for a cement company. In 1982, a bunch of conservative state legislators known as the “Cave Men’’ took him to a Black Angus restaurant—no avocado-and-sprout sandwiches for them—and persuaded him to run for the state Senate. He won at age 31. When the Legislature refused to pass Royce’s bill allowing crime victims to object to trial delays, giving grand juries more power, and ending “jury-shopping,” he got the measure on the ballot as an initiative and it passed by a wide margin. He also wrote the first law making it a felony to stalk someone, allowing police more latitude to take action. In 1992, Royce ran for the U.S. House. With the blessing of Orange County Republican leaders, he was unopposed in the primary and easily won the general. He has been re-elected by wide margins ever since.

In the House, Royce has a conservative voting record. He co-chaired the group of House “porkbusters,” risking other members’ wrath by opposing appropriations bills with dubious earmarks for individual lawmaker’s districts. In July 2005, he was among eight Republicans, and the only Californian, to vote against a highway bill packed with road, bridge, and dam projects. Royce’s proposal to ensure that nonprofit religious organizations have access to all necessary financial resources was a forerunner of President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiative. On the Financial Services Committee, he has worked with Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., to expand lending authority for credit unions and to put them on an equivalent status with banks. With Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., in 2009, Royce proposed a federal regulator for insurance companies to replace the patchwork state regulatory system.

As chairman of the International Relations Subcommittee on Africa and an ardent free-trader, Royce was instrumental in enacting an Africa free-trade bill, teaming with House Ways and Means Committee senior Democrat Charles Rangel of New York. With legislative creativity, Royce helped steer the bill to enactment. When Congress expanded the president’s powers to negotiate free-trade agreements, Royce revised the bill to raise the cap on duty-free apparel imports from Africa. Although he had never set foot in Africa before he became chairman, Royce was widely praised for getting up to speed on issues affecting the continent. His other Africa-focused initiatives have included measures to encourage oil production, promote human rights, and condemn the genocide in Sudan.

In the minority, Royce is the ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, where he has focused on the spread of radical Islam. President Bush signed his bill establishing Radio Free Afghanistan as a tool in the fight against terrorism. In 2006, Royce won enactment of his bill to promote nuclear nonproliferation in North Korea. He has also urged stronger strategic and trade relationships between the United States and India.