The congressman from the 4th District is Dave Camp, a Republican who through diligent work and prolific fundraising is now chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. His low-key, consensus-building style stands in sharp contrast to that of several recent Ways and Means chairmen, as well as more openly partisan senior Republicans. “I don’t think you need to bang the gavel, pound your fists or shout to be effective,” he told The Wall Street Journal in November 2010. Camp grew up in Midland and returned there after school to practice law. In 1984, he managed the successful congressional campaign of his boyhood friend, Bill Schuette. In 1990, Schuette unsuccessfully ran against Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, Camp, with two years in the state House under his belt, ran for the vacated House seat. His key victory was in the Republican primary, where he beat Al Cropsey, a former legislator who was allied with evangelical conservatives, 33%-30%. Read More

The congressman from the 4th District is Dave Camp, a Republican who through diligent work and prolific fundraising is now chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. His low-key, consensus-building style stands in sharp contrast to that of several recent Ways and Means chairmen, as well as more openly partisan senior Republicans. “I don’t think you need to bang the gavel, pound your fists or shout to be effective,” he told The Wall Street Journal in November 2010. Camp grew up in Midland and returned there after school to practice law. In 1984, he managed the successful congressional campaign of his boyhood friend, Bill Schuette. In 1990, Schuette unsuccessfully ran against Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, Camp, with two years in the state House under his belt, ran for the vacated House seat. His key victory was in the Republican primary, where he beat Al Cropsey, a former legislator who was allied with evangelical conservatives, 33%-30%.

Camp is a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership but has a generally conservative voting record, especially on fiscal issues. He also has a bipartisan streak. In recent years, he joined with Democrats in the House to expand tax credits for education costs and to boost federal Hope scholarships for low-income students. He has been a champion of free trade on the committee, while also trying to expand trade-adjustment assistance for workers. Camp was a guiding hand behind some of the major initiatives from the era of Republican control of the House, 1995 to 2006. Camp played a key role in passing the welfare overhaul in 1996, and he defended the party’s signature 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill against Democratic attacks. He championed the cause of making President George W. Bush’s 2001 tax cuts permanent, as well as Bush’s failed plan to create private savings accounts in the Social Security program.

When Louisiana Republican Rep. Jim McCrery announced that he would not seek re-election in 2008, Rep. Wally Herger of California had more seniority than Camp and was positioned to succeed McCrery in the ranking minority slot, the most powerful post for the minority party on a committee. Camp did the requisite networking on the K Street lobbying corridor, and, in the most important test—who could raise more money for Republicans in tough election battles—Camp was far and away Herger’s superior, bringing in over $2 million for the party, while Herger raised about half that amount. Camp also had better ties to Republican leaders. In 1998, he ran Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert’s successful campaign for House speaker. He also served on the leadership-driven Steering Committee, which makes committee assignments.

Camp loyally toed the Republican line during President Barack Obama’s first two years in office. He advocated for tax cuts and criticized the idea of spending billions of dollars in the name of lowering health care costs. “If you are shopping for a car, even I have to admit that a Ferrari looks pretty good next to a Ford—until you see the price tag,” he said in June 2009. He kept a close eye on corporations that backed Obama’s agenda, rebuking lobbyists for Wal-Mart after the retail giant contributed more money to Democrats than Republicans. But in a nod to his economically struggling state, he was among just six Republicans in March 2010 to support a House-passed jobs bill that included tax incentives for businesses hiring unemployed workers. He has an inclusive style on Ways and Means, bringing Republicans together in small groups to hear from experts about complex economic matters—something that helped earn the gratitude of junior members.

Assuming the helm of Ways and Means in 2011, Camp pressed the Obama administration for swift action on pending free-trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. He also tackled the formidable challenge of overhauling the tax code and lessening the burden for corporations in favor of having more contributors pay less, an approach he called “broadening the base.” He stressed that such a task must be bipartisan and pledged to work with fellow Michigander Sander Levin, the Ways and Means pro-labor ranking Democrat. Camp and Levin have known each other for decades, but are not close.

An important pet issue for Camp is adoption law. In 2000, he helped win enactment of the International Adoption Act, which designates the State Department to help adoptive parents in dealing with officials in other nations. Two years later, Congress passed his bill to create financial incentives for domestic adoptions. On an issue of interest to his home state, Camp introduced a bill in 2010 to speed research into stopping invasive Asian carp that threaten the Great Lakes fishing industry.

Camp has had minimal opposition in the 4th District. He keeps in close touch with the district by signing every constituent letter sent from his office, often with a personal note—roughly 30,000 each year.