Rob Andrews

Infobox Congressman
name= Rob Andrews


state= New Jersey
district= 1st
party= Democrat
term_start=November 6, 1990
preceded= Jim Florio
succeeded= Incumbent
date of birth= birth date and age|1957|08|04
place of birth= Camden, New Jersey
occupation= college professor
residence=Haddon Heights, New Jersey
alma_mater= Bucknell University, Cornell University
spouse= Camille Andrews
children= Jackie and Josie
religion= Episcopalian

Robert Ernest "Rob" Andrews (born August 4, 1957) is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who is currently serving as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing ushr|New Jersey|1| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/nj01_109.gifmap] ).

In the 2008 Democratic primary election, Andrews unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. He subsequently announced his intention to run for another term in the House of Representatives.

Biography

Andrews was born in Camden, New Jersey and currently lives in nearby Haddon Heights. He attended Triton Regional High School in Runnemede. [ [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=a000210 Robert Ernest Andrews] , "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Accessed October 7, 2007.] Andrews graduated from Bucknell University in 1979 with a B.A. in political science. He later attended Cornell University Law School, earning his J.D. degree in 1982. For several years, Andrews was involved in legal education as a member of "Cornell Law Review"'s board of editors; he also was an adjunct professor at Rutgers University-Camden Law School .

Andrews is married to Camille Spinello Andrews, an Associate Dean of Enrollment and Projects at Rutgers School of Law - Camden. They have two daughters, Jackie and Josie. [ [http://www-camlaw.rutgers.edu/bio/912/ Profile of Camille Spinello Andrews] from Rutgers School of Law - Camden, accessed December 23, 2006]

From 1983 onward, Andrews had a private law practice. In 1987, he was elected as a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 1990, after 15-year incumbent James Florio resigned from the House of Representatives to take office as Governor of New Jersey, Andrews won a special election to succeed him. He won a full term later that year and has been reelected seven times without serious opposition.

In 1997 and 2001, Andrews unsuccessfully campaigned for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey. In 1997, Andrews fell some 5,000 votes short of winner Jim McGreevey, out of 350,000 votes cast. [Pulley, Brett. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E1DD103DF937A35755C0A961958260 "McGreevey Wins Democratic Nod for Governor"] , "The New York Times", June 4, 1997. Accessed November 28, 2007.] Andrews was reportedly considering a primary challenge in 2005, before McGreevey's resignation.

Andrews is generally considered a moderate by New Jersey Democratic standards. "The New York Times" has characterized Congressman Andrews as "fiscally conservative...and socially moderate." [ [http://www.house.gov/andrews/about_biography.shtml Robert E. Andrews - First District of New Jersey] ] Rep. Andrews has a lifetime rating of 17.24 (and a 2007 rating of 0) from the American Conservative Union and a 2007 rating of 100 from Americans for Democratic Action. [ [http://www.acuratings.org/2007all.htm#NJ ACU Ratings] ] [ [http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=26949&type=category&category=45&go.x=10&go.y=10 Ratings on liberal issues collated by Project Vote Smart] ] . He has a liberal rating of 76.2 and a conservative rating of 23.8 from the "National Journal". [ [http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/states/index.htm?state=nj#vr National Journal's 2007 Vote Ratings for New Jersey]

Rep. Andrews has served for his entire Congressional career on the House Committee on Education and Labor. He was the Democratic leader and Ranking Member on the Education Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations, and is currently the Chairman of the Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions which has responsibility for the health insurance, pension and labor laws of the nation. Rep. Andrews also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, which maintains jurisdiction over funding for the military forces.

Using Amtrak to commute from his Haddon Heights home while Congress is in session so that he can be closer to his family and constituents, Andrews does not maintain a residence in Washington, D.C.. Andrews is an ardent supporter of Amtrak subsidies.

While Andrews had been frequently mentioned as a possible replacement for Jon Corzine's United States Senate seat after Corzine's November 2005 gubernatorial victory, Bob Menendez was eventually chosen by Corzine to fill the vacancy. Andrews had informally announced his plan to run in the 2006 Democratic primary against Menendez, but in January 2006 announced that he would run for a ninth full term in the House and seek the Senate seat in 2008 if Senator Frank Lautenberg retired.

Congressman Andrews faced no Republican opponent in the 2002 and the 2006 Congressional race.

Andrews received a "B" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. [ [http://www.drummajorinstitute.com/congress/drum-major-voting-summary.php?name=Andrews&state=NJ&database=house Congress at the Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record] , Drum Major Institute. Accessed June 28, 2006.]

Andrews voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, authorizing the erection of a 700-mile fence across the U.S.-Mexico border.

On October 10, 2002, Rob Andrews was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq (126 Democrats in the House were opposed) and was the only Democratic member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation to co-sponsor the Iraq Resolution. [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml House Roll Call 455] Office of the Clerk] [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HJ00114:@@@P H.J.RES.114 Co-sponsors] The Library of Congress] In 2005, he voted in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to prohibit desecration of the American flag. The proposed amendment was later defeated in the Senate. [ [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/a000210/key-votes/ washingtonpost.com/Congress votes database/Key Votes by Robert Andrews] ] . In the same year he voted for the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which makes it more difficult for individuals to declare bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and encourages declaration of bankruptcy under Chapter 13. [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll108.xml House Roll Call 108] Office of the Clerk]

Senators Frank Lautenberg, Bob Menendez, [ [http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00259#position Roll Call Vote On Passage of the Bill S. 3930 As Amended] ] and Andrews [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll508.xml FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 508] ] were the only members of the New Jersey Democratic Congressional Delegation to vote for the Military Commissions Act of 2006. He was also involved in proposing a bill for sanctioning Iran in 2007. The Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act of 2007 targets any company or individual that provides Iran with refined petroleum products or engages in an activity that could contribute to the enhancement of Iran's ability to import refined products after December 31 2007. [ [http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/6397128.xml?sub=Oil&p=Oil/News& US lawmakers target Iran gasoline imports in new sanctions bill] ]

Andrews is a superdelegate within the Democratic Party and prior to the New Jersey primary he endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. [ [http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=1428 Press Release: Gov. Corzine, NJ Officials Endorse Clinton] HillaryClinton.com] Following the results from the Indiana and North Carolina primaries Andrews stated that he believed Senator Barack Obama would win the nomination and that the party should unite behind him. However he has not switched his vote as a superdelegate from Clinton to Obama stating that "such a move might 'retard' the process of unifying the party". [ [http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1210687509315090.xml&coll=1 "Andrews: Time for Democrats to unite"] May 13, 2008 The Star-Ledger]

2008 Senate election

On 2 April 2008, Andrews announced he would challenge incumbent Senator Frank Lautenberg in the 2008 Democratic primary in New Jersey. Andrews also announced that he would not seek reelection to his U.S. House district in 2008. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/nyregion/02cnd-senate.html?hp "Lautenberg to Face Primary Challenge"] , "The New York Times", April 2, 2008.] His wife, Camille Andrews stood as a candidate for his U.S. House seat instead, although she said she might withdraw in favor of another candidate chosen by the party. Citation
last = Margolin
first = Josh
last2 = Schwaneberg
first2 = Robert
title = Camille Andrews: I'm running for real
newspaper = The Star-Ledger
year = 2008
date = 2008-04-08
url = http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/camille_andrews_im_running_for.html
accessdate=2008-05-17]

Andrews was beaten by Lautenberg in the Senate primary, but Camille Andrews won the Democratic primary for his seat in the House. After losing to Lautenberg, Rob Andrews decided to run for re-election to his House seat; Camille withdrew her candidacy on September 3, and Rob Andrews announced that on September 4 that he would take her place as the Democratic candidate. He maintained that his wife had not been merely a placeholder candidate and said that he had only decided to run for re-election a week before he announced it; according to Andrews, his change of heart was a result of personal reflection: "I just looked deep into what I believe in and decided that this is what I had to do." [ [http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/04/Wife_bows_out_so_Rep_Andrews_can_run/UPI-98351220585796/ "Wife bows out, so Rep. Andrews can run"] , UPI, September 4, 2008.] On September 29, 2008 Andrews voted for the massive Wall Street bailout.

Committee assignments

*House Education and Labor Committee
**Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)(Chairman)
**Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
*House Armed Services Committee
**Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
**Subcommittee on Terrorism and Unconventional Threats
*House Budget Committee

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/andrews/ Congressman Rob Andrews] official U.S. House site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rob_Andrews Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia