Walter William Herger, Jr. (born May 20, 1945), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, representing the California's 2nd congressional district. The second district is physically large. The major cities are Chico, Redding and Red Bluff. He was born in Yuba City, California, and graduated from American River College with an Associate of Arts. He also attended California State University, Sacramento for a year. He grew up on his family's 200-acre (0.81 km²) cattle ranch and plum farm in the northern California town of Rio Oso (between Yuba City and Sacramento). He also worked in the family's oil and gas exploration business

Herger's career started in 1976, with his election to the East Nicolaus School Board. He also served northern California in the California State Assembly from 1980 to 1986. Herger is married to his second wife Pamela Sargent, with whom he has 9 children and 6 grandchildren. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and sits on the United States House Committee on Ways and Means.

We will leave it up to the reader to determine whether Wally Herger has made serious errors in in judgment.  Wally has supported a Conservative Christian position especially when it comes to Church and State issues.  But, it is apparent from the data collected, that the first amendment may be in danger from his past and future actions.

Controversy

On August 18, 2009, Herger held a town hall meeting at Simpson University in Redding. After one of the attendees identified himself as “proud right-wing terrorist”, Herger responded by saying, “Amen, God bless you,” and “There is a great American.”  Although Herger has not commented about the incident his communications director stated that the 2,000 people in attendence understood that it was a satirical statement.  See Beginning of Document.

Rep. Wally Herger joins other Traitors to the U.S. by supporting Right Wing Terrorism.  Remember Oklahoma City? 

Earlier this week, it was reported that Rep. Wally Herger, (R-Cali.) had hosted a town meeting during which he praised an attendee for declaring himself a "proud right-wing terrorist."

"Amen, God bless you," Herger told the man, named Bert Stead. "There is a great American."

In light of the angry protests sprouting up at townhalls throughout the country -- with several of the protesters toting guns -- the scene was clearly noteworthy. But questions remained as to how just how sincere the man was in registering his anger and Herger in his response.

Pretty sincere, it turns out. A Democratic source passed along video of the event to the Huffington Post and it shows, quite clearly, that Herger offered not just sympathetic laughter and a hearty smile but also a full-throat endorsement of the Stead's position.

Here's the video:

Herger's remarks, when first reported, were criticized by some in the media for fanning the flames of politically-motivated violence.

"This is the dangerous edge, in which these people, including some elected officials are now dancing," said Chris Matthews. "We've been here before. Words lead to actions, words create the national mood, the mood creates a license. People take that license and use it."

The congressman, however, stands by what he said.

"Congressman Herger stands by his statement in support of his constituent," read a statement from his office. "Mr. Bert Stead is a taxpayer and veteran, who, like so many others, is rightfully fed up with being called 'un-American', or 'extremist' or a 'political terrorist' by liberals in Washington, for simply exercising his First Amendment rights. Mr. Stead served his country and therefore he is a great American. The Congressman doesn't at all regret commending him for standing up, exercising his free speech rights, and expressing his strong concerns with the direction liberals in Washington are taking our country."

Early Life

Herger grew up in California. He has Swiss roots (his grandfather emigrated to the US from the canton of Uri about 100 years ago). He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was about 20.

Election Campaigns

Herger has easily been reelected to Congress due to the "safe" Republican voter registration advantage in this district. His election campaigns have been challenged by token Democratic candidates in the past. The district also always fields a candidate registered with a third party such as the Libertarian party and, during the 1990s, the Natural Law Party. In 2002 and 2004, Herger defeated Democrat Mike Johnson, garnering 67% of the vote in 2004. In 2006, Herger faced Arjinderpal Sekhon and received 64% of the vote. In 2008, Herger faced a more serious challenger, Trinity County Supervisor Jeff Morris, who did somewhat better, holding Herger to 57.9% of the vote.

House Tenure

Wally Herger on the Speaker's Balcony overlooking the National Mall.

Herger has served on the influential United States House Committee on Ways and Means since his tenure began as a federal representative. Within Ways and Means, representative Herger serves on two subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Trade, and the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. In the 110th Congress he was named the Ranking Member of the Republican (minority) delegation to the Trade Subcommittee. Representative Herger's participation in full committee is limited to Ways and Means, in accordance with the rules of the Committee on Ways and Means. While he chaired the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support (called the Subcommittee on Human Resources during his watch) beginning with the 107th Congress, he played a leading role in the reauthorization and expansion of the 1996 welfare reform law. While chairman of the Committee on Human Resources, he was a champion of the nation’s at risk children, introducing legislation to assist the process of moving greater numbers of at risk children into safe, stable, and loving families. He also sponsored the “Criminal Welfare Prevention Act”, which was passed as part of the larger 1996 Welfare Reform Law. This bill gave additional financial incentives to law enforcement agencies that identitied fraudulent recipients of aid.

Legislative Philosophy

Herger's primary legislative concerns as a member of Congress and the Ways and Means Committee include:

1. securing economic growth and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship by reducing the tax burden on American families
2. making government run more efficiently by reducing federal regulatory burdens and spending
3. responsibly reforming entitlement programs to make them sustainable and ensure that they will still be around for future generations of Americans

Legislative Goals

The 2nd congressional district is driven by agriculture. Congressman Herger supports legislation to bolster free and fair trade in an effort to support his constituency. Congressman Herger, from his position on the Trade Subcommittee, plans to lead the consideration of trade agreements with foreign nations. His intent is to broaden the opportunities for American businesses to export their products to growing foreign markets. He anticipates that agreements with Panama, Peru and Colombia will expand American exports throughout the western hemisphere.

Herger is also a strong advocate of private property rights. He is an ardent proponent of environmental policies that balance the requirements of stewardship with the economic need for raw materials and finished goods. His work on the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act reflects this dedication. This act institutes a framework for managing federal forest assets that will be tested on federal lands in Lassen, Plumas, and Tehama counties, and has been negotiated by a diverse coalition that includes environmental and logging interests. The act aims to reduce vegetation density in Forest Service lands, while simultaneously expanding the biodiversity of the forest (reduction of “monoculture” forests).

Current Goals

Congressmen Herger and Meek of Florida are currently drafting a bill to repeal the three percent withholding tax scheduled to begin in 2011. The withholding tax would apply to governments with expenditures of greater than 100 million USD on services from for-profit companies. The law mandates that governments will only deliver 97 percent of a contract to the contractor, and send the remaining 3 percent to the IRS. Vendors and contractors are expected to increase their bid values to cover this new cost. The National Association of Counties thinks that this will give Counties a competitive disadvantage when dealing with vendors and contractors. (Counties assess costs of federal ‘3-percent withholding law’)

Committee Assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Trade
  • Subcommittee on Health (Ranking Member)

Copyright © 2009 by Camelot Press Group, Georgia First Amendment Coalition and the RFCSE  All rights reserved.
Revised: 01 Dec 2011 18:20:48 -0500