Rob Andrews
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 6, 1990
Preceded by	Jim Florio
Personal details
Born	Robert Ernest Andrews (1957-08-04) August 4, 1957 (age 55) Camden, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Camille Andrews
Children	Jackie and Josie
Residence	Haddon Heights, New Jersey
Alma mater	Bucknell University, Cornell University
Occupation	college professor
Religion	Episcopalian

Robert Ernest "Rob" Andrews (born August 4, 1957) is the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district, serving since 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County.

Before his election to Congress, Andrews was a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1986 to 1990, including two years as freeholder director (1988–1990). A native of Camden and graduate of Bucknell University and Cornell Law School, he was an attorney and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. In the U.S. House of Representatives, he serves on the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on the Budget, and Committee on Education and Labor, where he serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

Andrews was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. Senate election, being defeated by incumbent U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. In November 2004, he received more votes than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey.^[1]

Early life, education, and early career [edit]

Andrews was born in Camden, New Jersey, the son of Josephine (née Amies) and Ernest Andrews.^[2] He grew up in Bellmawr, and currently lives in nearby Haddon Heights. He attended Triton Regional High School in Runnemede.^[3] 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. 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.

He was one of the only three Democrats to sign Grover Norquist's 1996 Pledge to oppose any and all efforts to increase income tax rate for individuals and business, and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits.

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

Elections [edit]

In 1990, after a 15-year incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman James Florio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives to take office as Governor of New Jersey, Andrews won the 1990 special election with 55% of the vote.^[4] In the general election of 1990, he won again with 54%.^[5] After that, he never won re-election with less than 63% of the vote.^[6]

Tenure [edit]

Andrews is generally considered a moderate by Democratic standards, though he votes with his party most of the time. The New York Times has characterized Congressman Andrews as "fiscally conservative...and socially moderate."^[7] He 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.^[8][9] He has a liberal rating of 76.2 and a conservative rating of 23.8 from the National Journal.^[10] In recent years, his voting record has trended progressively more liberal.

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. He 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.

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.^[11][12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

Senators Frank Lautenberg, Bob Menendez,^[15] and Andrews^[16] 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.^[17]

Andrews is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.^[18]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Andrews the most corrupt member of Congress for 2012. The group pointed out that in 2009, Andrews used money donated to his campaign to buy personal items. He repaid the amount. In 2011, he used campaign funds to pay for a family vacation in Scotland. He repaid the funds. That same year, he spent $10,000 from his campaign fund for a party in his home that celebrated his twenty years in Congress as well as his daughter's high school graduation. He has spent almost $100,000 in campaign money over the years to fund trips to California. On these trips, one daughter conducted personal business. He has also spent campaign money at theaters where is daughter was performing. He has earmarked over one million dollars to support the university where his wife works.^[19]

2008 presidential election

Andrews is a superdelegate within the Democratic Party and prior to the New Jersey primary he endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.^[20] 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 did not switch his vote as a superdelegate from Clinton to Obama stating that "such a move might retard the process of unifying the party".^[21]

Committee assignments [edit]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships [edit]

• Congressional Arts Caucus

Campaigns for higher office [edit]

1997 gubernatorial election [edit]

In 1997, Andrews ran for Governor of New Jersey. In the Democratic primary, Andrews was defeated 40%-37%, a margin of just 9,993 votes, by State Senator Jim McGreevey.^[22][23]

Speculation between 1998 and 2007 [edit]

Andrews was reportedly considering a primary challenge in 2005, before McGreevey's resignation. 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 U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg retired.

Andrews was beaten by Lautenberg in the Senate primary; Andrews said he 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."

Personal life [edit]

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.^[24]

Electoral history [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Congressman Rob Andrews official U.S. House site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Financial information (state office) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times