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American politician (born 1957)

Bruce Lowell Braley (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U. S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his attempt to win an open seat in the 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa.

Braley was born in Grinnell, Iowa, the son of Marcia L. (née Sherwood) and Byard C. Braley. He has English, Scots Irish, and German ancestry. His family owned a farm in nearby Brooklyn, Iowa. Braley attended college at Iowa State University where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law. Braley worked as a trial lawyer in Waterloo with Dutton, Braun, Staack, & Hellman, PLC (now known as Dutton, Daniels, Hines, Kalkoff, Cook, & Swanson, P. L. C) for 23 years, beginning in 1983.

H. R. 872, a bill to create a competitive grant program to promote education and training in bioenergy and other agricultural renewable energy sources, introduced February 7, 2007
H. R. 1873, a bill to revise and expand small business contracts, introduced April 17, 2007
H. R. 3381, a bill to prohibit the suspension of military active duty deployment limits by the President for national security purposes from being used to deny the payment of a high deployment allowance to a member of the Armed Forces if the member is otherwise qualified, introduced August 3, 2007
H. R. 3548, a bill to require federal executive agencies to use Plain English in official documents, introduced September 17, 2007, reintroduced in the 111th Congress as H. R. 946. H. R. 946 was signed into law October 13, 2010. H. R. 5167, a bill to prohibit the President from granting immunity to the Iraqi government for torture and terrorism committed during the Gulf War unless certain conditions are met, introduced January 29, 2008
H. R. 5620, a bill to establish minimum standards for good manufacturing practices for the minimal processing of produce, including sanitation and water standards, introduced March 13, 2008
H. R. 6235, a bill to require that all flags used by the federal government be entirely manufactured in the United States, introduced June 11, 2008, reintroduced in the 111th Congress as H. R. 2853, in the 112th Congress as H. R. 1344, and in the 113th Congress as H. R. 2355
H. R. 6861, a bill to increase punishments for employers who willfully violate child labor requirements, introduced September 10, 2008

H. R. 508, a bill to allow for a $40 refundable tax credit, up to $80 per individual, for the purchasing of digital to analog converter boxes, introduced January 14, 2009
H. R. 2891, a bill to create a loan repayment program for individuals who serve as health care professionals in underserved areas, introduced June 16, 2009, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as H. R. 531 and in the 113th Congress as H. R. 702. A modified version of this bill's program is included in the PPACA. H. R. 3051, a bill to require documents released by health insurance providers, including the government, to be written in Plain English, introduced June 25, 2009
H. R. 4442, a bill to increase security measures for detecting explosive devices in airports and airplanes, introduced January 13, 2010
H. R. 4512, a bill to require motor vehicle fuel be labeled with its country of origin and that such information be disclosed to consumers, introduced January 26, 2010, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as H. R. 2073 and in the 113th Congress as H. R. 5123
H. R. 4584, a bill to support the development of wind energy, introduced February 3, 2010
H. R. 5022, a bill to create a competitive grant program for expanding master's degree physical education programs, introduced April 14, 2010, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as H. R. 3597
H. R. 5435, a bill to deny a tax deduction for income attributable to the domestic production, refining, processing, transportation, or distribution of oil and oil products, introduced May 27, 2010. An expanded version of this bill was introduced in the 112th Congress by Braley as H. R. 851.

H. R. 319, a bill to allow veterans to have a day off from work on Veterans Day if they would otherwise be working, introduced January 19, 2011, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H. R. 3368
H. R. 1517, a bill to require the Department of Defense to develop a policy of preventing and responding to sexual assault and domestic violence, introduced April 13, 2011
H. R. 2826, a bill to allow non government employers to reduce their payroll taxes for a temporary time period and allow for a tax credit for employing former members of the National Guard and the Reserves and retaining such employment, introduced August 26, 2011. A similar bill was introduced in the 113th Congress by Braley as H. R. 3648. H. R. 3786, a bill to require federal executive agencies to use Plain English when revising or issuing new regulations, introduced January 18, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H. R. 1557
H. R. 4136, a bill to withhold 10% of federal highway fund allotments to any state that does not have laws prohibiting the passing of stopped school buses, introduced March 21, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H. R. 4595
H. R. 4284, a bill to prohibit livestock packers from owning, controlling, or feeding livestock to the extent that the producer no longer materially participates in such operations, with certain exceptions, introduced March 28, 2012
H. R. 4373, a bill to reinstate and expand tax credits for adoption expenses, introduced April 17, 2012
H. R. 5796, a bill to establish a fund for former hostages in Iran, to be funded through fines and penalties imposed on individuals linked to the hostage taking, introduced May 17, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H. R. 904 and H. R. 3200
H. R. 6237, a bill to establish a grant program for small business development centers, with a maximum grant of $250,000, introduced July 31, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H. R. 1283

H. R. 3906, a bill to require congressional districts to be drawn by nonpartisan independent commissions, introduced January 16, 2014
H. R. 4044, a bill to expand the child tax credit, introduced February 11, 2014
H. R. 5509, a bill to expand the tax credits and deductions for college expenses and student loan interest rates, introduced September 17, 2014
H. R. 5560, a bill to provide financial assistance to select individuals who would otherwise discontinue pursuing a degree because of lack of financial assistance, introduced September 18, 2014

Since 2008, Braley has been a member of the House Armenian Caucus. In 2009, Braley founded his own House caucus, the Populist Caucus. The caucus, which he chairs, now has 27 members. According to The Washington Post, it "is devoted to economic issues of interest to the middle class, from the promotion of fair trade to the creation of well paying jobs."

In February 2013, Braley announced that he would seek the United States Senate seat held by retiring Senator Tom Harkin. Braley's entrance cleared the field of all potential Democratic challengers and he raised $2.6 million by the end of 2013. By February 2014, Braley had campaigned in all 99 counties of Iowa. On November 4, Braley was defeated by Republican state Senator Joni Ernst in the general election. Despite expectations of a close race, Ernst pulled away in the last week, and won by over eight percentage points, helped by a series of gaffes by Braley. Braley even lost his own district by less than a point.

In October 2013, the government shutdown caused the House gym to lay off staff, including the towel attendants. Braley complained publicly about the lack of service in spite of paying to use the House gym, remarked, "There’s no towel service, and so we’re doing our own laundry down there." During the 2014 general election, Republicans brought this to the voters' attention.

In March 2014, video footage was discovered from a January 2014 fundraising event of trial lawyers in Texas in which Braley assured the audience that he would be a spokesman in Congress for trial lawyers, and commented that Republican Senator Chuck Grassley could become the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee if Democrats lose control of the Senate majority. In the video Braley criticized Grassley as "a farmer from Iowa, who never went to law school". Following the release of the video, Braley issued an apology to Grassley. In response to the negative coverage generated by his comments, Braley issued a press release which touted his farming background. The press release included two misspellings of common farming terms. After the errors were pointed out, Braley's spokesman stated that he had "lost his fourth grade spelling bee by mis spelling 'journey.' I guess my old habits are hard to break." prompting The Hill to name him as one of the "top 10 worst candidates of 2014."

In June 2014, Braley released a 30 second ad spot attacking Republican opponent Joni Ernst. The ad stated that despite the fact that Ernst was running as a fiscal conservative, when she “had the chance to do something in Iowa, we didn’t hear a peep.” The ad stated that Ernst never sponsored a bill to cut pork or reduce spending during her time in the Iowa state Senate. Footage of a baby chicken chirping was shown during the ad, interpreted by some as comparing her to a chick. University of Iowa political science professor Timothy Hagle stated that there was a double standard of sexism between Republicans and Democrats, saying "Imagine if a GOP candidate had used a 'chick' in an ad against a female opponent." In examining an attack ad against Braley on this issue, PolitiFact called claims that Braley skipped hearings for fundraisers on September 20, 2012, "Mostly False" but said that Braley did miss close to 79 percent of committee hearings.

In August 2014, Braley was criticized by Republicans for a dispute he had with his neighbor at his vacation home over the neighbor's "therapeutic" chickens, which Braley said were always in his yard. When the neighbor brought some eggs as a gift, his wife Carolyn turned them down and said she, Braley, and a few other homeowners complained about the chickens to the neighborhood homeowners’ association board. Braley was accused of threatening a lawsuit against the neighbor, which he emphatically denied, and said he handled the situation properly. However, the incident added to the damage caused by his derogatory remark about Senator Grassley being "a farmer from Iowa."

In 2015, Braley joined the law firm Leventhal & Puga PC (now known as Leventhal Puga Braley PC) in Denver, Colorado.

U. S. Senate election in Iowa, 2014PartyCandidateVotes%+%RepublicanJoni Ernst588,57552.10%DemocraticBruce Braley494,37043.76%IndependentRick Stewart26,8152.37%LibertarianDouglas Butzier8,2320.73%Term LimitsBob Quast5,8730.52%IndependentRuth Smith4,7240.42%Write insWrite ins1,1110.10%