Congressman Darrell Issa represents the people of California's 48th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Issa is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. From 2011-2015, he was the Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and previously served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Energy & Commerce Committee, and the Small Business Committee.

As a congressman and leader at California’s grassroots level, Issa has championed smart, limited government and advanced legislation to balance the federal budget and promote transparency to hold government accountable to the people.

Originally from Ohio, Issa enlisted in the U.S. Army when he was a senior in high school. Through his military service, he received an ROTC scholarship and graduated with a degree in business from Siena Heights University. Upon graduation, Issa was commissioned as an Army officer, and ultimately obtained the rank of captain. He completed his active-duty military service in 1980 and turned his interests to the private sector.

At the height of his career in business, Issa served as CEO of Directed Electronics, a California-based electronics company that he founded and built in the mid-1990s to become the nation’s largest manufacturer of vehicle anti-theft and auto security devices. In 1994, Issa was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine, Ernst & Young and The San Diego Union Tribune. Issa also served as chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association, an organization of 2000 companies within the consumer technology industry.

A holder of 37 patents, Issa has been vigilant about protecting intellectual property rights. His successful efforts to fight human trafficking along the U.S. border have resulted in tougher laws, stiffer penalties, and more consistent enforcement. His watchful concern to guarantee that U.S. taxpayers receive the royalties they are owed from mineral interests on federal lands exposed fraud and mismanagement at the Mineral Management Service in 2006. In 2008, when Congress was asked to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the wake of that year’s financial crisis, Issa stood by his experience starting and growing successful businesses, opposed giving a blank-check bailout to Wall Street, and voted against all government bailouts.

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