Editing Nathan Deal (section)

==U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2010)==
===Elections===
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2018}}
Deal was first elected to Congress in November 1992 as a Democrat, succeeding eight-term incumbent [[Edgar Jenkins|Ed Jenkins]] in {{ushr|Georgia|9}}. He was re-elected as a Democrat in 1994.

However, on April 11, 1995, shortly after Republicans assumed control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, Deal joined the Republican Party, which was led by Speaker [[Newt Gingrich]], a fellow Georgian. Years later, Gingrich said that Deal became a Republican because he liked what he saw in the [[Contract With America]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Georgia-Congressman-Deserts-Demos-Nathan-Deal-3038357.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811212500/http://articles.sfgate.com/1995-04-11/news/17801241_1_change-parties-democrats-gop|url-status=live|archive-date=August 11, 2011|title=Georgia Congressman Deserts Demos/Nathan Deal is third to switch to GOP since Nov. 8|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 11, 1995|access-date=July 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|SCGYyZMOfEc|Newt Gingrich talks about Nathan Deal}} in campaign video for Deal's gubernatorial bid.</ref>

Deal was handily re-elected in his first election as a Republican in the 1996 general election, even though Jenkins endorsed his Democratic opponent, attorney and state representative [[McCracken Poston|McCracken "Ken" Poston]], who represented much of the congressional district's northwestern portion. This was the first time his district had elected a Republican for a full term since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]]. Only one other Democrat besides Poston has won even 30 percent of the vote since Deal switched parties.

Deal was unopposed for re-election in 1998, 2002, and 2004 and defeated an underfunded Democratic candidate in 2000. His district was renumbered the 10th District in 2003, but became the 9th again after a mid-decade redistricting in 2006.

The 9th had turned increasingly Republican at the federal level; apart from Jimmy Carter, a Democratic presidential candidate last carried it in 1960. However, conservative Democrats continued to hold most local offices as well as most of its seats in the General Assembly. However, Republicans began whittling away elected posts in the 1990s, helped by party switchers like Deal. By the turn of the millennium, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level in the district.

In November 2006, Deal was re-elected 77%–23%. His Democratic opponent was John Bradbury, a former elementary school teacher turned truck driver. His district, already heavily Republican, became even more Republican after the mid-decade redistricting pushed it further into the Atlanta suburbs.

===Tenure===
[[File:Early Congressional Photo of Nathan Deal.gif|thumb|Deal early in his congressional career]]
[[File:Nathan Deal, official 110th Congress photo.jpg|thumb|Deal during the [[110th United States Congress|110th Congress]]]]
Deal's voting record was relatively moderate in his first term, getting ratings in the 60s from the [[American Conservative Union]] (ACU). He moved sharply to the right after his party switch and voted for all four [[impeachment of Bill Clinton|articles of impeachment]] against [[Bill Clinton]]. From 1996 onward, he garnered ratings of 90 or higher from the ACU.

During his 17 years in Congress, Deal rose to chair the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce, where he became a noted expert on entitlement reform and health care policy.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Health Subcommittee Chairman Takes Lead on Cancer Care: Interview With Rep. Nathan Deal |journal=Journal of Oncology Practice |date=2006 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=24 |doi=10.1200/jop.2006.2.1.24 |pmid=29442565 |pmc=2794635 }}</ref>

Deal introduced H.R. 698, the Citizenship Reform Act, which would eliminate [[Jus soli|birthright citizenship]] for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] begins "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. ... " Deal's argument is that undocumented immigrants (and their children) are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.<ref>[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h698ih.txt.pdf H. R. 698] (see especially section 3)</ref>

===Committee assignments===
* '''[[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Committee on Energy and Commerce]]'''
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet|Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet]]
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Health|Subcommittee on Health]] (Ranking Member)
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations|Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations]]

===Recovery Services, Inc. controversy===
The [[Office of Congressional Ethics]] released a report on March 30, 2010, that concluded Deal appeared to have improperly used his office staff to pressure Georgia officials to continue the state vehicle inspection program that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his family's auto salvage business. Deal stated: "I have done nothing wrong and am not going to let this tarnish my ... record of public service."<ref>{{cite news|author=Eric Lipton|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30ethics.html|title=Ethics Report Faults Ex-Congressman|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 23, 2010 | date=March 29, 2010}}</ref>

The [[Office of Congressional Ethics]] (OCE), released their investigative report (Review No. 09-1022) on March 30, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|author=OCE|url=http://oce.house.gov/disclosures/Review_No_09-1022_Referral_to_Standards.pdf|title=Review No. 09-1022|date=March 26, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707014903/http://oce.house.gov/disclosures/Review_No_09-1022_Referral_to_Standards.pdf|archive-date=July 7, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The report stipulates,

<blockquote>Representative Nathan Deal and his business partner own Recovery Services, Inc. a/k/a Gainesville Salvage & Disposal ('GSD'), located in Gainesville, Georgia ... The OCE does not take a position on Representative Deal's motivations for inserting himself into discussions of potential modifications to a state vehicle inspection program ... The OCE reviews the facts as presented at the time of review and does not take a position on whether Representative Deal's income from GSD was mistakenly reported as earned income since 2006 on his federal income taxes ... [F]or all the reasons stated above, the OCE Board recommends further review by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.</blockquote>

===Resignation from Congress===
On March 1, 2010, 29 days before the official release of the ethics report, Deal resigned his seat, which he said, excluded him from the Office of Congressional Ethics' jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite web|author=Justin Elliott|url=http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/did_gop_rep_nathan_deal_resign_because_of_ethics_p.php|title=Did GOP Rep Resign To Squelch Ethics Probe?|publisher=Tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com|date=March 1, 2010|access-date=September 25, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Aaron Gould Sheinin |url=http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/2010/03/01/deal-says-hell-resign-from-congress/ |title=Breaking: Deal says he'll resign from Congress &#124; Gold Dome Live |publisher=Blogs.ajc.com |date=March 1, 2010 |access-date=August 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604125423/http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/2010/03/01/deal-says-hell-resign-from-congress/ |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Although this seemed too coincidental for some, Deal maintained in a speech to supporters that the resignation was so that he could "devote [his] full energies" to the gubernatorial campaign.<ref>{{cite news|author=Aaron Gould Sheinin and Jim Tharpe |url=http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/deals-resignation-upends-state-339983.html|title=Deal's resignation upends state politics|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=September 25, 2010}}</ref>

Before returning to Georgia to run for governor, Deal cast his final congressional vote against the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]], also known as Obamacare.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/GA/Nathan_Deal.htm |title=Nathan Deal on the Issues |website=Ontheissues.org |access-date=2016-03-01}}</ref>

====2011 ethics investigation====
In 2011, then Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission Executive Secretary Stacey Kalberman and Deputy Executive Secretary Sherilyn Streiker launched an ethics investigation into Deal's campaign finances during his 2010 gubernatorial race. According to the complaint, Deal had used state campaign funds to pay legal bills stemming from a federal ethics investigation when he was in Congress, that he had personally profited from his gubernatorial campaign's $135,000 rental of aircraft from a company he partly owned, and that he had accepted campaign contributions beyond the legal limits.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/16/new-ethics-allegations-in-ga-govs-race/12738699|work=USA Today|first=Larry|last=Copeland|title=New ethics memo surfaces, roiling Ga. governor's race|date=July 16, 2014}}</ref> The campaign also paid a total of $135,000 to consulting companies which were owned by Deal's daughter-in-law and the father of Chris Riley, Deal's chief of staff.<ref>{{cite news | publisher = ajc.com | date = November 6, 2013 | title = Probe sought Deal data, Ethics official's pay cut, job eliminated after subpoenas prepared | author = Jim Walls | url =  https://www.ajc.com/news/local/probe-sought-deal-data/9vv386HROPUl7GxB7DNOZP/}}</ref>

As Kalberman and Streiker were preparing to serve subpoenas to Deal, his chief of staff, and others involved in the case, Kalberman's salary was cut by $35,000 and Streiker was ousted from her position.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/verdict-possible-today-in-state-ethics-trial/nfRxP|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|first=Aaron|last=Sheinin|title=Jury rules in favor of ex-ethics chief; awards $700,000 judgment|date=April 4, 2014|access-date=August 7, 2014|archive-date=August 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806141523/http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/verdict-possible-today-in-state-ethics-trial/nfRxP/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Soon after, Kalberman was forced to resign and was replaced by Holly LaBerge, who was recruited by the governor's office.<ref>{{cite news | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = April 5, 2014 | title = Ethics Chief in Georgia Wins Suit Over Ouster | author = The Associated Press | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/us/ethics-chief-in-georgia-wins-suit-over-ouster.html}}</ref>

On July 23, 2012, the ethics commission cleared Deal of major ethics violations while finding he made "technical defects" in a series of personal financial and campaign finance reports. In July 2012, Deal agreed to pay $3,350 in administrative fees to resolve violations of campaign finance and disclosure laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/12/nathan-deal-ethics-complaints_n_4431813.html|work=The Huffington Post|first=Christina|last=Cassidy|title=Subpoenas Related To Ethics Complaints Involving Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal|date=December 12, 2013}}</ref>

Holly LaBerge, the head of the ethics commission that cleared Deal of major ethics violations, claimed in July 2014 that Ryan Teague, Deal's counsel, called her to say: "It was not in the agency's best interest for these cases to go to a hearing ... nor was it in their best political interest either." Deal has stated that he is "not aware of any communications along those lines".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/news/ethics-chief-claims-deal-aides-pressured-her-threa/ngfdt|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|first=Aaron|last=Sheinin|title=Ethics chief claims Deal aides pressured her, threatened agency|date=July 14, 2014|access-date=September 16, 2014|archive-date=September 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904174949/http://www.ajc.com/news/news/ethics-chief-claims-deal-aides-pressured-her-threa/ngfdt/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = ajc.com | date =  September 8, 2014 | title = Ethics commission chief Holly LaBerge fired | author = Aaron Gould Sheinin | url = https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/ethics-commission-chief-holly-laberge-fired/o0MznZ2nfF8pVhVwSgmHKM/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = northwestgeorgianews.com | date =  September 8, 2014 | title = Ga. ethics agency chief fired after judge fines her for withholding key documents in lawsuit | author = KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press  | url = https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/ga-ethics-agency-chief-fired-after-judge-fines-her-for/article_5688f99e-3761-11e4-bb49-0017a43b2370.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = washingtontimes.com | date = January 27, 2014 | title = Staffing situation worsens at GA ethics commission | author = CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY, Associated Press | url = https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/27/staffing-situation-worsens-at-ga-ethics-commission/}}</ref>