Christopher Cox

A member of the advisory board of the hardline Center for Security Policy, Cox has been an important supporter of President Bush’s interventionist policies in the Middle East. Cox’s bête noire, however, has traditionally been China. In 1998, Cox headed the so-called Cox Committee, a House subcommittee investigation into alleged Chinese acquisition of sensitive U.S. technology. The report, released in 1999, added to the furor at the time of purported Chinese espionage in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex (the Wen Ho Lee scandal). The Cox report alleged extensive Chinese spying in the United States and claimed that the country had obtained nuclear bomb designs. However, when asked to provide evidence, Cox repeatedly demurred.

As Chalmers Johnson reported at the time: “ When asked whether he had any evidence for his cries of alarm or his charges against citizens who were given no chance to defend themselves, Cox invariably replied that he did but it was classified. He could not show it to us. As reported in the May 26 Los Angeles Times, when challenged on the number of Chinese ‘front companies’ mentioned in the report, Cox said he could not offer a specific estimate ‘because the government’s estimates are secret.’ He had used the number 3,000, he said, ‘to suggest the possible scope of the problem’ and to make the point that the number ‘overwhelms our limited resources.’ Presumably, Cox meant that the U.S. government does not have enough Chinese-speaking FBI agents to watch and wire-tap every store in America owned by a citizen of Chinese ancestry. In any event, James Mulvenon of the Rand Corporation, a specialist on the Chinese military’s commercial activities, puts the number of front companies at between 12 and 30. In 1997, the State Department could identify only two.” (21)

The CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, also leveled criticism at the report, charging that it had embellished the China threat, in part because the country has at the most a few hundred nuclear weapons compared with the tens of thousands in the U.S. arsenal. (6) (18)

Cox, a nine-term congressman, was the first chairman of the Homeland Defense Committee and holds the top fourth position in the House Republican leadership. President Bush nominated him to become the next Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman in June 2005 after William Donaldson announced his resignation. Facing reelection in 2006, it was unknown whether Cox would campaign against Dianne Feinstein for the Senate seat, which he had considered twice before. (6) (8)

Compared with that of Donaldson’s, Cox’s reputation among business leaders is much more friendly, spurring concern about whether he will continue the aggressive corporate fraud campaign of his predecessor. In 1995, Cox sponsored a law that would limit investors’ ability to sue their companies if suspected of securities fraud. It was one of two laws that were pushed through after a Clinton veto. (6)

Although Donaldson cited personal reasons for leaving his post two years early, reports show that he frequently sided with the two Democratic commissioners, Harvey J. Goldschmid and Roel C. Campos. Cynthia A. Glassman, one of the other Republicans on the commission, used to work with Ernst & Young, a Cox campaign contributor. Paul S. Atkins, the other Republican, formerly worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, also a past Cox contributor. The Democrat slated to replace Goldschmid, Annette Nazareth, used to work at Lehman Bros., whose board includes the former chairman and CEO of Halliburton, Thomas H. Cruikshank. It seems unlikely that Cox would clash with his Republican counterparts as Donaldson did. (6) (9) (10)

Commenting on Cox’s SEC nomination, author Lee Drutman writes, “Looking at Cox’s legislative record, the main philosophy that emerges is one of doing favors for business, happily taking their campaign contributions, and then proclaiming that the free market works.” Drutman cites a study by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), which revealed that 97 percent of Cox’s 2004 re-election campaign was funded by corporate PACs or corporate executives and their family members. According to CRP, since Cox was first elected to Congress in 1988, he has received more than $254,000 from the securities industry . (20)

After obtaining dual degrees at Harvard in business and law, Cox worked as a clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals before becoming an associate at the law firm of Latham & Watkins, which specializes in international corporate law. He then returned to Harvard for a couple of years to teach federal tax law before coming back to the law firm as a partner. During his second term at Latham & Watkins, Cox also co-founded Context Corporation with his father. This company translated the Russian newspaper Pravda into English. Cox is fluent in Russian. (1) (2) (4) (5) (18)

President Reagan then tapped Cox to serve as White House counsel, where he ended up representing the president during the Iran-Contra scandal. He then ran for California’s 40 th district, which he represented until 1993. He served the 47 th district for the next ten years, and since 2003, Cox has represented CA’s 48 th district. (2) (11)

Between 2000 and 2004, Cox voted in favor of positions that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CoC) supported between 80 and 100 percent of the time (80, 91, 89, 97, and 95, respectively, for each year). This is significant because as the potential SEC chairman, Cox will likely escape the animosity that the CoC directed at Donaldson, suing the SEC for rules that it did not favor. (12) (13)

The LA Times summarized Cox’s voting on some of the major issues since 1993. In accordance with Project Vote Smart figures, Cox is not pro-labor: he voted against extended family and medical leave for workers, against raising the minimum wage (twice, in 1996 and 2000), and voted to abolish the Department of Labor’s ergonomics law. Cox voted for NAFTA and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, against placing quotas on steel imports, and voted to relax the standards in the Clean Water Act. Cox did vote for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which attempts to improve corporate accountability. (6)

Cox is the first chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House. Like many congressional members, Cox has supported the Wars on Terrorism and Iraq. Besides being a vocal proponent of both, Cox has supported the increases in defense military spending that George W. Bush sought, as well as allowing airline pilots to carry guns on board planes. Cox is a proponent of a national missile defense and has no history of military service, qualifying him as a chicken hawk. (15) (16)

Cox is a Roman Catholic who opposes abortion, although he has supported partial birth abortions if the mother’s life is at risk. He did not vote for a bill that would cut off funding for health providers that did not reveal whether they performed abortions. (14)