A rare GOP moderate, Representative Camp is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, where he is working on reforming the tax code to lower rates but broaden the number of individuals and corporations who pay taxes.
Camp is known for his Midwestern, pragmatic style – a quality he shares with Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio, both members of the freshman class of 1990. Like the speaker, he believes in working out tough issues first through the committee process, then on the floor – “letting the House work its will.” He backed Mr. Boehner's bid to strike a "grand bargain" with President Obama over the debt ceiling, even though some House conservatives balked at such negotiations.
His bid to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts puts him at odds with Democrats, but he has retained a capacity to work across the aisle in highly polarized times, including welfare reform in 1996, the GOP Medicare prescription-drug bill in 2003, and tax credits for education costs. He is seen as a potential dealmaker on the debt panel.
