1999-2005: Chairman, House Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations
2005-6: Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations

Rep. Lewis Helps Brent Wilkes Land Defense Contracts
Congressman Jerry Lewis (CA-41) received $88,252 in campaign contributions from defense contractor Brent Wilkes and his business associates from 1993-2005, making him the 3rd largest Congressional recipient of Wilkes-connected campaign money. (See bottom of page for breakdown of contributions by contributor.)

In 1998, Wilkes began lobbying for a document-conversion project for his company ADCS (Automated Document Conversion Services) in the Panama Canal Zone, which the U.S. was due to turn over to Panama in 1999. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune and campaign finance filings, Wilkes focused on Reps. Jerry Lewis, Brian Bilbray, Ken Calvert, and Duke Cunningham, all of California, in addition to Reps. Bob Livingston (LA) and Ben Gilman (NY).

In January 1999, Lewis became the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over "all national security matters including the entire $416 billion Pentagon budget – nearly half of all funds appropriated by Congress", according to Lewis's official House website. This put Lewis in an ideal position to direct defense contracts to Wilkes's companies.

In the six years prior to becoming chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Lewis received a total of $14,252 in Wilkes-related contributions. Three months after assuming the chairmanship of the subcommittee with responsibility for doling out defense contracts, Lewis received $17,000 from Wilkes and his associates ... on one day.

Months after these contributions, the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, under Lewis' direction, overrode the Pentagon to fund a document-conversion program in the Panama Canal Zone, directly benefiting Wilkes' effort to land defense contracts for his company.

Wilkes-related campaign contributions: $88,252
Defense contracts obtained with Lewis's assistance: $9.7 million

Rep. Lewis Helps Hedge Fund Protect Investment
Lewis used his position on the House Appropriations Committee to help another major campaign contributor. As Matt Kelley reported in USA Today,

"One day after a New York investment group raised $110,000 for Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis, the House passed a defense spending bill that preserved $160 million for a Navy project critical to the firm. The man who protected the Navy money? Lewis."

The New York investment group, a hedge fund named Cerebrus Capital Management, had a large financial stake in WorldCom. WorldCom was a key subcontractor on a much-maligned Navy project. After the House Armed Services Committee cut the project's $1.6 billion in funding by 10% cut ($160 million), Lewis stepped in as chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to restore the funding.