Barney Frank

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Barney Frank
U.S. Representative from Massachusetts's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 5, 1981
Preceded by	Robert Drinan
Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 4, 2007
Massachusetts House of Representatives of Massachusetts
In office 1973 – 1981
Governor	Michael S. Dukakis
Born	March 31, 1940 (1940-03-31) (age 69) Bayonne, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Newton, Massachusetts
Alma mater	Harvard College Harvard Law School
Occupation	Attorney, United States Representative
Religion	Jewish[1]

Barnett "Barney" Frank (born March 31, 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American politician in the United States House of Representatives representing Massachusetts's 4th congressional district since 1981. In 1982 he won his first full term and has been re-elected ever since by wide margins.^[2] In 1987 he became the second openly gay member of the House of Representatives, and has become one of the most prominent openly gay politicians in the United States.^[3] In 2007 Frank became the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (when the Democratic Party won a majority in the House of Representatives). The committee oversees the housing and banking industries.

[edit] Early life

Frank was born to a Jewish family in Bayonne, New Jersey and was educated at Harvard College, where he resided in Kirkland House and then Winthrop House, graduating in 1962. He taught undergraduates at Harvard while studying for a Ph.D., but left in 1968 before completing the degree, to become Boston mayor Kevin White's Chief Assistant, a position he held for three years. He then served for a year as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael J. Harrington.

[edit] Political career

In 1972 Frank was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he served for eight years. While a Representative he entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1977. While in state and local government, Frank taught part time at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Boston University. He published numerous articles on politics and public affairs, and in 1992 he published Speaking Frankly, an essay on the role the Democratic Party should play in the 1990s.

In 1979, Frank became a member of the Massachusetts Bar. A year later, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th congressional district, hoping to succeed Father Robert Drinan, who had left Congress following a call by Pope John Paul II for priests to withdraw from political positions. In the Democratic primary held on September 16, 1980 Frank won 51.3 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field. His nearest opponent, Arthur J. Clark, won 45.9 percent and finished almost 4,500 votes behind.^[4] As the Democratic nominee, Frank faced Republican Richard A. Jones in the general election and won narrowly, 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent.^[5]

1981, Congressional Pictorial Directory - Frank's first term as Congressman

For his first term, Frank represented a district in the western and southern suburbs of Boston, anchored by Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts. However, in 1982, redistricting forced him to run against Republican Margaret Heckler, who represented a district centered on the South Coast, including Fall River and New Bedford. Although the newly configured district retained Frank's district number — the 4th — it was geographically more Heckler's district. Frank focused on Heckler's initial support for President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, and won by 20 percentage points. He has not faced credible opposition since, and has been reelected thirteen times.^[6][7]

Frank is known for his witty, self-deprecating sense of humor. He once famously quipped that he was unable to complete his review of the Starr Report detailing President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, complaining that it was "too much reading about heterosexual sex".^[8] In 2004 and again in 2006, a survey of Capitol Hill staffers published in Washingtonian gave Frank the title of the "brainiest", "funniest", and "most eloquent" member of the House.^[9]

The New York Times has called Frank "one of the most powerful members of Congress"^[10]. President Bill Clinton's former speechwriter Josh Gottheimer stated Frank is one of the nation's "brightest and most energetic defenders of civil rights issues". ^[11]

[edit] Steve Gobie

In 1990, The House Ethics Committee recommended Frank be reprimanded because he "reflected discredit upon the House" by using his congressional office to fix 33 of Steve Gobie's parking tickets. Frank confirmed that he paid Gobie for sex, hired him with personal funds as an aide and wrote letters on congressional stationery on his behalf to Virginia probation officials, but Frank said he fired Gobie when he learned that prostitution clients were visiting the apartment.^[12]

The investigation into Gobie and Frank's interactions were prompted by Gobie's attempt to cash in on assertions that Frank knew and approved of Gobie's illegal activities in the Frank residence. "Two years [after Frank fired Gobie], Gobie tried unsuccessfully to sell his story to the Washington Post. He then gave the story to the Washington Times for nothing, in hopes of getting a book contract for the male version of The Mayflower Madam."^[13] After an investigation, the Ethics Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity and dismissed all of Gobie's more scandalous claims.^[14][15]

Attempts to expel or censure Frank, led by Republican member Larry Craig (who himself was later embroiled in his own gay sex scandal), failed.^[16][17] Rather, the House voted 408-18 to reprimand Frank who later won re-election in 1990 with 66 percent of the vote, and has won by larger margins ever since.^[18]

[edit] Political initiatives and positions

Frank in his congressional office in 2002

[edit] LGBT issues

Frank has been outspoken on many civil rights issues, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay.^[19] He said in a 1996 interview: "I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority." In 1995, then-Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey famously referred to Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. Armey apologized and said it was "a slip of the tongue". Frank did not accept Armey's explanation, saying "I turned to my own expert, my mother, who reports that in 59 years of marriage, no one ever introduced her as Elsie Fag."^[20]

Through the 1990 Immigration Act, Frank was a major force in removing restrictions based on "sexual preference exclusion" which had been explicitly prohibited by early immigration law.^[21] In 1998, Frank founded the National Stonewall Democrats, the national LGBT Democratic organization. In February 2009, Frank was one of three openly gay members of Congress, along with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado.

Frank was accused by Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) of having a "radical homosexual agenda" and responded "I do have things I would like to see adopted on behalf of LGBT people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country; and the right to a job based solely on our own qualifications.^[22][23] I acknowledge that this is an agenda, but I do not think that any self-respecting radical in history would have considered advocating people's rights to get married, join the army, and earn a living as a terribly inspiring revolutionary platform."^[23]

Frank's stance on outing gay Republicans has been called the "Frank Rule" whereby a closeted person who uses their power, position, or notoriety to hurt LGBT people can be outed.^[24] The issue became relevant during the Mark Foley scandal of 2006, during which Frank clarified his position on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: "I think there's a right to privacy. But the right to privacy should not be a right to hypocrisy. And people who want to demonize other people shouldn't then be able to go home and close the door and do it themselves."^[25]

[edit] Medical marijuana

In Congress, Frank is an ardent supporter of medical marijuana. He was the author of the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act (H.R. 2592), an attempt to stop federal government from intervening with states' medical marijuana laws.^[26] Frank consistently voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, annually proposed by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), that would prohibit the United States Department of Justice from prosecuting medical marijuana patients.^[27] As of March 2008, he is trying to pass the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008 (HR 5843), which would decriminalize small amounts of the drug.^[28] Frank commenting on legislation to remove federal criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use stated "In a free society a large degree of human activity is none of the government's business. We should make criminal what's going to hurt other people and other than that we should leave it to people to make their own choices."^[29]

[edit] Online gambling rights

Frank has also partnered with Ron Paul in support of online gambling rights. In 2006, both strongly opposed H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, and H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.^[30][31] To restore online gambling rights, in 2007 Frank sponsored H.R. 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act.^[32] This bill would have established licensing and regulation of online gaming sites. It provided for age verification and protections for compulsive gamblers. In 2008, he and Paul introduced H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act, a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the United States Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling". As a result of these efforts, Frank (who does not gamble) has become a hero to poker players and online gamblers, including many Republicans.^[33]

[edit] Free speech

In 2006, Frank was one of only three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which restricted protests (notably those of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church) at soldiers' funerals. He opposed the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate, on civil liberties and constitutional grounds. Frank said of the vote, "I think it’s very likely to be found unconstitutional. It’s true that when you defend civil liberties you are typically defending people who do obnoxious things... You play into their hand when you let them provoke you into overdoing it. I don’t want these thugs to [make the] claim [that] America is hypocritical."^[34]

[edit] Abortion

Frank has a 100% rating from NARAL.^[35] He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act^[36], against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act^[37] and against the criminalization of the transportation of minors across state lines by non-family members to circumvent local abortion laws.^[38]

[edit] Military spending

As of the 111th Congress, Frank is advocating a 25 percent reduction in the overall Military budget of the United States. "The math is compelling: if we do not make reductions approximating 25 percent of the military budget starting fairly soon, it will be impossible to continue to fund an adequate level of domestic activity...," wrote Frank. He claimed that such a significant reduction would have no effect on the United States' ability to defend itself. "If," he said, "beginning one year from now, we were to cut military spending by 25 percent from its projected levels, we would still be immeasurably stronger than any combination of nations with whom we might be engaged."^[39] The U.S. military budget is almost equivalent to the rest of the world's defense spending combined, and is over eight times larger than that of China, the next biggest spender.^[40]

[edit] House Financial Services Committee

[edit] Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

In 2003, while the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, Frank opposed a Bush administration proposal for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to a new agency that would be created within the Treasury Department. The proposal reflected the administration's belief that Congress "neither has the tools, nor the stature" for adequate oversight. Frank stated, "These two entities...are not facing any kind of financial crisis.... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."^[41] The two companies, which together own or back more than half the home mortgages in the US became "hobbled" by loan defaults.^[42] Frank clarified in 2009 that Fannie and Freddie were not in crisis at the time and many financial institutions, like Lehman Brothers, also fell into crisis from 2003 to 2008.^[43]

Conservative groups criticized Frank for campaign contributions totaling $42,350 between 1989 and 2008. They claim the donations from Fannie and Freddie influenced his support of their lending programs, and they blame Frank for not playing a stronger role in reforming the institutions in the years leading up to the Economic crisis of 2008.^[44][45] Frank's former partner, Herb Moses, was an executive at Fannie from 1991 to 1998, where Moses helped develop many of Fannie’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs. In 1991, Frank pushed for reduced restrictions on two- and three-family home mortgages. During the time that Frank was in a relationship with Moses, he blocked tougher regulations on the banking companies while voting for the Government Sponsored Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1991 and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992.^[46] Frank and Moses' relationship ended around the same time Moses left the company.^[47]

In a response to these criticisms Frank pointed out that "during twelve years of Republican rule no reform was adopted regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 2007, a few months after I became the Chairman, the House passed a strong reform bill; we sought to get the [Bush] administration’s approval to include it in the economic stimulus legislation in January 2008; and finally got it passed and onto President Bush’s desk in July 2008. Twelve years of Republican rule produced no reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We were able to adopt it in nineteen months, and we could have done it much quicker if the [Bush] administration had cooperated."^[48] In 2009 Frank again responded to what he called "wholly inaccurate efforts by Republicans to blame Democrats, and [me] in particular" for the subprime mortgage crisis which is linked to the financial crisis of 2007-2009.^[43] He outlined his efforts to reform these institutions and add regulations but was thwarted by Republican efforts with the main exception a bill with Republican Mike Oxley that died because of opposition from President Bush.^[43] Once control was turned over to Democrats, Frank was able to push through the Federal Housing Reform Act (H.R. 1427) and the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 3915) both in 2007.^[43] Frank also pointed out the neglect of overlooking the Republican-led Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, opposed by Frank), which removed the wall between commercial and investment banks.^[43] The statute, which repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, has been criticized for having contributed to the proliferation of the complex and opaque financial instruments which are at the heart of the crisis.^[49]

[edit] Chair of the House Financial Services Committee

Congressmen Ellison & Frank at Financial Services Field Hearing on Home Foreclosures in Minneapolis.

As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, beginning in 2007, Frank "sits at the center of power".^[6] Frank has been a critic of aspects of the Federal Reserve system, partnering with some Republicans in opposition to some policies.^[50] Frank says that he and Republican Congressman Ron Paul "first bonded because we were both conspicuous nonworshipers at the Temple of the Fed and of the High Priest Alan Greenspan.”^[50]

Frank has been involved in mortgage foreclosure bailout issues.^[51] In 2008 Frank supported passage of the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act intended to protect thousands of homeowners from foreclosure.^[6] This law, H.R. 3221, was one of the most important and complex issues on which he worked.^[6][52] Frank in an August 2007 op-ed piece in Financial Times wrote "In the debate between those who believe in essentially unregulated markets and others who hold that reasonable regulation diminishes market excesses without inhibiting their basic function, the subprime situation unfortunately provides ammunition for the latter view."^[53]

Frank was also instrumental in the passage of H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008, a measure that drew praise from editorial boards and consumer advocates.^[54][55][56]

In 2007 Frank co-sponsored legislation to reform the Section 202 refinancing program, which is for affordable housing for the elderly, and Section 811 disabled programs.^{[citation needed]} Frank has been a chief advocate of the National Housing Trust Fund^[22], which was created as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and was the first affordable housing program to be enacted by the Congress since 1990.^[57]

[edit] Personal life

Frank resides in a studio apartment complex in Newton, Massachusetts. His boyfriend, Jim Ready, 39, is a surfing enthusiast whom Frank met during a gay political fund raiser in Maine, where Ready still lives.^[7] His sister, Ann Lewis, served as a senior adviser in Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Frank came out as gay in 1987, "prompted in part by increased media interest in his private life...."^{[3][note 1]} Frank's announcement had little impact on his electoral prospects.^[58] Another Congressman from Massachusetts, Gerry Studds, became the first openly gay federal legislator in 1983 when he was outed.^[3]

[edit] Bibliography

• Financing Foreign Aid: A Case Study in the Budgetary Process. (1962)
• Budget for a Strong America (1989)
• Speaking Frankly: What's Wrong with the Democrats and how to Fix it (1992)

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Johansson, Warren & Percy, William A. Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. Harrington Park Press, 1994. pp. 106, 139, 143, 154, 157, 188-9, 228, 231, 235, 291
• Rapp, Linda (2004). "Frank, Barney". glbtq.com. http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/frank_b.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Barney Frank

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Barney Frank

• Congressman Barney Frank U.S. House website
• Barney Frank for Congress Campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia

[edit] Articles

• Barney's Great Adventure, The New Yorker, Jan 12 2009
• A Liberal Wit Builds Bridges To the G.O.P., The New York Times, May 13, 2008.
• Congressman Frank defends trans-exclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, The Bilerico Project, September 28, 2007.
• The Republicans' Democracy Disorder, In These Times, 2006-02-04
• Congressman Barney Frank: A Buzzflash Interview, Buzzflash, July 22, 2003
• Monumentally Frank: Interview with Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank Metro Weekly, March 20, 2003.
• Frank Discusses U.S. Policy, Attitude Regarding Gay Rights, The Hoya, October 19, 2001.
• An Interview with U.S. Representative Barney Frank, keithboykin.com, 1999.