McCloskey, Frank

Francis Xavier McCloskey (June 12, 1939 - November 2, 2003) was elected mayor of Bloomington, Indiana immediately upon receiving his law degree in 1970 from Indiana University and is credited with modernizing that city’s government, developing Bloomington Transit and bringing in federal funds to improve city services. Upon his election to Congress from Indiana’s 8th district in 1982, he served on the House Armed Services Committee, then in 1984 was appointed to the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, chairing its Subcommittees on Postal Personnel and Modernization, on Civil Service, and on Postal Operations and Services. In 1989 he was appointed to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He opposed the use of force in Iraq in 1991 but favored military intervention in the Balkans and remained committed to protection of the Balkan Muslims until his death in 2003 following a year-long battle with cancer.