Frank, Barney, 1940-

FRANK, Barney, a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Bayonne, Hudson County, N.J., March 31, 1940; graduated from Bayonne High School, Bayonne, N.J., 1957; A.B., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1962; graduate work in political science and teaching fellow in government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1962-1972; J.D., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., 1977; staff, Mayor Kevin White of Boston, Mass., 1968-1971; staff, United States Representative Michael F. Harrington of Massachusetts, 1971-1972; member of the Massachusetts state legislature, 1973-1980; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-seventh and to the fifteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1981-January 3, 2013); reprimanded by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29, 1990, for improper use of political influence to fix parking tickets and to influence probation officers for a personal friend; chair, Committee on Financial Services (One Hundred Tenth and One Hundred Eleventh Congresses); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress in 2012.

<p>Barney Frank served as a US Congressman from 1981-2013 and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007-2011. While in Congress, Barney worked to adjust America’s spending priorities to reduce the deficit by providing less funding for the military, thereby protecting funding for important quality-of-life needs at home. In particular, he focused on providing aid to local communities and to building and preserving affordable rental housing for low-income people. He was also a leader in the fight against discrimination of various sorts. He championed the interests of the poor, the underprivileged, and the vulnerable, and he won reelection 16 times by double-digit margins.</p>

<p>As Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney was instrumental in crafting the short-term $700 billion rescue plan in response to the mortgage crisis, and he then worked for the adoption of a sweeping set of financial regulations aimed at preventing a recurrence. He was co-author of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the regulatory overhaul signed into law in July 2010. He also led passage of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act, a measure that drew praise from editorial boards and consumer advocates.</p>

<p>In 1987, he became the first Member of Congress to voluntarily acknowledge that he is gay, and in 2012 became the first Member of Congress to marry his same-sex partner, James Ready.</p>

<p>Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011 and was a leading co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act. Frank, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts, was considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States during his time in Congress.</p>

<p>Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, Frank graduated from Bayonne High School, Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He worked as a political aide before winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote. He was re-elected every term thereafter by wide margins. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. From 2003 until his retirement, Frank was the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and he served as committee chairman when his party held a House majority from 2007 to 2011. In July 2012, he married his long-time partner, James Ready, becoming the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office. Frank did not seek re-election in 2012, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Joe Kennedy III. Frank's autobiography, A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, was published in 2015.</p>

<p>Prior to his time in the House of Representatives, Frank served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1979 to 1981; he also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979.</p>