64 Facts About Barney Frank

Barney Frank served as a member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013.

Barney Frank worked as a political aide before winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972.

Barney Frank was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote.

Barney Frank was re-elected every term thereafter by wide margins.

From 2003 until his retirement, Barney 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.

Barney Frank did not seek re-election in 2012, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Joe Kennedy III.

Barney Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, one of four children of Elsie and Samuel Barney Frank.

Barney Frank's family was Jewish, and his grandparents had emigrated from Poland and Russia.

Barney Frank was educated at Bayonne High School, before matriculating at Harvard College, where he resided in Matthews Hall his first year and then in Kirkland House and Winthrop House.

Barney Frank taught undergraduates at Harvard while studying for a PhD in Government, but left in 1968 before completing the degree, to become Boston mayor Kevin White's Chief Assistant, a position he held for three years.

Barney Frank then served for a year as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael J Harrington.

In 1977, Barney Frank graduated from Harvard Law School, where he was once a student of Henry Kissinger, while serving as a Massachusetts state representative.

In 1972, Barney Frank was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he served for eight years.

Barney Frank made a name for himself in the mid-1970s as a political defender of the Combat Zone, Boston's notorious red light district.

In 1979, Barney Frank was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.

Barney Frank published numerous articles on politics and public affairs; in 1992, he published Speaking Frankly, an essay on the role the Democratic Party should play in the 1990s.

In 1980, Barney Frank ran for the US House of Representatives in the 4th congressional district, hoping to succeed Reverend Robert Drinan, who had left Congress, following a call by Pope John Paul II for priests to withdraw from political positions.

Barney Frank did not face another serious race again for a quarter-century.

Barney Frank's opponent was Republican Sean Bielat, a US Marine veteran and businessman.

On November 28,2011, Barney Frank announced at a news conference that he would not seek re-election in 2012.

In 1987, Barney Frank evicted Gobie after being advised by his landlord that Gobie kept escorting despite the support and was doing so in the residence.

Barney Frank then gave the story to The Washington Times for nothing, in hopes of getting a book contract.

The attempts to censure and expel Barney Frank were led by Republican Larry Craig.

In 2003, a documentary film about Barney Frank entitled Let's Get Frank was released.

The documentary recounted Barney Frank's struggle coming out in public and political life as a prominent gay man, the height of which was his reprimand following the Gobie scandal, and documented Frank's dedicated defense of US President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in January and February 1999.

Barney Frank is widely considered to have been, during his tenure, one of the most powerful or smart members of Congress.

Barney Frank was scrutinized for campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

OpenSecrets reported in 2009 that Barney Frank received over $42,000 in campaign contributions from the two organizations since 1989.

Bill Sammon, political editor of Fox News, claimed the donations from Fannie and Freddie influenced his support of their lending programs, and said that Barney Frank did not play a strong enough role in reforming the institutions in the years leading up to the economic crisis of 2008.

Barney Frank outlined his efforts to reform these institutions and add regulations, but met resistance from Republicans, with the main exception being a bill with Republican Mike Oxley that died because of opposition from President Bush.

Barney Frank has been a critic of aspects of the Federal Reserve system, partnering with some Republicans in opposition to some policies.

Barney Frank co-sponsored legislation to reform the Section 202 refinancing program, which is for affordable housing for the elderly, and Section 811 disabled programs.

Barney Frank has been a chief advocate of the National Housing Trust Fund, 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.

Barney Frank voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and against restrictions on the transportation of minors across state lines by non-family members to circumvent local abortion laws.

In 1987, Barney Frank was the Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations in the 100th Congress.

In 2001, Barney Frank co-sponsored an amendment to the US Constitution to apply equal rights based on gender differences.

In 2006, Barney Frank was one of three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which restricted protests at soldiers' funerals.

Barney Frank opposed the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate, on civil liberties and constitutional grounds.

Barney Frank has been outspoken on many civil rights issues, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

In 1990, Barney Frank was instrumental in crafting the 1990 Immigration Act, which restated the reasons for which a person could be denied entry into the country.

In 2006, Barney Frank and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were accused by Rep.

In February 2009, Barney Frank was one of three openly gay members of Congress, along with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado.

On June 23,2011, Barney Frank introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.

Barney Frank was a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus established in 1996 to "promoting growth and advancement of the Internet and advance the United States' world leadership in the digital world".

Barney Frank advocated for a 25-percent reduction in the overall Military budget of the United States.

Barney Frank claimed that such a significant reduction would have no effect on the United States' ability to defend itself.

Barney Frank told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that he actually wanted to cut the entire F-35 program, but as long as military spending continued, he would fight for his district's share of it.

Barney Frank has partnered with Ron Paul in support of online gambling rights.

Barney Frank has been a determined supporter of the State of Israel.

Barney Frank attributed the primary reason for Israel's long war to his belief that Palestinians are unwilling to make concessions.

Barney Frank said he would not run in the special election that would be held to fill the seat for the remainder of Kerry's term.

Barney Frank joined the board of directors of the New York-based Signature Bank on June 17,2015.

On December 8,2022, Barney Frank, despite being retired from the US Congress, was present on the floor of the House of Representatives when the Respect for Marriage Act was successfully passed.

Barney Frank's husband, Jim Ready, is a surfing enthusiast whom Frank met during a gay political fundraiser in Maine.

On July 7,2012, Barney Frank married Ready at the Boston Marriott Newton in suburban Boston.

Barney Frank chose not to participate in the Congressional pension system.

Barney Frank said he did not believe that he would live long enough after retirement to reap benefits over contributions, and that he was convinced that he would remain single and have no beneficiary.

For most of his life and entire congressional career, Barney Frank was known as a Jew.

Barney Frank continues to identify strongly with the Jewish community and has been careful throughout his career that his agnosticism not reflect negatively on other Jews.

Barney Frank talked primarily about the politicized case of Terri Schiavo and the public's evolving view about government intrusion into personal healthcare decisions.

Barney Frank's last romance with a woman was a nearly two-year-long affair with Irish-American Catholic Kathleen Sullivan, a Boston School Committee member and the daughter of former New England Patriots owner Billy Sullivan, that began in 1974.

In 2015, in an interview with Boston Magazine, Barney Frank said it was unfair to Sullivan to date her with him being gay.

Barney Frank started coming out as gay to friends before he ran for Congress and came out publicly on May 30,1987, "prompted in part by increased media interest in his private life" and the death of Stewart McKinney, "a closeted bisexual Republican representative from Connecticut".

Shortly after coming out, Barney Frank met and began dating Herb Moses, an economist and LGBT activist; their relationship lasted for eleven years until an amicable break-up in July 1998.