58 Facts About Richard Neal

Richard Edmund Neal was born on February 14,1949 and is an American politician serving as the US representative for since 1989.

Richard Neal was president of the Springfield City Council from 1979 to 1983, serving as mayor of Springfield from 1983 to 1989.

Richard Neal was nearly unopposed when he ran for the House of Representatives in 1988, and took office in 1989.

Richard Neal has chaired the House Ways and Means Committee since 2019 and chaired the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.

Richard Neal has a generally liberal voting record, but is considered a moderate on such issues as abortion and trade.

In January 2020, Richard Neal was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame.

Richard Edmund Neal was born in 1949, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the oldest of three children of Mary H and Edmund John Neal.

Richard Neal's mother died of a heart attack when he was 13, and he was attending Springfield Technical High School when his father, an alcoholic, died.

Richard Neal graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Richard Neal then attended the University of Hartford's Barney School of Business and Public Administration, graduating in 1976 with a Master of Arts in public administration.

Early in his career Richard Neal taught history at Cathedral High School.

Richard Neal began his political career as co-chairman of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern's 1972 election campaign in Western Massachusetts.

Richard Neal was elected to the Springfield City Council in 1978 and was named President of the City Council in 1979.

In 1983, Richard Neal made plans to challenge Theodore Dimauro, the Democratic incumbent mayor of Springfield.

Richard Neal worked to strengthen Springfield's appearance, pushing to revive and preserve the city's historic homes and initiating a Clean City Campaign to reduce litter.

Richard Neal ran for the United States House of Representatives in in 1988 after 18-term Democratic incumbent Edward Boland retired.

Richard Neal raised $200,000 in campaign contributions and collected signatures across the district before the retirement was formally announced.

Richard Neal was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and his only general election opponent was Communist Party candidate Louis R Godena, whom he defeated with over 80 percent of the vote.

Former Springfield mayor Theodore Dimauro, reflecting sentiments that Richard Neal had an unfair advantage in the previous election, ran as a challenger in the 1990 Democratic primary.

Dimauro's campaign was sullied by a false rumor he spread about the Bank of New England's financial situation, and Richard Neal won the primary easily.

Richard Neal was unopposed in the general election, winning 68 percent of the vote.

Richard Neal went on to spend nearly $500,000 in the last two weeks of the campaign to defeat Briare.

Richard Neal was challenged by Mark Steele in 1996 and easily dispatched him with 71 percent of the vote and ran unopposed in 1998.

When Massachusetts lost a congressional district after the 2010 census, the bulk of Richard Neal's territory, including his home in Springfield, was merged with the 1st district, held by fellow Democrat John Olver.

The new 1st was no less Democratic than the old 2nd, and Richard Neal was reelected without much difficulty in 2012,2014 and 2016.

Richard Neal was given a 100 percent "Liberal Quotient" by Americans for Democratic Action for his 2008 voting record, and the organization named him one of the year's "ADA Heroes".

Richard Neal was given an 8.19 percent "Lifetime Rating" by the American Conservative Union based on his votes from 1989 to 2009.

Richard Neal served as a member of the House Democratic Steering Committee in the 105th Congress and was an at-large whip for the House Democrats.

Richard Neal is a co-chair of the New England Congressional Caucus, a group aiming to advance the regional interests of New England.

Richard Neal served his first two terms on the House Banking Committee, where he served on the Financial Services Subcommittee.

Richard Neal introduced an amendment to require reports on lending to these businesses, which was adopted.

In 1993 Richard Neal moved to the House Ways and Means Committee, where he currently serves.

Richard Neal has been chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures since 2008 and is a member of the Subcommittee on Trade.

Richard Neal has long advocated repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, believing its effects have reached unreasonably low income brackets.

Richard Neal led an unsuccessful movement to reform the AMT in 2007.

Richard Neal voted against the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, saying they would force millions onto the AMT.

Richard Neal was the lead proponent of a bill to require federal contractors to pay federal taxes for workers hired through offshore shell headquarters.

On trade policy, Richard Neal has a moderate record, supporting lower trade barriers.

Richard Neal voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993.

Richard Neal is a strong supporter of the Social Security program.

Richard Neal moved from the Trade subcommittee to the Social Security subcommittee in 2005 to challenge President George W Bush's attempts to partially privatize it.

Richard Neal pushed a proposal to automatically enroll employees in Individual Retirement Accounts, and successfully lobbied President Barack Obama to include it in a proposed 2009 budget outline.

In February 2019, Richard Neal came under criticism for failing to promptly exercise his authority as Ways and Means Committee chair to subpoena Donald Trump's tax returns.

In 2019 the House Ways and Means Committee led by Richard Neal passed a bill that would prohibit the IRS from creating a free electronic tax filing system.

Richard Neal is the co-chair of the ad hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, has been chairman of the Friends of Ireland since 2007, and was considered as a candidate for United States Ambassador to Ireland in 1998.

Richard Neal invited Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams to the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009.

Richard Neal has been named as one of the top 100 Irish-Americans by Irish America magazine and received the International Leadership Award from The American Ireland Fund in 2002.

Richard Neal is an opponent of the Iraq War, saying it was based on false intelligence.

Richard Neal voted against the original invasion in 2003 and opposed President Bush's 2006 request to send additional troops.

Richard Neal cited veterans' affairs as his top priority in 2010.

In 2017, Richard Neal backed the Israeli Anti-Boycott Act, aimed to punish companies that boycott Israel.

Richard Neal was later involved writing the House's 2009 health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Richard Neal explained that his priorities were to address "pre-existing conditions, capping out-of-pocket expenses and making sure people don't lose their health care if they lose their job".

Richard Neal argued that Medicare for All was wrong on policy and a political loser.

In December 2019, some blamed Richard Neal for killing legislation that would have ended surprise medical bills, suspecting it may have been because of industry lobbyist donations to his reelection campaign.

Richard Neal introduced the bipartisan SECURE Act of 2019, which contained a number of provisions to expand access to retirement planning options and encourage employers to set up retirement plans for workers.

In 2021 Richard Neal was listed as an original co-sponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act.

On other social issues Richard Neal has a moderate record: he supports a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the US flag, and has twice voted against an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.