Barney Frank For Congress - Issues

REP. FRANK'S REMARKS ECONOMY (Excerpt) NATIONAL PRESS CLUB January 3, 2007

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 14:59:41 -0400

Actually I did not take Dick Cheney's worry that I might be as a legislator making policy too personally because it's very clear, if
you see the vice president's approach, he doesn't think any legislator should be making policy, members of Congress, conservative or liberal, given his view of the Constitution. So I wasn't too upset.

I was a little troubled when one of my Republican -- soon to be no longer a colleague -- in his campaign in Indiana said that if the
Democrats won, Nancy Pelosi would allow me to implement the radical homosexual agenda. The problem is that he lost. He was the first
Republican declared defeated on Election Day, and that apparently left some people expecting me to produce a radical homosexual agenda, and I
don't have one. I felt inadequate.

I mean, I do think we should allow gay and lesbian people to serve in the military and get married and have a job but, by tradition of
radical standards, being in the military, working for a living and getting married are not the stuff of radicalism. So I'm still looking

Democratic Response to President Bush's Radio Address by Congressman Frank - January 19, 2008

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 12:03:13 -0400

“Good morning. This is Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

“The large jump in the unemployment rate in December is the latest sign that the economy is slowing down and most observers believe that this downturn will intensify.

“A crisis that spread rapidly from the subprime mortgage market to the broader financial markets, now threatens the entire economy and the well-being of American workers and their families.

“This week, the Federal Reserve reported that, in addition to major weakness in housing markets, manufacturing activity was down in most areas, and consumer spending during the holiday season was disappointing. According to the Conference Board, a leading business research organization that tracks consumer spending, consumers’ views toward the economy quote, ‘continue to paint a dismal picture,’ unquote, as Americans grow increasingly worried about their economic situation.

“Worse, this economic downturn comes after a period of growth that failed to benefit the majority of Americans. In fact, wages for workers are actually down in real terms since 2001, and income inequality has reached levels not seen since the 1920s.

A Timely Mortgage Fix (excerpt) By Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post, November 18, 2007

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 16:10:07 -0400

A Timely Mortgage Fix (excerpt)
By Steven Pearlstein
The Washington Post
November 18, 2007

It is a red letter day when Congress is able to fight off the special interests, put aside partisanship, and actually address a serious economic problem. That’s exactly what the House of Representatives did last week with passage of a bill reforming the mortgage lending industry.

The bill sets national standards, outlaws fraudulent and abusive practices, and requires investment bankers to exercise a minimum duty of care in packaging and securitizing mortgage loans. The lion’s share of the credit goes to the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, whose focus, knowledge and knack for dealmaking make him a rarity in the Capitol these days…

It’s possible to quibble with some of the details of the legislation…On the other hand, Frank, a Democrat, is to be commended for standing up to consumer and housing advocates who opposed federal preemption of state laws and regulations, which in some instances are more stringent than in the House legislation…

OP-ED By Congresswoman Melissa Bean on ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act)

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 23:31:31 -0500

HISTORIC LAW
Chicago Tribune Op-Ed
By U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL)
November 20, 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would amend existing workplace discrimination laws to include sexual orientation. Our vote followed an impassioned plea for support from my colleague and chairman, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. Since coming to Congress, I can’t remember being so personally moved by a member’s remarks on the House floor. And I was not alone. While Barney is renowned for his quick wit, humor and incisive intellectual arguments, he disarmed his opponents that night with pure emotion.

Teary-eyed members, including myself, were touched not by Congressman Frank, Financial Services Committee chairman, but by Barney, their respected gay colleague, emotionally sharing how he has personally faced discrimination and his passionate pleas to finally remove such workplace barriers from the lives of gay Americans.

Barney told us how he’s been fighting to pass this type of legislation for 35 years, and that he couldn’t help but “take personally” attempts to derail his efforts. He implored his colleagues to not send him back having failed gay Americans. For the first time since I’ve been in the House floor, you could hear a pin drop.

Excerpt From July, 2007 “Thank You” Letter Sent by Congressman Frank to Campaign Contributors

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 23:25:16 -0500

“I have tried very hard to show that concern for liberal values of compassion, fairness and opposition to excessive inequality are fully compatible with understanding how the American private sector works.

Those who have become vocally unhappy about my continued tenure are these days concentrated in the angry right wing of our political spectrum. They are the people of whom Congressman Charlie Rangel took note in October [2006] when he said in one campaign speech that he was surprised to hear a Republican Congressional commercial that warned people against voting Democratic for House Members on the grounds that it would lead to chairmanships for Charlie Rangel, John Conyers and Barney Frank. “That’s funny,” Charlie said in his great New York City accent, exaggerated when necessary for comic effect, “I didn’t know that Barney Frank was colored.”

Charlie’s comment effectively captures the bigoted nature of much of what has been directed against us. This of course does not mean that everyone who voted Republican shared those views, but it does mean that people in the leadership of Republican campaign efforts were far too tolerant of this sort of intolerance.”

FRANK CALLS FOR "GRAND BARGAIN" ON THE ECONOMY

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:22:09 -0500

"I want to get the people who have been concerned about equity to support growth policies and the people who have been chafing that we aren't doing enough for growth to support policies that provide equity." [Excerpt from Congressman Frank's interview on PBS Nightly Business Report, 11-30-06]

Rep. Frank offers business a 'grand bargain'
Reduced regulations for more job benefits
Boston Globe
November 19, 2006
By Michael Kranish and Ross Kerber

"What I want to do is break that deadlock...A lot of policies that the business community wants us to adopt for growth are now blocked. On the other hand, the business community is successfully blocking the minimum wage [increase] and created a very anti union attitude in the Congress...I'm a capitalist, and that means I'm for inequality. But you reach a point where you get more inequality than is healthy, and I believe we're at that point. What we want to do is to look at public policies that'll get some bigger share of the increased wealth into wages, and in return you'll see Democrats as internationalists. . .. I really urge the business community to join us."

Afghanistan Ignored

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 19:37:15 -0400

Boston Globe, August 30, 2006

By Rep. Barney Frank

A WAR is missing. Sadly, it is not missing from the physical location in which it is taking place, and people continue to die as it is waged. But it has largely disappeared from our national debate, and that debate has been sorely distorted as a consequence.

The war in question is in Afghanistan, and it isn't missing because it's no longer of consequence -- in fact, conditions there appear to be deteriorating -- but because of a conscious, unfortunately successful effort by the Bush administration and its conservative allies to ignore it. That's because acknowledging the war there would invalidate their charge that their political opponents are unwilling to take a forceful stand against terrorism.

During the years after World War II, academics popularized the concept of the ``big lie." This is a technique successfully used by some European regimes to manipulate the public perception of reality. It turned out that if enough people in official positions simply repeated things that were not true, and found elements in the media ready to reinforce them, lies would be believed and truths forgotten.

Having Been Repudiated Overwhelmingly by the Facts on Iraq, Republicans Stick to the Rhetoric.

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 19:02:02 -0400

U.S. House of Representatives
Speech of Congressman Barney Frank
June 15, 2006

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, first let's note what a degradation of democracy is taking place here.

The majority party has put forward a resolution that allows no amendment. There will be a debate in which those of us who think some things are good and some are bad, contrary to every reasonable democratic procedure, will have no opportunity to say so.

Here is the tactic that is being used: they take a number of things that people agree with, they mix in with them things which are quite controversial. They treat them as if they were not separable.

Let me say what I have said again before. The majority party thinks the way to legislate is the way you feed a pill to a dog: you take the unpalatable with the popular.

Now I will have to say this: one of the things we are trying to do is to persuade the people in Iraq to be able to work together and make democracy work. We are trying to persuade, we are told, the Shiia and the Sunni to work together. We are trying to tell the majority Shiia to share power.

Frank Calls For U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq

Mon, 9 Oct 2006 14:35:31 -0400

"Saddam Hussein badly misgoverned the citizens of Iraq, but there are…a number of countries that are badly governed," Frank said. America should consistently express its disapproval of despotic regimes, but invading other countries does more harm than good, he said…immediately after the invasion he believed the United States had a responsibility to try to rebuild Iraq. But he said he now believes the occupation of Iraq is only harming all parties involved and called for America to withdraw within months. (Excerpt from New Bedford (MA) Standard-Times Report on Public Meeting Attended by Congressman Frank in Massachusetts.)

Comment by Congressman Frank on Bush Administration's Warrantless Wiretapping Program

Mon, 9 Oct 2006 13:38:20 -0400

Reported May 12, 2006 in the New Bedford Standard-Times

"It's very disturbing and very troubling," said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

The government has no right to compile information about all the "inconvenient, embarrassing and uncomfortable" yet legal things that Americans make calls about on their telephones, he said.

Even if the government promises that none of the data would be misused, they cannot control whether something leaks out by accident, Rep. Frank said...

Rep. Frank said he hopes the latest accusations against the NSA [National Security Agency] will convince his Republican colleagues to ramp up their oversight of the Bush administration.

"Because Congress has been so delinquent in asserting itself, the administration has felt bolder and bolder to do stuff," he said.

FRANK OPPOSES BAN ON INTERNET GAMBLING

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:31:22 -0400

Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 16, 2006 (Internet Betting Rules Back, by Tony Batt)

The only member of the House Financial Services Committee to oppose [the bill banning Internet gambling} was Rep. Barney Frank.

"I do not myself gamble, but I do not see it as my job, as a member of the Congress of the United States, to interfere with the freedom to gamble of other adults," Frank said.

"The fact that people gamble more than they should does not seem to me a fit subject for a legislative prohibition any more than the fact that people eat more than they should, read what they shouldn,t read, go to movies they shouldn,t go to or do other things that many of us think are unwise and inappropriate."

Frank said opponents to Internet gambling include an odd coalition of conservatives and liberals.

"It seems to me that the approach of many of my liberal friends to gambling is akin gt that of some conservatives to sex-related material," Frank said. :Mainly because they disapprove of it personally, they think we can prohibit other people from doing it."

FRANK CORRECTS CAVUTO ON WAGE TRENDS

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:26:12 -0400

Media Matters for American, the media watchdog organization, reported on February 28, 2006 that in a discussion with Rep. Frank n February 21, Neil Cavuto of Fox News inaccurately claimed that real wages for American workers have increased. In fact, as Frank noted, real wages have declined in each of the past two years.

"On the February 21 edition of Fox News, Your World With Neil Cavuto, during a discussion with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) on income disparity in the United States, host Neil Cavuto repeatedly stated, falsely, that real wages - wages adjusted for inflation - have increased for American workers. In fact, they have declined each of the last two years.

"Cavuto claimed real wages have risen '3.3 percent." Although it is not clear where Cavuto derived this figure, a January 31 Department of Labor release reported a real wage decline of 0.9 percent for private industry workers and a decline of 0.5 percent for state and local government workers during 2005.

TREASURY SECRETARY ADMITS IN RESPONSE TO FRANK QUESTION THAT WAGE DATA NOT ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:22:32 -0400

New York Times, May 19, 2006 ("Coming Down to Earth" by Paul Krugman)

"On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary John Snow repeated that boast [that hourly earnings have risen 3.8 percent over the past 12 months] before a House Committee. However, Representative Barney Frank was ready. He asked whether the number was adjusted for inflation; after flailing about, Mr. Snow admitted, sheepishly, that it wasn,t. In fact, nearly all the wage increase was negated by higher prices."

Frank Opposes Republican Resolution That Expresses Unqualified Support For Financial Surveillance Program

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 13:40:37 -0400

I am the senior Democrat on Financial Services, and I have been for 3 1/2 years. I was, about a month ago, asked to a briefing. I was asked to a briefing and told that this was about to be made public and, therefore, they were going to brief me. But that if I listened to the briefing, when it was made public I couldn't talk about it.
Click here to read more

Frank Fights Against Proposed Constitutional Amendment Barring Same Sex Marriage

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 13:29:05 -0400

I take it personally when people decide to take political batting practice with my life… How is marriage endangered? Apparently, people happily married in Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, and Mississippi read that we have had same-sex marriage quite successfully in Massachusetts, and they look in the mirror and they say, wow, I could have married a guy. Click here to read Congressman Frank remarks on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives during debate on the proposed Constitutional Amendment (which failed to receive the 2/3 House vote necessary for passage; the Senate had earlier also failed to pass the Amendment.Click here to read Congressman Frank remarks on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives during debate on the proposed Constitutional Amendment (which failed to receive the 2/3 House vote necessary for passage; the Senate had earlier also failed to pass the Amendment.