Republican Wins in November Affect Key Congressional Committee Make-ups for CUs

WASHINGTON-With the shake up that occurred during the 2002 elections, many seats on important committees have been switched around, including the House Financial Services and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committees. These two committees probably have the most impact on credit union activities in the entire congressional committee system. In addition to the new members listed below, some familiar faces are no longer on these committees. Congressmen Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.), Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), and Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have left the Financial Services Committee for other committees, while Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the Senate Banking Committee member with the least seniority, was removed because of the switch in party control. New House Republican Financial Services Committee Members Representative J. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Budget Previous government service: Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery, First Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Texas, resigned as captain; 1996 South Carolina State House of Representatives, serving three terms; 2000 served on the Bush for President South Carolina State Steering Committee; Previous private sector employment: small businessman. Education: 1983 graduated from the Citadel Born: Westminster, S.C. Home Life: Barrett and his wife, Natalie, have two sons and a daughter and live in Westminster, S.C. Representative Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Budget Previous government service: 1990-2002 New Jersey General Assembly as senior assemblyman, assistant majority leader, chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee; sat on the Sussex County Board of Agriculture. Previous private sector experience: past president of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Education: Rutgers University Law School; cum laude from Montclair State University. Born: July 9, 1959 in Bergen County, N.J. Home Life: Garret resides in Wantage Township with his wife, Mary Ellen, and their two daughters. Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Veterans’ Affairs Previous government service: 18 years as a staffer in the New York State Senate; Hernando County (Fla.) Commissioner; 1992 Florida State Senate, chairing several committees, 1999 Florida Senate Majority Whip, 2000 president pro tempore of the Florida Senate. Education: undergraduate degree from the State University System; Master’s degree from Russell Sage College; labor studies program certification from Cornell University. Home Life: Brown-Waite has three adult daughters, two grandsons, and one granddaughter. She resides in Hernando County with her husband Harvey, a retired New York State trooper. She hails from Albany, New York. Representative Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Judiciary, Deputy Whip Previous government service: Florida House Speaker; Governor Jeb Bush’s running mate in 1994, narrowly losing. Education: B.A. in political science and law degree from University of Pittsburgh in 1983. Born: Philadelphia Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Budget Previous government service: 1985-1989, served as state director for U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas); Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 1991-1992. Previous private sector employment: family farm; Vice President of Communications for an investment firm; co-founded a company helping children from broken homes receive necessities; served on the Board of Directors for the nation’s largest aluminum recycling company. Education: B.A. in economics, Texas A&M University, 1979; law degree, University of Texas at Austin, 1982. Age: 45 Born: Stephenville, Texas Home Life: Hensarling, his wife, Melissa, and baby daughter live in Dallas. Representative Mark Kennedy (R-Minn.) Serving in the House since: 2001 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Transportation and Infrastructure Previous private sector experience: 20 years of helping run four of America’s most respected companies; Certified Public Accountant. Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.; MBA from the University of Michigan. Born: Benson, Minnesota in 1957; Kennedy was third of seven children. Home Life: Kennedy currently resides in Watertown Minnesota with wife, Debbie, and four children. Representative Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Previous government service: legal extern for members of Arizona’s Congressional delegation, including Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Previous private sector employment: founded real estate investment firm; started two more successful businesses. Education: graduated Northern Arizona University 1980, elected to NAU Hall of Fame for football; at age 39, started Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in Washington D.C., received his juris doctorate degree with a dual certificate in law and public policy. Home Life: Renzi and his wife, Roberta, have seven boys and five girls. Representative Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Government Reform Previous government service: served in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District’s Health Care Task Force and the United States Military Academy Review Board from 1990 to the present; 1997-2003 Pennsylvania State Senate, chaired Aging and Youth Committee. Previous private sector employment: psychologist; worked at a number of hospitals including Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, Mercy, Magee, Transitional Infant care and St. Margaret’s; two adjunct faculty positions with the University of Pittsburgh, serving as an Associate Professor in the department of Public Health and in the Department of Pediatrics; author of the book, The Angry Child. Awards: 1999 awarded the prestigious Toll Fellowship Program through the Council of State Governments. Education: bachelor’s degree from Wheeling Jesuit University in 1974; master’s degree from Cleveland State University in 1976; PhD. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979. Home Life: Murphy lives in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania with his wife, Nan, and daughter. Representative Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; International Relations Previous government service: Florida State Senator; Florida Secretary of State. Previous private sector employment: IBM marketing executive; vice president of a commercial real estate firm. Education: Master’s degree from Harvard; BA from Agnes Scott College; also studied at the University of Madrid and L’Abri (outside Geneva, Switzerland). Born: in Key West, Florida Home Life: Harris is married to Anders Ebbeson and has a 20-year-old daughter. New Senate Banking Committee Members Senator John Sununu (R-N.H.) Serving in the Senate since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Governmental Affairs; Foreign Relations; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Joint Economic Committee, also named as a Deputy Majority Whip Previous government service: House of Representatives (1997-2003). Previous private sector employment: utilized his engineering and business skills in 1987 at REMEC, Inc., a manufacturer of microwave electronics; from 1990 to1992 as manager and operations specialist with Pittiglio, Rabin, Todd, & McGrath; and from 1992 to 1996 as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Operations for Teletrol Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of building control systems in Manchester, New Hampshire. Education: B.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1987; MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business 1991. Born: Sept. 10, 1964 in Boston but grew up in Salem, New Hampshire. The senator is one of eight children. Home Life: Sununu and his wife, Kitty, live in Bedford with their three children. Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) Serving in the Senate since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Armed Services; Agriculture; Aging Previous government service: 1969 to 1973 Dole served as deputy assistant to President Richard M. Nixon for Consumer Affairs; 1973-1979 member of the Federal Trade Commission; 1981-1983 assistant to President Ronald Reagan for Public Liaison U.S. secretary of transportation 1983-1987; U.S. secretary of labor 1989-1990; unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000; Previous private sector employment: President, American Red Cross 1991-1999; 2001 traveled to El Salvador with Project Roundhouse, an organization which funds construction of sturdy, inexpensive, easily built, earthquake-resistant round houses in Central America; currently serves as the national director of Education and Information for Hospice (volunteer). Born: July 29, 1936 in Salisbury, N.C. Home Life: Dole is married to the former Republican Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) Serving in the Senate since: 1999 Committee Assignments: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Environment and Public Works; Foreign Relations; Joint Economic Committee Previous government service: 1985 elected as a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention; 1986 served two consecutive terms on the Warwick City Council; November 1992-1999, first Republican Mayor of the City of Warwick in 32 years; November 1999, appointed by governor of Rhode Island to fill unexpired term of father, the late Senator John Chafee; November 2000, elected to six-year term in the Senate. Previous private sector employment: seven years he worked as a blacksmith at harness racetracks in the United States and Canada; 1983 manufacturing management, including as a planner at the General Dynamics facility at Quonset Point; executive director of the Northeast Corridor Initiative, a non-profit organization promoting the modernization of rail service throughout the eastern seaboard; Education: B.A. in Classics, Brown University, 1975; Montana State University horseshoeing school. Born: March 26, 1953 in Providence Home Life: Chafee and his wife, Stephanie, have three children, Louisa, Caleb, and Thea. New House Democrat Financial Services Committee Members Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) Serving in the House since: 1997 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Education and Workforce; Budget Previous private sector employment: nurse for 30 years; public campaigner against gun violence. Education: LPN Glen Cove Nursing School, 1964 Born: January 5, 1944 in New York Home Life: McCarthy was widowed in 1993 when her husband, Dennis, and son, were hit by random gunfire in a rush hour commuter train. Her son, now 34, survived his injuries and has two children of his own. Representative Joe Baca (D-Calif.) Serving in the House since: 1999 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Agriculture; Science; Democratic Steering Committee regional whip, a floor whip, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Whip Previous government service: 1966-68 Vietnam veteran paratrooper; 1992 elected to California State Assembly, third ranking leader, Speaker’s Federal Government Liaison; 1998 elected to California State Senate. Previous private sector employment: 15 years in community relations with GTE; founded with wife Interstate World Travel. Awards: Golden Eagle Award from Siempre Adelante and the Migrant Leadership Council for leadership as legislator and in Latino community. Education: bachelor’s degree in sociology from the California State University-Los Angeles. Born: Jan. 23, 1947 in Belen, N.M. Home Life: Baca is married to wife, Barbara, and has four children. Representative Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) Serving in the House since: 2001 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Veterans Affairs; Government Reform Previous government service: 1994 elected to Massachusetts House of Representatives; just over a year later, won special election to Massachusetts State Senate; Previous private sector employment: 1973 joined Local 7 Ironworkers for 18 years, president; attorney. Education: undergraduate degree from Wentworth Institute; juris doctorate, Boston College Law School; earned master’s from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government while in state senate. Born: March 31, 1951 in Boston Home Life: Lynch still resides in South Boston with his wife, Margaret, and daughter. Representative Jim Matheson (D-Utah) Serving in the House since: 2001 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Transportation; Budget; Science Previous private sector employment: small business owner-energy consulting firm. Education: 1987 earned an MBA from UCLA. Born: March 21, 1960 in Salt Lake City Home Life: Matheson’s wife, Amy, is a pediatrician and they have one son. Representative Artur Davis (D-Ala.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Budget Previous government service: clerked for federal judge in Alabama; 1994-1998 served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. Previous private sector employment: attorney; soon after graduating Southern Poverty Law Center; practicing in Washington with former U.S. Senator Howell Heflin; 1998 until election to House, civil rights attorney. Education: graduated suma cum laude from Harvard in 1990; cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1993. Born: 1967 in West Montgomery, Alabama Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Budget; freshmen Democratic Whip Previous government service: worked in local and national politics, including Paul Simon’s 1984 election to the U.S. Senate; national campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1988; senior advisor and chief fundraiser for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in 1989; director of finance in 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton; 1993 to 1999 served under President Clinton, first as assistant to the president for political affairs and then as senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy. Previous private sector employment: Illinois Public Action, consumer rights group; 1999-2002 managing director of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, a Chicago investment bank. Education: graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981; master’s degree in speech and communication from Northwestern University in 1985. Born: Nov. 29, 1959 in Chicago Home Life: Emanuel and his wife, Amy, have three children and reside in Chicago. Representative Brad Miller (D-N.C.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Science Previous government service: one term in N.C. House and three terms in the N.C. Senate. Education: undergraduate degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; master’s degree from the London School of Economics; a law degree from Columbia University. Born: 1953 and raised in Fayetteville, N.C. Home Life: Miller and his wife of 21 years, Esther, live in Raleigh. Representative David Scott (D-Ga.) Serving in the House since: 2003 Committee Assignments: Financial Services; Agriculture; regional whip Previous government service: 1974 elected to Georgia House of Representatives serving for eight years; 1982 elected to Georgia State Senate until 2002. Previous private sector employment: owner and CEO of Dayn-Mark Advertising Company, established in 1979 Education: BA from Florida A&M University with honors in 1967; graduated with honors in 1969 with an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. Born: 1946 in Aynor, S.C. Home Life: Scott and his wife, Alfredia, have two daughters and one grandson. His extended family includes his close friend and brother-in-law, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron.