Richard Neal

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Richard Neal
Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee
Assumed office
January 9, 2023
Preceded byKevin Brady
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded bySander Levin
Succeeded byKevin Brady
Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
In office
January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byKevin Brady
Succeeded byJason Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts
Assumed office
January 3, 1989
Preceded byEdward Boland
Constituency2nd district (1989–2013)
1st district (2013–present)
50th Mayor of Springfield
In office
January 2, 1984 – January 3, 1989
Preceded byTheodore Dimauro
Succeeded byMary Hurley
Personal details
Born
Richard Edmund Neal

(1949-02-14) February 14, 1949 (age 75)
Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Maureen Conway
​
(m. 1975)​
Children4
EducationHolyoke Community College
American International College (BA)
University of Hartford (MA)
Signature
WebsiteHouse website
Richard Neal's voice
Neal, as chair of the
House Ways and Means Committee, speaks in support of the Build Back Better Act

Recorded November 18, 2021

Richard Edmund Neal (born February 14, 1949) is an American politician serving as the

Democratic Party, Neal has been the dean of Massachusetts's delegation to the United States House of Representatives since 2013, and he is also the dean of the New England House delegations.[1][2]

Neal was president of the Springfield City Council from 1979 to 1983 and mayor of Springfield from 1983 to 1989. He was nearly unopposed when he ran for the House of Representatives in 1988, and took office in 1989.

Neal chaired the

Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.[3] He has also dedicated much of his career to U.S.–Ireland relations and maintaining American involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process, for which he has won several acclamations. He has a generally liberal voting record, but is considered a moderate on such issues as abortion and trade. In January 2020, Neal was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame.[4]

Early life, education, and academic career

Richard Edmund Neal was born in 1949, in

MassMutual. Neal's maternal grandparents were from Northern Ireland and his paternal grandparents were from Ireland and Cornwall, England.[5] 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. Neal and his two younger sisters moved in with their grandmother and later their aunt, forced to rely on Social Security checks as they grew up.[6][7][8]

After graduating from high school, Neal attended

Cathedral High School.[8]

Local government

Neal during his tenure as Mayor of Springfield

Neal began his political career as co-chairman of

Western New England College.[14]

In

1987.[12] As mayor, Neal oversaw a period of significant economic growth, with over $400 million of development and investment in the city, and a surplus in the city budget. He 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.[14][15]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

The 2nd congressional district of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2013

Neal ran for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district in 1988 after 18-term Democratic incumbent Edward Boland retired. Boland had alerted Neal of his impending retirement, giving him a head start on his campaign. Neal raised $200,000 in campaign contributions and collected signatures across the district before the retirement was formally announced.[16] He 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.[17]

Neal has won reelection every two years since. Former Springfield mayor Theodore Dimauro, reflecting sentiments that 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 Neal won the primary easily.[16] He was unopposed in the general election, winning 68 percent of the vote.[18] In 1992, his popularity was threatened by the House banking scandal, in which he had made dozens of unpenalized overdrafts at the House Bank.[16] After narrowly defeating two Democratic opponents, he was challenged by Republican Anthony W. Ravosa Jr., and Independent Thomas R. Sheehan. Neal won with 53 percent of the vote.[19]

In a Springfield Union-News poll taken in mid-October 1994, Neal was ahead of John Briare by only 6 percentage points. Neal went on to spend nearly $500,000 in the last two weeks of the campaign to defeat Briare. The 1994 general election also featured a third-party candidate, Kate Ross, who received 6% of the vote. With blanks, Neal actually received only 51% of the vote in 1994.[20]

Since 1994 Neal has had little electoral opposition. He was challenged by Mark Steele in 1996 and easily dispatched him with 71 percent of the vote

2010 U.S. congressional elections
, which Neal won by a margin of 57% to 43%.

For his first 12 terms in Congress, Neal represented a district centered on Springfield and stretching as far east as the southern and western suburbs of Worcester. When Massachusetts lost a congressional district after the 2010 census, the bulk of Neal's territory, including his home in Springfield, was merged with the 1st district, held by fellow Democrat John Olver. While it retained Olver's district number, it was geographically and demographically more Neal's district; it now covered almost all of the Springfield metropolitan area. The prospect of an incumbent vs. incumbent contest was averted when Olver retired. The new 1st was no less Democratic than the old 2nd, and Neal was reelected without much difficulty in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

In the 2018 Democratic primary, Neal defeated Springfield attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, 70.7% to 29.3%.[25] In the final days of the campaign Neal had $3.1 million in the bank to Amatul-Wadud's $20,000.[25]

Holyoke mayor Alex Morse unsuccessfully challenged Neal in the 2020 Democratic primary election.[26] In the 2020 election, Neal received the most PAC money of any candidate: $3.1 million out of his $4.9 million total raised.[27]

Tenure

Neal with President Bill Clinton at the White House
Neal with Senator Ted Kennedy

Neal has a generally liberal political record. He was given a 100 percent "Liberal Quotient" by Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) for his 2008 voting record, and the organization named him one of the year's "ADA Heroes".[28] He was given an 8.19 percent "Lifetime Rating" by the American Conservative Union (ACU) based on his votes from 1989 to 2009.[29] In the 110th United States Congress Neal voted with the Democratic Party leadership on 98.9 percent of bills;[30] in the 111th United States Congress, Neal voted with the Democratic party leadership 95% of the time.[31]

Neal voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[32]

Neal served as a member of the House

105th Congress and was an at-large whip for the House Democrats.[9][16] He is a co-chair of the New England Congressional Caucus, a group aiming to advance the regional interests of New England.[9]

Economy and budget

With several committee posts, Neal has made

Financial Services Subcommittee. As the banking reform law of 1991 was being drafted, he cautioned that President George H. W. Bush's proposal could negatively affect small businesses and minority-owned businesses. He introduced an amendment to require reports on lending to these businesses, which was adopted.[33]

In 1993 Neal moved to the

Charles B. Rangel's 2010 departure he began actively seeking the post.[7][35] In June 2010, while pursuing the chairmanship, he invited campaign contributors to a $5,000-per-person weekend fundraiser in Cape Cod. This drew fire from The Boston Globe, which criticized him for "[acceding] to the capital's money culture."[36]

According to

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), believing its effects have reached unreasonably low income brackets.[37] He led an unsuccessful movement to reform the AMT in 2007.[6] In 1998 he successfully pushed to exempt a child tax credit from being affected by the AMT, and in 2001 Congress made the exemption permanent at his urging.[38] He voted against the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, saying they would force millions onto the AMT.[39] Another priority of Neal's is to eliminate tax "loopholes" that favor higher-income individuals.[6] He was the lead proponent of a bill to require federal contractors to pay federal taxes for workers hired through offshore shell headquarters. The bill, H.R. 6081, passed both houses of Congress unanimously and was signed into law in May 2008.[40]

On

United States – Peru Trade Promotion Agreement despite some Democratic opposition.[6]

Neal is a strong supporter of the

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and successfully lobbied President Barack Obama to include it in a proposed 2009 budget outline.[6]

In February 2019, Neal came under criticism for failing to promptly exercise his authority as Ways and Means Committee chair to subpoena Donald Trump's tax returns.[42] Citing a need to build a strong case in a potential lawsuit, Neal delayed taking this step until May 2019.[43]

In 2019 the House Ways and Means Committee led by Neal passed a bill that would prohibit the IRS from creating a free electronic tax filing system.[44] During his 2016 and 2018 campaigns, Neal received $16,000 in contributions from Intuit and H&R Block, two tax preparation companies that have lobbied against the creation of free tax filing systems.[44]

For his tenure as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in the 116th Congress, Neal earned an "F" grade from the non-partisan Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.[45]

Foreign policy

Neal with the deputy chair of the Irish Senate Mark Daly in May 2022 during a vist to the Republic of Ireland

Descended from

Irish America magazine and received the International Leadership Award from The American Ireland Fund in 2002.[46][50]

Neal is an opponent of the Iraq War, saying it was based on false intelligence. He voted against the original invasion in 2003 and opposed President Bush's 2006 request to send additional troops.[39] He cited veterans' affairs as his top priority in 2010.[51]

In 2017, Neal backed the Israeli Anti-Boycott Act, aimed to punish companies that boycott Israel.[52]

Health care

A longtime advocate of

health care reform, Neal was involved in the major health care reform efforts of 1993–94 and 2009–10. In working on the unsuccessful Clinton health care plan of 1993 he served the interests of the major health insurance and medical companies in his district, achieving a compromise allowing insurance companies to charge small businesses higher premiums.[33] He was later involved writing the House's 2009 health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. As chairman of the Select Revenue Measures subcommittee, he had a hand in developing the bill's financing plan. He 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".[51][53] Despite his support for the act, he spoke about his preference for a "piecemeal" approach to health care reform, saying it would allow for a more reasonable debate.[54]

As chairman of the

Medicare for All, Neal told Democrats on the panel that he didn't want the phrase "Medicare for All" to be used. He argued that Medicare for All was wrong on policy and a political loser.[55] In December 2019, some blamed Neal for killing legislation that would have ended surprise medical bills,[56] suspecting it may have been because of industry lobbyist donations to his reelection campaign.[57][58] As of the 2019–20 election cycle, Neal is third-highest among House members in campaign contributions from the health services/HMO industry.[59] The insurance and pharmaceutical industries are among the top contributors to his campaign committee.[59]

Retirement planning

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. The bill, originally introduced in late March 2019, became law in December 2019 as part of the fiscal year 2020 federal appropriations bill.[60]

Ukraine

In 2023, Neal was among 49 Democrats to break with President Joe Biden, by voting for a ban on cluster munitions to Ukraine.[61][62]

Abortion

Representing a relatively

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which made the intact dilation and extraction abortion procedure illegal in most cases.[6] During debate on the House health care reform bill, he voted in favor of the Stupak–Pitts Amendment to restrict government funding of abortion.[63] In 2021 Neal was listed as an original co-sponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act.[64]

Other social issues

On other social issues Neal has a

moderate record: he supports a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the U.S. flag, and has twice voted against an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.[6]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Neal is a Roman Catholic.[16] He lives in Springfield with his wife Maureen Neal, née Conway. They have four children: Rory Christopher, Brendan Conway, Maura Katherine, and Sean Richard.[10] In addition to his duties as a congressman, Neal teaches a journalism course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst called "The Politician and the Journalist".[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Springfield's Richard Neal Will Be the Next Dean of Massachusetts' Congressional Delegation". Congressman Richard Neal. June 28, 2013. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Meet Richie". Congressman Richard Neal. December 3, 2012. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived
    from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  4. ^ Irish Central, "2020 Irish America Hall of Fame inductees announced" January 26, 2020 [1] Archived January 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "neal". freepages.rootsweb.com. Retrieved November 24, 2018.[dead link]
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60426-602-3
    .
  7. ^ a b c d Viser, Matt (June 4, 2010). "Neal seeks top job on Ways and Means committee." The Boston Globe: p. A1.
  8. ^ a b "A profile of a congressman: Populist roots and political instincts of U.S. Rep. Richard Neal." Daily Hampshire Gazette: p. A1. November 2, 1999.
  9. ^ a b c d Neal, Richard E. "Biography Archived April 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine." Congressman Richard Neal (official website). United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-16-083727-2
    .
  11. ^ "Tekes in Politics" (PDF). The Teke. Vol. 105, no. 3. Tau Kappa Epsilon. Summer 2012. pp. 12–13. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  12. ^
    CQ Weekly: p. 3610. CQ Press
    .
  13. ^ Farrell, David (March 5, 1980). "Massachusetts delegates chosen in the primary." The Boston Globe.
  14. ^
    The Union-News
    : p. 14. May 17, 1989.
  15. ^ Hall, Michelle (December 27, 1988). "The new Democrats in the House." The Washington Post: p. A13.
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-1-56802-470-7
    .
  17. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 20. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  18. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 17. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  19. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 32. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  20. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 16.
  21. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 16. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  22. United States Government Printing Office
    . p. 29. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  23. ^ Smock, Frederick A. (May 30, 2000). "Neal may face primary challenge: Springfield man submits nomination papers to run in 2nd district." Telegram & Gazette: p. B3.
  24. The Boston Herald
    . Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  25. ^ a b Young, Shannon. Massachusetts 1st Congressional District race: Richard Neal defeats Democratic challenger Tahirah Amatul-Wadud Archived July 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, MassLive LLC, September 5, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019.
  26. ^ Dwyer, Dialynn (September 2, 2020). "'Sometimes the first time around, you don't win,' Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse says following failed run for Congress". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  27. ^ A 501tax-exempt, OpenSecrets; NW, charitable organization 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200; info, DC 20005 telelphone857-0044. "Top Recipients of PAC Money". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "2008 Congressional Voting Record Archived October 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine." ADA Today 64: 1. Americans for Democratic Action. p. 2. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  29. ^ "2009 U.S. House Votes Archived July 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." American Conservative Union. 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  30. ^ "House voting with party scores: 110th Congress Archived 2007-12-29 at the Wayback Machine." The Washington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  31. ^ "Richard Neal (D)". The U.S. Congress Votes Database. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  32. ^ Bycoffe, Aaron; Wiederkehr, Anna (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  33. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87187-843-4
    .
  34. ^ "Former and Current Members (Select Revenue Measures) Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine," "Current Members (Trade) Archived 2010-06-27 at the Wayback Machine," "Former and Current Members (Oversight) Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine," and "Former and Current Members (Social Security) Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine." Committee on Ways and Means (official website). Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  35. The Republican
    : p. A1.
  36. ^ "Neal should pursue top post, but not by charging for access Archived June 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine." The Boston Globe. June 9, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  37. ^ Nitschke, Lori (February 3, 2001). "Bush's Tax Cut Plan Would Leave Many Snagged by Alternative Minimum Levy." CQ Weekly. Congressional Quarterly. p. 274.
  38. ISBN 1-59184-019-8
    .
  39. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87289-545-4
    .
  40. ^ Stockman, Farah (May 23, 2008). "Senate OK's bill barring contractors from avoiding tax – Some had hired via offshore firms." The Boston Globe: p. A2.
  41. ^ "Richard Neal on Free Trade". On The Issues. OnTheIssues. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  42. ^ Young, Shannon (February 13, 2019). "Tom Steyer urges US Rep. Richard Neal to immediately request president's tax returns". Mass Live. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019.
  43. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (May 10, 2019). "House Ways and Means Chairman Subpoenas Trump Tax Returns". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019.
  44. ^ a b Elliott, Justin (April 9, 2019). "Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax". ProPublica. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  45. ^ "Congressional Oversight Hearing Index". Welcome to the Congressional Oversight Hearing Index. The Lugar Center. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  46. ^
    ISBN 978-1-56802-813-2
    .
  47. ^ Staunton, Denis (September 29, 2005). "McGuinness reassures Washington." The Irish Times: p. 7.
  48. ^ Murphy, Ryan G. (September 29, 2005). "Rep. Neal praises IRA disarmament." Telegram & Gazette: p. A8.
  49. ^ "Barack Obama inauguration: Gerry Adams to attend ceremony". The Telegraph. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  50. ^ Black, Chris (March 14, 1998). "Some ammunition for looming rematch." The Boston Globe: p. A3.
  51. ^ a b Boynton, Donna (January 15, 2010). "Students grill Rep. Neal on big issues." Telegram & Gazette: p. B5.
  52. ^ Christensen, Dusty (July 21, 2017). "Neal backs bill to punish supporters of boycotting Israel". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  53. ^ Montgomery, Lori, and Murray, Shailagh (June 19, 2009). "Senate's Health-Care Draft Calls for Most to Buy Insurance, Nixes Obama's 'Public Option'." The Washington Post.
  54. ^ a b Palpini, Kristin (February 12, 2010). "Neal urges piecemeal votes on health care reform." Telegram & Gazette.
  55. ^ Grim, Ryan; Lacy, Akela (June 11, 2019). "Ways and Means Committee Chair Doesn't Want Medicare for All Hearing to Mention "Medicare for All"". The Intercept. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  56. ^ McLeod, Paul (December 19, 2019). "A Deal To End Surprise Medical Billing Was Tanked At The Last Minute". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  57. ^ Shaw, Donald (May 5, 2020). "Neal Took Big Bucks From Lobbyists While Killing a Surprise Medical Bills Fix". Sludge. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  58. ^ Bluth, Rachel (December 17, 2020). "Congress Considers Bipartisan Compromise Legislation On Surprise Medical Bills". NPR.org. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  59. ^ a b "Rep. Richard E Neal - Massachusetts District 01". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021.
  60. ^ O'Brien, Elizabeth (December 19, 2019). "Congress Just Passed the Biggest Retirement Bill in More Than a Decade. Here's What You Need to Know". Money.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  61. ^ Sfortinsky, Sarah. “Almost 50 Democrats Snub Biden with Vote against Cluster Bombs for Ukraine.” The Hill, 14 July 2023, https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4097677-almost-50-democrats-snub-biden-with-vote-against-cluster-bombs-for-ukraine/.
  62. ^ “H.Amdt. 243 (Greene) to H.R. 2670: To Prohibit Cluster Munitions ... -- House Vote #317 -- Jul 13, 2023.” GovTrack.Us, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/118-2023/h317. Accessed 16 July 2023.
  63. ^ Bedard, Paul (November 10, 2009). "Republicans Hail the 64 'Pro-Life' Democrats Archived October 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine." U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
  64. ^ "Cosponsors - H.R.3755 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Women's Health Protection Act of 2021". September 29, 2021. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.

External links

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Richard Neal
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district
1989–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
2013–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kevin Brady
 Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
2019–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the
Joint Taxation Committee

2019–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the
Joint Taxation Committee

2021–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kevin Brady
 Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee
2023–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
7th 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Neal&oldid=1219967751"