Gregory Meeks (D-Ny-05)

LEGISLATOR US Representative GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY-05)

IN OFFICE CONTACT

Up for re-election in 2016 Email Contact Form https://meeks.house.gov/ 10th Term contact-me/email-me Re-elected in 2014 Web meeks.house.gov http://meeks.house.gov

Twitter @GregoryMeeks https://twitter.com/ GregoryMeeks

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DC Office 2234 Rayburn House Office Building

BGOV BIOGRAPHY

By Brian Nutting, Bloomberg News Gregory Meeks’s place along the political spectrum isn’t easily characterized. He makes a case for a significant government role in Americans’ lives, through spending to promote education, job training and a safety net for the elderly and poor. His stances on abortion, gun control, gay rights and environmental protection place him in the Democratic Party mainstream. However, he affiliates with the New Democrat Coalition, a group of generally pro-business members that includes only five black lawmakers. His senior status on the Financial Services Committee enables him to look out for the interests of the banking and financial investment industries as well as his plurality black, largely middle-class congressional district in the New York City borough of Queens. He doesn’t belong to the Progressive Caucus, which more than 60 percent of black lawmakers in the House have joined. After his initial election to the House in 1998 he said that his role, “as part of a new generation of African-American leadership, is to take us to the new phase of the civil rights movement, that is, the economic development of our community.” He told the New York Times, “I’m one who understands that, particularly in the African-American community, the key is now economic. We have to move toward the economic redistribution of our community more than we have in the past.” Meeks, whose district includes John F. Kennedy International Airport -- a major freight hub -- generally supports increased foreign trade -- a trait of many members of the New Democrat group. In October 2011 he was one of just 26 House Democrats to vote for all three free-trade bills before Congress -- agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. In the 113th Congress he was a co-chairman of a New Democrat task force on trade. He is also a co-founder and co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Services Caucus, which seeks to increase international trade in such services as information technology, banking and insurance. On Financial Services when Democrats controlled the House, he was the chairman of the International Monetary Policy

© 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved On Financial Services when Democrats controlled the House, he was the chairman of the International Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. In the 113th Congress, he was the ranking Democrat on the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit subcommittee. He was a backer of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry oversight law, particularly after he was able, as a member of the negotiating committee that developed the final version of the regulatory bill, to prevent its language on credit card fees from resulting in unintended consequences for poor people. He also worked for a provision to require the Federal Reserve to conduct periodic “stress tests” on financial institutions. In 2014, he worked closely with fellow New Yorker Michael Grimm, a Republican, and others, in passing a bill to amend federal flood insurance programs to avert large increases in homeowners’ premiums. Meeks also has a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. His interests there have ranged from Iran sanctions to private- sector development in Haiti. He has also focused on South America; he’s been a co-chairman of both the Brazil Caucus and the Columbia Caucus on Capitol Hill. He had flattering things to say about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and attended the anti-American leader’s funeral in 2013, saying he was “honored” to be representing the U.S. at the event. “My deepest sympathies go out to the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela,” he said. Meeks isn’t particularly known for aggressive partisan rhetoric, although he can deliver a jab now and then. In 2014, he voted against a multiyear farm bill that made substantial cuts in spending on food stamps and other nutrition programs. “I cannot support any legislation that turns its back on the most vulnerable women and children, families trying to get back on their feet, and the elderly and disabled,” he said. And, referring to the remark that Speaker John Boehner had made in a television interview that “we should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal,” Meeks said: “That means you’re not trying to fix or do anything; you’re trying to stop progress from moving.” Early Years Meeks was born in Harlem and raised in public housing along with his parents and three siblings. His father was a taxi driver and both parents were active in community affairs. He recalls that his role model was Thurgood Marshall. Meeks was involved in student government in school, and after earning his law degree from Howard University in Washington, Meeks returned to New York with a job as an assistant district attorney in Queens, where his family had moved. He next served as a special narcotics prosecutor before joining the New York State Investigations Commission in 1982 to probe corruption, fraud and official misconduct. He also served on the state Worker’s Compensation Board. He was active in local Democratic Party politics and staged an unsuccessful run for a seat on the city council in 1991. A year later, he won election to the New York state Assembly. He served five years in Albany, and got to know his area’s congressman, Democrat Floyd Flake. In late 1997, when Flake resigned his seat in the House to devote full time to his ministry of an African Methodist Episcopal congregation in Queens, he endorsed Meeks to succeed him. Meeks prevailed in a five-candidate special election in February 1998. In his heavily Democratic district, Meeks has had no difficulty winning re-election; he has been unopposed several times, and his lowest vote percentage has been 88. For many years, Meeks has reported scant financial assets. The report he filed in May 2013 listed a net worth of zero, the same as in the previous three years. Some New York City news organizations have questioned those filings; the New York Post wrote in 2010 that Meeks “lives pretty large for someone without any assets.” Meeks came under scrutiny in 2011 when the Office of Congressional Ethics asked the House Ethics Committee to look into allegations that Meeks didn’t disclose a $40,000 personal loan from Queens businessman Edul Ahmad. The committee in 2012 announced that while it found that Meeks hadn’t properly disclosed the loan for several years, he had corrected the error and there was no evidence the failure to disclose was done in bad faith or knowingly. The panel took no action against Meeks other than admonishing him to be more diligent about his financial reports. Several news and watchdog organizations have questioned other aspects of Meeks’s financial affairs, including the finances of several charities that he had founded, including New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families. That group allegedly kept most of the money it raised to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Updated Aug. 20, 2014

From the Representative's Website Serving the people of New York's Fifth Congressional District has been the focus of Congressman Gregory W. Meeks' fifteen year tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. During that time he has earned the respect of his constituents, as well as both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and in New York, as an effective, common-sense leader who gets things done. The economic vitality and wellbeing of the Fifth Congressional District stays front and center for Congressman Meeks who sits on two important and prominent committees in the House- the Financial Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Meeks is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, and is the former chairman of the Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade. He currently serves as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. A critical committee for the state of New York, the Financial Services Committee oversees all components of the nation's housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities. The Committee continually reviews the laws and programs relating to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and international development and finance agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Congressman Meeks serves as a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he is the former Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia. He sits on the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia. At a time when the world is more interconnected than ever before, the Foreign Affairs Committee has an important role to play. The Committee is responsible for oversight and legislation relating to- foreign assistance; the Peace Corps; national security developments affecting foreign policy; strategic planning and agreements; war powers, treaties, executive agreements, and the deployment and use of United States Armed Forces; peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and enforcement of United Nations or other international sanctions; arms control and disarmament issues; the United States Agency for International Development; activities and policies of the State, Commerce and Defense Departments and other agencies related to the Arms Export Control Act, and the Foreign Assistance Act. Congressman Meeks seeks to promote policies that strengthen America's economic and national security and build relationships with other nations in a more globalized world. He is a strong supporter of diplomacy and as such is a co-chair of the Brazil Caucus and Colombia Caucus in the House of Representatives. He also co-chairs the New Dem Task Force on Trade, the Services Caucus to promote the advancement of trade in services, and the Organization of American States Caucus to facilitate a stronger, more cooperative hemisphere. Congressman Meeks earned his bachelor's degree at Adelphi University and he received his law degree from Howard University. He is a member of the Allen AME Church in St. Albans New York and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He is married to Simone-Marie Meeks and has three daughters ^ Ebony, Aja, and Nia-Aiyana.

PERSONAL PROFILE

COMMITTEES Birthdate 09/25/1953 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS House Committee on Foreign Affairs Birthplace Harlem, NY Education House Committee on Financial Services Political Adelphi Univ Democratic Party Party CAUCUSES Bachelor's Degree 1975

Congressional Air Medical Caucus Marital Married Status Howard University Congressional Services Caucus JD 1978 Caucus on U.S.-Russian Trade and Simone-Marie Spouse Economic Relations Meeks

Family 3 children Asst Special Prosecutor, State of New York © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved Family 3 children Asst Special Prosecutor, State of New York 1978 - 1983 Assistant District Attorney, State of New York 1984 - 1985 Deputy Counsel, New York State Commission of Investigation 1985 - 1992 Supervising Judge, New York State Workers Comp BD 1992 - 1998 State Assembly Member, (NY)State Assembly 02-03-1998 - Present Representative:New York, (US)House of Representatives