John LaFalce
John Joseph LaFalce is an American politician who was Congressman from the state of New York from 1975 to 2003. He crafted the legislation that became the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, often cited as a cause of the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis and following Global Financial Crisis. He attended the 2002 Bilderberg meeting.
He retired in 2002 after his district was merged with that of a fellow Democrat.
Background
LaFalce was born in Buffalo, New York, on October 6, 1939. He graduated Canisius High School before earning a bachelor's degree from Canisius College and J.D. degree from Villanova University School of Law.
From 1965 to 1967, LaFalce was in the United States Army during the Vietnam era, leaving active duty with the rank of Captain. He returned from military service to practice law in Western New York with the law firm of Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel, and soon became active in politics.
State politics
LaFalce was a member of the New York State Senate (53rd D.) in 1971 and 1972; and a member of the New York State Assembly (140th D.) in 1973 and 1974.
Congress
In 1974, at the age of 35, LaFalce became the second Democrat, and the first since 1912, to win election to what was then the 36th congressional district of New York, which was based in Niagara Falls and also included much of northern Buffalo and the western suburbs of Rochester. LaFalce was elected as part of the "Watergate babies", the large Democratic freshman class elected in the wake of Watergate. He was reelected 13 times, rarely facing substantive opposition.
During his career in the House of Representatives, he was on both the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (now the Committee on Financial Services). In January 1987, he was elected by the Democratic Caucus as Chairman of the Committee on Small Business, thus becoming the first member of his class to chair a full, standing committee of the House. Following the change in control of Congress in 1994, he was the committee's ranking Democrat. In February 1998, he was elected the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and worked in that capacity through 2003.
He crafted legislation that became the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 for which he and three other colleagues earned the American Financial Leadership Award from the Financial Services Roundtable. LaFalce also played a key leadership role in introducing and championing what ultimately became the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed by President Bush in July 2002.[1]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2002 | 30 May 2002 | 2 June 2002 | US Virginia Chantilly Westfields Marriott | The 50th Bilderberg, held at Chantilly, Virginia. |
References
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