Barnett "Barney" Frank (born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a Democrat and has represented since 1981. The district includes many of Boston's western and southern suburbs — such as Brookline, Newton, and Foxborough — as well as the South Coast. He is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Early life

Frank was born to a Jewish family in Bayonne, New Jersey and was educated at Harvard College, where he resided in Kirkland House and then Winthrop House, graduating in 1962. He taught undergraduates at Harvard while studying for a Ph.D., but left in 1968, before completing that degree, to become the Chief Assistant to Mayor Kevin White of Boston, a position he held for three years. He then served for one year as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael J. Harrington.

In 1972, Frank was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. During that time, he entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1977.

While in state and local government, Frank taught part time at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Boston University. He published numerous articles on politics and public affairs, and in 1992 he published Speaking Frankly, an essay on the role the Democratic Party should play in the 1990s.

National politics

In 1979, Frank became a member of the Massachusetts Bar. A year later, he won the Democratic nomination for the seat of Father Robert Drinan, who had left Congress following a call by Pope John Paul II for priests to withdraw from political positions. In 1982, redistricting forced him to run against Republican Margaret Heckler. The newly configured district retained Frank's district number — the 4th — but was geographically more Heckler's district. Initially a heavy underdog, he focused on Heckler's initial support for President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, and won by 20 percentage points. He hasn't faced credible opposition since, and has been reelected 12 times. The Republicans have not fielded an opponent against him since 2002.

Reprimand

In 1990, the House voted to reprimand Frank when it was revealed that Steve Gobie, a male escort whom Frank had befriended after hiring him through a personal advertisement, claimed to have conducted an escort service from Frank's apartment when he was not at home. Frank had dismissed Gobie earlier that year and reported the incident to the House Ethics Committee after learning of Gobie's activities. After an investigation, the House Ethics Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity. Regarding Gobie's more scandalous claims the report by the Ethics Committee concluded, "In numerous instances where an assertion made by Mr. Gobie (either publicly or during his Committee deposition) was investigated for accuracy, the assertion was contradicted by third-party sworn testimony or other evidence of Mr. Gobie himself."