John Joseph LaFalce (born October 6, 1939) is an American politician who served as a Congressman from the state of New York from 1975 to 2003. He retired in 2002 after his district was merged with that of a fellow Democrat. LaFalce was first elected to the

94th United States Congress The 94th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1975, ...

in 1974 and re-elected to each succeeding Congress through the 107th, serving his Western New York congressional district for 28 years, from 1975 to 2003. He served as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee from 1987 to 1995, and as Ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee from 1999 to 2003. He declined to seek re-election to the 108th Congress.

Early life and education

LaFalce was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, on October 6, 1939. He graduated

Canisius High School Canisius High School is a Catholic, private college-preparatory school for young men run by the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1 ...

before earning a bachelor's degree from Canisius College and J.D. degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Military service

From 1965 to 1967, LaFalce served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

era, leaving

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be o ...

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 public service.

Career

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 Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

and also included much of northern Buffalo and the western suburbs of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. 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 served 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 served as the committee's ranking Democrat. In February 1998, he was elected the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and served in that capacity through 2003. LaFalce had numerous accomplishments as a legislator. For example, he is credited with initiating the Competitiveness Policy Council. 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 The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is an American financial services lobbying and advocacy organization, based in Washington, D.C. The Bank Policy Institute was formed in July 2018 by the merger of two older lobbying groups, the Financial Services ...

. 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. LaFalce was generally a liberal Democrat, but strongly opposed

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. He currently serves on the National Advisory Board of

Democrats for Life of America Democrats for Life of America (DFLA) is a 501(c)(4) American political advocacy nonprofit organization that seeks to elect anti-abortion Democrats and to encourage the Democratic Party to oppose euthanasia, capital punishment, and abortion. DF ...

. He also was among a handful of Democratic members who voted against the five Iran sanction bills that passed 1997–2001. After the 2000 census, New York lost two congressional districts. One plan called for the merger of LaFalce's territory with the neighboring 27th district of Republican Jack Quinn, a longtime friend who represented the other portion of Buffalo. The final map merged his district with the

-based 28th District of fellow Democrat

Louise Slaughter Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. She served as the Dean of the ...

. The new district retained Slaughter's district number, but geographically was more LaFalce's district; indeed, only a narrow band of territory from Buffalo to Rochester connected the two areas. Nonetheless, LaFalce did not seek reelection in 2002.

Later career

LaFalce served on the Board of Directors of State Bancorp, Inc., then parent company o
State Bank of Long Island
from 2007 to 2012. LaFalce was Banking Board Member at the

New York State Banking Department The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent. The New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the United States ...

from 2008 to 2011. He served as the Chairman and Director of Erie County Industrial Development Agency from April 1, 2012 to May 2013 and is a member of the advisory board to the Canadian American Business Council.

Personal life

He is married to the former Patricia Fisher and they have one son, Martin, who is a graduate of

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

and currently works as a public interest lawyer in New York City.

Honors

LaFalce received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Villanova University School of Law (1991), St. John's University (1989), and Niagara University (1979), as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Canisius College (1990).

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:LaFalce, John J. 1939 births Living people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly United States Army officers Villanova University School of Law alumni Canisius College alumni Politicians from Buffalo, New York American politicians of Italian descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 21st-century American politicians