Student Life

Barney Frank chooses not to run for re-election

Elise Brown
November 30, 2011

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-4) announced on Nov. 28 that at the conclusion of his current term, he will be retiring. In a statement on his website, he said that he came to this decision because of the redistricting recently done in his state, which removes from his district “virtually the entire fishing industry of Southeastern Massachusetts,” a group he has represented up until this point. He also expressed frustration with the current political process and climate, another reason for his decision to retire.

“I am announcing today my retirement from elected office after 40 years but not my retirement from public policy advocacy,” Frank wrote. “[I]n some ways I believe I may have more impact speaking, writing and in other ways advocating for the changes that I think are necessary than trying to bring them about inside our constricting political process.”

Before running for national office, Frank was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980, and has been the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 until Republicans took the majority in 2011. Frank is currently the committee’s Ranking Member. He has consistently been a strong advocate of progressive economic reform, most recently sponsoring the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Frank publicly came out as a homosexual in 1987, making him the first openly gay member of Congress. Ever since then, he has been recognized as one of the United States’ strongest voices for LGBT rights.

Frank lives in Newton, Mass. with his partner, Jim Ready.

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About the Contributor

Elise Brown, Co Editor-in-Chief

Elise Brown, senior, has always felt comfortable standing up and giving her opinion in front of everyone and for the most part, she enjoys it very much. That is one of the many reasons why she heads the debate team, and also why in June she earned a place in the National Speech and Debate Competition in Indianapolis.

Out of the 250 people entered in the competition, she finished 151st in the country. Before she earned her rightful place in Nationals, however, she needed to prove herself in Districts and State.

Her 10 minute long speech about socialism and its benefits took first and second in Districts and State, respectively.

“In the National competition the judges didn’t appreciate politics or controversy as much as they did in Districts and State,” Brown said. This was confirmed from one of the judges she conversed with in order to find out what she could do better.

Brown’s interest in current events started in the eighth grade. She then did the Amplifier, the high school newspaper to help communicate her ideas about the world with her fellow peers, she also did the debate team to better understand the problems throughout the world and learn how to solve them somewhat.

“Debate involves knowing what is going on in the world,” Brown said.

This year for upcoming competitions, she has a speech in the works that she feels will top her last one. This year’s speech is about interdependence inspired by the “you didn’t build that debate,” caused when President Barack Obama told business people that they did not create their businesses on their own.

Brown’s passion for debate has influenced what college she will go to, what she will study in college, and what she wants to do in her life. Brown’s goal is to graduate high school and then travel to Massachusetts and attend Wellesley College, a very well known and prestigious college, where Brown hopes to study political science.

To achieve this goal she has taken part in a number of rigorous courses and activities such as Speech and Debate, AP Government, AP Economics, Honors Law, AP English and journalism. Once Brown achieves her education goals, her next goal is to become a political commentator.

“I want to change people’s minds,” Brown said. Brown has chosen the path to become a political commentator because she believes political power lies with the media.

Brown has worked very hard throughout high school and continues to work hard through her senior year. She has taken many challenging courses to achieve her goal of going to Wellesley, and will need to continue down the very rigorous path to success to accomplish her goals.