Don Riegle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theSenate Banking Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | William Proxmire |
| Succeeded by | Al D'Amato |
| United States Senator fromMichigan | |
| In office December 30, 1976 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Philip Hart |
| Succeeded by | Spencer Abraham |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's7th district | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – December 30, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | John C. Mackie |
| Succeeded by | Dale Kildee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. (1938-02-04)February 4, 1938 (age 87) Flint, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (1973–present) Republican (before 1973) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Donald W. Riegle Sr. (father) |
| Education | Mott Community College Western Michigan University University of Michigan, Flint (BA) Michigan State University (MBA) Harvard University |
Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. (/ˈriːɡəl/REE-gəl; born February 4, 1938) is an American politician, author, and businessman fromMichigan. He served for five terms as aRepresentative and for three terms as aSenator in theU.S. Congress.
Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. was born on February 4, 1938 inFlint, Michigan, to Donald Wayne Riegle Sr., son of John Louis Riegle, owner of the Riegle Press and future mayor of Flint, and Dorothy Grace Riegle. He is a graduate ofFlint Central High School.
Riegle attended Flint Junior College (nowMott Community College) andWestern Michigan University, graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from theUniversity of Michigan–Flint in 1960, and received an MBA in finance fromMichigan State University in 1961.[1]Riegle was employed byIBM as a financial analyst from 1961 to 1964. Between 1964 and 1966, he completed required course work for doctoral studies in business and government relations atHarvard Business School before he left to run for Congress. Riegle taught at Michigan State University,Boston University, theUniversity of Southern California, andHarvard University.
In 1966,Richard Nixon persuaded Riegle to return to Michigan to run for Congress.[2]Riegle was then 28 years old and considered to be a moderate Republican. Nixon attended an early campaign fundraiser, and talked up Riegle's prospects to reporters.[2]
Riegle defeated incumbentDemocraticU.S. RepresentativeJohn C. Mackie, to be elected fromMichigan's 7th congressional district to the90th Congress. Mackie was one of theMichigan Five Fluke Freshmen who lost their seats after a single term.[2]
In 1973, Riegle changed party affiliation to become a Democrat over differences with theRichard Nixon administration regarding theVietnam War and theSouthern strategy.[3][circular reference] He was re-elected as a Democrat to the 94th Congress. He did not run for reelection to the House in 1976, but announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate to succeed retiring SenatorPhilip Hart and defeated Michigan Secretary of StateRichard H. Austin and fellow CongressmanJames G. O'Hara in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican CongressmanMarvin L. Esch in the general election.
In 1973 Riegle was one of the co-sponsors of H.R. 8163, a bill to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex or marital status in the granting of credit, also known as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Sponsored by CongresswomanBella Abzug, the Equal Credit Opportunity was passed by the House and the Senate in 1974 and was signed into law by PresidentGerald Ford on October 28, 1974.
Riegle was elected to theUnited States Senate in 1976 over RepublicanMarvin Esch. On December 30, 1976, before Riegle's term was set to begin, he was appointed early by GovernorWilliam Milliken due to the death of Senator Hart for the term ending January 3, 1977. He was reelected to the Senate in 1982 and again in 1988. Riegle's 1988 election was the largest Democratic margin of victory in the state's history until being surpassed byCarl Levin in 2008. Riegle did not seek re-election in 1994.
He served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 1989–1995. Riegle also served on the Senate Committee on Finance, where he served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health for Families and the Uninsured, the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, where he served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where he served as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Science and Space, and was a member of the Senate Committee on Budget from 1979 to 1995.
In the area of banking reform, Riegle led the efforts to enact the "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 ("FDICIA"), which preserved the ability of theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect depositors and reformed the way banks are run and regulated. The FDICIA also restricted the "too big to fail policy", strengthened regulation of foreign banks in the U.S., and expanded disclosure requirements for banks to consumers.
Riegle also led the effort to create a system of community development banks. The "Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994" established the Community Development financial institutions Fund to seed and support financial institutions dedicated to supporting community development. The legislation also provided increased consumer protections for high rate home equity loans, contained measures to increase credit availability to small businesses, streamline the regulation of depository institutions, and reform theNational Flood Insurance Program.
The "Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994" eliminated restrictions on interstate banking by permitting bank holding companies to acquire banks in any state, permitted banks to merge across state lines unless states opt-out, and reduced the competitive advantages that foreign banks had in the U.S. market over U.S. banks.
In 1994, Riegle led an investigation of the illnesses being experienced by veterans of theGulf War, using the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee over "dual use" exports—materials and technology that could be converted to military use. The resulting investigative report to the Senate detailed at least three occasions on which U. S. military forces came into contact with chemical warfare agents that may have led to the development ofGulf War syndrome and that at least some of those biological agents (weapons of mass destruction) had been provided toSaddam Hussein by the US. Commonly referred to as the Riegle Report to the U.S. Senate, the report called for further government investigation and recourse for war veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome.
In his first action as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Riegle led the efforts to reform the savings and loan industry, which resulted in the Financial Institutions Recovery, Reform, and Enforcement Act of 1989 ("FIRREA").[3] The toughest financial reform bill in 50 years, FIRREA ended the abuses and reformed the savings and loan industry. FIRREA put controls on state-chartered thrifts, stopped excessive risk taking by savings and loans, limited brokered deposits, banned junk bond investments, and set new capital requirements for savings and loans.
In 1972, he authored a best-selling book, "O Congress" with Trevor Armbrister. The book provides an inside look at the workings of Congress, Riegle's opposition to the Vietnam War, and his break with the Nixon White House.
In 1995, he joined Weber Shandwick Public Affairs, inWashington, D.C. There, he was instrumental in building the company's government affairs practice and played an important part in the procurement of Powell Tate, a government affairs firm that is now owned by Weber Shandwick and still operating in Washington D.C., under its independent brand. As the company grew, he took on more responsibility and eventually served as deputy chairman. He joined public relations firmAPCO Worldwide in 2001, as chairman of government relations in Washington, D.C.
Riegle endorsedBernie Sanders for theDemocratic nomination forPresident of the United States[4] in both2016 and2020.[5]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 7th congressional district 1967–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMichigan (Class 1) 1976,1982,1988 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Ted StevensJohn Rhodes | Response to the State of the Union address 1982 Served alongside:Robert Byrd,Alan Cranston,Al Gore,Gary Hart,Bennett Johnston,Ted Kennedy,Tip O'Neill,Paul Sarbanes,Jim Sasser | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Michigan 1976–1995 Served alongside:Robert P. Griffin,Carl Levin | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Banking Committee 1982–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Banking Committee 1989–1995 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Senator | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Senator | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Senator |
| Banking and Currency (1913–1970) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (1970–present) | ||
| Class 1 | | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
