Rep. Richard Neal (D) Elected 1988, 8th term
Born:	Feb. 14, 1949, Springfield
Home:	Springfield
Education:	Amer. Intl. Col., B.A. 1972, U. of Hartford, M.A. 1976
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Maureen)
Elected  Office:	Springfield City Cncl., 1978-83; Springfield Mayor, 1984-88.
Professional Career:	Staff Asst., Springfield Mayor William C. Sullivan, 1973-78; High Schl. & Col. teacher, 1978-83.
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As American as apple pie, the place where basketball was invented, the city where the Webster's unabridged dictionaries (2d and 3d editions) were edited and published, the site of the armory where M-1 rifles were manufactured during World War II: This is Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield is the third largest city in the Bay State, but far from Boston; historically overshadowed by Hartford as the center of the Connecticut River Valley; a medium-sized American city built by New England Yankees, where immigrants from a dozen different countries have worked their way up. Like other New England cities, its downtown has emptied; business leaders have tried to revive it, with the opening of the expanded Basketball Hall of Fame. The gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson in the 1990s embraced the marketing restrictions sought by gun control advocates, and then saw its sales sag, as gun control opponents--its natural market--shunned its products. Now, under new ownership, it has abandoned that stance, and sales are rising again.

Springfield is the largest city in the 2d Congressional District, whose irregular boundaries stretch north to the college towns of South Hadley and Northampton, tourist destinations now with trendy restaurants. To the east across stony hills it includes the antique center of Brimfield and the factory towns of the Blackstone Valley just north of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Historically, this was a Yankee Republican district for much of the 20th century, then a solidly Catholic Democratic district. Now it is more diverse culturally, but still solidly Democratic.

The congressman from the 2d District is Richard Neal, mayor of Springfield from 1984-88. Neal grew up in Springfield, went to work for the mayor in 1973, and was elected to the city council in 1978, while teaching high school and college history. As mayor, Neal worked to rehabilitate the downtown and revitalize neighborhoods. His predecessor, 36-year incumbent Edward Boland, a longtime friend of Tip O'Neill, essentially bequeathed him the House seat. In 1988, Boland announced his retirement just before the filing deadline, and after Neal had been making the rounds of the district for a year. Unopposed in the Democratic primary, Neal won 80% in the general.

Neal has a generally liberal voting record but has favored enough moderate initiatives to separate himself from more ideological Massachusetts colleagues. He voted for the final version of welfare reform, the partial-birth abortion ban and the Defense of Marriage Act; he refused to support Bill Clinton's health care plan. He voted for NAFTA and GATT and--after considerable hand wringing--for PNTR with China. But he opposed trade promotion authority in 2001 and 2002 and voted against the Iraq war resolution. He serves on Ways and Means, where he decries the complications of the tax code and has a bill that would repeal the alternative minimum tax and eliminate 200 lines from federal tax forms. When other Ways and Means Democrats cut a bipartisan deal to expand pensions and retirement incentives, he filed an alternative targeted more to blue-collar workers.

Neal took the lead for House Democrats on a popular proposal to clamp down on companies that incorporate in Bermuda and other offshore havens to avoid U.S. taxes. He gave the initiative an additional bite when he directed its fire at companies that moved offshore after September 11, terming it "The Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act of 2002." Opponents said that such moves were not illegal, but when Democrats forced a late-night vote on adding Neal's proposal to the bill creating the Homeland Security Department, the Republican leadership decided it could not defeat it; 109 Republicans voted for Neal's proposal. After the November election, in conference committee, the provision was gutted by allowing the Department of Homeland Security to waive the provision when necessary to uphold national security or protect U.S. jobs. Neal resolved to raise the issue again in the 108th Congress.

Like many other Irish Catholic brethren over the years, Neal has encouraged American attempts at reconciliation in Northern Ireland. In 1980, when he was a city council member, he sponsored a plank at the Democratic National Convention for the unification of Ireland. In 1993, he started one-hour special orders sessions on Irish issues; a year later, he personally lobbied Bill Clinton to grant a visa for Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein to visit the U.S. In 2002, the American Ireland Fund gave Neal its International Leadership Award for his years of efforts.

Neal had serious primary challenges in 1990 and 1992, but won by satisfactory margins. Republicans have never mounted credible opposition. He has faced no opposition at all since 1996. With his secure local seat, he is free to wait to rise to the heights of seniority on Ways and Means.

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DC Office
2133 RHOB 20515, 202-225-5601; Fax: 202-225-8112; Web site: www.house.gov/neal

State Offices
Milford, 508-634-8198; Springfield, 413-785-0325.

Committees

• Budget (7th of 19 D).
• Ways & Means (9th of 17 D): Trade.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	90	67	100	88	73	38	19	37	4	3	8
2001	85	--	100	71	--	--	9	27	13	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	78%	--	22%		72%	--	27%
Social	65%	--	34%		66%	--	34%
Foreign	86%	--	12%		86%	--	14%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform Y 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities N 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots N  9. Trade Promotion Authority N 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court N 11. Authorize Force in Iraq N 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Richard Neal (D)	unopposed
2002 primary	Richard Neal (D)	unopposed
2000 general	Richard Neal (D)	unopposed
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (100%); 1996 (72%); 1994 (59%); 1992 (53%); 1990 (100%); 1988 (80%)

2000 presidential
	Gore (D)	150,148	58%
	Bush (R)	89,775	35%
	Other	19,588	8%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D +12
• District Size: 952 square miles
• Population in 2000: 634,444; 84.8% urban; 15.2% rural
• Median Household Income: $44,386; 10.8% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 24.1% blue collar; 60.6% white collar; 15.4% gray collar; 13.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 82.5% White, 5.5% Black, 1.3% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.2% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 9.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 13.4% Irish, 10.8% French, 8.9% Italian
• Click here for statewide demographic data.