U.S. Representative
In 1974, at the age of 35, LaFalce became only the second Democrat, and the first since 1912, to win election to what was then the 36th congressional district of New York, which included most of northern Buffalo as well as Niagara Falls. LaFalce was elected as part of 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.
LaFalce was generally a liberal Democrat, but strongly opposed abortion. He currently serves on the National Advisory Board of Democrats for Life of America.
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 Rochester-based 28th District of fellow Democrat Louise Slaughter. 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 didn't seek reelection in 2002.
Read more about this topic: John J. LaFalce