John F. Tierney Quote

John F. Tierney (born September 18, 1951) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1997 to 2015. He is a Democrat who represented the state's 6th district, which includes the state's North Shore and Cape Ann. Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Tierney graduated from Salem State College and Suffolk University Law School. He worked in private law and served on the Salem Chamber of Commerce from 1976 to 1997. Tierney first ran for the House of Representatives in 1994 against Republican incumbent Peter G. Torkildsen, losing by a small margin. He defeated Torkildsen in a rematch in 1996.
A liberal member of Congress, Tierney voted along with other Democratic Representatives from Massachusetts. He sat on the House Committee on Education and Labor, where his priorities included green energy and increased college access. He co-authored several pieces of legislation, including the Green Jobs Act of 2007 and the College Affordability and Accountability Act of 2008. He is the former chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, where he helped establish the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. From 1998 to 2010, Tierney comfortably won re-election in each cycle. He faced tougher challenges after his wife Patrice was convicted of felony tax fraud in 2010, narrowly defeating his Republican opponent in 2012. In the 2014 election, he lost the Democratic primary to Seth Moulton, who went on to hold the seat in the general election. In February 2016, Tierney was appointed the executive director of the Council for a Livable World and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the council's affiliated education and research organization.