Gregory Meeks

Early life, education, and career

Meeks was born in East Harlem, New York City and raised in a housing project. He received his B.A. degree from Adelphi University and his J.D. degree from Howard University School of Law. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He worked as an Assistant District Attorney and for the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York before joining the Investigations Commission on official misconduct and organized crime. He then was Supervising Judge for the New York State Workers Compensation System. Meeks was a member of the New York State Assembly (31st D.) from 1993 to 1998.

House of Representatives

Elections

2008

Meeks was criticized for initially supporting Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama for president. His House primary election challenger was to be Ruben Wills, a former chief of staff for State Senator Shirley Huntley and an organizer for Obama. Wills said, "I was on board with Obama from Day 1; Meeks had to be dragged across the line." Some suggested that a young black political class was seeking to assert the neighborhood's power against what it saw as an older establishment, based in Harlem, that had long exercised disproportionate influence in New York City. Wills did not qualify for the ballot, so no primary election took place.

2012

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Meeks one of the most corrupt members of Congress in 2011. It was subsequently reported that his continuing ethical and criminal probes would cause his premature exit from Congress, but Meeks has denied this. In October 2011, hiphop artist and law school graduate Mike Scala announced his candidacy in the Democratic primary. Meeks won the primary and was reelected in the November general election with 90% of the vote.

Tenure

On March 3, 2015, Meeks participated with fellow Democrats in a boycott of the speech delivered by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress.

In July 2020, after the primary defeat of House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel, Meeks declared his candidacy for chair. On December 3, 2020, Meeks defeated Joaquin Castro 148-78 in a House Democratic Caucus vote.

Meeks voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

SALT deductions

In November 2021, Meeks called for increasing the cap on SALT deductions.

Philippines visit

On August 25, 2007, Silvestre Reyes, chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee, and four other representatives visited American troops deployed in the southern Philippines to overview the US-Philippines relationship. Reyes headed the bipartisan delegation, which included Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, member of the Appropriations Committee and the select intelligence oversight panel; Heather Wilson of the Committee on Energy and the Intelligence Committee; Meeks; and Dutch Ruppersberger of the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees. They drove to the base of the Joint Special Operation Task Force Philippines (JSOTFP), a US-led body that trains Filipino soldiers against terror in Barangay Upper Calarian.

Fall of Afghanistan

On the day of the fall of Kabul, Meeks said in a statement that the Taliban victory was "inevitable". He also said, "It is abundantly clear that the Taliban's advance was ultimately inevitable, at least without a commitment to surge tens of thousands of U.S. troops for an unknown span of time. That is a commitment the American public has made clear it does not support."

2013 CREW report

In 2013, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Meeks as one of the most corrupt politicians in Washington. This was as a result of claims that he purchased a home for over $150,000 less than it was worth, met with former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on behalf of a donor, and failure to disclose a private loan on congressional financial statements.

Congressional auto lease

The New York Times reported that Meeks utilizes the option to use tax dollars to lease a car for use as a member of Congress. This option does not exist for Senate members. The lease is forgone by many members of Congress, but Meeks has held the most-expensive lease among all members. He has used tax dollars to lease a 2007 Lexus LS 460 for $998 per month. Meeks was unwilling to provide further comment when questioned by the Times about the lease arrangement, saying, "These are never lighthearted stories."

Malaysia visit

In August 2022, Meeks traveled to Malaysia with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress as part of Pelosi's Asia tour. Malaysia was their second stop after Singapore. They discussed security challenges, economic opportunities and governance priorities between Malaysia and the U.S.

G20 Bali summit

On October 6, 2022, The United States embassy at Jakarta stated that Meeks represented Pelosi and would deliver the keynote address at the P20 Bali summit's plenary session on "Effective Parliament, Dynamic Democracy". His speech discussed the importance of defending democratic values, combating climate change, strengthening food and energy security, advancing sustainable development and recovery from COVID-19, and deepening inter-parliamentary coordination to address these challenges.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
• Committee on Foreign Affairs (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

• Dialogue Caucus (Co-chair)
• Malaysia Caucus (Co-chair)
• Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus (Co-chair)
• Services Caucus (Co-chair)
• Caucus on US Russian Trade and Economic Relations (Co-chair)
• Black Maternal Health Caucus{{cite web|title=Caucus Members
• House Baltic Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
• U.S.-Japan Caucus
• Congressional Black Caucus,
• International Conservation Caucus
• New Democrat Coalition
• Afterschool Caucuses.
• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans
• Congressional Taiwan Caucus

Personal life

Meeks has African-American heritage, and according to DNA analysis, he descends mainly from people of Sierra Leone. His great-grandparents lived in South Carolina when slavery was abolished.

References

References

1. https://www.nydems.org/about/counties
2. Lawrence Kestenbaum. "Alpha Phi Alpha Politicians". The Political Graveyard.
3. Hernandez, Raymond. (July 1, 2008). "A New Campaign Charge: You Supported Clinton". The New York Times.
4. [http://www.qgazette.com/news/2008/0716/political_page/014.html Obama Forces Back Challenges To Meeks In SE Queens Primary. www.qgazette.com. Queens Gazette]
5. Staff. (2012). "Gregory Meeks (D-NY)". Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
6. (October 2, 2011). "Pushing Meeks out door". New York Post.
7. U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks. (November 3, 2011). "Meeks Clears Air". Queens Tribune.
8. Queens-Politics. (October 28, 2011). "Scala Seeks Democratic Endorsement For 6th Congressional.". Queens-Politics.com.
9. (March 3, 2015). "List of 56 Democrats Not Attending Netanyahu's Speech". IJ Review.
10. (July 21, 2020). "Castro launches bid for House Foreign Affairs gavel".
11. Bycoffe, Aaron. (2021-04-22). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?".
12. (November 18, 2021). "Dems agonize over tax cuts for rich: 'Bad policy, bad politics'".
13. Matikas Santos. (June 28, 2012). "'Dindo' will hit N. Luzon, 10 areas under Signal No. 2". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
14. Choi, Joseph. (2021-08-16). "Top House Democrat: Taliban advance was 'ultimately inevitable'". [[The Hill (newspaper).
15. "Rep. Gregory Meeks(D-NY) Named One of the Most Corrupt Members of Congress".
16. (2010-03-19). "Congressman Cries Poor, but Lifestyle May Disagree". The New York Times.
17. Report, Post Staff. (2011-09-25). "Meeks' moral morass".
18. Muessig, Ben. (2009-12-29). "Queens Rep. Tied To Ponzi Schemer — And Hugo Chavez?".
19. Editorials. (December 29, 2009). "Come clean, Mr. Meeks: Congressman must explain relationship with shady billionaire".
20. Smith, Greg B.. (July 8, 2010). "FBI looks into secret $40,000 personal loan to Queens pol Gregory Meeks".
21. Hernandez, Raymond. (May 1, 2008). "What Would You Drive, if the Taxpayers Paid?". The New York Times.
22. (2 August 2022). "US speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Malaysia".
23. (2 August 2022). "Dewan Rakyat, US House of Reps to have open line to build better ties".
24. Sinaga, Yuni Arisandy. (6 October 2022). "Ketua komite luar negeri DPR AS hadiri KTT P20 di Jakarta".
25. "List of Standing Committees and Select Committees of the House of Representatives". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
26. "Members". House Baltic Caucus.
27. "About the CEC". CEC.
28. "Members". Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
29. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus.
30. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus.
31. "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus.
32. "Members". New Democrat Coalition.
33. "Members". Afterschool Alliance.
34. "Members of the Caucus on U.S. - Türkiye Relations & Turkish Americans". Turkish Coalition of America.
35. "Congressional Taiwan Caucus". Congressman Brad Sherman.
36. {{YouTube. Dpmi9ZiAKbw. Congressman Greg Meeks Ancestry Reveal
37. Gronich, Marc "A Q&A With Rep. Gregory Meeks" ''Jewish Press'' June 19, 2020