Early life, education and early political career

Nadler was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1965 (where his debate team partner was the future philosopher of science Alexander Rosenberg, and his successful campaign for student government president was managed by Dick Morris).

Nadler graduated from Columbia University, where he became a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Fordham University School of Law in 1978. He worked for Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 U.S. presidential campaign. Nadler became involved in a controversy with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1995, when he wanted the release of data concerning a bank for which the FDIC was then the receiver.

The result of the dispute was a key Second Circuit precedent on the applicability of the Freedom of Information Act to circumstances in which a public agency possesses "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential".

New York Assembly

He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 1992, sitting in the 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th and 189th New York State Legislatures.

In 1985, he ran for Manhattan Borough President. He lost the Democratic primary to David Dinkins. In the general election, he ran as the New York Liberal Party nominee, and was again defeated by Dinkins.

In 1989, he ran for New York City Comptroller. In the Democratic primary, he lost to Kings County D.A. Elizabeth Holtzman.

He is credited with authoring legislation dealing with domestic violence and child support enforcement, and was one of the architects of the "Child Support Adjustment Act". Nadler was the only male to be honored as "Assemblymember of the Year" by the National Organization for Women due to his inclusion on the American Civil Liberties Unions Annual Honor Roll. It was also during his Assembly years that Nadler honed his expertise on issues of urban infrastructure.

Nadler founded and chaired the Assembly Subcommittee on Mass Transit and Rail Freight.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1992, Ted Weiss was expected to run for re-election in the 8th District, which had been renumbered from the 17th after the 1990 U.S. Census. However, Weiss died a day before the primary election. Nadler was nominated to replace Weiss. He ran in two elections on Election Day - a special election to serve the rest of Weiss's term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. He won both handily, and has been re-elected ten times with little serious competition in one of the most Democratic districts in the country. A Republican has not represented this district or its predecessors in over a century.

Tenure

Nadler is a member of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. He is the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Despite earlier efforts to bring impeachment charges against George W. Bush, and more recent requests from fellow representatives, he did not schedule hearings on impeachments for Bush or Dick Cheney, saying in 2007 that doing so would be pointless and would distract from the presidential election. In a July 15, 2008, Washington Journal interview, Nadler reiterated the timing defense while stating that Bush had committed impeachable offenses, but that nothing could be done because the system is "overly political". Ten days later, following upon submission of Articles of Impeachment by Representative Dennis Kucinich, the full House Judiciary Committee held hearings covered solely by C-SPAN regarding the process. A top Ronald Reagan Justice Department official, Bruce Fein, was among those testifying for impeachment.

Nadler said in a December 2008 interview that he was interested in the U.S. Senate seat that Hillary Clinton was planning to resign to become U.S. Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. He cited his opposition to the war in Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, and the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 as among his principal qualifications.

Nadler has also vowed to re-introduce the Freedom of Choice Act during the Obama administration.

Nadler was unhappy with the passage of the surveillance-reform compromise bill, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, saying it "abandons the Constitution's protections and insulates lawless behavior from legal scrutiny".

Nadler urged the Attorney General in December 2008 to appoint an independent counsel to investigate Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other top Bush officials for violating the law on torturing prisoners in US custody.

On September 15, 2009, Nadler, along with two other representatives, introduced the Respect for Marriage Act.

Nadler compared Obama's acceptance of Republican demands to extend Bush-era tax cuts at the highest income levels to someone being roughed-up by the mob, asserting that the Republicans would only allow the middle class tax cut if millionaires and billionaires receive a long-term tax cut as well.

In January 2011, Nadler called the new GOP majority's plan to read the Constitution on the House floor "ritualistic" and complained that it treated the Constitution like "a sacred text" for "propaganda" purposes.

In 2015, Nadler voted to support an agreement to lift economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran's compliance with the terms of the agreement which called for substantial dismantling and scaling back of their nuclear program.

Income taxes

Nadler has proposed changing the income tax brackets to reflect different regions and their costs of living, which would have lowered the tax rate for New Yorkers. Nadler has opposed giving tax breaks to high-income earners, saying that the country cannot afford it.

Occupy Wall Street

Nadler sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. requesting that Holder investigate whether the police monitoring the Occupy protests had deprived the protestors' Constitutional rights. It was reported that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City had “ridiculed” Nadler's call for an investigation into police conduct. Bloomberg suggested he would be able to make the streets safer by getting money for homeland security instead.

Voting record

Nadler has a liberal voting record in the House. He gained national prominence during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, when he described the process as a "partisan railroad job."

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Nadler helped to pass bills granting economic aid to the families of those killed and small businesses that were harmed due to the attacks.

Nadler has also promoted legislation to extend Medicare benefits to individuals suffering from Ground Zero illness (physical ailments from the dust from the attacks) or mental health problems as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

This Medicare proposal includes a section that provides for a consortium of organization to study Ground Zero illness.

According to the National Journal, Nadler is one of seven members of the House of Representatives who tie for most liberal.

Committee assignments

• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus

Personal life

Nadler lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife and son.

In 2002 and 2003 Nadler had laparoscopic duodenal switch surgery, helping him lose more than 100 pounds.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]