Thomas Downey

American politician

Thomas Joseph Downey (born January 28, 1949) is an American attorney, lobbyist and former politician who served as a U. S. Representative for New York's 2nd congressional district from 1975 to 1993.

Downey was born in Queens, New York City to Norma (née Morgillo) and Thomas A. Downey Jr. He graduated from West Islip High School in West Islip, New York, in 1966, and went on to earn a B. S. from Cornell University in 1970. He attended St. John's University School of Law from 1972 to 1974, and earned a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law of American University in 1980.

He served as Suffolk County, New York legislator from 1972 to 1975, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1972.

In 1974, he was elected as Democrat to the 94th United States Congress; at 25, he was the youngest member of that Congress. He was re elected to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993) and unsuccessfully ran for reelection to the 103rd United States Congress in 1992. He lost his seat after it was revealed that he was among several lawmakers who had frequently overdrawn their House bank accounts without penalty, and that his wife at the time was a House bank auditor. As a member of the United States House Committee on Armed Services, Downey specialized in arms control issues, serving as an adviser to the negotiation teams for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and START I talks. As a member of the Budget and Ways and Means Committees, he advocated for welfare reform and child care legislation. In March 1985, Downey was involved in a physical scuffle in the House chamber with Republican Congressman Bob Dornan. Dornan, a veteran of the United States Air Force, had earlier described Downey in a public speech as "a draft dodging wimp." Since leaving politics, Downey has worked as a lobbyist and chair of Downey McGrath Group, Inc., a lobbying firm he founded in 1993. The president is Ray McGrath, also a former U. S. Representative from New York. Downey represented Dubai Ports World and lobbied Congress to approve the controversial ports deal. Downey argues that "they would have made this country more secure" because "DP World is one of the few companies that could have worked with us to truly improve security, both at home and abroad." Other past clients included energy companies like Chevron and the Standard Renewable Energy Group, several foreign countries, and the Albright Group. He retired from lobbying in 2015. He has served on the advisory board for Council for a Livable World, a non partisan advocacy organization dedicated to reducing the danger of nuclear weapons. He is also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

In 1978, Downey married Chris Milanos, with whom he is the father of two children, Lauren Katherine and Theodore Jonathan. They later divorced, and on June 21, 2007, Downey married Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency.