Fernand St. Germain
Fernand Joseph St Germain | |
---|---|
![]() |
|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st district |
|
In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1989 |
|
Preceded by | Aime Forand |
Succeeded by | Ronald Machtley |
Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives | |
In office 1952–1961 |
|
Personal details | |
Born | Blackstone, Massachusetts |
January 9, 1928
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Newport, Rhode Island |
Alma mater | Providence College Boston University Law School |
Occupation | Attorney |
Fernand Joseph St Germain (January 9, 1928 – August 16, 2014) was a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island.
Born in Blackstone, Massachusetts, St Germain attended parochial schools in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He graduated from Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School, 1945, and from Providence College, 1948. He served in the United States Army from 1949 to 1952, and then graduated from Boston University Law School, 1955.
St Germain was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1952 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Rhode Island in 1956.
St Germain was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1989). He served as chairman of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (Ninety-seventh through One Hundredth Congresses); the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 is named after him.
St Germain played a role in passing legislation which removed some regulations on savings and loans. The deregulation had the effect of enabling the institutions to engage in risky lending practices, and was the key factor in the creation of the savings and loan crisis. He also proposed an amendment to raise the FSLIC insurance on S & L accounts from $40,000 to $100,000 (at the time an average account balance was $6,000), bringing the proposal to the floor of the House of Representatives at midnight when only eleven other congressmen were present. It was voted for unanimously. This allowed for a flood of brokered CDs seeking higher interest to move around S & Ls and contributed to the debacle which will cost the taxpayer trillions of dollars and allowed hundreds of frauds to go unpunished. (Pizzo, Fricker, Muolo: Inside Job: The looting of America's Savings and Loans (1989) McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.)
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred First Congress in 1988. He was a resident of Newport, Rhode Island.
St Germain died of kidney failure on August 16, 2014 at his home in Newport.[1][2]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/former-congressman-fernand-j-st-germain-dies-at-86/2014/08/18/4c40b94a-26fe-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html
External links
United States House of Representatives | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional district 1961–1989 |
Succeeded by Ronald Machtley |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by
Henry S. Reuss
Wisconsin |
Chairman of the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee 1981–1989 |
Succeeded by Henry B. Gonzalez Texas |
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- 1928 births
- 2014 deaths
- American people of French-Canadian descent
- Boston University School of Law alumni
- Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island
- People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island
- People from Blackstone, Massachusetts
- Providence College alumni
- Rhode Island Democrats
- Rhode Island lawyers
- Savings and loan crisis
- United States Army personnel
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- 20th-century American politicians