Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank (2014) - full transcript

Look, you start out
in this line of work--

you better, if you're
gonna do it right--

eager to help people.

When people tell you
about something wrong,

that's a-- you get
a good feeling 'cause,

"Now, maybe I can
fix something.

"Maybe I can get rid
of some unfairness.

Maybe I can improve
people's lives."

And then you go along
and, uh...

you get a little,
well, you know,

sometimes people have
bad complaints,



but you're still
eager to help.

And at some point I reached
the, uh, the transition,

so that when people
called me,

it was no longer,
"How can I help you?"

But in my mind,
"Why are you bothering me?"

At that point, I realized,

"Yeah, you probably
should get out."

Shocking political news
yesterday.

One of the best-known names
in the House of Representatives

is leaving-- Barney Frank
of Massachusetts.

Over the years, he's become
a big target for Republicans.

Say good-bye to Barney Frank.

He is corrupt.

Barney Frank is an idiot!



What a lying sack
of you-know-what.

He's the worst of the worst!

Responsible
for the housing bust!

Slob.

Barney, you're
gonna burn in hell.

Then I won't have to listen to you.
You're a homosexual.

Then I won't have
to listen to you.

If you want to go to hell,
Barney...

♪ Was ist los mit dir
mein Schatz? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Geht es immer nur bergab? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Geht nur das
was du verstehst? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ This is what you got to know ♪

♪ Loved you though
it didn't show ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪♪

♪ Da da da ♪

The words "end of an era"
get thrown around a lot,

but this is one of them.

The news organizations
trumped out analysts

to speculate the reason
for his retirement.

To be the minority in
the House of Representatives

is not that much fun.

The difficulty
of getting acquainted

with his newly-redrawn
district...

No indications that there
are any health concerns.

Are you leaving your fellow
Democrats in the lurch?

Hello there.
How are you?

Good.
What's your name?

Dylan.
Dylan? Nice to meet you.

♪ Da da da ♪

♪♪

I thought you'd
be here forever!

Barney Frank!
I was trying to give you a break here.

Mr. Frank! How ya been?
How are ya?

How you enjoying
your retirement?

Not yet.
Six months.

That's right,
I'm looking forward. Ahh...

See ya.
Have a good time.

I-- I will miss this job,

but I will tell you this
and, you know,

maybe you're gonna laugh,
but one of the advantages,

to me, of not
running for office is

I don't even have to pretend
to try to be nice

to people I don't like.

Now...

Some of you may not think
I've been good at it,

but I've been trying!

No, I'm sorry, you're
not gonna do this to me!

You're not gonna
misstate what I said

and then shut me off
from responding.

Well, congratulations,
you're four for four

in managing to find
the negative approach.

A rite of passage
here in Washington

to have Barney Frank make you
feel about this big.

Always a pleasure to
have you on this program.

Sometimes more
than others.

Barney,
how ya doin', pal?

Barney Frank has spent 45 years
in public life.

He spent 30 years
in Congress,

and as he retires now
he will be remembered

as the Frank in Dodd-Frank
in Wall Street reform.

He will be remembered as
the finance committee chairman

when Wall Street blew up.

He will be remembered
as the member of Congress

you would most like to see
argue with whoever it is

you most dislike in the world,

because he has a sense of humor

that he wields
like a wrecking ball.

Well, first, to be... accused

by Bill, speaking on
behalf of the Republicans,

of insufficient commitment to
rational immigration policy

is like being called silly
by The Three Stooges.

I mean that...

with no disrespect because...

No, to The Three Stooges.
Shemp...

Shemp Howard--
Shemp Howard, born Horowitz,

was married to my father's
cousin, Babe Frank.

So that's my, uh...
but--

Now, that's impressive,
you know.

Why do you continue
to support a Nazi policy,

as Obama has?

When you ask me
that question,

I am gonna revert
to my ethnic heritage

and answer your question
with a question.

She didn't start with you.

On what planet do you
spend most of your time?

All right, Barney!
Finish her!

Ma'am, trying to have
a conversation with you

would be like trying to argue
with a dining room table.

I have no interest
in doing it.

Oh, damn!

Ohh, damn...

I'm Barney Frank, and I
authorized this message.

I can't imagine who else would.

How are ya?

Hello.
Hello, Barney.

Hello.
Hi, how are you?

Hey.

Hello, Barney.
Good to see you.

Hello!

Hello.

Nice to see you guys.

Just sitting down
for some lunch.

Well, I'm a congressman.

For another two months,
then I won't be anymore.

Right front
and center.

How are you?

274 Grove.
I'm fine.

Yeah, okay,
I got you, Barney.

There you go, turn out
for the camera, come on.

Oh, he's doing
a documentary.

We-- all right,
smile for us, darlin'.

Okay.

It fell down.
There we are.

I was always interested
in politics in-- in high school.

Sorry, Toots!

I thought I saw one,
but it's handicapped.

Okay.
I never ran for anything there,

but I followed
politics a lot.

When I got to college,
I was engaged

in Young Democrat activities.

I never expected to be
a candidate myself, though.

First, because I was Jewish,
which in the '50s

and on to the '60s was still
a constraint in America.

But secondly because I--
I realized when I was 13

that I'm gay, and, uh...
at that point, certainly,

and for many years after,

the notion of a gay
elected official

didn't seem very--
very plausible.

What's the backdrop?

Uh, just a rainy day
in Boston.

But I happen to have moved
into downtown Boston

to go to work for Kevin White
when he ran for mayor,

and I had gotten prominent
there working for Mayor White,

and some friends said,
"You know,

you could probably get elected
to the state legislature."

And, uh, to my
pleasant surprise,

it turned out that was true.

♪♪

Well, stay right
where you are

and meet some
wonderful people.

And our first "wonderful
people" is Barney Frank.

Barney...

We're now faced,
in the city of Boston,

with a very serious problem.

We're confronting the question
about whether or not,

with an understaffed
police force,

with a tax rate
that's going up over the roof,

we can make this city safe
for the voyeurs from Wellesley.

When Barney ran for
the state legislature,

I remember two things
vividly:

one, his campaign slogan,
which I believe was,

"Neatness isn't everything."

And, uh, Barney being Barney,

uh, saying at one point

that running
for the state legislature

is a great stepping stone

if you're going down.

When the government refused
to recognize that the state

would run out of money,

Barney filed a bill to eliminate
the month of February.

And he said, "Lookit, February,
no one likes it.

"It's cold, it's ugly,

"and it's only 28 days anyway,

so people wouldn't notice
if it were gone."

So he introduced that.

It was funny one day
that a, um, legislator,

who was from New Bedford,
actually,

and stood up and said,

"I am just tired of this.
The Congre--

"Barney Frank keeps
introducing legislation,

"one thing after another.

"First, it was legalized
prostitution.

"Then it was
legalized pornography.

"Then it was legalized
marijuana.

And now it's gay rights."

He said, "I just don't know
what's coming next."

And Barney stood up
and he said,

"I'm just gonna keep
introducing bills

"until I find something

the gentleman
from New Bedford likes."

I became the first person
in Massachusetts history

to file gay rights
legislation.

Having still never told
anyone that you are gay.

Right. I said,
"Well...

"I don't have
the courage to

"acknowledge to people
that I am gay.

"But I will never
participate in perpetuating

the hypocrisy of being
anti-gay."

And what happened
was there was

the Homophile Union of Boston,
which was the men,

and the Daughters of Bilitis,
or "Biletis,"

which was the women.

And they sent out
a joint questionnaire

to legislators running
for office in 1972,

candidates for the Senate,
that said,

"Would you support gay rights?"

And I-- I got to be
the main sponsor

by process of elimination.

I was the only one
who said yes.

Ruth and her husband.

This is the boys
in the mountains.

15, 13, and their sister.

That's the one you had lunch with.
Yeah.

From my point of view,
I was impressed

and intimidated by what
Barney already knew

about politics
when he arrived there.

You know, I had a vague
idea that there was

a bicameral legislature,

and Barney knew which house
the revenue bills

have to originate in.

What the jurisdiction of
the various committees were.

It was astonishing to me,
and you weren't very secretive

about what you knew,
you know.

For me, the thing
about politics was,

it was kind of a nice thing
'cause I was fascinated by it.

And it was also kind of validated,
it was important, it was good.

So, you know, you could--
I could get into the minutiae

of politics without feeling
I was wasting my time,

because, after all,
this is, you know,

this is governance,
this is democracy.

And part of our fun was constant
arguing about politics.

I had come from a very
conservative background,

and he was from a fairly
liberal one.

So... we didn't agree on much.

You know, I always thought
he won, but...

I never would acknowledge it.

I did notice that
everybody at lunch

and dinner wanted to sit
at his table.

So there would be 12, 14,
15 people all around

with trays in their laps
and stuff,

and they all lived
to do battle with Barney.

Whatever that--
Barney would demolish them,

one after another,
and in ways that had them

all laughing so hard.

Everybody was on the floor.

So there he was.
He was so popular,

but what I came
to realize is

he was so lonely.

Barney never talked to me

about being gay at Harvard.

I wrote him a letter in which
I told him that I was.

And, uh, he was very tolerant
in his response to me,

but he didn't indicate
that he was also.

And I guess I told him
in part 'cause

I had a big crush on him.

And when I came back
to the room, he pointed--

Barney pointed to an ashtray
and he said,

"I burned the letter,"

to let me know, you know, that I
didn't have to worry about it.

And, um, I was disappointed
because I'd hoped he would,

you know, say,
"Well, I am, too,"

and... things would develop.

But he didn't,
and they didn't, so that's life.

And I was just shocked by it,
didn't know how to handle it,

and, uh, it was an indication
of my emotional distress

when Hastings gave me the letter
saying he was a homosexual.

I just ignored it.

And you never--
you were just chaste, right?

I mean, there--
the--

Yeah, no, I was, uh...

afraid to tell anyone
that I was gay.

So I just avoided
sexual activity, uh,

because I was afraid
to reveal myself.

I assume you didn't
tell your mom and dad.

Oh, I told no one I was gay.

I realized it when I was 13.

It was something
one of my friends said,

which he was--
sort of said in jest,

but I realized
it was true, and it--

it, um, it just--
it sent a chill through me.

It was terrifying,
literally terrifying.

I, uh, at that point
resolved

that I would never tell
any other human being,

um, about it.

Why?

Because, um...

homosexuals were
a despised minority.

That I-- I had no reason
to believe that anybody

of any kind would be
other than horrified.

If you were a homosexual,
there were all these

pressures to act
in a very stereotyped way,

so there wasn't anybody
you could point to

or think of who was gay,

although we weren't using
that phrase then,

who was anything like
the way you wanted to be.

And I do remember one thing
that had a great impact on me

was reading the book
"Advise and Consent,"

which is about the Senate.

And there's one promising
young senator

who is being courted by
an FDR-like president,

and when people find out
he'd had a homosexual

incident in his past--
he's now married with a kid--

uh, the only way out
is to kill himself.

Well, that was not
an atmosphere conducive

to my sharing the news.

But in the late '70s, I started
the retail coming out process.

You tell this one,
you tell that one,

and the individual
says to you,

"Thank you for telling me and you shouldn't have worried."

This is 30 years ago.
I assume it's different now.

"I love you and I care
about you,

"and you shouldn't
have worried.

"Why did you think anybody
who loved you would care?

"Why were you worried?
There was no reason of concern.

Don't tell your father."

In 1980, Barney invited me

to have breakfast at the Ritz
in Boston,

and he said, "I just want you
to know I'm gay,

and I'm gonna come out."

And looking for my reaction.

And... I said,

"Well, I'm-- I'm not surprised,
but I didn't know it."

And I said I didn't think
it was a great idea

to come out at that time."

If he wanted
any political career,

1980 was not a good time to--
to come out.

It turned out
two months later,

Father Drinan was told he could
not run for Congress,

and it gave an opportunity
to Barney to run.

I think if he had
come out at that time,

he would not have been able
to get elected.

He only had a few days
to make his mind up.

I was driving him
and Barney said,

"Oh, I don't know
if I can run.

I don't know
if I can do that."

And I think I have
to think about it.

And I said, "Well, you have
about 15 minutes.

"So fuck, think.
You better--

You better decide
by the time you get there."

And, um... we got there,

and he had decided
that he would run.

He was not happy
in the state legislature.

He was just contemplating
coming out or not.

He was on his 40th birthday.

It was a pretty tough time
for him.

And this was the opportune time
for him to make a major change.

Everybody in Brookline,
if they get a warning,

it's supposed to go
to New Hampshire.

Well, if the Russians
attack at rush hour,

you can't get from Brookline
to Copley Square.

How we gonna
get to New Hampshire?

Pleased to see you.
Nice to see you.

He was a good candidate
in the beginning

because he didn't think
he could win.

He was loose,
he was friendly.

And once he won the primary,

and then he could see he could

actually win
the congressional seat,

he turned into
a terrible candidate.

We just wanted to send him
out of the district, um...

He was much better when
he thought he was gonna lose.

But when he thought
he could win

and he didn't want
to see it slip away,

he just became very tense

and wouldn't really listen
to staff and advisers.

Sometimes, he'd alienate voters

because he'd get gruff
and short-tempered.

He became a bear.
And I--

I had al-- really
encouraged him to run

'cause I thought he'd be
a great congressman.

And he was.
Candidate, no.

But congressman, yes.

Just two hours after the polls

closed in Massachusetts,

Frank appeared before supporters
to claim a big victory

over the senior woman
in Congress.

He was winning by a surprising
two-to-one margin.

And I regard this not
as a personal triumph

but as a statement by the people

of the 4th congressional
district...

I'd started to come out
to people.

I shut the closet door again
to run for Congress.

I never could have won
if I was out.

So I thought I could kind of
be half in and half out.

That means there's votes?

I think I heard
the vote bell.

I'm sorry, Barney,
I didn't get my bag.

Teddy Roosevelt said the
presidency was a bully pulpit.

Well, so's the house.

You've got a license
to speak out on anything.

Foreign policy,
domestic policy,

environmental policy,
civil liberties, war, peace.

It's an irresistible forum,
I think.

And you've got a license
to go in and kind of do good.

He'd call you on the phone
and say,

"Hey, take this number down, go
see this woman in Fall River,"

or New Bedford or down in the
southern part of his district.

It was never, you know,
the Newton part of his district.

It was always people
who really needed help.

And, you know, you'd have
to write really fast,

'cause he spoke
really quickly.

You know,
"Take this number down."

"You gotta repeat
the number, Barney."

I'm from New Jersey,
but I'm Massachusetts.

But it hasn't helped noticeably
and I talk too fast.

And only a statistically
insignificant percentage

of the people in Mississippi

could understand
what I was saying.

Which limited my youthfulness
as a community organizer.

My first political motivation

was when Emmett Till
was murdered.

Emmett Till was murdered
at the age of 14 in 1954,

when I was 14.

He was a black guy from Chicago

who had whistled at or looked
a white woman the wrong way,

and he was murdered.

And, uh, the sheriff
was in on the murder.

And that was my first real
understanding of how vicious

the racism was in parts
of America and Mississippi.

He got off the plane
and he walked right over

to the water fountain
marked "colored"

and drank out of it.

If anyone has the temerity
to suggest

that this election isn't gonna
have as a major component in it

the question of who
is responsible...

Better than anybody
I have ever met,

he had a strategic sense about
how you brought about change.

And one of the great strengths
Al had was he would say to you,

"Boy, I bet you're really mad
about what's going on

in Mississippi,"
and you'd say, "Yeah."

And he would then spin out
something you could do about it.

If you've ever experienced
the sense of being left out,

that, uh, perhaps you identify
more easily with people

who seem left out,
and you want to do what you can

to ease those problems
for other people.

'Cause you see something
of yourself in them.

He just believes, as a matter
of absolute faith,

that, uh, you owe something
to other people.

And that you'd in fact
feel a lot better about it

if you did.

Politics was his passion
from the get-go.

And it was not just the game
of politics.

He had strong convictions.

Um, he believed in
helping the poor.

He believed in
helping minorities.

He came from a family of people
that cared about the world

and what was going on.

People can't find jobs, they
can't afford to go to college.

They can't buy homes.

They can't even look forward
to a secure retirement.

That's why I'm fighting hard
to make the economy work

for average people.

Government is not the solution
to our problem.

Government is the problem.

The thing that bothers me most
about the Reagan program

is its unfairness.

It just isn't fair to say
to a 70-year-old man or woman

who's worked all of his
or her life,

"We're cutting your Medicare.

We're gonna make you pay more
when you get sick."

And then turn around
and give a tax break

to the oil companies.

He comes to the floor
extremely well prepared.

He knows the issues
that affect the area.

He's a man of thought
and concern and care.

He had a long run,

and it's good that it's over.

And the main reason is...

He's the face of
American liberalism

and he's sort of,
in many ways,

the face of the failure
of American liberalism.

Hanging on to the gains of the
New Deal and the Great Society

in the face
of an entirely new world

where it's not appropriate.

I think Barney is a New Dealer,
but it is appropriate.

New Dealer doesn't mean...

government that's bigger
than it should be.

It means understanding
that government

can do and must do and should do
certain critical things.

And it worked.

Let's not kid ourselves--
it worked

for an awfully long time,

until the forces that opposed it
took it apart.

And, lo and behold,
what happened?

Cataclysm... at every level.

In terms of
income distribution,

job creation,
median family income,

rise in poverty,
decline of literacy.

I don't care
what metric you use,

society began to fall apart
when we took apart

the pieces of the New Deal.

What is a liberal?
Everybody doesn't...

You have one party
that tends to be

more public sector,

and one that's more private--
pro-private sector,

but they both recognize
the value of the other sector.

And the politics is over
where you draw the line.

And the liberals are
generally more on the side

of a greater public sector,
and the conservatives

on a greater private sector.

And what's
a progressive?

A progressive is a liberal
who doesn't want to admit it.

The principle that we should go
to general revenues

for Medicare,

that 80-year-old sick women
are more important

than 40-year-old
outdated battleships

is an important choice that we
ought to make here today.

Now, Mr. Speaker, perhaps,
in the spirit of compromise,

we can work something out.

Maybe what we can do under
the senior aid program

is to arm the elderly.

Perhaps if we gave each
one of them an M-16...

In 1981, Barney Frank's
colleagues

named him Rookie of the Year
in Congress.

They were impressed
with how Barney chopped

millions of dollars
in wasteful farm subsidies.

How he helped
stop the Republicans

from cutting Social Security.

How he opposed
the Reagan tax program

because it favored the rich
over average people.

And how he even stood up
to a Democratic tax plan

that favored big oil.

Barney Frank, the best new
congressman in Washington.

In 1982, I had this tough race
because of redistricting.

I was 42 years old
and unmarried,

so inferences were drawn.

The campaign being run against
me had me as the kind of person

who didn't understand
family values.

It was back when

homophobia reigned supreme.

Uh, his time in public life

mirrors the period
that America has gone through.

So there were years
when he served

where he couldn't be true
about who he was.

He was in public life,
and yet he had a private life

that he couldn't even
talk about.

I came out
to integrate my lives.

I was having a very good
public career

and an increasingly
unhappy private life.

And it bothered me--
I would go to these parties,

and I would, you know,
watch everybody else

having the emotional
as well as political fun.

I could only have
the political fun.

I was a closeted member
of Congress for seven years.

Being a closeted
member of Congress

is no way to live.

Every human being has emotional
and physical needs,

and if you deny them,
I think that makes it worse.

At one point in 1986,

a gay Republican
former congressman

who'd been
one of these closeted

anti-gay conservatives,
Bob Bauman,

wrote a book and he repented
of his anti-gay activity.

And in the book, he outed me.

Why did you do that?
I regret doing that.

But, frankly,
I thought that that was something that was known.

And I went to Tip O'Neill
and said,

"I want you to know
that there's gonna be--

"there's a book out that,

you know,
says that I'm gay."

And he said, "Oh, Barney,
don't be listening to that B.S.

"I mean, they're
always spreading

those rumors about us--
who cares?"

I said, "Well, the problem,
Tip, is that it's true."

The Speaker of the House,

Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill,

who loved Barney,

thought Barney actually
had a chance to be

the first Jewish
Speaker of the House.

He was smart and his leadership
capacity was so great.

So Barney, with great fear
in his soul, I'm sure,

approached the speaker
to tell him.

Tip was always garbling the
English language, God love him.

He said, "I gotta tell you
something, old pal."

And I said, "What?"

He said, "Barney Frank came in
to see me the other day.

He's all done in politics."

I said, "What are you
talking about?"

"He's all done."

I said, "Wh-wh-what do you mean
he's all done in politics?"

He said, "Well...
he's gonna have

"a press conference
next week,

and he's gonna tell people
he's coming out of the room."

Come out of the room,
not the closet.

They... figured--
didn't know what the hell

he was talking about
until they sussed out

that he meant
"the closet."

25 years ago today,

Democratic congressman from
Massachusetts Barney Frank

chose to publicly reveal
that he is gay.

I just want to thank all
the people in this room for...

...that's made this
possible for me.

The day he came out,

I just got right on the phone.

And I said, "Barney,

"I-- first, let me tell you,
I'm very proud of you

"to see that you did that.

"That takes a lot of guts.

And that's what you have."

I just remember he said,

"Yeah," he said, "I haven't had
a lot of calls today."

In Washington today, the House
of Representatives meted out

its most lenient punishment
to Congressman Barney Frank.

Congressman Frank...

Specifically,
what does that mean?

What happens when
you're reprimanded?

Uh, this is an institution
about which I care a lot.

It's part of a process about
which I care a lot.

And what it will mean
is that

there will be
a permanent record that,

uh, in this respect,
in that period,

I fell short of
the standard that, uh,

that I think I've otherwise
lived up to.

Now, I felt that
the Ethics Committee

really treated him unfairly,
in my estimation.

Um, and, uh,

I was one of the few Republicans
that actually voted against

the recommendations
of the Ethics Committee.

Gentleman from
Massachusetts,

Mr. Frank is recognized
for five minutes.

I think members here
will agree

that I've had a reputation
for honesty.

Not always tact or...

tolerance,
but honesty.

There was, in my life,

a central element
of dishonesty.

For about 40 years.

He was just obsessed with it

and embarrassed by it
and hurt by it.

Had he not gone
into politics,

he could have lived his
gay life openly much sooner

and with far fewer
restrictions.

One time I stopped
and I said to him,

"How much time
do you put on this job?"

And he looked at me
and he said,

"It consumes all of my life."

He says, "I spend
all of my time on my job."

It is a sacrifice for anyone.

And Barney made that sacrifice.

Certainly
he postponed happiness

in order to serve the public.

Barney's told me about reading
accounts of Sam Rayburn--

his brief marriage,

his apparent loneliness,

his years of bachelorhood.

And Barney knows
no more than that,

but he said you could
just read between the lines

that this was
a very closeted gay man

who couldn't have a life.

Perhaps that was in his mind

when he realized he just
didn't want to be that...

that lonely man.

Thank you, I just had
- Which dances--

Who should be dancing, you know,
when he starts her off.

Like, Jim and I dance first
and then who--

who joins in and...

Well, usually then
the bridal party joins in.

After, um...

It's so big, it'll be
the whole dance floor.

I know.

Here's the DJ worksheet.

"Special events songs.
Must play these songs.

Must not play these songs."
Right.

"Under no circumstances,
even by guest request."

An Elvis Presley song,
um, "Wise Men."

Yeah, yeah.

I can't think of
the name of that.

♪ The wise men ♪

What's the name of that?
I don't know the name of it.

No, I didn't realize
I had a terrible voice.

I-- when I was
like five or six,

I did record "McNamara's Band"
in one of these studios.

It was just...
it was God-awful.

And then, actually,
somewhat traumatically,

in the second grade,

we sang on stage,
my second grade class,

"My Old Kentucky Home."

And I just loved it
and I was belting away.

And Mrs. Doyle,

who's a lovely lady,
who was this teacher,

kinda gently
suggested to me that I--

I just move my lips.

I was so bad,
I was keeping everybody off.

The other-- oh, the other thing,
though, is that--

just a sign of how you can
make progress in so many ways,

"My Old Kentucky Home"
is a terribly racist song.

I've gotta ask you-- I'm
looking at the ring, it's black.

I've never seen a black
engagement ring.

Well, it's tungsten.
Yeah, it's our engagement ring.

Jim is a, uh-- puts up
awnings for a living.

He does welding
as part of it.

And he picked tungsten

probably 'cause he knows
I tend to break things.

He said tungsten is
a very durable, very hard metal.

And so that's why
he picked the tungsten rings.

So, Jim,
I wanna ask you,

um, how has it
been for you?

I mean, you've really been
thrust into the limelight.

I fell in love with him
in spite of all this,

I guess, you know?

Not because of, in spite of?

Right.
Yeah.

Jim's been welcome, uh...

and as a great...
Into the wives' club.

Yes!

Have you?

I just won't staple up to like there.
Okay.

He's on his way or... Yeah, well, yeah,
he's probably about out of the airport now.

And there's probably
pretty heavy traffic.

Does he got a ride or is he driving himself?
Himself.

Hi, Nana.
Hi, how are you?

Good.
Still raining?

Uh, it just stopped.

It was raining very lightly
and then it, uh, it slowed down.

Jim upstairs?
Yeah.

Hello.
Hey, Barney.

Hey there.

Hi. There's very
little traffic.

Just a little from
like Charlestown.

Looks like everybody
got out of town because...

I was pulling out of the garage at 25 after 5:00.
Yeah.

And I'm here.
Wow, that's good.

Wow.

Funny, I used to listen
to these songs about love.

And I would never--
I'd never, they were all so--

Like, "Ugh."

They didn't mean
anything to me.

I would almost be kind of
annoyed by them, you know?

It was like I was left out.

The whole thing takes on
a meaning it didn't have.

Right in the middle,
okay?

Very good, Mother.
Want some butter?

I got this at
Stop and Shop this morning.

Barney, did you
want this cheese?

I used it already.
All right.

Only 87,700.
I've had it for 14 years, I--

It's a Ford Escort.
It's a great little car.

It's the last one
they ever made.

What year?
'98.

It's... I love it.

It has no--

it has the minimum number of
moving parts to be a car.

Nothing's automatic.
Nothing can get broken.

I know it's-- it's an engine
and four wheels

and a steering wheel,
and that's it.

Well, first of all,
I think Barney,

deep down,
is a shy person.

He's uncomfortable
in social situations.

Taking a peek
at the newspaper or...

I remember one time,
I brought the CEO

of a major financial firm,

and Barney walks out of
the cloakroom,

honest to Pete,
neither shoe was tied,

the shirt tail
was hanging out,

and he had his tie kind of

about halfway,
half-staff, you know?

His hair wasn't combed,

he didn't have his glasses on,
he couldn't see mu--

I think he's just--
he's a 72-year-old man

who's not tweeting,
who's not on Facebook,

and doesn't use an iPhone.

Uh, he's reading the hardcopy
of "The New York Times."

And, you know,
but that's who he is.

Well, I should've known there are certain things that are hereditary.

You know these are considered
very old-fashioned?

I know.
You and I have them.

People have said, "Well,
what if I need to get to you in an emergency?"

But I do have a cell phone,
but it's off much of the time.

I do not know CPR.

I cannot make bail.

So if people have
an emergency,

they should call someone
who can help them.

How are you?
It's so nice to see you.

They told me
I'm getting an award,

that they would validate
our parking.

Are you doing
validating parking?

They would validate
the parking ticket.

Okay.
You know who does that?

You should have got
complimentary parking.

But I have the ticket...

Well, give it to me and I'll make sure we get it taken care of.

All right, thank you.
But you should have it valeted.

Mr. Frank, for each
individual closing,

Please answer my question.
Does HUD keep a record of it?

I don't know why you would tell me that,
that's not what I asked.

Now, wait a minute.

You know, I'm sorry, but
this nonsense is gonna stop.

That's a very simple question
susceptible to an answer.

And I would like the answer.

Sometimes people perceived
him as, you know,

this liberal
Massachusetts Congressman

who may be too left for
what's going on here,

but he always
wanted to legislate.

And that's what
made him different

than some of
the other liberals is

he has a, obviously, a core
and a progressive belief,

but he also wanted
to get a bill signed.

I'm good at legislating.

You know, I'm not good at
a whole lot of other things.

Legislating is a kind of
a very peculiar business.

And it just happened to be
something that I'm good at.

But, you know, there
is a sense, Barney,

which you were then
and are now,

impatient with people who
aren't as smart as you are.

And who don't see
all the implications

of a particular
policy choice

or whatever kind of choice
right-- right from the top.

I agree with that.

But particularly
with people on the left,

and I think
that's fair, right?

I, uh, if I think--

And I get particularly angry
when people

seem to me to be
taking strategic

or even tactical differences

and making them
into moral differences.

But I've had to be--
be careful of that.

So you are disagreeing with me
because you think it's easy.

I know that.
I talk to them all the time.

I had a client I took in
who he agreed with.

And, uh, you know,

we were literally in there
for five minutes

and-- and Barney
agreed with him.

And then the client started
to try and thank him,

and Barney was like,
"Okay, we're done.

"I told you I agreed with you,
now go talk to somebody

who disagrees with you."

Patience, in my judgment,
is not a virtue.

People want to
waste my time.

People want to tell me
the same thing four times over.

People want to tell me what they
should've known, I already knew.

Barney's tough on
his enemies,

but he's way tougher
on his friends.

Columbus Day weekend.

When none of the members of
Congress were in town.

And I said I thought the march
was a waste of time.

It's a month
before the election.

People who care about
public policy should be back

in the places where they live,

try to get people
to turn out to vote,

try to influence the vote.

And they said, "Well, don't you
think by coming to Washington,

they're going to be putting
a lot of pressure on Congress?"

And I said,
"The only thing they're putting pressure on is the grass."

I mean, I...

I was one of the organizers

of the march on Washington.

I was one of the final speakers
in the march on Washington.

And it was not helpful.

And I didn't understand
why he did that.

So, yeah, I think he was looking
at it from the perspective of,

"Hey, are you actually gonna
change votes on Capitol Hill?"

But that wasn't the real point.

The point to me was
to wake up a new generation

and to get them to coalesce

and to focus on
the federal government

so we can start acting like
a real civil rights fight.

And he pisses me off
sometimes when he says,

"I can't do that,
I don't have the votes.

Get realistic."

You know, sometimes
we don't like the people

who give us the bad news.

But I don't think you can
overestimate his role here

in the Congress in terms
of the gay community.

Both as a mentor to
a lot of us who worked here,

who saw that you could be an
openly gay member of Congress.

Just the fact that
he came out of the closet

and was in the room.

I live with another man
when I'm in Washington--

obviously,
not in Massachusetts.

We're having a family brunch
when I leave here for about 16--

his parents,
my sisters, brother,

my four-year-old niece
Madeline.

I don't think she's gonna be
damaged by being in our house.

I don't understand what it is
that threatens them.

When I came to work here
in 1986,

you know,
on the Democratic side,

you still sort of wondered,
"Should I tell someone I'm gay?

"What if they find out
I'm gay?

What's that gonna do
to my career?"

And I met Barney
sometime in the '80s,

and I was being interviewed
to be

Dick Gephardt's
chief of staff,

who was the majority leader
of the Congress.

And I went to see Barney,
and I said,

"Well, should I tell him
I'm gay?"

And, you know, Barney
in his very, you know--

Barney doesn't sit
and think about it

and look at you
and, you know, ponder it.

He looked at me,
and he goes, "No!"

And I said, "Why not?"

He goes, "'Cause he's not
interviewing you

"to be his gay
chief of staff.

He's interviewing you
to be his chief of staff."

Today, looking at the electoral
victories we just had

and looking at the fact that
we're gonna have a gay senator

and we're gonna have
seven gay members of Congress,

you'd think this is easy.

But in the '80s, early '90s,
it was very hard.

I would like to apologize
to Congressman Frank

on behalf of all Republicans

for what Dick Armey said

when he actually called him
Barney Fag.

And I don't need to listen
to Barney Fag--

Barney Frank
haranguing in my ear..."

He then tried to say
he didn't say it.

He said, "Oh, it was
a mispronunciation.

I meant to say 'Frank,'
and it came out 'Fag.'"

So, I said, "My mother reports
that in forty-something years,

no one has ever referred to her
as Elsie Fag.

How could I be so sure that
Barney will do the right thing

by us older people?

Because he's my son.

The bigots like to talk
about gay men and lesbians

as if we were rootless
and had no sense of community

and had no sense of values.

I do not think there
is a more moving example

of social responsibility

towards individuals themselves
and towards other individuals

than that of the gay
and lesbian community

in response
to the AIDS crisis.

And it's particularly
relevant, I think,

to look at the role here
of lesbians,

because they are not themselves
a population

that is at high risk.

It is an honorable compromise

that advances the cause
of people

who are called to serve our
country by their patriotism..."

Well, it's not
an acceptable one to me.

It falls short of what
I thought was necessary.

But a majority of
young black people

who are enlisted have said
that they don't want

to be forced to serve
with a homosexual.

And a majority of
white people in 1948

would have said that they wouldn't have integrated the military.

I don't think you can call those young black people bigoted, Barney.

Who did?
I don't think you can.

No, I called you bigoted.

Well, I don't think
you can...

The Honorable Barney Frank
of Massachusetts.

Gentleman is recognized
for five minutes.

How does the fact
that I love another man

and live in a committed
relationship with him

threaten your marriage?

It was not just that he
was out and gay.

It was that he was out
and by God he'd fight you.

Are you that timid?
Are you that frightened?

I'll yield to the gentleman
from Oklahoma

if he'll tell me
what threatens his marriage.

Absolutely.

It threatens
the institution of marriage

that we're trying
to redefine.

It doesn't threaten
his marriage.

It doesn't threaten anybody
else's marriage.

It threatens
the institution of marriage.

That argument ought to be made
by someone in an institution.

Gay, straight, black, white,
same struggle...

And I think particularly
on the gay issues

it was a unique understanding
of the role he had,

of the life he led,
and how hard it was for him,

and that there were
a bunch of people younger

who he could be
an example to.

And as a young man

who had just finished college

and not been out at the time,

Barney's coming out
provided me space.

He gave more people space
to come out in their own way,

not just as public servants,

but as just gay and lesbian
Americans.

I think he'll be seen
as somebody

who was a tireless champion.

I mean, he just never
stopped on the question.

He would never let up.

School systems in this country,

when they have sought to teach
people that hatred is wrong,

we are told,
"No, no, you can't do that."

Because if the schools
did that,

they would be promoting
homosexuality,

and it would lead
to acceptance of homosexuality.

Well, it had always struck me
as a gay man

what nonacceptance meant.

And now we know.

We just saw two young men

demented and driven
to a subhuman state

by a vicious prejudice

who couldn't accept
Matthew Shepard being a gay man,

so they beat him brutally
and left him to die.

Yes, we are prepared
to say

that you must accept
our right to live,

our right to
physical security,

our right to the freedom

that any human being
is entitled to.

And we...

A lot of what I give Barney
credit for is,

before the time came,
he was always in there

keeping the issues alive,

and, you know,
Barney always knew

that there would--
that the moment was coming

and that it was
just a matter of time.

Second floor.

Going down.

First of all,

and the only thing
that justifies doing it,

is that you get a chance to
improve the country you live in.

If you don't have
strong feelings

about ways to make
the country better,

then you should go out
and do something else.

And I've had a chance
to participate

in ways to make
the country better

or in some cases

to keep other people
from making it worse,

which can have
the same effect.

Secondly for me,

it's the kind of stuff
I'm good at.

All of us, we're a mix
of talents and weaknesses.

I'm good at thinking
on my feet, for example.

Even on the intellectual
area,

I have kind of
a short attention span.

But when things
are scrambled,

when you have to deal with a lot
of different things at once,

that tends to be
one of my strengths.

So I hate to prepare.
I get bored.

But the nice thing
about my job

is you don't get a chance
to prepare,

so I'm not
at a disadvantage.

And what I've looked for
were people who have understood

the importance of combining
pragmatism and idealism,

who were zealous
about principle

but also insistent
on implementing that principle.

...want transparency.

And it's the secrecy
that I don't like

and we have a right to know...

You were very responsible
with the question.

I admired that.

I'm very-- yeah, yeah.
Good for you.

Yeah, I didn't say...

'Cause we cleaned it up
pretty much.

Yeah.

Listen, I thought--

I don't think we ought
to slam on the brakes

on spending, and I
think it would be crazy,

and particularly
right now.

It's just not the time.

Oh, the business community
will hate you.

You and I
probably agree.

You know,
we might not agree

how to reform
health care...

We served together
for 20 years

on financial services.

So we go back a long way.

We respected each other.
I know I respected him.

When he gave his word,
he kept it.

But we had a good time.

We disagreed
on a lot of policy,

but we didn't let that
interfere

with the professional
working relationship.

And, you know,
I will miss him.

♪ O, say, can you see ♪

♪ By the dawn's early light ♪

I don't know anybody else

that has captured what I think
is the essence of governing,

which is sticking true
to your principles

but working
to get things done.

And as he says,

being willing to compromise

doesn't prove that you're
a weenie

or that you don't have
any principles.

It proves
that you're so confident

and secure
in your own principles

that you are willing to
and know how to

work with the other side.

Compromise
is not a bad word.

♪ ...free ♪

♪ And the home ♪

♪ Of the brave ♪♪

Yay!

That was great.

Would everybody
in this audience

who can remember
if they ever authorized

an arms sale to Iran
raise your hand.

All right, those of you
who remember distinctly

that you did not authorize
an arms sale to Iran,

would you please
raise your hand.

There was a great 20th century
philosopher.

His name was
Henny Youngman.

He was actually one
of the great comedians

of the Borscht Belt era.

I lost my first wife
in a wishing well.

I didn't know they worked.

Most comedians used
to make wife jokes

and mother-in-law
jokes, et cetera,

but he had one joke
that was--

He was the king of the
one-liners, he was called.

He had one joke
that was very funny

and very profound.

"How's your wife?"

"Compared to what?"

Oh!

That's the context
in which I make

every political
decision.

Compared to what?

Yes, you have to start
with your principles.

You have to start
with your values.

But once you have
a set of values,

if you aren't pragmatic
about implementing them,

then what good are you?

All they do is make you feel
morally superior.

One thing
that I'm proud of,

my father had one
of the few places

in the '40s
and into the '50s

where black people
could spend the night.

This is in northern
New Jersey.

This is two miles
from New York City.

He had a truck stop
in Jersey City,

but his was
the only place around

where a black truck driver
could spend the night.

And I understood that he was
not where he should have been,

but he was much better
than the country was as a whole,

and he had a number of black
people who worked for him,

and they were appreciative
of the fact

that he was moving the ball.

♪♪

To go from king to prince,

I'm glad I didn't have to
suffer that indignity.

I am gratified that you are
following my precedent,

and I will have by tomorrow

another list of precedents
that you can also follow

and we'd all benefit.

Well, don't get in any
rush to give it to me.

Once or twice I would point out
something in a bill

and he would say,

"I don't know
where you got that,"

you know, "This is crazy,"
you know or...

And then his staff
would lean over and point.

But he was able
in mid-stream to change

from, "That's not in there,"

to, "This is why
it's in there."

So, he was very flexible.

But I didn't take that
personally.

It's sort of like football.

I mean, it's a contact sport.

All we ask is time
for the taxpayers

and the people of America
to read the bill.

The bill under consideration
is 5 1/2 pages.

I believe even the gentleman
from Texas

could have read it by now.

My colleagues
on the other side

have decided to adopt
a Marxist idea.

The Marx in question,
of course, is Chico.

Point of order. Is the rule
that we're operating under

coming out of
the rule committee?

Point of orders rarely end
with a question mark.

I've never heard one
that did.

How many times
did I distinguish--

No, "how many times"

could not conceivably be
a point of order.

My point of order is,
the distinguished speaker

numerous times
made points of order.

Comments on the past
behavior of the speaker

might be interesting,

but they are not
points of order.

I can't-- Honestly,
I could not imagine for a minute

Barney Frank
being in the Senate.

Parliamentary inquiry,
Mr. Speaker.

Does whining
come out of my time?

With all respect, I think
that is an unfair question,

and the reason I do--

All right,
then I'll withdraw it.

Mr. Starr, you're the expert
on unfair questions.

If you tell me it's an unfair
question, I'll withdraw it.

So, let me ask you again.

Did anybody on your staff
to your knowledge

give out that information?

So, I mean, if you didn't
do any of the leaking,

why don't you
just tell us?

The silence with respect
to anything else

means necessarily
that we had not concluded--

In other words, don't have
anything to say

unless you have
something bad to say.

What's the exculpatory
evidence

he's gonna bring in?

A February calendar
saying,

"Oh, my God, Monica and I
finally did it today."

'Cause he will not go
over the amendments.

We'll get to see
a motion to strike,

whatever you call it.
Just-- well, unless they do it.

If they divide the question,
we'll go up and down.

Then we don't have
any motions.

I mean, he he knows the rules
of the House and committee,

and he will stop the opposition
in their tracks

when they try something.

I want to see Chief Justice
Rehnquist sitting there

while the senators
try to guess

under which pea you have
concealed the impeachment.

The president was
understandably embarrassed.

He had private
sexual activity

that he wanted
to conceal,

and he lied about it,

and that is a subject,

as an expert on which,
I fully understand.

I would tell you
that having been reprimanded

by this House
of Representatives

where I'm so proud
to serve,

was no triviality.

Having behaved stupidly

kept me from getting
indignant about Clinton.

Some of my friends, I thought
some were hypocritical.

They would say, "Oh, we're
so angry at him."

Well, I had been there,

and I thought many of them
had been too,

and I thought that
was wholly inappropriate.

And I also was able to be
sort of self-denigratory,

which is always helpful.

Oh, go ahead.

Why should you
be different?

The, um...

Well, I don't know why
I'm different, Mr. Chairman,

but I just am.

And also I could--

You know, I was
a poster child for the fact

that people who had
done things like Clinton

hadn't been driven out.

No impeachment! No impeachment!

Hello. How are ya?
Thank you.

Thank you.

The era of big government
is over.

It is a good piece
of legislation

for setting forth
the conditions

for the financial services
industry

central to capitalism.

It's a good situation

in which the intermediation
function

of the financial services
industry can go forward...

...that improve the conditions
for wealth to be generated,

and I am for that.

I would vote for this bill
if we were talking

simply about these conditions
and no other were relevant.

The New Deal stuff
worked very well for 50 years.

The mistake
that the country made was,

by the '80s,
the deregulatory philosophy

at that time
was so deeply rooted

that it took us 15 years
more than we should have

to come up with
a new set of rules.

We are talking here about
an entity--

home ownership,
homes--

where there is not
the degree of leverage

that we have seen elsewhere.

This is not
the dot-com situation.

We have problems with people
having invested

in business plans
for which there was no reality.

But you're not going to see
the collapse

that you see when people
talk about a bubble.

Things have clearly changed.

'Cause Barney and I had
a meeting when I first took over

and I told Barney,
I said,

"I think you and I
share the same goals."

And he said, "Absolutely."

And I said, "You're probably
gonna take some heat

"on your side.

"I'm probably gonna take
some heat on my side,

"but I'm willing to do that

"in return for--

"I want to look back
after my tenure

and say 'We actually
accomplished something.'"

When I became ranking member

of the full committee
on financial services

under Mike Oxley,

I had a very cooperative
relationship with him

for four years.

We worked very closely
together.

When I became chairman,
for the first year

that was the relationship I had
with Spencer Bachus.

Spencer's got kind of
a good popular streak,

and he wanted to work
with us on, for instance,

ending subprime mortgages.

So, during 2007,
we cooperated a lot.

I remember subprime lending.

Had Barney and I
had our way,

we would have had
a subprime lending bill in 2005,

and I can't imagine

what a difference
that would have made

in 2006, 2007,

when the bulk of those
bad loans were made.

He got in trouble
with the extreme conservatives,

the Republican
Study Committee,

and they complained about him
to the Republican leadership

on the grounds that he'd
been too collaborative with us.

And that's when people said,
"Oh, what's it been like?"

I can tell you it's the
right-wing Republican takeover.

It got bad in 2008.

Then, of course,
when the Tea Party took over,

it got totally bad.

And it's not that Spencer
doesn't want to cooperate.

It is that he has basically
been told he can't.

There's much more
partisanship.

There's fewer
personal relationships.

There's probably less respect
for the institution.

The Constitution established,
Article I,

the legislative branch,

and I think that what I call
Chairman Frank and I

both respected
the institution.

We respected every member.

We respected their ability
to speak.

And I think
that's a commodity

that's too scarce
in today's Congress.

We would not have had

the Civil Rights Acts
of 1964 and 1965,

the Voting Rights Act
of 1965

if it weren't for Republicans.

These were principled
idealists.

We used to have a lot of them
in both parties.

Compromise and common ground,

that's what Barney
has represented.

The idea of Congress,

and I think you don't
have to be a student

of the Federalist period
to figure it out,

is you get to know each other,
you negotiate,

you perhaps have
a drink together.

This is the way
it's been

since they wrote
the Declaration,

they wrote
the Constitution.

They get together.

It was that way up
until fairly recently,

because Newt Gingrich
came to Congress in '78

and was angered
shortly thereafter

when Tip O'Neill
and Ronald Reagan

talked about
their cooperation.

He said,
"Let's be very clear.

The Democrats are corrupt.
They are treasonous."

Et cetera.

What we're now seeing

is the ultimate
triumph of that.

You have...

Newt devised the strategy--

we need to create
enough of a level

of disgust with Congress

that people say,
"This is so awful,

anything would be
better than this."

And he began
a systematic process

to make that happen.

It took him 16 years.

Recruited this vast group
of people in the '90s

who came in with the idea
that government is evil,

we're gonna clean
the place out,

we're gonna get rid
of government,

it's us against them,
it's warfare.

You don't consort
with the enemy.

And it works.

If you decide
you're gonna bring

the entire institution
down around you,

you can win elections.

Well, let me
ask you about that.

Should the American people

continue to have faith
in a Congress which,

as you describe
and so many others say,

is dysfunctional?

Well, by the way, Judy,

where do you think
this Congress came from?

You'd be surprised
how few members

of the House
of Representatives

parachuted in
through the dome.

Every one
of the commissions is...

I think I was pretty good
at being a legislator,

but to my disappointment,

the kind of inside work
I have felt best at

is not gonna be as productive
for the foreseeable future

and not until
we make some changes.

And it's true, by the way, that
jobs for women have lagged--

Oh, I have to
correct that. That is--

I'm sorry, may I
continue, George?

George, George,
what she wants to do

and what all the
Republicans want to do

is no regulation
at all.

Miss Blackburn--
Now, now, Barney,

I didn't speak for you.
You don't speak for me.

No, you're trying
to speak for me.

I will not allow you
to do that.

This pattern of interruption
and filibuster

is really not a good way
to discuss important issues.

Well, I haven't had
to do that in a while.

Haven't asked me to
kill their mics in a while.

I'm really angry
at Stephanopoulos.

That was ridiculous.

He just lets her interrupt
and filibuster,

and then I don't know, you know,
what you're supposed to do,

but it's really
very disappointing.

I'd like to send
an e-mail back.

Do you have that number?
Um...

If you don't, never mind.
I'll tell him.

But we're always
engaged in the fight,

but you take a minute
and look back at the fights

of 20 and 30 years ago,
there's real progress.

There is this danger.

We're now facing
for the first time

with the Tea Party

the real possibility
of gains being reversed.

Come on, you coward!
Say the truth!

What do you mean,
coward?

You're a coward!
You blame everybody else!

May I talk, Bill?

Here's the problem
with going on your show.

You start ranting,
and the only way to respond

is almost to look
as boorish as you.

I listen to that audio,

and it makes my
blood pressure go up.

You seem to
thrive on it.

Well, in the moment, yes,
but over time, no.

Look, um, I-- I fight
hard for public policy.

People have said,
"How would you feel--

You were the chairman of
that committee for four years."

I was at the center
of this financial crisis.

I would have the secretary
of the treasury

and the head of the federal
reserve under George Bush

calling up and saying,

"Look, things are
about to collapse.

We got to work
this thing out."

So, in any given moment,
you rise to the occasion.

It's very rare to find
someone like Barney,

who understood
the political process

and also understood
markets.

I thought the most
important thing

for future historians

would be the working
relationship

that I had with Barney

and the way that Democrats
worked with Republicans,

really coming together
at a time of crisis.

Now, Mr. Secretary,
I have to interrupt you.

We had a few differences.

We had differences
over using TARP funds

to modify mortgages

and where I had
a tough hearing with Barney.

Would you agree,
Mr. Secretary,

that in fact the bill
does authorize

aggressive action not simply
to buy out mortgages,

but diminish foreclosures?

A lot of progressive Dems,

particularly in the House,

didn't like the idea
of just shoveling taxpayer money

into these giant banks

who had brought on
this financial crisis

because of their recklessness.

Barney speaks his mind

and isn't necessarily afraid
of the consequences

and actually led
this resistance

that they weren't
going to do it

unless there was some
commitment to help homeowners.

The bill is replete
with authorization to you

not simply to buy out
mortgages...

He waved the TARP
legislation in front of me

and said, you know,
"We asked you to do

more mortgage relief,
and I'm very unhappy."

I first met him
in January of 2009.

It was a remarkably
important moment

in the history of our agency
of SIGTARP.

And we had learned
that our surveys

were gonna be blocked.

This was the new
Obama administration.

And I got this news
just as I was walking

into Barney Frank's office.

So I explained to him
what had happened,

and he just picked up
the phone--

"Tell 'em Barney Frank's
on the phone."

And then he's just screaming
into that phone

about "How dare you obstruct
the special inspector general

trying to bring transparency,"

just really abusing
what we presumed

was somebody's voice mail.

He then hangs up the phone,

looks up, sort of gives a grin,
almost a smirk,

and says, "Geithner,"

referring to the secretary
of the treasury.

He goes, "That should
take care of it.

Let us know if not,
and we'll get on it."

He's the person
who people go to

to figure out strategy
and "what should we do."

And so he had
a deep knowledge

of how to get things done.

This was taken by Jim

like 6:00 in the morning
on a Friday.

He had come down
on Thursday night.

'Cause they asked us
to come down to be there

when we finished the bill,
and it just took all night.

He spent all night

eating a couple of pieces
of cold pizza,

sitting on
a folding chair,

and a lot of people
had gone home,

so he got
the only picture of--

all those guys went home--
of Chris and I.

You see, I think,
a lot of emotion.

Like, he's biting his lip,
I've got my lips--

I mean, it was
a very emotional time.

We'd just finished
signing the bill.

And the, like elation,
you know, there.

Yeah, we knew we'd just
done something very historic.

Tomorrow marks
the two-year anniversary

of Dodd-Frank
being signed into law.

Many of the reforms
were suggested

by House financial services
chairman Barney Frank.

For the last year,

Chairman Barney Frank
and Chris Dodd

have worked day and night.

At the time,
President Obama called it

the toughest financial reform
since the ones

created in the aftermath
of the Great Depression.

The law was passed

over near-total Republican
opposition.

When you hear Barney Frank
take absolutely no blame at all

for the financial crisis
and Fannie and Freddie,

what's your reaction?

I wouldn't say
that Barney Frank

is the most responsible
American

for this financial crisis,

but I'd put him in maybe
the top three or four.

Well, I think you're
misplacing blame here.

I mean, Barney Frank
I'd have on my list,

but maybe in the top thousand,
top ten thousand.

One of the great distortions

was to blame liberals
in general,

advocates of fairness
to the poor,

me in particular,
with the housing crisis.

You described in
"Reckless Endangerment"

a type of...
relationships.

I mean, it's as if--

It's as if you were
being celebrated

for what Fannie did...

When anyone tried
to reign in Fannie Mae,

you know, reduce the threat
to the taxpayer

that these companies pose,

that there were
people in place

to reject that idea.

In the book they argue that
the root of the financial crisis

lies in President Clinton's
decision

to heavily promote
home ownership in the '90s

and the lowering
of lending standards

by Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac.

I'm amazed when I go around
the country and talk to people,

the number of times I hear

that Democrats caused
the financial crisis,

that this was all the fault
of the government

forcing lenders
to make loans

to people who couldn't
pay them back,

whether it's via
the Community Reinvestment Act

or via Fannie and Freddie,
the GSEs.

And if you look at the financial
crisis honestly,

then you have to say
something in the market failed.

As a matter of fact,
Barney was very helpful.

We passed a bill,
uh, GSE reform, in '05,

when nobody thought
we could do it.

We had opposition
from the White House.

We had opposition from
Alan Greenspan at the Fed.

Barney helped me
put together a coalition

that we passed the bill
in committee

by a three-to-one margin,

a very strong bill,

and it's unfortunate,

but had it not been
for Barney,

I could have never gotten
that bill to the floor.

I wanted to go
to the floor,

and we kept getting
jerked around

by the leadership,
Republican leadership.

They don't want it to be known
that they killed that bill.

There's nothing in here
about Fannie and Freddie.

So this is the great pattern
of my Republican colleagues.

When they are in the minority,

they know exactly what to do
on tough issues.

When they're the majority,

they get Parliamentary
Alzheimer's and they forget.

You're very strong
about offering things

when you're sure they're not
gonna get adopted.

And then you get power
and you choke.

You're like the dog
that caught the bus

and you burned your mouth
on the exhaust pipe.

You're like the guy in the bar,

"Let me at him,
let me at him."

And then your friend lets go
of your coat,

and you run out of the bar.

I thank the gentlemen
for yielding.

I think people loved to blame

Fannie and Freddie
and the GSE's

for the housing crisis

because they want to blame
the government.

And they want
to blame the government

because to blame the market,

that's a big challenge
to their religion, right?

So if they can say instead,
"Oh, no, no, nothing went wrong.

"This was all caused
by Fannie and Freddie.

"This was all government
intervention.

The market functioned exactly
as it should."

Then you get to keep
your religion.

JP Morgan shocks
the financial world

by revealing a $2 billion
derivatives lose

from a London-based trader.

Here we go all over again.

What do you think
we're getting today?

Look, look, Barney Frank

is far from
a perfect individual.

But his name is on this law.

And I would think
if anybody cares

about this thing being
implemented in anything

like the way
he originally intended,

this is part of
that moment to do it.

But I think you should
all take comfort in the fact

that all American banks
are better capitalized,

the system
is far stronger today.

Well, I appreciate that,
Mr. Dimon,

but that wasn't
the question I asked.

But I also said that we'd be
solidity profitable

this quarter,
so relative to earn--

That's not the question,
Mr. Dimon,

please don't filibuster.

They want to be protected
so they can continue to do that.

And Dodd-Frank pisses them off
to the core.

I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman,
I asked specific questions.

Mr. Dimon well knows
what we're talking about.

Let me ask you,
you did say finally that

there would be some clawbacks.

Is your compensation
on the table

for consideration
of clawbacks?

This was an object lesson.

Banking is too important
and too crucial

to be left up to the bankers.

This is a reaffirmation

of the need for rules
to be in place

that keep mistakes like this

from having further
negative consequences.

For example,

we want to put
some safeguards in there.

We want to make sure
that if you make a mistake,

you pay for the mistake

and it does not lead
to the kind of contagion

and the implosion
that we had before.

That is from reverberating
in a negative way

throughout the economy.

You're welcome.

A stout defense
of the Dodd-Frank law

and the sense
that Barney Frank has that,

hey, it's a bad thing

that a private company lost
money, but nobody freaked out.

And one of the reasons
that didn't freak out

is because we had
this new infrastructure.

My name is Barney Frank,
and I am calling about

the, uh, vote on election day
on public issue one,

on marriage equality,

and wondering if you made up
your mind how you're gonna vote.

She hasn't made up her mind,
she didn't have time to talk,

which means she's probably a no.

I think my calling
is of a mixed blessing.

We're going together?

Oh, thank you.

Joe has accomplished
a very significant feat.

He has ameliorated Jewish guilt.

Hi, boy.
Good to see you.

When you look at how far right
the Republicans have gone,

and then you look
at Joe Kennedy--

and I'm very grateful to Joe,

with a lot of career choices
open to him,

for deciding
to get into politics

at a time when, frankly,

it's not being treated
as well as it should.

A willingness on
a part of somebody like Joe

to make life better for people
who are hurting,

to provide some fairness
in this economy,

to make sure that a level
of public services are there,

to fight against
unfair treatment,

to make sure that our resources
aren't squandered

in military activity
that was misguided,

but instead we can put it
to work here where we need it.

But I leave you with this

overwhelming slogan,

"Vote Democratic--
we're not perfect,

but they're nuts."

Thank you.

How do you follow
Barney Frank?

Trying to meet some folks,
this older gentlemen walks by.

I stick my hand out,
and I said,

"Hi, sir,
my name's Joe Kennedy.

I'm running for office."

And he goes, "Yeah, I know."

Hmm. Well, that's terrifying.

And I said, "Well, sir,
you got any advice?

I just got in the race
and I'd like to do it right."

And he kind of scowled
at me and said,

"Yeah, there's one thing

you can do to be the best
advocate for this district."

"Okay, sir, well,
what's that?"

"Convince Barney Frank
to run for re-election."

Mixed emotions,

it's very nice to have people
be as supportive as they were.

Um, I'm happy with my decision.

I'm just-- I'm tired
and I'm worn out

and I couldn't keep going,

but obviously there are
things I'll miss.

These are people
who have for 20 years

have been a very important part
of my life.

They've been
not just constituents,

they're friends,
they're supporters,

they're advisors.

And I will miss the chance
to work together with them

to improve the lives
of the people here.

He's a good man.

He fights for
the working people.

Good-- good man.

What--

President just came out
for same-sex marriage.

I think that changed
a lot of the dynamic,

him coming out for marriage,

but I don't think he would have
come out for marriage

if it wasn't for
the constant prodding

and pressure from people
in the community

and people like Barney.

What does this mean
to you personally

that the president
did this today?

Well, I'm very pleased.

Um, I'm getting married
in a couple months.

Uh, when I was 15,
when I was 35,

even when I was 55--
Yeah.

If someone had said to me,
"You know what?

"You're gonna be
retiring from Congress,

"you'll have been chairman
of a very important committee,

"you'll have done
some very significant work

"in the field
of financial services,

and you're gonna get married
to man whom you love very much."

As a member of Congress,
I would've been disbelieving.

So, yeah, that means
a great deal for me.

And I would say
it makes me feel

even better about my country

that this is country
that has the capacity

to deal with issues
in a constructive way

and help things get better
for all of us.

Appreciate it.
Thank you.

I think he's one of those people

who fights
for the right reasons--

because he believes it.

His-- he has
an ego like anybody--

nobody who gets
elected to Congress

who doesn't have an ego.

Nobody goes into politics who
doesn't have an ego.

But I-- I've watched Barney
over 20 years,

and I don't think
it was really about Barney.

It was about the people.

It was about
where came from.

And I think his speech
on the floor--

the other great, you know--
most important Barney moment

that I remember was his speech
on the floor on ENDA,

the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act.

And, you know, this was when
Barney was chairmen

of the House Financial
Services Committee.

And it was a very
emotional speech

which, you know,
surprised people, I think,

because you don't expect
Barney to be emotional.

I used to be someone subjected

to this prejudice.

And through luck, circumstance,
I got to be a big shot.

I'm now above that prejudice.

But I feel an obligation
to 15-year-olds

dreading to go to school
because of the torments,

to people afraid they'll
lose their job at a gas station

if someone finds out
who they love.

I feel an obligation
to use the status

I have been lucky enough
to get to help them.

And I want to ask
my colleagues here,

Mr. Speaker,
on a personal basis.

Please, don't fall
for this sham.

Don't send me out of here

having failed
to help those people.

The gentleman's time
has expired.

The previous question is...

Without objection,
the previous question is...

♪♪

Barney always knew
why he was here.

And he was here for people.
What is the existential?

"Why am I here?"
Why is he here?

There is no doubt
as to why Barney is here.

While he was pragmatic
in trying to forge solutions,

he was always idealistic as to
who should have the leverage

at the end of the day.

And the leverage
should be with the people.

And some people who needed--

painfully needed help
always had a friend in Barney.

And, Jim, in your
photographs outside

there's a really
personal side

about the congressman that's
shown through those photos.

And I wonder if that
was your intention

or if that's just us
getting to see the congressman

through your lens.

I guess it could be
somewhat intended

because I had
heard that before

in, like, the picture
with the fawn.

Well, I just--
people like, "Aww."

Like, he'd be
yelling at it

and the thing should be
running away, you know?

After all the turmoil
in my own private life,

and-- you know, I was just
thinking, and I, obviously,

the issues with being gay were
very disruptive in my life.

I was just reminded,
reading the book review

in the "Chronicle" today,
of Alan Turing,

who invented computers.

Who helped win
World War II

by cracking the German code.

He's an extraordinary,
important guy.

And then in 1950 or '51,
they discover that he's gay

and tell him he either
goes to prison

or takes estrogen so he is
chemically castrating himself.

And he dies, probably of
suicide, within a few years.

Well, that's--
that's when I was 14.

I mean, so for me...

there's been
a kind of disparity

between a very satisfying
public career

and a private life in turmoil.

And, uh, that was one thing
I always could envy of Charlie.

He was married.
In a way, I was--

I really wanted that.

It's not something you can just
order off the shelf.

Eight days overdue.
She had a baby in two hours.

Start to finish.

Right, I'm nine months
and two weeks.

Yeah.
She just...

It's been a wonderful,
supportive marriage.

And, uh,
that's what's--

kind of I've caught up to him,
I feel, with Jim.

The fact that I'm now...
in that situation, uh...

It-- it's--

kind of completes it
for me.

This part here,
the information you put on this

we put it on, um,
your marriage license.

Again, I need your full name--

first, middle, last,
each name spelled out.

We'll do it together.

All right.

"I have reviewed a list

"of impediments to marry
and hereby state

"that there is an absence
of any legal impediment

to this marriage
and do hereby..."

Okay.

Yay!

I'm amazed at how much--
how big they are so soon.

That's great.

They're usually behind,
and I-- I end up

pullin' a ton of ferns out

so they don't choke up
the bleeding hearts.

You'll see in August
that it's like...

You can't even see in there.
It's pretty cool.

I think he's gonna be able
to have a personal life

that's gonna be
very rewarding to him,

and I guess that--
that feels very good to me.

I think what he's done is--
for the country

and in particular for gay people
is enormous.

He wasn't free
to live his life and now he is.

Yes.
Yes.

Ann and I will sit here.

Over here.

All right,
go right ahead.

It feels odd
without music, though.

Gotta restrain myself.

This is only
a practice.

"I'm only sitting here
doing a crossword puzzle."

I bet, he's so like--

He's so relaxed, he's
been smiling all day.

He had the crossword puzzle or the paper.
Yeah.

Whew!

♪♪

Beloved family and friends,

we have come together
to witness and bless

the joining together
of Barney and Jim in marriage.

As you might imagine, at
the request of the congressman,

this service will be
short and to the point.

But there are
certain formalities

that even a senior member
of the Congress must observe.

The first is this question.

I ask you both,
that if either of you

know any reason why you may not
be united in marriage lawfully,

you do now confess it.

No.

I have to hear it.

No, sir.

Barney and Jim,

do you promise
to love each other

and be each other's
best friend...

in sickness and in health

under the Democrats
or the Republicans...

...whether the surf is up

or the surf's flat...

whether the slopes
are powdery or icy...

for better or for worse,

on MSNBC or on Fox...

...for long as you both
shall live?

I do.

By the power vested in me

by the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts,

I pronounce
that they are married.

Breathe.

Okay.

Breathe, baby.

Thank you, Governor.
Thanks for that.

That was just about the most,

to me, showed him
at his very best

when the governor said, uh,
"I pronounce you married,"

and Barney grabbed Jim and--
and broke down.

And I started crying, everybody
around me started crying.

And-- and we
started applauding,

and pretty soon
everybody stood up,

and it just
was a crescendo and, uh...

just not only for the personal,
but for the political

and for the role
Barney had played.

But I think it showed that there
was a personal side to Barney

that wanted attention,
and it was getting it.

You know, he was just beaming
from start to finish.

And, you know, you don't really
see Barney beaming a lot.

You don't see Barney
in that level of happiness.

He can be cranky.

Uh, and I think that was
my favorite Barney moment

was that wedding, because
it was such a big moment and--

and you just watch the whole
thing and how--

how clearly moved he was
and how historic it was

to all of us who were there.

It was a big moment.

♪♪

That was the year--
his third term,

that was the year
I was born.

Wow.
1940.

Will you miss anything,
Barney, about this?

Oh, of course,
I'll miss the chance

to fix public policy.

I mean, that's--
I, uh, that's the--

90 perc-- 95 percent
or even 100 percent

of the reason for doing this
is the chance

to affect public policy.

And... I will
miss this, um...

Even in the minority,
you have some impact.

Yeah, that I regret.

There are things that
a civilized society needs

that we can only do
if we do them together.

And we do them together,
that's called government.

The current right wing,
tea party dominated Republican

not only hasn't learned from
the mistakes of the past,

they are determined
to repeat them.

We will not let that happen.
Thank you.

I think if you reflect upon
his years in public life,

it gets back to some
political risk to himself

and the risk, certainly,

of taking enormous amounts of
personal abuse over the years,

he stood for the truth--
his truth.

And his truth
was a larger truth that--

that many people held.

He stood for people
and fought for people

who needed someone
like Barney Frank

to stand and fight for them.

And there are too few people
left like that in public life.

Thank you.
Thank you.

You're a tremendous
public servant.

You'll be missed.
Thank you.

As I look back, I mean,

I really am fascinated
with democracy.

It's been my life's work.

It's a moral cause.

I think democracy is the only
legitimate way to govern.

And so understanding how to make
democracy work better, I guess,

is what I want to spend
the rest of my time doing.

♪ Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh ♪

♪♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Was ist los mit dir
mein Schatz? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Geht es immer nur bergab? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Geht nur das
was du verstehst? ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ This is what you got to know ♪

♪ Loved you though
it didn't show ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Da da da ♪

♪ So so, du denkst
es ist zu spaet ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Und du meinst,
dass nichts mehr geht ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Und die Sonne
wandert schnell ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ After all
is said and done ♪

♪ It was right
for you to run ♪

♪ Ich lieb dich nicht,
du liebst mich nicht ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪♪