Frank McCloskey
Encyclopedia
Francis Xavier "Frank" McCloskey (June 12, 1939 – November 2, 2003) was a six-term Democratic representative from Indiana
from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1995, widely remembered for his advocacy on behalf of Bosnian Muslims. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and later moved to Bloomington, Indiana
after receiving an undergraduate (majoring in political science
) and J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington. He was the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives
in 1970. Frank McCloskey worked as a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, the Bloomington Herald-Telephone
, and the City News Bureau in Chicago
.
in 1971, the year he graduated law school, by defeating two-term Republican incumbent John H. "Jack" Hooker, Jr., and served until his election to the 98th Congress in 1982. While mayor, he was credited with helping obtain federal funds to help improve city services and revitalize the city's downtown area. His administration also developed Bloomington Transit, a bus service serving the city. He was re-elected mayor in 1975 and 1979. In 1981, McCloskey was elected president of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. Additionally, he served on a 10-member task force created by the U.S. Conference of Mayors created to study urban financial policy.
Mayor McCloskey was an alternate delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention
.
in Indiana
's 8th Congressional District. McCloskey's campaign focused on the effects of Reaganomics
, and attempted to tie the district's high unemployment rate to Deckard and President Reagan
after Deckard supported Reagan on key tax cut and budget votes in the 97th Congress. Some of the district's counties were experiencing unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression
. During the campaign, McCloskey argued for deferral or elimination of a 10 percent tax cut scheduled in 1983 and for cuts in military spending. McCloskey also attacked Deckard for waffling on the nuclear freeze issue after the incumbent co-sponsored both the stronger and weaker versions of the freeze resolution. McCloskey's campaign was further boosted after Deckard was involved in a drunk driving accident shortly before the election. McCloskey significantly benefited from the support of Michael Vandeveer
, the popular Democratic Mayor of Evansville
, the district's largest city, and emerged the victor on election night, 52% to 48%. McCloskey thus became the sixth challenger since 1966 to unseat an incumbent in what had become known as "the Bloody Eighth."
Upon arriving in Washington, McCloskey sought a seat on the Appropriations Committee
, but was rebuffed by then-Majority Leader Jim Wright
, who told him first-term Members of Congress rarely obtain a seat on that committee. McCloskey instead was given a seat on the Armed Services Committee
, where he served throughout his Congressional career, and gained a reputation as one of the committee's most liberal members. He was a vocal critic of Pentagon spending during his first term. Knowing he would be a target in 1984, he returned to the district often, and focused on areas of importance to his constituents, such economic development, uses for high-sulfur coal mined in the district, and farm credit. In the 1984 contest for the Democratic nomination for President
, McCloskey supported Colorado Senator Gary Hart
over Walter Mondale
and Jesse Jackson
.
to challenge McCloskey in 1984. McIntyre, however, hailed from small Lawrence county
in the northeastern part of the district, and spent much of the election boosting his profile in the populous Evansville area. McCloskey, however, spent much of his first term tending politically to Evansville, and retained the support of the still popular Vandeveer. Ultimately, McCloskey ran up large margins in Evansville and Vanderburgh County
.
However, President Reagan
carried the district 61% to 38%. Buoyed by these strong coattails, McIntyre trailed McCloskey by only 72 votes after the initial vote count. A tabulation error in two precincts of one county, however, resulted in an overcounting of McCloskey votes, and Indiana's Secretary of State (a Republican) quickly certified McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes, without checking other counties, even though a recount in another county showed McCloskey with an overall lead of 72 votes. After a recount, McIntyre was up by 418 votes, but more than 4,800 ballots were not recounted for technical reasons. The Democratic-controlled House refused to seat either McIntyre or McCloskey and conducted their own recount. A task force, consisting of two Democrats and one Republican, hired auditors from the U.S. General Accounting Office to do the counting. The recount dragged on for nearly four months, and McCloskey survived three Republican-sponsored floor votes to seat McIntyre. The task force instructed the auditors to ignore many of the "technicalities" that resulted in Indiana officials throwing out ballots. In the end, the House seated McCloskey on May 1, 1985 after declaring him the winner by just four votes (116,645 to 116,641). The vote, 230-195, was largely along partisan lines and in response every Republican House member momentarily marched out of the chamber in symbolic protest.
. Following the 1986 U.S. airstrikes on Libya
, McCloskey sponsored legislation blocking the Marine Corps from buying bulldozers from a company partially owned by the Libyan government.
Meanwhile, McIntyre sought a rematch in 1986. However, he still faced a geographical disadvantage, and emotions over the bitter recount had faded. McCloskey took advantage of his incumbency and touted his work for Crane, even bringing in Les Aspin
to promise the district Crane would not be closed. McCloskey was also able to leverage his incumbency into positive publicity after investigating possible PCB
contamination from a Union Carbide
plant on the district's border. Seeking to be more than a candidate who was robbed of victory, McIntyre unsuccessfully tried to find an issue he could capitalize on, and ended up criticizing McCloskey's tenure as mayor of Bloomington and his criticisms of the Vietnam War
in the 1970s. Despite having no evidence in support of his claim, McIntyre alleged McCloskey had once smoked opium
. These false allegations backfired, and without having to fight Reagan's coattails, McCloskey won the rematch by a comfortable margin, 106,662 (53%) to 93,586 (46.5%), carrying nine the district's sixteen counties, including another convincing victory in Evansville.
, should be banned from the U.S. Mail. After investigating the issue, and discovering such a ban could be damaging to medical research, McCloskey adopted a position of strict enforcement of the existing regulations. McCloskey, from his position on the Armed Services Committee, played a high-profile role in the battle over President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative
, and argued SDI was a violation of the 1972 U.S./Soviet ABM Treaty. Following a night-time collision of two military helicopters in neighboring Fort Campbell
, Kentucky
, McCloskey also launched a probe into military flight accidents linked to the use of night vision goggles
. McCloskey was re-elected with 62% of the vote, his highest percentage, in 1988 against little-known newspaper publisher John L. Meyers, who shared a similar name to neighboring Congressman John T. Meyers
. Despite his liberal voting record, McCloskey's attention to local issues and efforts to bring money back to the district earned him the support of both Evansville daily newspapers in the 1988 campaign.
helicopter. Not uncoincidently, the hybrid airplane-helicopter's engines were built in Indiana.
Facing Evansville coal-mining executive Richard Mourdock
in the 1990 election, McCloskey was reelected with 55% of the vote. Mourdock captalized on an anti-incumbent trend and criticized McCloskey for his votes for a Congressional pay raise and tax increases.
in 1991. However, it was at this time when McCloskey first became a leader in the effort to take strong action, including military intervention, in the Balkans. McCloskey would maintain a passion and interest in the region for the remainder of his life. McCloskey was critical of President George H.W. Bush's "hands-off" approach to the conflict, and later voiced similar criticisms of President Clinton
's reluctance to engage in a solution.
1992 saw McCloskey's first congressional election in which his hometown of Bloomington was completely within the boundaries of the 8th District. McCloskey faced a rematch with Mourdock. By this time, the anti-incumbent sentiment in the nation was even stronger, but McCloskey retained his seat with 53% of the vote. McCloskey's lower 1992 margin, coming at the same time that Bill Clinton
became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the 8th District since 1964 and then-Governor
Evan Bayh
carried all of the district's counties in his re-election bid, was partly attributed to McCloskey's 65 overdrafts at the House bank
. McCloskey's efforts to save jobs at the district's Crane Naval Surface Weapons Warfare Center
helped secure his re-election.
. McCloskey lost to Republican John Hostettler
, a then little-known Evansville engineer who claimed the Republican nomination on the strength of strong support from area churches, 48% to 52%. McCloskey narrowly lost Martin county
, home to the Crane NSW center he had spent his Congressional career fighting to keep open. During the 103rd Congress, McCloskey supported the assault weapons ban, a vote which undermined his blue-collar labor and rural support. Hostettler sought to tie McCloskey to Clinton, referring to the Congressman as "Frank McClinton." Unlike in previous elections, where he ran up large margins, he only carried Vandenburgh County by a very small margin. In the end, McCloskey's years of devotion and advocacy on behalf of his district could not overcome his liberal voting record, accumulated over six terms, the unpopularity of President Clinton
, and the voters' tiring of long-time Democratic control of Congress.
during the Croatian War of Independence
, McCloskey was one of the first outsiders to arrive in the Croatian village of Voćin
within hours after the Voćin massacre
in 1991. After witnessing the atrocities in Voćin (McCloskey was the first to use the word genocide
to describe the activities in the disintegrating Yugoslavia
), McCloskey made the issue of bringing peace to the Balkans his primary issue, even though his stance on the war in the Balkans put him at odds with members of his own party, including the Clinton
White House.
On a Sunday morning in December 1991, McCloskey got into a car and drove to Voćin and surrounding villages, where Vojislav Seselj
's withdrawing Chetniks
had murdered 53 people, most of them elderly men and women http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/ses-ii030115e.htm. McCloskey had a close look at every mangled body. Some of them had been shot in head, others had been burned to death, and at least one had been dismembered with a chainsaw. The next morning McCloskey held a press conference at the Hotel Intercontinental in Zagreb
. There were only a small number of American reporters, and about the only coverage of note was in USA Today
. Mark Dalmish, the CNN
reporter in Zagreb refused to attend McCloskey’s press conference because he didn’t want to give the Congressman a "soapbox." But the story was big in Europe, especially in Germany. During the press conference McCloskey called the massacre at Voćin, and all the others that had happened in Croatia, genocide
. He was the first to put it in that context and like a lot of other things McCloskey said and did, the reference to genocide caused considerable consternation at the State Department. In fact, State did not decide to call these murders genocide until much later, after the deaths of a quarter million people in three countries.
It was after Voćin that McCloskey became an outspoken critic of the Serbian campaign and of his colleagues in Washington who continued to insist the conflict in Croatia
was only a "civil war", and something in which the U.S. had no business interfering. McCloskey went immediately to Belgrade
and accused Slobodan Milosevic
of war crimes to his face. After that he went back to Washington, contacting State Department officials at the highest levels to which he had access. He gave Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
a complete briefing, and wondered why nothing was done. When the same Serbian units that conducted the massacres in Croatia began to spread their grim work
around Bosnia-Herzegovina, McCloskey went to have a look for himself.
In 1992, after returning from his first trip to Mostar
in Bosnia
as a guest of the Croation American Association, McCloskey held a press conference at the Foreign Press Bureau at Hotel Split. In the presence of a State Department representative, a U.S. Marine Corps officer, and members of the international press corps, McCloskey called for U.S. led NATO air strikes against Serbian positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a way of ending the war.
When it became clear to him that support would not be forthcoming from either his party or Administration leaders, McCloskey broke with the mainstream Democratic party and made history by looking Warren Christopher
in the eye during a hearing on the Balkans and demanding the Secretary of State's resignation for his conduct of policy toward Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In December 1993, at the request of Gojko Susak
, then Croatian Minister of Defense, McCloskey went to Geneva
and helped broker an uneasy peace between Croats and Muslims fighting each other in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Once again, McCloskey was the first, but this time the State Department followed his lead and the peace became permanent. Sadly, when the Washington Agreement
was actually signed between Croats and Muslims in 1994, McCloskey was not invited. Undaunted, he elbowed his way into the Old Executive Office Building
to witness the ceremony, and said afterwards President Clinton had grudgingly acknowledged his presence.
Part of the reason for his distance from his fellow Democrat may have had to do with the fact that McCloskey had handed President Clinton his very first foreign policy defeat. But that particular battle was the beginning of a movement in Congress that transformed the British-backed Clinton policy toward the Balkans. By continually drawing attention to "ethnic cleansing" in the villages and towns of ex-Yugoslavia, McCloskey managed to gain the support of a majority of Democrats who, on every issue but this one, remained loyal to the Administration's position on non-intervention.
McCloskey brokered a broad coalition of Democrats and Republicans who had listened to his daily calls from the floor of the U.S. House of representatives to stop the genocide. They backed legislation called the McCloskey-Gilman amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (HR 4301, 104th Congress), which was intended to lift the arms embargo first against Bosnia and then Croatia. Despite tough opposition, the McCloskey-Gilman amendment passed the House of Representatives 244-178 on June 9, 1994. In the U.S. Senate, a similar bill was sponsored by Bob Dole
and Joe Lieberman
. It was defeated by a 50-50 vote on July 1, 1994 (Senate Amendment 1851 to S. 2182, 104th Congress). In 1995, after McCloskey was out of Congress, both houses of the 105th Congress passed a bill to lift the U.S. arms embargo on Bosnia by veto-proof, two-thirds majorities. President Clinton did veto the legislation in August 1995 while Congress was out of session. By the time Congress had returned, Clinton had launched a diplomatic initiative that would result in the Dayton Peace Accords.
During his tenure in Congress, McCloskey made many trips to Bosnia
, and spent his post-Congressional years working to bring peace and stability to Bosnia and the Balkans
. Samantha Power
recounted these efforts in her 2002 book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide http://www.identitytheory.com/people/birnbaum47.html.
Democratic Party. In addition to his work on achieving peace in the Balkans, he was named director of Kosovo programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2002.
to conduct academic research, or is awarded to one Indiana University student whose work focuses on the Balkans or residents of the Balkan region.
on November 2, 2003 following a year-long battle with bladder cancer
. As a veteran of the United States Air Force
(1957 to 1961), McCloskey's cremated remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery
. Rep. McCloskey and his wife, Roberta, were married for over 41 years and had two children — Helen and Mark. The United States Post Office
in Bloomington is now named after Rep. McCloskey, who served on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee in the House. A part of Indiana Highway 45
from Bloomington heading west is also named for McCloskey. In Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, one of the new bridges over river Miljacka is named as "The bridge of congressman McCloskey" in honour of his deeds and help to the country during the wars in Balkans. McCloskey's widow Roberta died from cancer on February 2, 2005 at the age of 61 in Bloomington http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/1821.html.
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Year
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Office
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Election
!
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Subject
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Party
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Votes
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Pct
!
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Opponent
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Party
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Votes
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Pct
|-
|1994
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF align="right" |84,857
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |47.6%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |John Hostettler
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |93,529
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |52.4%
|-
|1992
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |125,244
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |53.0%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Richard Mourdock
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |108,054
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |45.7%
|-
|1990
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF align="right" |97,465
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |54.7%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Richard Mourdock
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |80,645
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |45.3%
|-
|1988
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |141,355
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |61.8%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |John L. Myers
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |87,321
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |38.2%
|-
|1986
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |106,662
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |53.3%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Rick McIntyre
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |93,586
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |46.7%
|-
|1984
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |116,645
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |50.0%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Rick McIntyre
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |116,641
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |50.0%
|-
|1982
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |100,592
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |51.7%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |H. Joel Deckard
(Inc.)
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |94,127
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |48.3%
|-
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1995, widely remembered for his advocacy on behalf of Bosnian Muslims. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and later moved to Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
after receiving an undergraduate (majoring in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
) and J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington. He was the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
in 1970. Frank McCloskey worked as a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, the Bloomington Herald-Telephone
The Herald-Times
The Herald-Times is a daily newspaper serving Bloomington, Indiana and surrounding areas. The newspaper won the Blue Ribbon Daily award in 1975, 1984 and 2007, naming it the best daily newspaper in the state of Indiana in those years.-External links:**...
, and the City News Bureau in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Mayor of Bloomington
McCloskey was elected mayor of BloomingtonBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
in 1971, the year he graduated law school, by defeating two-term Republican incumbent John H. "Jack" Hooker, Jr., and served until his election to the 98th Congress in 1982. While mayor, he was credited with helping obtain federal funds to help improve city services and revitalize the city's downtown area. His administration also developed Bloomington Transit, a bus service serving the city. He was re-elected mayor in 1975 and 1979. In 1981, McCloskey was elected president of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. Additionally, he served on a 10-member task force created by the U.S. Conference of Mayors created to study urban financial policy.
Mayor McCloskey was an alternate delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention
1972 Democratic National Convention
The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10–13, 1972....
.
1982 election and first term
Initially, Mayor McCloskey was an underdog in his race against two-term incumbent Republican representative Joel DeckardH. Joel Deckard
Huey Joel Deckard is a former U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Vandalia, Illinois, Deckard attended public schools in Mount Vernon, Indiana. He attended the University of Evansville from 1962 to 1967, and served in the Indiana National Guard from 1966 to 1972...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
's 8th Congressional District. McCloskey's campaign focused on the effects of Reaganomics
Reaganomics
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, also known as supply-side economics and called trickle-down economics, particularly by critics...
, and attempted to tie the district's high unemployment rate to Deckard and President Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
after Deckard supported Reagan on key tax cut and budget votes in the 97th Congress. Some of the district's counties were experiencing unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. During the campaign, McCloskey argued for deferral or elimination of a 10 percent tax cut scheduled in 1983 and for cuts in military spending. McCloskey also attacked Deckard for waffling on the nuclear freeze issue after the incumbent co-sponsored both the stronger and weaker versions of the freeze resolution. McCloskey's campaign was further boosted after Deckard was involved in a drunk driving accident shortly before the election. McCloskey significantly benefited from the support of Michael Vandeveer
Michael Vandeveer
Michael Vandeveer was the mayor of Evansville, Indiana from 1980 until he resigned in 1987 to take a job in the private sector.-References:...
, the popular Democratic Mayor of Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
, the district's largest city, and emerged the victor on election night, 52% to 48%. McCloskey thus became the sixth challenger since 1966 to unseat an incumbent in what had become known as "the Bloody Eighth."
Upon arriving in Washington, McCloskey sought a seat on the Appropriations Committee
United States House Committee on Appropriations
The Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...
, but was rebuffed by then-Majority Leader Jim Wright
Jim Wright
James Claude Wright, Jr. , usually known as Jim Wright, is a former Democratic U.S. Congressman from Texas who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the Speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989.-Early life:...
, who told him first-term Members of Congress rarely obtain a seat on that committee. McCloskey instead was given a seat on the Armed Services Committee
United States House Committee on Armed Services
thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...
, where he served throughout his Congressional career, and gained a reputation as one of the committee's most liberal members. He was a vocal critic of Pentagon spending during his first term. Knowing he would be a target in 1984, he returned to the district often, and focused on areas of importance to his constituents, such economic development, uses for high-sulfur coal mined in the district, and farm credit. In the 1984 contest for the Democratic nomination for President
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1984
The 1984 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1984 U.S. presidential election...
, McCloskey supported Colorado Senator Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
over Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
and Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
.
1984 re-election and controversial recount
After McCloskey accumulated a liberal voting record by opposing President Reagan over 80% of the time during his first year in office, Republicans recruited a twenty-eight year old, two-term conservative state representative Rick McIntyreRick McIntyre
Richard D. McIntyre, Sr. was a lawyer and public official from Indiana. He was born in 1956 and his original ambition was to become a Navy Pilot. He enrolled in Naval air training in Pensacola, but was forced to quit after a knee injury...
to challenge McCloskey in 1984. McIntyre, however, hailed from small Lawrence county
Lawrence County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,922 people, 18,535 households, and 13,141 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 20,560 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...
in the northeastern part of the district, and spent much of the election boosting his profile in the populous Evansville area. McCloskey, however, spent much of his first term tending politically to Evansville, and retained the support of the still popular Vandeveer. Ultimately, McCloskey ran up large margins in Evansville and Vanderburgh County
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 171,922 people, 70,623 households, and 44,421 families residing in the county. The population density was 733 people per square mile . There were 76,300 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile...
.
However, President Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
carried the district 61% to 38%. Buoyed by these strong coattails, McIntyre trailed McCloskey by only 72 votes after the initial vote count. A tabulation error in two precincts of one county, however, resulted in an overcounting of McCloskey votes, and Indiana's Secretary of State (a Republican) quickly certified McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes, without checking other counties, even though a recount in another county showed McCloskey with an overall lead of 72 votes. After a recount, McIntyre was up by 418 votes, but more than 4,800 ballots were not recounted for technical reasons. The Democratic-controlled House refused to seat either McIntyre or McCloskey and conducted their own recount. A task force, consisting of two Democrats and one Republican, hired auditors from the U.S. General Accounting Office to do the counting. The recount dragged on for nearly four months, and McCloskey survived three Republican-sponsored floor votes to seat McIntyre. The task force instructed the auditors to ignore many of the "technicalities" that resulted in Indiana officials throwing out ballots. In the end, the House seated McCloskey on May 1, 1985 after declaring him the winner by just four votes (116,645 to 116,641). The vote, 230-195, was largely along partisan lines and in response every Republican House member momentarily marched out of the chamber in symbolic protest.
99th Congress
Once sworn in for a second term, McCloskey used his position on the Armed Services Committee to prohibit job contracting at the Crane Weapons CenterNaval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division
Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division is the principal tenant command located at Naval Support Activity Crane. NSA Crane is a United States Navy installation located approximately southwest of Bloomington, Indiana and predominantly located in Martin County, but small parts also extend into...
. Following the 1986 U.S. airstrikes on Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, McCloskey sponsored legislation blocking the Marine Corps from buying bulldozers from a company partially owned by the Libyan government.
Meanwhile, McIntyre sought a rematch in 1986. However, he still faced a geographical disadvantage, and emotions over the bitter recount had faded. McCloskey took advantage of his incumbency and touted his work for Crane, even bringing in Les Aspin
Les Aspin
Leslie "Les" Aspin, Jr. was a United States Representative from 1971 to 1993, and the United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from January 21, 1993 to February 3, 1994.-Early life:...
to promise the district Crane would not be closed. McCloskey was also able to leverage his incumbency into positive publicity after investigating possible PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
contamination from a Union Carbide
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. It currently employs more than 2,400 people. Union Carbide primarily produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers before reaching consumers. Some are high-volume...
plant on the district's border. Seeking to be more than a candidate who was robbed of victory, McIntyre unsuccessfully tried to find an issue he could capitalize on, and ended up criticizing McCloskey's tenure as mayor of Bloomington and his criticisms of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in the 1970s. Despite having no evidence in support of his claim, McIntyre alleged McCloskey had once smoked opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
. These false allegations backfired, and without having to fight Reagan's coattails, McCloskey won the rematch by a comfortable margin, 106,662 (53%) to 93,586 (46.5%), carrying nine the district's sixteen counties, including another convincing victory in Evansville.
100th Congress
By his third term, in the 100th Congress, McCloskey had risen to chair of the Postal Personnel and Modernization subcommittee. From this position, he held hearings to determine if toxic biological agents, such as anthraxAnthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
, should be banned from the U.S. Mail. After investigating the issue, and discovering such a ban could be damaging to medical research, McCloskey adopted a position of strict enforcement of the existing regulations. McCloskey, from his position on the Armed Services Committee, played a high-profile role in the battle over President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
, and argued SDI was a violation of the 1972 U.S./Soviet ABM Treaty. Following a night-time collision of two military helicopters in neighboring Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, McCloskey also launched a probe into military flight accidents linked to the use of night vision goggles
Night vision goggles
A night vision device is an optical instrument that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. They are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users...
. McCloskey was re-elected with 62% of the vote, his highest percentage, in 1988 against little-known newspaper publisher John L. Meyers, who shared a similar name to neighboring Congressman John T. Meyers
John T. Myers (Congressman)
John Thomas Myers was a Republican Congressman from Indiana's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1997. His son-in-law, Brian D. Kerns, represented the same district from 2001 to 2003. John T...
. Despite his liberal voting record, McCloskey's attention to local issues and efforts to bring money back to the district earned him the support of both Evansville daily newspapers in the 1988 campaign.
101st Congress
In the 101st Congress McCloskey authored a bill enacted requiring a disclaimer on any non-governmental mailings that use an emblem or other identifying symbol to mislead consumers into believing the mailing is a government document. In addition to barring these deceptive mailings, McCloskey sponsored legislation, alse enacted, requiring child-proof containers for any potentially harmful drugs and household products sent through the mail. McCloskey moderated his military spending views somewhat in his fourth term, voting against halting production of the B-2 stealth bomber and opposing efforts to eliminate the development of the V-22 OspreyV-22 Osprey
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
helicopter. Not uncoincidently, the hybrid airplane-helicopter's engines were built in Indiana.
Facing Evansville coal-mining executive Richard Mourdock
Richard Mourdock
-External links:********...
in the 1990 election, McCloskey was reelected with 55% of the vote. Mourdock captalized on an anti-incumbent trend and criticized McCloskey for his votes for a Congressional pay raise and tax increases.
102nd Congress
In the 102nd Congress McCloskey opposed the use of force against IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1991. However, it was at this time when McCloskey first became a leader in the effort to take strong action, including military intervention, in the Balkans. McCloskey would maintain a passion and interest in the region for the remainder of his life. McCloskey was critical of President George H.W. Bush's "hands-off" approach to the conflict, and later voiced similar criticisms of President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's reluctance to engage in a solution.
1992 saw McCloskey's first congressional election in which his hometown of Bloomington was completely within the boundaries of the 8th District. McCloskey faced a rematch with Mourdock. By this time, the anti-incumbent sentiment in the nation was even stronger, but McCloskey retained his seat with 53% of the vote. McCloskey's lower 1992 margin, coming at the same time that Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the 8th District since 1964 and then-Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...
carried all of the district's counties in his re-election bid, was partly attributed to McCloskey's 65 overdrafts at the House bank
House banking scandal
The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the United States House of Representatives allowed members to overdraw their House checking accounts without risk of being penalized by the House bank ....
. McCloskey's efforts to save jobs at the district's Crane Naval Surface Weapons Warfare Center
Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division
Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division is the principal tenant command located at Naval Support Activity Crane. NSA Crane is a United States Navy installation located approximately southwest of Bloomington, Indiana and predominantly located in Martin County, but small parts also extend into...
helped secure his re-election.
1994 election defeat
McCloskey was one of thirty-four Democratic incumbents defeated during the 1994 Republican RevolutionRepublican Revolution
The Republican Revolution or Revolution of '94 is what the media dubbed Republican Party success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate...
. McCloskey lost to Republican John Hostettler
John Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler , was a Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in the state of Indiana held by retiring Senator Evan Bayh. On December 3, 2009, Hostettler announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, but lost to former Senator Dan Coats.Hostettler served in the U.S...
, a then little-known Evansville engineer who claimed the Republican nomination on the strength of strong support from area churches, 48% to 52%. McCloskey narrowly lost Martin county
Martin County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,369 people, 4,183 households, and 2,877 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile . There were 4,729 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...
, home to the Crane NSW center he had spent his Congressional career fighting to keep open. During the 103rd Congress, McCloskey supported the assault weapons ban, a vote which undermined his blue-collar labor and rural support. Hostettler sought to tie McCloskey to Clinton, referring to the Congressman as "Frank McClinton." Unlike in previous elections, where he ran up large margins, he only carried Vandenburgh County by a very small margin. In the end, McCloskey's years of devotion and advocacy on behalf of his district could not overcome his liberal voting record, accumulated over six terms, the unpopularity of President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and the voters' tiring of long-time Democratic control of Congress.
Efforts to bring peace to the Balkans
While on a fact-finding mission to CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
during the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, McCloskey was one of the first outsiders to arrive in the Croatian village of Voćin
Vocin
Voćin is a village and municipality in western Slavonia, Croatia, located southwest of Slatina and east of Daruvar. The population of the municipality is 2,500, with 1,161 people living in Voćin itself ....
within hours after the Voćin massacre
Vocin massacre
Voćin massacre was a massacre committed against Croatian civilians in the village of Voćin by Serb paramilitary units in December 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence....
in 1991. After witnessing the atrocities in Voćin (McCloskey was the first to use the word genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
to describe the activities in the disintegrating Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
), McCloskey made the issue of bringing peace to the Balkans his primary issue, even though his stance on the war in the Balkans put him at odds with members of his own party, including the Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
White House.
On a Sunday morning in December 1991, McCloskey got into a car and drove to Voćin and surrounding villages, where Vojislav Seselj
Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj, JD is a Serbian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the founder and president of the Serbian Radical Party and was vice-president of Serbia between 1998 and 2000...
's withdrawing Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
had murdered 53 people, most of them elderly men and women http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/ses-ii030115e.htm. McCloskey had a close look at every mangled body. Some of them had been shot in head, others had been burned to death, and at least one had been dismembered with a chainsaw. The next morning McCloskey held a press conference at the Hotel Intercontinental in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. There were only a small number of American reporters, and about the only coverage of note was in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. Mark Dalmish, the CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reporter in Zagreb refused to attend McCloskey’s press conference because he didn’t want to give the Congressman a "soapbox." But the story was big in Europe, especially in Germany. During the press conference McCloskey called the massacre at Voćin, and all the others that had happened in Croatia, genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. He was the first to put it in that context and like a lot of other things McCloskey said and did, the reference to genocide caused considerable consternation at the State Department. In fact, State did not decide to call these murders genocide until much later, after the deaths of a quarter million people in three countries.
It was after Voćin that McCloskey became an outspoken critic of the Serbian campaign and of his colleagues in Washington who continued to insist the conflict in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
was only a "civil war", and something in which the U.S. had no business interfering. McCloskey went immediately to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and accused Slobodan Milosevic
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
of war crimes to his face. After that he went back to Washington, contacting State Department officials at the highest levels to which he had access. He gave Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
Lawrence Eagleburger
Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was an American statesman and former career diplomat, who served briefly as the United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H....
a complete briefing, and wondered why nothing was done. When the same Serbian units that conducted the massacres in Croatia began to spread their grim work
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
around Bosnia-Herzegovina, McCloskey went to have a look for himself.
In 1992, after returning from his first trip to Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
as a guest of the Croation American Association, McCloskey held a press conference at the Foreign Press Bureau at Hotel Split. In the presence of a State Department representative, a U.S. Marine Corps officer, and members of the international press corps, McCloskey called for U.S. led NATO air strikes against Serbian positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a way of ending the war.
When it became clear to him that support would not be forthcoming from either his party or Administration leaders, McCloskey broke with the mainstream Democratic party and made history by looking Warren Christopher
Warren Christopher
Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...
in the eye during a hearing on the Balkans and demanding the Secretary of State's resignation for his conduct of policy toward Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In December 1993, at the request of Gojko Susak
Gojko Šušak
Gojko Šušak was the Croatian Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998. A Bosnian Croat emigreé to Canada, he entered the political life of Croat diaspora in North America, subsequently becoming a close friend and associate to Franjo Tuđman, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, a nationalistic...
, then Croatian Minister of Defense, McCloskey went to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and helped broker an uneasy peace between Croats and Muslims fighting each other in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Once again, McCloskey was the first, but this time the State Department followed his lead and the peace became permanent. Sadly, when the Washington Agreement
Washington Agreement
The Washington Agreement was a ceasefire agreement between the warring Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Washington on 18 March 1994 and Vienna. It was signed by Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdžić, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić and...
was actually signed between Croats and Muslims in 1994, McCloskey was not invited. Undaunted, he elbowed his way into the Old Executive Office Building
Old Executive Office Building
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building , formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building and as the State, War, and Navy Building, is an office building in Washington, D.C., just west of the White House...
to witness the ceremony, and said afterwards President Clinton had grudgingly acknowledged his presence.
Part of the reason for his distance from his fellow Democrat may have had to do with the fact that McCloskey had handed President Clinton his very first foreign policy defeat. But that particular battle was the beginning of a movement in Congress that transformed the British-backed Clinton policy toward the Balkans. By continually drawing attention to "ethnic cleansing" in the villages and towns of ex-Yugoslavia, McCloskey managed to gain the support of a majority of Democrats who, on every issue but this one, remained loyal to the Administration's position on non-intervention.
McCloskey brokered a broad coalition of Democrats and Republicans who had listened to his daily calls from the floor of the U.S. House of representatives to stop the genocide. They backed legislation called the McCloskey-Gilman amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (HR 4301, 104th Congress), which was intended to lift the arms embargo first against Bosnia and then Croatia. Despite tough opposition, the McCloskey-Gilman amendment passed the House of Representatives 244-178 on June 9, 1994. In the U.S. Senate, a similar bill was sponsored by Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
and Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
. It was defeated by a 50-50 vote on July 1, 1994 (Senate Amendment 1851 to S. 2182, 104th Congress). In 1995, after McCloskey was out of Congress, both houses of the 105th Congress passed a bill to lift the U.S. arms embargo on Bosnia by veto-proof, two-thirds majorities. President Clinton did veto the legislation in August 1995 while Congress was out of session. By the time Congress had returned, Clinton had launched a diplomatic initiative that would result in the Dayton Peace Accords.
During his tenure in Congress, McCloskey made many trips to Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, and spent his post-Congressional years working to bring peace and stability to Bosnia and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Samantha Power
Samantha Power
Samantha Power is an Irish American academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council...
recounted these efforts in her 2002 book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide http://www.identitytheory.com/people/birnbaum47.html.
Life after Congress
Following his 1994 defeat, McCloskey was elected chair of the Monroe CountyMonroe County, Indiana
As of the census of 2010, there were 137,974 people, 46,898 households, and 24,715 families residing in the county. The population density was 306 people per square mile . There were 50,846 housing units at an average density of 129 per square mile...
Democratic Party. In addition to his work on achieving peace in the Balkans, he was named director of Kosovo programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2002.
McCloskey Fellowship
Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute and the NDI announced an endowment at Indiana University in McCloskey's honor in 2005. The McCloskey Fellowship brings one scholar every year from the Balkans to Indiana University and Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to conduct academic research, or is awarded to one Indiana University student whose work focuses on the Balkans or residents of the Balkan region.
Death
Rep. McCloskey died in BloomingtonBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
on November 2, 2003 following a year-long battle with bladder cancer
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...
. As a veteran of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(1957 to 1961), McCloskey's cremated remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. Rep. McCloskey and his wife, Roberta, were married for over 41 years and had two children — Helen and Mark. The United States Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
in Bloomington is now named after Rep. McCloskey, who served on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee in the House. A part of Indiana Highway 45
Indiana State Road 45
State Road 45 is a state route from Bean Blossom, Indiana to Scotland, Indiana in the southern half of the state.-Route description:From Bean Blossom and through Brown County, State Road 45 is a narrow, shoulderless two-lane road that passes between the Morgan-Monroe State Forest and the Yellowwood...
from Bloomington heading west is also named for McCloskey. In Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, one of the new bridges over river Miljacka is named as "The bridge of congressman McCloskey" in honour of his deeds and help to the country during the wars in Balkans. McCloskey's widow Roberta died from cancer on February 2, 2005 at the age of 61 in Bloomington http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/1821.html.
External links
- Article for Frank McCloskey on Bloomingpedia
- Obituary at the unofficial Arlington National Cemetery website
- Croatian American Association tribute to Frank McCloskey
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Year
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Office
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Election
!
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Subject
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Party
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Votes
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Pct
!
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Opponent
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Party
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Votes
!bgcolor=#cccccc |Pct
|-
|1994
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF align="right" |84,857
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |47.6%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |John Hostettler
John Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler , was a Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in the state of Indiana held by retiring Senator Evan Bayh. On December 3, 2009, Hostettler announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, but lost to former Senator Dan Coats.Hostettler served in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |93,529
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |52.4%
|-
|1992
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |125,244
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |53.0%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Richard Mourdock
Richard Mourdock
-External links:********...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |108,054
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |45.7%
|-
|1990
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF align="right" |97,465
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |54.7%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Richard Mourdock
Richard Mourdock
-External links:********...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |80,645
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |45.3%
|-
|1988
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |141,355
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |61.8%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |John L. Myers
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |87,321
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |38.2%
|-
|1986
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |106,662
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |53.3%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Rick McIntyre
Rick McIntyre
Richard D. McIntyre, Sr. was a lawyer and public official from Indiana. He was born in 1956 and his original ambition was to become a Navy Pilot. He enrolled in Naval air training in Pensacola, but was forced to quit after a knee injury...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |93,586
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |46.7%
|-
|1984
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey (Inc.)
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |116,645
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |50.0%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Rick McIntyre
Rick McIntyre
Richard D. McIntyre, Sr. was a lawyer and public official from Indiana. He was born in 1956 and his original ambition was to become a Navy Pilot. He enrolled in Naval air training in Pensacola, but was forced to quit after a knee injury...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |116,641
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |50.0%
|-
|1982
|Congress, 8th district
|General
|
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Frank McCloskey
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |100,592
|bgcolor=#DDEEFF |51.7%
|
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |H. Joel Deckard
H. Joel Deckard
Huey Joel Deckard is a former U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Vandalia, Illinois, Deckard attended public schools in Mount Vernon, Indiana. He attended the University of Evansville from 1962 to 1967, and served in the Indiana National Guard from 1966 to 1972...
(Inc.)
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 align="right" |94,127
|bgcolor=#FFE8E8 |48.3%
|-