Thomas Downey
Thomas J. Downey, Chairman of the Downey McGrath Group, Inc., founded this government affairs consulting firm in January, 1993. Downey McGrath is a small, independent, bipartisan firm.
Downey is a hands-on leader who participates in the active management of each client's activities and personally advocates on their behalf. In 1994 Downey added a Republican partner, enabling the firm to represent its clients on both sides of the aisle.
Since 1993 the firm has represented Fortune 500 companies, labor unions, non-profit organizations, trade associations and coalitions in their dealings with the Federal government. He has worked on a wide variety of issues including taxes, health care, telecommunications, environment and appropriations on their behalf. Downey and the firm have also successfully represented a number of clients on transactional issues with the federal government, such as the mergers of AOL and Time Warner, Chevron and Texaco and Exxon Mobil, as well as on federal procurement contracts.
Downey was elected to the Congress in 1974, at the age of 25. He served as the Democratic representative of the 2nd District of New York until 1993. Downey began his service on the Armed Services Committee and was later appointed to the House Budget Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee, where he served for fourteen years.
On the Armed Services Committee, Downey was an advisor to both the SALT and START arms negotiations talks, and is a past president of Parliamentarians for Global Action, an international arms control organization.
At Ways and Means Downey championed mortgage revenue bonds, saving the state and local property and income tax deduction, and the earned income tax credit. He also served as the Acting Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources for five years, where he was the chief House architect of the 1988 welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act, and of landmark child care legislation. Downey also chaired the Subcommittee on Human Services of the House Select Committee on Aging from 1987 to 1993. In addition, he co-authored the original Superfund legislation, and later led efforts to expand Superfund.
As a senior member of the Trade Subcommittee, he sponsored the legislation which created a Free Trade Zone with Israel. He played a critical role in GSP legislation, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Act and in the 1984 and 1988 Omnibus Trade Acts, particularly in the area of the intellectual property provisions.
Downey's leadership and record of success did not end with his departure from Congress. In 1993, he was asked by President Clinton to lead the private-sector effort to build bipartisan Congressional support for the passage of the NAFTA-enabling legislation and later was asked to head the bipartisan effort to pass the Uruguay Round GATT legislation. His success on trade matters continues to this day; in 2000 he was one of the leading lobbyists fighting for the passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.
President-elect Clinton chose Downey to head the HHS, HUD, and VA cluster of the 1992 Presidential transition, and later appointed him to the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform (the Kerrey Commission). During the 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns, Downey assisted Vice President Al Gore in his debate preparation.
