Bruce Morrison
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Bruce Andrew Morrison (born October 8, 1944) is an American attorney, lobbyist and Democratic Party politician who represented
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
from 1983 to 1991. In 1990, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for
Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
. As chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, he was a primary author of the
Immigration Act of 1990 The Immigration Act of 1990 () was signed into law by George H. W. Bush on November 29, 1990. It was first introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy in 1989. It was a national reform of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It increased total, o ...
, one of only two major immigration bills in United States history to increase legal immigration. He has been an advocate for
Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
causes and American involvement in the Irish peace process, including acting as a key intermediary between
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
leader
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...
and President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
.


Early life and education

Born in New York City, Morrison was adopted at a young age by George and Dorothea Morrison, who lived in Northport,
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. As a child, he attended public schools and graduated from
Northport High School Northport High School is a four-year secondary school in East Northport, New York on Long Island, New York. It serves as the high school for the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District, which includes Northport, New York, Northport, Ea ...
in 1962. Morrison attended the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, and graduated in three years in 1965 with a degree in chemistry. He received a master's degree in
organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
in 1970. At Illinois, he founded the Graduate Student Association as an advocacy organization for the over 8000 graduate students on campus. He was elected and re-elected as the first chairman of the group. In 1970, he worked as a special assistant to the dean of students. Morrison received a J.D. from
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
in 1973. Among his classmates were future president
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, future Senator and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, future ambassador to the United Nations
John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...
, future Supreme Court justice
Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...
, and future U.S. Senator
Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal ( ; born February 13, 1946) is an American politician, lawyer, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from ...
. While at Yale Law School, he worked for Greater Boston Legal Services, the
Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...
, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association.


Legal services career

In June 1973, Morrison became a staff attorney with New Haven Legal Assistance Association (LAA), one of the earliest programs to provide civil legal services to the poor. He was promoted to managing attorney a year late and became executive director in 1976. During his tenure at LAA, he was a mentor to many future litigators and judges. He was lead counsel in numerous successful class action cases based on federal Constitutional and statutory claims. He repeatedly argued in the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme Courts. He also lobbied on behalf of low income clients in the Connecticut legislature and helped draft landmark Landlord-Tenant reform legislation. On a national level, Morrison was a leader of the Project Advisory Group representing the legal services programs from around the country. He advocated for these programs before the federal Legal Services Corporationa and the Congress, including the successful campaign that prevented the defunding of legal services proposed by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.


U.S. Representative and campaign for Governor

In 1982, Morrison mounted a successful grass roots campaign for Congress in . He defeated the party-endorsed Democrat in a primary and then defeated Republican incumbent Larry DeNardis by 1,687 votes in the general election. After narrowly defeating DeNardis again in 1984, he won easy re-elections in 1986 and 1988. Morrison was the first chairman of the Freshman Democratic Caucus of the 98th Congress. He was selected to serve on the House Banking Committee and the
House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...
, as well as the Veterans Affairs and DC Committees, and the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. He was an expert on housing issues and authored numerous amendments to improve housing opportunities for the poor. He was deeply involved in human rights issues, visiting
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
to demand the release of prisoners,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
as part of a campaign to oust dictator
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
to protest apartheid,
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
to oppose aid to the
Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
and
Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
to observe elections after the overthrow of dictator
Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan politician, army general and Military dictatorship, military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 19 ...
. Morrison was a leader in efforts to reduce deficits and balance the federal budget. He was the Democratic sponsor of floor amendments to freeze spending in 1984 and 1985.


Immigration Act of 1990

He served as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship from 1989–1991. He was the House author of the
Immigration Act of 1990 The Immigration Act of 1990 () was signed into law by George H. W. Bush on November 29, 1990. It was first introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy in 1989. It was a national reform of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It increased total, o ...
, one of only two major immigration bills in the country's history to increase legal immigration. The legislation increased the focus of immigrant admission toward high skilled workers on the H1-B visa. In an interview with Bill Whitaker on
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
' ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' broadcast on March 19, 2017, Morrison commented: "The H-1B has been hijacked as the main highway to bring people from abroad and displace American workers." The bill also included a provision that became known as the Morrison visa program. It allotted 40,000 visas each year for three years to countries that had been disadvantaged by the 1965 immigration legislation. Immigrants from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were allotted with 40% (16,000) of the visas.


1990 gubernatorial campaign

Morrison ran for governor of Connecticut in 1990. The incumbent Democratic Governor, William O'Neill, had become very unpopular due to years of state budget crises and chose not to seek re-election. Although Morrison defeated William Cibes in the Democratic primary, he finished a distant third in the general despite a sizable Democratic voter registration advantage, behind Republican
John G. Rowland John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American former politician, author, and radio host who served as the 86th governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. Rowland served three terms representing Connecticut's 5th congressional distri ...
and the eventual winner, independent
Lowell Weicker Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; May 16, 1931 – June 28, 2023) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. Weicker unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for presi ...
. Morrison could not overcome public dissatisfaction with the Democrats. After losing, he started his own law firm specializing in immigration law in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
.


Clinton administration

In 1992, Morrison supported Bill Clinton's campaign by forming Irish Americans for Clinton-Gore, which recruited Clinton to support an activist agenda to assist in ending
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in Northern Ireland. Clinton's pledges during the campaign became the basis of his work on the Irish Peace Process when in office. Morrison formed the Americans for a New Irish Agenda to support and encourage these efforts. With ''Irish Voice'' publisher
Niall O'Dowd Niall O'Dowd (born 18 May 1953) is an Irish-born American journalist and author. He was involved in the negotiations leading to the Northern Irish Good Friday Peace Agreement. He is the founder of ''Irish Voice'' newspaper and ''Irish Ameri ...
, Morrison acted as a key intermediary between
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...
, leader of the
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
party, the White House, and the Irish government led by
Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...
. Morrison, O'Dowd, Bill Flynn (former CEO of Mutual of America Insurance Co.), philanthropist Chuck Feeney, and Joe Jamison and Bill Lenahan of the Irish American Labor Coalition were crucial in paving the way for Adams's controversial visa into the U.S. in February 1994 to address the
National Committee on American Foreign Policy The National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan activist organization dedicated to the resolution of conflicts that threaten United States interests. Founded in 1974 by Hans Morgenthau, NCAFP wo ...
and for the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
's (IRA) ceasefire declaration of August 1994. Morrison continued to play an active role in the Peace Process throughout the 1990s and conducted negotiations leading to the renewed IRA ceasefire in 1997. Morrison's role in the peace process is detailed in the 2016 book ''Peacerunner'' written by Penn Rhodeen.


Federal Housing Finance Board

In 1995, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the director of the
Federal Housing Finance Board The Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1989 in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis to take over management of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs or FHLBanks) from ...
, an independent agency regulating the twelve Federal Home Loan Banks, a wholesale banking system with assets then in excess of $600 billion. His work included the successful advocacy of the passage of the Federal Home Loan Bank Modernization Act of 1999, a bi-partisan effort which provided for new powers for the banks, devolution of management, and a modern risk-based capital structure. Under Morrison's leadership, the Finance Board also provided the banks with new business opportunities in housing, finance, and economic development through pilot programs and regulatory innovations. These changes were implemented through a regulatory agenda in the first six months of 2000.


2001 to present

After leaving the Finance Board in July 2000, he founded the Morrison Public Affairs Group (MPAG), a
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...
-based lobbying firm. The firm specializes in financial services, housing finance, and immigration policy. Morrison also conducts an immigration law practice.


Irish-American causes

Morrison has remained active in Irish-American organizing and advocacy. He represented the Irish community on the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee, an official committee of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
. He served as one of three Co-Convenors of the Council. In that role, he was a
superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...
at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where he supported
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. He supported Representative
Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for fr ...
in his bid for DNC chairman. In 2008, Morrison appeared at the
National University of Ireland, Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...
to participate in a debate on the
2008 U.S. Presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...
in support of Senator
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. His opponent was Grant Lally, head of Irish-Americans for
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
. In 2019, Morrison alongside a number of other Irish American political and civil society figures founded the bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement. He currently serves as co-chair of the committee alongside fellow co-chair, Republican James Walsh.


Residence

He resides with his family in Bethesda,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
.


Election results

Congressional elections Gubernatorial election


References


External links

*
Chairman Bruce A. Morrison bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Bruce 1944 births Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Yale Law School alumni Yale Law School faculty American adoptees Immigration lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut People from Northport, New York Politicians from New York City Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives