Richard E Neal

Richard E. Neal is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 1st Congressional District, first elected to Congress in 1988. Born in Worcester and raised and educated in Springfield, he graduated from American International College with a bachelor's degree in political science and earned a master's degree in public administration from the Barney School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Hartford. Before Congress he was a high school teacher, a member of the Springfield City Council, and Mayor of Springfield (1984–1988). He joined the House Ways and Means Committee in 1993 and was elected its Chairman in January 2019, the first Massachusetts representative to hold that post since 1875. He is the Democratic Leader of the Friends of Ireland Caucus and dean of both the Massachusetts and New England congressional delegations.