Thomas J. Bliley, Jr.
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Thomas Jerome Bliley, Jr., usually known as Tom Bliley, is a former American Republican politician and U.S. Representative from the state of Virginia.
Bliley was born on January 28, 1932, in Chesterfield County, Virginia. He attended private schools and graduated in 1948 at the age of 16 from Benedictine High School in Richmond, Virginia. Bliley earned a B.A. from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1952 and served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1955. He worked as a funeral director for Joseph W. Bliley Co. Funeral Home, a family business, eventually serving as President.
Bliley entered politics in 1968 when he was elected vice-mayor of Richmond. He held that post until 1970, when he successfully ran for mayor, a position he held until 1977. Bliley grew up as a Democrat, but became a Republican sometime after his term as mayor. In 1980, Bliley won the Republican nomination for Congress representing Virginia’s 3rd congressional district after 12-year incumbent David Satterfield announced his retirement. He won by a large margin, becoming the first Republican to win an undisputed victory in the district since Reconstruction. (In 1890, the House awarded Republican Edmund Waddill the seat after a disputed election.) Although the 3rd had long been considered a swing district, Bliley was reelected five times without serious opposition.
After the 1990 census, the Democratic-controlled Virginia General Assembly began the process of redistricting the state. It was faced with a Justice Department order to create a majority-black district in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The legislature responded by shifting most of Richmond, which by this time had a black majority, into a new, majority-black 3rd district. Bliley's district was renumbered the 7th, and retained most of the whiter and wealthier sections of Richmond, along with several suburbs. Bliley now represented the most Republican district in Virginia, and he was handily reelected to four more terms, retiring in January 2001.
In 1995, when the Republican Party gained majority control of the Congress, Bliley was elected Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, a position he held for six years. In that influential role he was a principal author of several important laws including the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act."
Bliley had a mostly conservative voting record, but had very good relations with Democrats. Even his opponents considered his manner to be pleasant and gentlemanly. He was well-known for wearing a bow tie on the House floor.
Bliley, a Roman Catholic, is married to the former Mary Virginia Kelley and is the father of two, Thomas J. Bliley III and Mary Vaughan (Bliley) Davies. Bliley has two granddaughters, Jenny and Kathy Davies, and two grandsons, Thomas J. Bliley IV and Shawn Bliley.
