East Coast Congress

Some East Coast politicians benefitted significantly from the Democratic takeover of Congress as Reps. Barney Frank of Mass. and Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pa. took leadership positions on committees with direct control over insurance legislation. Frank is chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, while Kanjorski heads one of its key subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

There was also Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who became the point person in the Senate on big insurance issues as he assumed chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee.