[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO BERNARD B. BEAL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 20, 2005

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Bernard B. 
Beal, a distinguished member of the business community. It behooves us 
to pay tribute to this outstanding leader and hope my colleagues will 
join me in recognizing his impressive accomplishments.
  Mr. Speaker, Bernard B. Beal is Chief Executive Officer of M.R. Beal 
& Company, a nationally recognized investment banking firm. Mr. Beal 
founded the minority-owned firm in 1988 following a successful career 
in municipal and corporate finance at Shearson Lehman Hutton. The 
oldest continuously operating African-American investment bank in the 
United States, the firm offers investment banking, financial advisory 
and broker-dealer services to municipalities, state governments and 
numerous corporations in the telecommunications, media, technology, 
energy and financial services industries.
  M.R. Beal & Company is headquartered in New York City, with offices 
in Sacramento, Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore, New Orleans and Washington, 
DC. Through the end of 2004, the firm has co-managed municipal 
financings exceeding $450 billion, senior-managed over $7 billion and 
has served as an underwriter in over 3,200 municipal transactions. For 
the past decade, M.R. Beal & Company has been ranked as one of the top 
twenty underwriters of municipal securities nationwide. In addition, 
the firm has consistently been a member of the Black Enterprise 100 
List and was named BE's Finance Company of the Year in June of 2001.
  Mr. Beal serves on several boards. He is the Chairman of the A Better 
Chance Foundation whose mission is to increase the number of well-
educated minority youth capable of assuming positions of responsibility 
and leadership in American society. Mr. Beal serves on the Municipal 
Executive Committee of the Bond Market Association and is a Trustee of 
the National Foundation for Affordable Housing.
  Mr. Beal has received numerous professional and civic awards. He has 
the distinction of being one of only three people listed on both the 
Black Enterprise list of the 25 Hottest Blacks on Wall Street in 1992 
and the Top 50 Blacks on Wall Street in 2003.
  A graduate of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota with a Bachelor 
of Arts degree in Economics, Mr. Beal also received a Masters of 
Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the 
Stanford University School of Business. He was recently awarded an 
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Sacred Heart University.
  Mr. Beal is married to Valerie Lancaster Beal and is the proud father 
of two children, Michael, a senior at Harvard University and Erica, a 
senior at Horace Mann High School.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent on this body to recognize 
the accomplishments of Bernard B. Beal as he offers his talents and 
philanthropic services for the betterment of our local and national 
communities.
  Mr. Speaker, Bernard B. Beal's selfless service has continuously 
demonstrated a level of altruistic dedication that makes him most 
worthy of our recognition today.

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