FM Policy Focus (2003 - )
J.C. Watts, Jr. was named Chairman of FM Policy Focus on May 13, 2003. An eight-year veteran of the House of Representatives, Watts was the author of the American Community Renewal and New Markets Act of 2000. As Chairman, Watts brings his passion for affordable home ownership, community revitalization, and more efficient government to the position, while overseeing the implementation of a new, more policy-intensive focus. This new focus will allow the organization to turn its attention to specific solutions, ensuring that GSEs stay within their chartered bounds, do not impose an undue risk to consumers, operate on a level playing field and put people before profits.
After four terms in the United States House of Representatives, J.C. Watts, Jr. has become the Chairman of the newly formed J.C. Watts Companies. Using his extensive leadership and communications background and experience, J.C. Watts has created consulting and public affairs companies that will provide comprehensive public opinion research, image and brand marketing, issue advocacy, diversity consulting, U.S. and international business development and communications crisis management.
J.C. Watts was first elected to represent the fourth district of Oklahoma in the United States House of Representatives in November 1994 with 52 percent of the vote. He won reelection in 1996 with 58 percent, in 1998 with 62 percent and again in 2000 with 65 percent of the vote. Fellow congressmen quickly recognized the leadership qualities of Watts and elected him to serve as the chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth-highest position in the House, in 1998. He was re-elected to this leadership position, unopposed, in 2000.
J.C. Watts earned a solid reputation in Oklahoma and throughout the nation as a perceptive and passionate spokesman for improving and redeveloping communities, fiscal discipline, strengthening education, restoring values and bolstering our national defense. Congressman Watts served on the Armed Services Committee and was a member of the Military Readiness Subcommittee and the Procurement Subcommittee. Taking the lead on one of the most important issues of the day, Watts served on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security to develop legislation for the formation of the Department of Homeland Security.
J.C. Watts was born on November 18, 1957 in Eufaula, Oklahoma. He graduated from Eufaula High School in 1976 and attended the University of Oklahoma until his graduation in 1981 with a B.A. in journalism. While at the University of Oklahoma, Watts was quarterback for the Sooners, leading them to two consecutive Big Twelve Championships and Orange Bowl victories. He was voted the Most Valuable Player in the 1980 and 1981 Orange Bowls. From 1981 to 1986, he started for Ottawa and Toronto in the Canadian Football League and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the Grey Cup, the CFL's Super Bowl, his rookie season.
After returning to Oklahoma, Watts served as a youth minister at Sunnylane Baptist Church in Del City, Oklahoma from January 1987 until December 1994, when he then became associate pastor. In 1990 he was elected to the Oklahoma State Corporation Commission and became chairman before running for Congress in 1994.
Gerald L. Friedman
Gerald L. Friedman has been a recognized leader and innovator in the financial guaranty business for more than 30 years. He has pioneered new products and developments in private mortgage insurance and was one of the creators of the concept of municipal bond insurance.
FM Watch (1999 - 2003)
Mr. Friedman served as the founding chairman of FM Watch, the predecessor of FM Policy Focus, a watchdog group that works with consumer and taxpayer groups, affordable housing advocates and financial institutions dedicated to ensuring that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) keep the interests of homebuyers and taxpayers above the interests of their investors.
From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Friedman was the chairman and chief executive officer of Amerin Guaranty Corporation and its parent, Amerin Corporation. He created a new, more efficient, and more profitable use of mortgage insurance in 1993 with the founding of Amerin Guaranty Corporation. Backed by a $200 million capital commitment from an investor group made up of Aetna, AT&T Investments, General Motors Corporation, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, Amerin provided mortgage insurance to most of the nation's largest lenders.
In November 1995, Amerin went public with an initial public offering that raised $154.1 million in capital. Headquartered in Chicago, Amerin was listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "AMRN." In November 1998, Amerin, which had grown to nearly $500 million in assets, announced an agreement to merge with CMAC Investment Corporation to form Radian, the nation's second largest mortgage insurer. The merger was completed in June of 1999.
Mr. Friedman's well-known and chronicled career in the financial guaranty business began in 1961 when he joined Mortgage Guaranty Investment Corporation (MGIC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remaining there until 1981. He eventually became the organization's president and chief operating officer. Along the way, he played a significant role in the development and management of MGIC's mortgage insurance and mortgage-backed securities.
In 1971, Mr. Friedman founded the first bond insurer, AMBAC, an MGIC subsidiary. The first bond issue ever insured was a $600,000 Greater Juneau Borough, Alaska, general obligation issue. In 1998, of the $286 billion of bonds issued, $145 billion, or 51 percent, were insured.
In 1983, Mr. Friedman founded Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC) with $85 million of capital, and a total capital commitment of $400 million. The shareholders were General Electric Capital, General Reinsurance, J.P. Morgan, Kemper Investments, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. FGIC was sold to GE Capital Corporation for more than $1 billion in 1989, and continues to be a leader in the financial guaranty industry.
William Michael House
Mr. House is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Hogan & Hartson and chairs the firm's Legislative Group. He concentrates on legislative and regulatory matters before Congress, the White House, and the various departments and independent agencies of the Executive Branch. He represents national and multi-national corporations, trade associations and coalitions.
Mr. House received his B.S. from Auburn University in 1968 and his J.D. in 1971 from the University of Alabama where he was a member of the Bench and Bar Society and President of the Law School. From 1971 to 1973, he was Legislative Assistant to Congressman James M. Collins of Texas and was primarily responsible for legislative matters involving the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Prior to that he spent a summer serving as Legislative Assistant to the Senate Banking Committee.
From 1973 to 1976, he served as Administrative Assistant to Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, Howell Heflin. He also had a dual role as Director of the Permanent Study Commission on the Alabama State Courts. In addition to his normal duties, he was responsible for the legislative program for the Alabama Court System which included the drafting and passage of the judicial article constitutional amendment in 1973, and the implementation legislation in 1975. Because of his work on court reform, he became the youngest person to ever receive an Award of Merit from the Alabama Bar Association.
From 1976 to 1979, he was a member of a Montgomery, Alabama law firm. During that time, he was President of the Alabama Young Lawyers, Chairman of the Alabama Citizens Conference on Alabama State Courts and the Alabama Citizens Conference on a New Constitution. He was also involved in numerous other professional and civic endeavors including being a member of the Board of Directors of the American Judicature Society. In 1979, he was chosen as one of Alabama's four Outstanding Young Men.
From January 1979 to October 1986, he served as Administrative Assistant/Chief of Staff to Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. His duties included coordination of the entire staff with special emphasis on legislative matters. He was also Senator Heflin's campaign manager in his 1978 and 1984 elections.
Mr. House is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows, The Council on Excellence in Government, and has served on the Business Advisory Council of the Auburn School of Business. He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in American Politics, International Who's Who in Community Service, and Men & Women of Distinction. In 1998, Mr. House was chosen by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top 15 lobbyists in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Alabama and D.C. Bar Associations.
He is admitted to practice before the Alabama and D.C. Bars.
