Rick Lazio, who represented New York's 2nd Congressional district for eight years, is president and chief executive officer of the Financial Services Forum. With a Republican majority in the House, Lazio became deputy majority whip in 1994 and was later named assistant majority leader. He was the chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Housing and the only member of Congress during his tenure there to serve on both the Commerce and Banking committees. In 2000, Lazio campaigned for the New York United States Senate seat, but he was defeated by Hillary Clinton. Lazio graduated from Vassar College and American University Law School.