Jack Quinn

In his first year in Congress, Congressional Quarterly reported that Quinn's voting record was 84–85% Republican in support of the party line. During his first year, while there were issues that he voted in favor of, there were also those that he voted against, including a $16 million community development stimulus package for Buffalo. The Buffalo News reported that Quinn's consistency in voting along Republican party lines was reflected in 87% of his votes by 2001.

Quinn also has the advantage of having lived "the ECC experience" – as he termed it – within his own family. Quinn's wife, Mary Beth, attended ECC, taking courses for her nursing degree in their earlier years when the couple was also raising their family.

Quinn was appointed President of Erie Community College in 2008. There were 59 candidates who were nationally-considered for the post; and the consensus by the ECC Board of Trustees was to appoint Quinn.

Regarding the need for increased funding for ECC, Quinn was quoted in a January 20, 2008 McClatchy – Business Tribune News article by Jay Rey:

In 2008, Quinn was the dinner chair of the American Ireland Fund gala. The American Ireland Fund raises monies to support community development, peace, reconciliation, arts, culture, and education in Ireland.

On April 26, 2004, Quinn announced he would not seek re-election. After leaving Congress, Quinn reported that he had a 70% approval rating while in his position.

Quinn's political affiliation is Republican Conservative to Republican Moderate-Conservative. His political views placed him as a centrist between Democrats and Republicans on most issues on which he voted in Congress in 2004. Much later in his congressional career, his voting record was typically in the middle, falling between Democratic and Republican views.

On December 6, 2004, Congress Member Sue Kelly stated of Quinn, as quoted in Capitol Words:

Congress Member Tom Reynolds also recognized Quinn for his congressional achievements, with the following statement in the December 7, 2004 issue of Capitol Words:

Congress Member Edolphus Towns shared in Congress further congressional accomplishments of Quinn, being quoted on November 17, 2004 in Capitol Words:

During the 2002 redistricting process, one map had Quinn drawn into a district with a longtime friend, Democrat John LaFalce. However, he ended up with a district that encompassed nearly all of his old district and added Chautauqua County, the 27th District. The 30th District was eliminated based on the results of the 2000 census.

Quinn worked to achieve the passage of the Railroad Retirement Survivors Act that became law in 2001.

Despite a close relationship with Bill Clinton, whom he considers his friend, he voted for three of the articles of impeachment against him. There have been several suggestions that the House leadership pressured him into doing so, though Quinn, himself, denied this in a 1999 article in the Washington Post. Quinn stated that his position in regard to impeaching Clinton was “a vote of conscience” that was “a personal decision and personally painful”, though he initially stated that the situation did not merit impeachment. It has been reported that Clinton's 1999 visit to Buffalo after his State of the Union Address was in response to Quinn's votes.

In a news release by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on August 15, 1999, Quinn stated:

Regarding Medicare funding for hospitals in relation to "The Quinn-Lowey Hospital Emergency Assistance Act," Quinn was quoted in a July 28, 1999 official press release, stating:

In 1998 at Canisius College in Buffalo, Quinn hosted fellow Congress Member John Lewis, a Democrat and African-American from Georgia who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement. The talk in which the two congressional leaders participated was regarding race relations and how they can be improved. The event was attending largely by African-Americans, and was suggested to be an attempt at increasing bloc voter support for Quinn among the Black community in Buffalo.

At the 1998 dialogue at Canisius College between Quinn and Lewis, Quinn was quoted in The Buffalo News about race relations:

It has been suggested that Quinn would have been better to be a Democrat in Buffalo, though as a Republican, he appeared to garner more Republican support in Congress than a Democrat would have. In reality, Quinn has been asked if he would become Democrat, and has not directly answered that question. At that time he was asked in 1996, he stated that there were more important issues at hand, such as balancing the budget, than to which political party one was affiliated.

Regarding Quinn's vote against the $16 million Buffalo stimulus package, Buffalo's Fillmore Council Member David A. Franczyk was quoted in a Buffalo News article by Jerry Zremski on January 1, 1994, stating:

Regarding abortion, Quinn has stated that he is pro-life. In 1994, Democrat Ellen T. Kennedy criticized Quinn for voting against a bill that would make it a crime to block abortion clinic access. Kennedy noted that Quinn's 1993 approval rating from a group that supports abortion rights, the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League, was 5%.

After the retirement of Congressman Henry Nowak, Quinn was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 representing most of Buffalo and suburban Erie County in the 30th District. On paper, the district was heavily Democratic, and had been made even more Democratic after redistricting in 1992. However, Quinn defeated Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski in an upset. He was re-elected five more times by surprisingly wide margins in what was by far the most Democratic district in the nation to be represented by a Republican.

Quinn was a middle school English teacher in the Orchard Park Central School District for 10 years,where he coached track and field, basketball, and football. Prior to entering the teaching field, Quinn briefly worked at the Bethlehem Steel Plant in Lackawanna, New York. He served on the Hamburg, New York Town Council from 1982 to 1984, followed by a stint as town supervisor until 1993.

Regarding the Railroad Retirement Survivors Act, urging that the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 be amended, Quinn stated in a letter to fellow Congress members, being re-quoted on page 9 of The Locomotive Engineer Newsletter in June 1997:

Quinn graduated from Siena College with a bachelor of arts degree in 1973 and the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978 with a Master's degree in Education. Quinn also holds a school superintendent credential that he earned at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

John Francis "Jack" Quinn Jr. (born April 13, 1951) was a former President of Erie Community College (ECC), and a former politician from the State of New York. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005. Quinn's political views are Moderate-Conservative to Conservative, and his voting record reflects Centrist leanings. While in Congress, Quinn was active in numerous committees, subcommittees, and caucuses as chair or member. Prior to becoming a congressional representative, Quinn taught in Orchard Park, New York; worked at a steel plant; and was active in the Hamburg Town Council, as well as being the town's supervisor. After leaving Congress and prior to taking the top leadership post at ECC, Quinn was also president of a lobbying firm in Washington, DC. Quinn has two adult children, including his son, former New York State Assembly Member Jack Quinn III; and his daughter, Kara Elizabeth. He currently resides in Hamburg with his wife, Mary Beth.

Quinn was born in Buffalo, New York on April 13, 1951. His father, Jack Quinn Sr., was a locomotive engineer with the South Buffalo Railway, and also worked at the Erie County Public Library. Quinn's mother is Norma; and he has four brothers, Kevin, Jeffrey, Thomas, and Michael.