Diana DeGette
Encyclopedia
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1997, and a Chief Deputy Whip. She is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
The district is based in Denver.
Early life, education and career
A fourth-generation Coloradan, DeGette was born in TachikawaTachikawa, Tokyo
is a city located in western Tokyo, Japan.As of February 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 178,064 and the density of 7,303.69 people per km². The total area is 24.38 km²...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
while her father served in the armed forces. She graduated from Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
where she was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu
Pi Gamma Mu
Pi Gamma Mu or ΠΓΜ is the oldest and preeminent honor society in the social sciences. It is also the only interdisciplinary social science honor society. It serves the various social science disciplines which seek to understand and explain human behavior and social relationships as well as their...
international honor society in 1979, and earned a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1982. She then returned to Denver and began a law practice focusing on civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and employment litigation.
Colorado Legislature
Long active in Denver politics, she was elected to the Colorado House of RepresentativesColorado General Assembly
The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado.-Constitutional definition:The Colorado Constitution establishes a system of government based on the separation of powers doctrine with power divided among three "departments": executive, legislative and judicial...
in 1992. She was reelected in 1994 and chosen as assistant minority leader. She authored a law that guarantees Colorado women unobstructed access to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
clinics and other medical care facilities, also known as the "Bubble Bill". The United States Supreme Court found DeGette's "Bubble Bill" constitutional in Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S. 703 (2000). She also authored the state Voluntary Cleanup and Redevelopment Act, a model for similar cleanup programs.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and CommerceUnited States House Committee on Energy and CommerceThe Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
- Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
- Subcommittee on Environment and EconomyUnited States House Energy Subcommittee on Environment and EconomyThe Energy Subcommittee on Environment and Economy is a subcommittee within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Prior to 2009, it was known as the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, and was part of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment from 2009 to 2011...
- Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsUnited States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsThe U.S. House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is a subcommittee within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.-Jurisdiction:...
(Ranking Member)
Party leadership
- Chief Deputy Whip (110th, 111th, 112th United States Congresses)
DeGette serves as the co-chair of both the Congressional Diabetes Caucus and Pro-Choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
Caucus, and is Vice Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus. With the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm elections, DeGette briefly considered running for House Majority Whip, but bowed out in favor of Jim Clyburn
Jim Clyburn
James Enos "Jim" Clyburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
DeGette received national attention in 2005, when the House of Representatives passed legislation she cosponsored to lift President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. DeGette, who had had been working on the measure since 2001, enlisted the support of Representative Michael N. Castle
Michael N. Castle
Michael "Mike" Newbold Castle is a former Governor and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party....
(Republican from Delaware), who became DeGette's principal Republican cosponsor of the legislation. The DeGette-Castle bill passed the Senate on July 18, 2006. President Bush vetoed the bill the next day — his first veto.
In 2007, DeGette served as the House Democrats' designated whip on the bill reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (HR 3162). Although President Bush announced his opposition to the legislation, the House passed the bill on August 1, 2007 by a vote of 225 to 204. The Senate adopted a different version of the legislation the next day.
DeGette was also a cosponsor for the Udall Amendment to the House Energy Bill, which the House approved by a vote of 220 to 190 on August 4, 2007. The Amendment creates a national Renewable Energy Standard that requires electric suppliers to produce 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources, 4 percent of which can come from efficiency, by the year 2020.
On September 12, 2007, DeGette announced that she would introduce the Colorado Wilderness Act of 2007 in Congress. The bill was unsuccessful and did not pass the committee level. She reintroduced the bill in 2009.
She is a cosponsor of legislation to provide the District of Columbia voting representation.
On January 24, 2007, Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
appointed Representative DeGette to the House Page Board
House Page Board
The House Page Board is a group of elected and appointed officials who oversee the United States House of Representatives Page Program.The board was created in 1983, after a congressional page sex scandal, to protect the pages who come from all over the country to serve Congress and originally...
.
On November 26, 2007, DeGette announced her endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton for president, and was named national co-chair of Clinton's Health Care Policy Task Force and adviser on stem-cell research. DeGette was a superdelegate
Superdelegate
"Superdelegate" is an informal term commonly used for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Democratic Party....
to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
in Denver in August 2008.
DeGette was strongly critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which places limits on taxpayer-funded abortions (except in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother) in the context of the November 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act
Affordable Health Care for America Act
The Affordable Health Care for America Act was a bill that was crafted by the United States House of Representatives in November 2009. At the encouragement of the Obama administration, the 111th Congress devoted much of its time to enacting reform of the United States' health care system...
.
1996
Longtime First District Congresswoman Pat SchroederPatricia Schroeder
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder , American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado, serving from 1973 to 1997. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado.- Early years :...
chose not to run for a 13th term in 1996, which prompted DeGette to run. DeGette's principal opponent in the 1996 primary election was former City Council member Tim Sandos, whom Denver Mayor Wellington Webb
Wellington Webb
Wellington E. Webb is a former mayor of Denver, Colorado. He is a graduate of the city's Manual High School. He was Denver's first African-American Mayor.Webb served as mayor of Denver for 12 years, from 1991 to 2003...
endorsed shortly before the primary. DeGette won the primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
with 55 percent of the vote, which all but assured her of election in the heavily Democratic district (the 1st District has been in Democratic hands for all but six years since 1933). Schroeder, who stayed neutral during the primary, endorsed DeGette once DeGette became the Democratic nominee. DeGette won with 57 percent, and has been reelected seven times since.
2006
DeGette won against Green Party nominee Tom Kelly.2008
DeGette won against Republican nominee George Lilly, Libertarian nominee Martin Buchanan, and Independent Gary Swing.2010
DeGette won reelection against Republican nominee Mike FallonMike Fallon
For the British politician, see Michael FallonMichael Peter "Mike" Fallon, M.D. is a Colorado physician who was the 2010 Republican nominee to represent Colorado's 1st congressional district.-Early life and education:...
, Green nominee Gary Swing, American Constitutional Party nominee Chris Styskal, and Libertarian nominee Clint Jones.
Personal life
DeGette is married to Lino Lipinsky, a partner in the law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge, and she has two daughters.Books
On August 4, 2008, DeGette's first book Sex, Science, and Stem Cells, was released by The Lyons Press. In this book, DeGette writes that there are "110 million Americans suffering from diseases who stood to gain from potential applications" of stem-cell science. She writes, "Over time, I realized that the politicization of science by the Republicans and the religious right was at its most insidious over any issue relating to human reproduction....This brought me to the inevitable conclusion that too many of our elected officials are simply incapable of thinking rationally about sex. I could think of no other explanation."- Diana DeGette, Sex, Science, and Stem Cells: Inside the Right Wing Assault on Reason, The Lyons Press (August 4, 2008), ISBN 978-1599214313
External links
- Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette official U.S. House site
- Diana DeGette for Congress official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
- Sex, Science and Stem Cells official book site