Diana DeGette

Diana DeGette
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Pat Schroeder
Personal details
Born	Diana Louise DeGette (1957-07-29) July 29, 1957 Tachikawa, Japan
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lino Lipinsky
Residence	Denver, Colorado
Alma mater	Colorado College, New York University
Occupation	Attorney

Diana DeGette, at podium, denounces a proposed amendment to the Constitution to ban gay marriage.

Diana Louise DeGette (born July 29, 1957) is the U.S. Representative for Colorado's 1st congressional district, serving since 1997, and a Chief Deputy Whip. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in Denver.

Early life, education and career

A fourth-generation Coloradan, DeGette was born in Tachikawa, Japan, the daughter of Patricia Anne (née Rose) and Richard Louis DeGette. Her parents were American, and, at the time of her birth, her father was serving in the armed forces. She graduated from Colorado College where she was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society in 1979, and earned a Juris Doctor degree from New York University in 1982. She then returned to Denver and began a law practice focusing on civil rights and employment litigation.

Colorado Legislature

Long active in Denver politics, she was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives 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 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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (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 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 of South Carolina.

DeGette received national attention in 2005, when the House of Representatives passed legislation she cosponsored to lift President George W. Bush'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 (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 appointed Representative DeGette to the House Page Board.

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 to the Democratic 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.

Domestic policy views

Abortion

DeGette is pro-choice and the co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. DeGette and her fellow co-chair, Louise Slaughter, are the sponsors of the Prevention First Act. This act aims to decrease the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases through better women’s healthcare. The NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorsed DeGette and gave her a 100% approval rating based on her positions. DeGette also received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood. The National Right to Life Committee gave her a 0% rating due to her strong pro-choice stance.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

DeGette has consistently voted in favor of the use of embryonic stem cell research. DeGette says “we must pass common-sense embryonic stem cell research legislation, placing these regulations into statute and once and for all, ensuring this critical life-saving research can be conducted for years to come, unimpeded by political whims or naysayers.” DeGette and Charlie Dent introduced the bipartisan Stem Cell Research Act of 2011, which would provide lasting support for stem cell research.

Gun Control

DeGette claims to supports the Second Amendment, but also wants bans on semi-automatic firearms, like those used in the 2012 Aurora shooting near her district. DeGette believes that “the sole purpose of these guns and these magazines is to kill people.” DeGette and Carolyn McCarthy introduced the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2012. Both the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America have given DeGette 0% ratings.

Political campaigns

1996

Longtime First District Congresswoman Pat Schroeder 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 endorsed shortly before the primary. DeGette won the primary 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

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2006 § First District

DeGette won against Green Party nominee Tom Kelly.

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2008 § District 1

DeGette won against Republican nominee George Lilly, Libertarian nominee Martin Buchanan, and Independent Gary Swing.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2010 § District 1

DeGette won reelection against Republican nominee Mike Fallon, Green nominee Gary Swing, American Constitutional Party nominee Chris Styskal, and Libertarian nominee Clint Jones.

2012

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2012 § District 1

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 978-1-59921-431-3

External links

• Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette official U.S. House site
• Diana DeGette for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Sex, Science and Stem Cells official book site