U.S. Representative Diana DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan, educated at Denver's South High School. First elected to the United States Congress from Colorado in 1996, Rep. DeGette was re-elected in 2004 to a fifth term in Congress with 73% of the vote.

She serves on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, an exclusive congressional committee with vast jurisdiction over trade, business, technology and consumer protection. Rep. DeGette was also elected to a leadership post as the Democratic Floor Whip in the House of Representatives. In addition, she is the co-chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the largest congressional member caucus, and the Bipartisan Pro-Choice Caucus.

As a member of the Commerce Committee, Rep. DeGette has used her position to introduce legislation reforming corporate business and accounting practices, improving health care for children, and expanding protections for the environment. She serves on four leading subcommittees of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Subcommittee on Health, the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

On the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Rep. DeGette has been a leader in a variety of investigations, including corporate wrongdoing and the safety of the diet supplement ephedra. As a leader on corporate accountability, Rep. DeGette sponsored tough new accounting and auditing standards and aggressively questioned Enron and Arthur Andersen officials who testified before her committee.

As a member of the Subcommittee on Health, Rep. DeGette is committed to expanding access to health care and improving public health. She sponsored a successful plan to increase funding to the nation's safety net hospitals, which provide a disproportionate share of the health care to low-income and uninsured patients. Rep. DeGette also is one of the authors of the Supplemental Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to low-income children up to age 18.

As an urban legislator, Rep. DeGette will continue to focus on urban land use, suburban sprawl and environmental justice issues. She sponsored a successful amendment to increase funding for the EPA's Brownfields program to cleanup and rehabilitate abandoned urban spaces. In 1999, she introduced legislation to preserve and protect 1.4 million acres of Colorado's unique open spaces and wilderness.

Rep. DeGette received her B.A. magna cum laude from Colorado College in 1979 and her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1982, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar and a recipient of the Vanderbilt Medal and the Jack Kroner Award. From 1982-1984 she was a Deputy State Public Defender.

Active in Denver politics for many years, Representative DeGette was elected in 1992 to the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1994, she was elected Assistant Minority Leader. She was a member of the Judiciary, Local Government and Legal Services Committees. The United States Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision upheld the "bubble bill," a clinic access law she authored while serving in the Colorado State House.

Rep. DeGette is married to attorney Lino Lipinsky and has two daughters and a dog named Andrew.

Rep. Diana DeGette's Official Website

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Tuition at state universities increased by as much as 40% this year. (National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges)