|
About Diana
Biography
Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan, educated at Denver's South High School and Colorado College. Rep. DeGette
began her first term in Congress in 1997 and was sworn in to serve
her fifth term in January 2005. She has served on the House
Energy & Commerce Committee, an exclusive congressional
committee with vast jurisdiction over health care, trade, business,
technology and consumer protection, since her first term. In 2005,
Rep. DeGette was promoted to leadership as Democratic
Chief Deputy Whip. In addition, she is the co-chair of
the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the largest congressional member
caucus, and the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus.
Democratic Chief Deputy Whip
Rep.
DeGette was promoted to the House Democratic leadership as Chief
Deputy Whip in 2005. She has risen steadily in the Whip organization
since her first term in Congress, serving for six years as Regional
Whip and two years as the Democratic Floor Whip. The Whip’s
job is to keep track of how Democratic
Members of Congress plan to vote on important issues.
As Chief Deputy Whip, Rep. DeGette will develop senior strategy
and serve on the Democratic Caucus Steering and Policy Committee.
Energy
& Commerce Committee
As
a member of the Commerce Committee, Rep. DeGette has used her position
to improve health care and expand medical research, reform corporate
business and accounting practices and ensure our homeland is adequately
protected. She serves on three leading subcommittees of the House
Energy & Commerce Committee, the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations, the Subcommittee on Health and the Subcommittee
on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Health
Care
As
a member of the Subcommittee on Health, Rep. DeGette is committed
to expanding access to health care and improving public health.
One of Congress’s leading experts on stem cell research, Rep.
DeGette has fought to increase federal support for expanding stem
cell research in the United States. The Denver Post lauded Rep.
DeGette’s leadership in passing a plan to increase funding
to hospitals, including Denver Health, that provide the disproportionate
share of health care to low-income and uninsured patients. She also
led efforts to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program,
which provides health insurance to low-income children up to age
18. As co-chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, Rep. DeGette
has also been a longtime advocate for expansion of diabetes care
and research, particularly for lower-income and minority communities.
Corporate
Responsibility
On
the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Rep. DeGette has been
a leader on a variety of investigations, including corporate wrongdoing,
National Institutes of Health ethics guidelines and the safety of
the diet supplement ephedra. She established a national reputation
as a leader on corporate accountability issues during her committee’s
investigation of Enron, Arthur Andersen and other companies embroiled
in the accounting scandals. As a result of these investigations,
Rep. DeGette sponsored legislation which would establish tough new
accounting and auditing standards.
Homeland
Security
As
a member of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Rep. DeGette
has helped lead hearings into the security of power plants, particularly
nuclear facilities, and ports in the United States. These ongoing
hearings have already been critical in identifying areas where the
federal government and industry need to work more closely to improve
security.
In
the News
Rep.
DeGette has been featured on a wide spectrum of news outlets, including
ABC’s Good Morning America, the NBC Nightly News, the CBS
Evening News, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and ESPN. Rep.
DeGette is also regularly quoted in major newspapers across the
nation, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Washington
Post, as well as magazines including America Prospect,
Newsweek, and The Economist.
Strong
Leadership for Colorado
The
First
Congressional District,
which includes Denver, Englewood, Glendale and Sheridan, is the
economic engine of the West, as well as Colorado’s most diverse
and densely populated district. Rep. DeGette continues to be a leader
in Congress on the issues of importance to her constituents. As
a lifelong Westerner, she is committed to common-sense fiscal responsibility
and is working with like-minded Members of Congress to reduce the
national deficit.
As
the First District’s Congresswoman, Rep. DeGette has fought
to expand her constituents’ access to affordable quality health
care. She has also worked to expand mass transit and improve transportation
in the Denver area, and clean up environmental waste sites and improve
opportunities for small business. Rep. DeGette is also the author
of the landmark Colorado
Wilderness Act. The plan designates 59 pristine areas
comprising 1.6 million acres of land across Colorado as protected
wilderness. This would preserve a rapidly disappearing piece of
our Western heritage for generations to come.
Personal
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. She served two terms in the Colorado House
of Representatives, where she served as Assistant Minority Leader
from 1993-1995.
Rep. DeGette is married to attorney Lino Lipinsky and has two daughters.
|