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Biography

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Congressman Jim Moran was elected to his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2006. He is a member of the Appropriations Committee, where he serves on the Defense Subcommittee and Interior Subcommittee.

Representative Moran graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs with a master's degree in Public Administration in 1970 after receiving a B.A. in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross in 1967. His political career began in 1979 with his election to the City Council in Alexandria, Virginia, a city of 120,000 residents. Jim Moran served as Vice Mayor of Alexandria from 1982 to 1984, and was elected Mayor in 1985.

In 1990, he was elected to represent the Eighth Congressional District of Virginia, which now consists of the Cities of Alexandria and Falls Church, Arlington County, and portions of Fairfax County, including the districts of Lee, Mason, Providence, Mt. Vernon and Reston. Throughout his career, Congressman Moran has demonstrated vigorous leadership in support of regional transportation solutions, the environment, women's issues, technology, fair and open trade, and fiscal discipline. He is also well known for his efforts to protect federal employees and military retirees.  He co-chairs the Congressional Prevention Coalition Caucus and is active on human rights issues, particularly involving women in the developing world.

Congressman Moran is a co-founder of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of approximately 75 centrist House Democrats committed to fiscal responsibility, free trade, technology, and maintaining America's security and economic competitiveness.

Congressman Moran was named "High Technology Legislator of the Year" by the Information Technology Industry Council, especially for his work to avoid a Y2K computer crisis. He was named to the "Legislative Hall of Fame" by the American Electronics Association for his work on a range of technology legislation, such as digital signatures and H1B visas.

Over the years, Congressman Moran has been the chief sponsor of several bills and resolutions designed to improve the quality of the federal workforce by advancing pay comparability with private counterparts and improving health, retirement and transit benefits.

The Congressman has left his mark on the region by boosting investments in federal research and development, steering federal dollars to generate defense and technology jobs in Northern Virginia, advancing procurement reform, and resolving the 1991 real estate credit crunch.

Beyond the millions of dollars in federal grants that he has helped secure for local roads, educational programs, law enforcement, low income housing, and social services, Congressman Moran has won enactment of legislation that prevented personal information on state drivers licenses from being sold for commercial purposes; secured passage of the "V-Chip" requiring that all new televisions contain technology enabling parents to prevent minors from viewing sexually explicit and violent programs; authorized replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge; closed Lorton prison and preserved its green space; established a "One Strike and You're Out" requirement for drug dealers operating in public housing; and provided seed capital to help jump start four new transit services in Northern Virginia, including "TAGS" in Springfield, "REX" along Route 1, "George" in Falls Church, and the "Georgetown Connector" in Rosslyn, as well as forthcoming service along the Route 1 and Columbia Pike corridors in Arlington.

Congressman Moran has also been a lead advocate of reducing harmful emissions from this region's antiquated coal-fired power plants, protecting green space and green infrastructure and restoring local streams to a more natural state.  In 2006, he received near perfect ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other similar scores from organizations committed to animal protection, gun control and human rights.

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