| Rep. Diana DeGette is a fourth-generation Coloradoan who has dedicated her life to serving the people of Colorado's First Congressional District.
Now in her fourteenth term, DeGette is recognized as a leading voice in the nation's ongoing health care debate. As the chair of a key oversight panel, DeGette is responsible for overseeing some of our nation's most important federal agencies.
In her role as chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, DeGette has become a leading figure in overseeing our nation's health agencies as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the EPA is properly enforcing the nation's environmental laws, and lowering the cost of insulin for the millions of Americans who rely on it every day.
In addition to chairing the Energy and Commerce Oversight panel, DeGette also serves as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, where she's working to enact policies that will further protect Colorado's public lands and combat climate change.
DeGette is seen as a leading expert on cutting-edge scientific research, including the use of human embryonic stem cells.
In 2005, DeGette authored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act to overturn the restrictions President George W. Bush put in place to prohibit the use of embryonic stem cells for research purposes. While Congress voted twice to approve DeGette's legislation, President Bush vetoed it both times. In March 2009, President Obama included the language from DeGette's bill in an executive order he signed to reverse the restrictions.
In addition to expanding the use of stem cell research, DeGette has been instrumental in expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides health insurance to low-income children. She also played a key role in drafting the Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2010.
Despite her many accomplishments, the one piece of legislation DeGette is best known for championing is the 21st Century Cures Act, which has modernized the nation's medical research system. The bill, known simply as the Cures Act, has been widely hailed as one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress has passed in recent years. From cancer research to precision medicine, it has enabled more labs to make more breakthrough discoveries that could soon lead to new cures and treatments for patients around the world.
As co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, DeGette has been leading the fight to restore the protections we had under Roe v. Wade.
DeGette was instrumental in getting the House to pass a historic piece of legislation - known as the Women's Health Protection Act - to enshrine into federal law the right of every American to access abortion care in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A move that would, in essence, negate the Supreme Court's ruling and, once again, ensure all Americans can access the full range of reproductive health care services - regardless of where they live.
DeGette is also the co-author of the EACH Act, legislation that seeks to overturn the so-called Hyde Amendment, which continues to prevent millions of low-income women on Medicaid from accessing abortion care. In 2021, she led the fight to successfully exclude the Hyde Amendment from the government's annual spending bill in House for the first time in nearly 50 years.
With a long-standing belief that Roe v. Wade be considered the floor for women's reproductive rights, not the ceiling, DeGette has dedicated her time in Congress to not only defending everyone's access to reproductive care, but also expanding it. She has fought tirelessly to expand Americans' access to birth control and other family-planning services. And, in 2020, she helped lead the effort to rescind a Trump Administration rule that allowed employers to refuse to provide birth-control coverage for their employees.
A lifelong Coloradan, DeGette is guided by her traditional Western values and has a unique appreciation for our nation's natural resources and public lands. In 2019, DeGette sponsored legislation that was signed into law to make all national parks and public lands free for fourth grade students and their families to visit. She also authored a historic piece of legislation, known as the Colorado Wilderness Act, to protect and preserve 660,000 acres of wilderness across Colorado.
In 2007, DeGette successfully brokered a deal to enact tough new standards to protect Americans from lead in drinking water. She also played a key role in the effort to ban phthalates, a dangerous chemical which is harmful to children. DeGette's passion for protecting people's rights is what led her to pursue public office. Prior to being elected to Congress, DeGette was an attorney in the Denver area where she focused on workers' rights.
The ACLU of Colorado awarded DeGette with its Carle Whitehead Memorial Award. DeGette is also the recipient of the NEWSED Community Development Corporation's Civil Rights Award for her work to protect the rights of her fellow Coloradans.
In 2017, DeGette was honored by the Javits Foundation for her renowned commitment to cooperation and collaboration across party lines.
In 2018, the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress awarded DeGette with its Statesmanship award for her efforts to pass legislation in a collaborative and bipartisan manner.
A graduate of Denver's South High School, DeGette earned her B.A, magna cum laude, from Colorado College in 1979; and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1982.
Before being elected to Congress, DeGette served two terms in the Colorado Legislature, including one term as Assistant Minority Leader from 1993-1995.
DeGette is married to Lino Lipinsky. They have two daughters, a son-in-law and one new grandbaby. |