Date of Birth: July 29, 1957
Previous Occupation: Trial Attorney
Education: South High School, Denver, 1975; Colorado College, B.A., 1979; NYU Law School, J.D., 1982.
Family: Married (Lino Lipinsky), two children

Political Career: Colorado House of Representatives, elected 1992, re-elected 1994. Elected to U.S. Congress 1996; re-elected 1998.

The district encompasses all of Denver County and parts of Jefferson and Arapahoe counties. It includes the city of Denver, Englewood, Cherry Hills Village and Sheridan. Population is 549,068 (1990 Census).

U.S. Representative Diana DeGette has been a member of the United States Congress from Colorado since 1996, and won her last election with 69% of the vote. Currently in her third term, she serves on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, an exclusive congressional committee with vast jurisdiction over trade, business, technology and consumer protection. She has used her position to introduce legislation improving health care for children, protecting Americans from gun violence, increasing the regulation of tobacco and smoking, and expanding protections for the environment.

Earlier this year, she was selected to serve on three leading subcommittees of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. She serves on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Rep. DeGette's commitment to children has positioned her as a leading critic of the tobacco industry. Her legislation to eliminate federal crop insurance for the cultivation of tobacco fell a mere seven votes short of eliminating $80 million in subsidies for the nation's cigarette producers.

As an urban legislator, Rep. DeGette will continue to focus on urban land use and suburban sprawl. 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 was also elected to leadership posts within the Democratic party and now serves as an At-large Whip in the House of Representatives. She is the co-chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the largest congressional member caucus, and the Bipartisan Pro-Choice Caucus.

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. Just last year, 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.

Congresswoman DeGette is a fourth generation Denverite. She was educated at Denver's South High School. She is married to attorney Lino Lipinsky and has two daughters. General 02/05/2002