Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.

Biography provided by participant

Congressman Peter DeFazio was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 1986. He is the dean of the Oregon House delegation, represents southwest Oregon, and has developed a reputation as an independent, plain-spoken, passionate and effective lawmaker. DeFazio is a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee where he serves as Chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, and also serves on the Aviation and Railroad Subcommittees. In 2005, DeFazio served as the ranking Democrat on the Highways Subcommittee where he negotiated a five-year federal highway and transit spending bill called SAFETEA-LU. Under the bill DeFazio secured $2.7 billion for Oregon's roads, bridges, highways and transit systems, which will create thousands of jobs and boost Oregon's economy over the next five years. As Chairman, DeFazio will be a key architect of the next highway bill, and will begin to work on the bill in 2009. DeFazio also serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security and sits on the Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee and the Management, Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, where he sits on the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. DeFazio and his wife, Myrnie Daut, live in Springfield, OR. He has logged over three million miles traveling between Oregon and Washington, DC. DeFazio has refused to accept congressional pay raises while the government is deficit spending, and has linked his pay to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. Instead, he has turned his pay raises into scholarships at Oregon's five southwestern community colleges; by the end of 2008, DeFazio will have contributed nearly $290,000 in after-tax salary toward 177 scholarships. He counts these scholarships as one of his proudest accomplishments.