Peter Anthony DeFazio is an American politician who served as the US representative for from 1987 to 2023.
39 Facts About Peter DeFazio
2.
Peter DeFazio is a member of the Democratic Party and is a founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
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On December 1,2021, DeFazio announced he would not seek reelection in 2022.
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Peter DeFazio was born in 1947 in Needham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.
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Peter DeFazio served in the United States Air Force Reserve from 1967 to 1971.
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Peter DeFazio received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in 1969 and a Master of Arts degree in gerontology from the University of Oregon in 1977.
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From 1977 to 1982, Peter DeFazio worked as an aide to US Representative Jim Weaver.
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Peter DeFazio was elected as a Lane County Commissioner in 1983 and served as chairman from 1985 to 1986.
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In 1986, Peter DeFazio ran for the US House from Oregon's 4th congressional district, upon the retirement of incumbent Democratic congressman Jim Weaver.
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Peter DeFazio has forged a nearly unbreakable hold on a district that is only marginally Democratic on paper.
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In 2020, Peter DeFazio defeated Alek Skarlatos by over 25,000 votes.
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In 2010, Peter DeFazio was challenged by Republican Art Robinson and Pacific Green candidate Michael Beilstein.
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Peter DeFazio picked up almost all of Benton County, including all of Corvallis, home to Oregon State University.
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Peter DeFazio faced a challenge in 2020 from Alek Skarlatos, a Roseburg High School graduate, a former Oregon National Guard soldier who helped subdue a terrorist in the 2015 Thalys train attack.
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Peter DeFazio won the election by 5.3 points, his narrowest victory since taking office.
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Peter DeFazio spent his entire career on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, becoming its chairman when Democrats won the House in 2018.
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Peter DeFazio felt shunted aside when Senate negotiators secured a deal on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which became law largely without input from the House.
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Peter DeFazio blasted the legislation in closed-door meetings, earning the moniker the "Tiger of the House".
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Peter DeFazio eventually supported and helped pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and joined President Biden a number of times to promote it.
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Peter DeFazio helped pass comprehensive aircraft certification reform and safety legislation in the wake of his committee's report as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which President Donald Trump signed into law on December 27,2020.
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In October 2011, Peter DeFazio demanded that the US Department of Labor strengthen restrictions on the hiring of foreign guest workers for forestry jobs intended for unemployed US citizens.
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Peter DeFazio issued a statement condemning President Donald Trump's January 2017 executive order suspending all refugee admissions to the US for 120 days and barring entry for 90 days to immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
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Peter DeFazio has voted against legislation that would increase US military power.
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Peter DeFazio voted against the USA Freedom Act, which reauthorized certain provisions of the Patriot Act in modified form.
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Peter DeFazio voted multiple times to set an itinerary for bringing US troops home from Iraq.
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In 2013, Peter DeFazio introduced the Postal Service Protection Act, a bipartisan proposal to comprehensively reform the United States Postal Service.
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In 2019, Peter DeFazio introduced the USPS Fairness Act, which would have solely repealed the prefunding mandate.
28.
Somewhat controversially, Peter DeFazio declined to support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, voting against it on February 13,2009.
29.
Peter DeFazio was one of only seven Democratic House members to vote against the bill.
30.
Peter DeFazio said that his vote was due to his frustration over compromises made to win support from moderate Republicans in the Senate.
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Peter DeFazio advocated that the US Senate change its cloture rules, doing away with the filibuster.
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Peter DeFazio made headlines in mid-November 2009 when he suggested in an interview with MSNBC commentator Ed Schultz that Obama should fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers.
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Peter DeFazio suggested that a formal call by the Congressional Progressive Caucus for Geithner and Summers to be removed might be forthcoming.
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In October 2011, Think Progress noted that Peter DeFazio was echoing the demands of the Occupy Wall Street protesters by proposing to tax the trading of stocks, bonds, and derivatives.
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Peter DeFazio argued that the bill would not solve the true cause of high gas prices, which he blamed on "Big Oil in the United States and speculation on Wall Street".
36.
US that showed the largest oil and gas companies in the United States made a record $205 billion profit in 2021, Peter DeFazio introduced the Stop Gas Price Gouging Tax and Rebate Act.
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In 2020, Peter DeFazio introduced legislation to repeal a law that allows insurance companies an exemption from antitrust enforcement.
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In December 2020, Peter DeFazio helped pass the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2020.
39.
Peter DeFazio had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the seat of Senator Mark Hatfield, who announced after the special primary election that he would not seek reelection in 1996.