Jim Moran
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James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945 in Buffalo, New York) is a United States politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing the Eighth Congressional District of Virginia (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/va08_109.gif)).
Moran attended the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a masters degree in Public Administration. He was elected to the Alexandria, Virginia City Council in 1979, serving as deputy mayor from 1982 to 1984, when he was forced to resign because of a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge. Nevertheless, he was elected mayor of Alexandria in 1985. Elected to the House in 1990, he serves on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Budget Committee. His brother, Brian Moran, is a member of the Virginia State House of Delegates.
In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Moran was one of 31 House Democrats who voted with Republicans to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into President Bill Clinton.
During his time in the House, Moran has seen a few controversies. His most recent occurred prior to the 2003 Iraq war when he told an antiwar audience in Reston, Virginia on March 3, 2003, that "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should." This remark proved controversial. Writing in the December 22, 2003 edition of The Nation, Letty Cottin Pogrebin charged that "Representative James Moran of Virginia stirred up another incendiary canard-Jewish influence-by attributing America's war with Iraq to 'the strong support of the Jewish community.'"
He also served as the chief Democratic sponsor of a bankruptcy reform bill after a major credit card issuer gave him a particularly large home equity loan. Moran contended that his support for the bankruptcy bill had nothing to do with this loan.
In 2004 Moran for the first time faced a Democratic primary challenger, Andy Rosenberg. 59% of the district voted for Moran versus 41% for Rosenburg. Moran went on to be re-elected to the U.S. Congress in the general election for his seventh term.
External links
- Official website (http://moran.house.gov/)
- "Moran Wins Va. Primary" (Controversies analyzed) Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25332-2004Jun8.html)
| Preceded by: Stanford E. Parris | U.S. Representative for Virginia's 8th Congressional District 1991—present | Succeeded by: Incumbent |