congress Peter A. DeFazio Contact information

Congressman Peter DeFazio has spent his time in Congress working for Oregonians. As the dean of the Oregon House delegation, he has developed a reputation as an independent, passionate, and effective lawmaker.

In 2019, DeFazio was elected to the powerful position of Chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard, highways and transit, ports and water resources, railroads, aviation, and economic development. As Chair, and previously as Ranking Member, DeFazio has taken the lead role on several multi-billion-laws that have created jobs, improved transportation options, kept our ports open, ensured clean drinking water, and kept the airline industry accountable.

He authored and passed in the House the Moving Forward Act, transformative legislation that addresses the climate crisis head-on by modernizing our energy infrastructure for a clean energy future. In addition, the bill invests more than $760 billion over five years to bring our nation’s transportation and infrastructure up to a state of good repair, reducing gridlock for commuters and business, investing in rural communities, strengthening Buy American standards, and creating millions of jobs.

DeFazio’s priorities are always focused on his constituents and over the course of his career his seniority has brought billions of dollars back to the district. During the 116th Congress alone, DeFazio has brought home more than $55.8 million in federal funding, for projects including airport repairs, dredging our harbors, and maintenance of the Coos Bay Rail Line.

As a former servicemember with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, DeFazio knows the sacrifices vets and their families make to serve our country. He secured $80 million dollars to build the Eugene Veterans Clinic, which opened in 2016, and investigated reports of poor health care and personnel issues at the Roseburg VA Health Care System.

DeFazio previously served as the Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee, where he focused on energy, federal lands, ocean and fisheries, and Native American issues. DeFazio is committed to a responsible management of our Oregon’s natural resources and has led bipartisan efforts for common-sense forest management solutions for sustainability of Oregon’s rural communities, such as his leadership in passing the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.

An avid outdoorsman, DeFazio has been successful in protecting Oregon’s most unique natural and ecologically diverse treasures. In 2019, several of his conservation bills became law. In all, they protect 100,000 acres of salmon habitat in the Steamboat Creek watershed, designate the remote and unlogged Devil’s Staircase area as Wilderness, and stop future mining on the Chetco River and its tributaries to preserve salmon habitat and clean drinking water.

DeFazio and his wife, Myrnie Daut, live in Springfield, Oregon. DeFazio has voted against and refused to accept every congressional pay raise while the government is deficit spending. Instead, he has used his pay raises to fund scholarships at five southwestern Oregon community colleges. As of the end of 2020, DeFazio contributed $466,744 of after-tax salary toward over 286 scholarships and debt reduction. He counts these scholarships among his proudest accomplishments.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The science is clear: climate change is already occurring, it is caused by human activity, and it is the greatest existential threat to our planet that we have ever known. The science is clear that if we don’t act immediately the destructive effects of climate change will worsen; we are already experiencing increasingly severe weather events like floods, droughts, and wildfires.

DeFazio understands that it’s critical to ensure that government policies aimed at ending global warming do not unintentionally hurt struggling low income, rural communities, or benefit some regions while penalizing others. Combatting climate change can lead to good-paying jobs, improved public health, and a cleaner environment for generations to come—no matter where people live.

In November 2017, thirteen U.S. federal agencies—including the Environmental Protection Agency—jointly published a climate report. The report, the National Climate Assessment, makes clear that every region of the country is already experiencing the detrimental effects of climate change, and it warns that “[f]uture impacts and risks from climate change are directly tied to decisions made in the present.” The report also predicts that, by the end of this century, global warming will damage the U.S. economy even more than the Great Recession did.

EDUCATION

Congressman DeFazio has long believed that it is incumbent upon the federal government to invest in our students and schools as states struggle to provide adequate K-12 funding and affordable higher education opportunities. Quality education creates sound building blocks for future generations, yet recent trends indicate American students are falling behind their foreign counterparts in nearly all subjects.

HEALTH CARE

Congressman DeFazio is committed to reining in the escalating costs of health care and prescription drugs and ensuring access to affordable, quality health care for all Oregonians and Americans.

The skyrocketing costs of health care in the United States are untenable. In fact, Americans pay more for health care, by far, than any other developed country, yet we have the worst health outcomes compared to these other countries. Nearly 1 in 4 Americans—including insured Americans—skip medicine and medical care because of high costs. Congressman DeFazio believes this is absolutely unacceptable.

The health care system is failing too many people. Too many families are vulnerable to the whims of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, which in DeFazio’s view are more interested in protecting their billions in profits rather than protecting the health care of hard-working Americans, families, and seniors. Seniors are also vulnerable to the same insurance and pharmaceutical industry tactics, and their Medicare coverage continues to be under threat by ideological attacks.

JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

After more than 10 years since the financial crisis and the $700 billion bailout of wealthy financial institutions, which DeFazio proudly voted against, Wall Street is thriving, wages for average Americans are flat, and income inequality in this country is soaring. Add to that the United States’ failed trade policies―which have helped outsource millions of good-paying Americans jobs―and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provided massive tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy while exploding our national debt, and the last decade has been immensely frustrating and painful for working families.

DeFazio has continually fought for policies that benefit working families and that will build a robust and inclusive middle class. He has continually fought for investment in U.S. infrastructure, reform of our failed trade policies, fix a rigged tax code, and reform of Wall Street.

NATIONAL SECURITY

DeFazio has long advocated for constraint on using our Armed Forces. He is a recognized expert on Congress’ constitutional prerogative to declare war and has fought for fiscal responsibility and accountability at the Pentagon so that scare funds can be better spent on the basic needs of our troops, obligations to veterans of past wars, and other domestic priorities.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Congressman DeFazio is committed to the responsible management of our nation’s natural resources. DeFazio has worked tirelessly for the economic security and sustainability of rural communities in Oregon, working across the aisle in support of common-sense solutions to promote forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. An avid outdoorsman, DeFazio has been successful in protecting some of Oregon’s most unique natural and ecologically diverse treasures and several of his conservation bills have become law. DeFazio knows that investing in proper forest management that provides good jobs in rural communities and permanently protecting old growth, salmon habit, and our natural wonders are not and should not be mutually exclusive.

PROTECTING THE POSTAL SERVICE

Americans and businesses around the country depend on a reliable Postal Service. This is especially true for rural areas and seniors, who count on six-day service and door-to-door service for their mail and prescription medications.

Congressman DeFazio has long history of pushing back against proposed cuts to the USPS and working to improve this essential service.

SOCIAL SECURITY

As a trained gerontologist and member of the Expand Social Security Caucus, DeFazio has devoted his career to protecting and expanding programs and benefits vital to seniors. It has always been and continues to be his highest priority to protect Social Security.

Social Security continues to provide the majority of income for most seniors in the United States, and it provides financial security to millions of disabled workers and children. While the average benefit is slightly more than $18,000 a year, Social Security continues to lift millions of seniors, children, and disabled individuals out of poverty.

Congressman DeFazio has consistently supported efforts to protect and expand Social Security benefits for seniors and restore the long-term solvency of the program. DeFazio has long opposed privatizing Social Security, which could divert Social Security revenues to risky Wall Street accounts, and he has consistently opposed efforts to cut Social Security. DeFazio believes we have an unsustainable national debt that must be dealt with, but he will not stand for balancing the budget on the backs of seniors. He is also opposed to raising the retirement age or reducing benefits.

The Social Security Trust Fund has paid every benefit check that has gone out, and projections estimate it will continue to pay 100 percent of benefits through 2034 if no action is taken. Under current law, if the Social Security trust fund runs short, it will only pay 75 percent of current benefits. Thus, if Congress does nothing to address a future shortfall, the program will automatically impose benefit cuts.

DeFazio has a common-sense and fiscally responsible plan to protect Social Security and expand its benefits. He has introduced legislation, the Social Security Expansion Act, to help seniors and other beneficiaries by expanding benefits, reforming the current cost-of-living formula, and ensuring that full Social Security benefits will be available to future generations.

TAX FAIRNESS

Each year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) leaves hundreds of billions of dollars in owed tax liabilities on the table. The tax gap—the difference between tax liabilities owed to the IRS and those liabilities that are actually collected—is estimated to be more than $600 billion annually, with the majority of underpayment coming from the wealthy. Unfortunately, the average U.S. household is paying an annual surtax of more than $3,000 to subsidize taxpayers who aren’t paying all that they owe.

That’s why Congressman DeFazio has introduced legislation that will give the IRS the resources it needs to ensure they are collecting taxes owed by the wealthy and rich corporations. This legislation would promote a fairer tax system and collect revenue that is legitimately owed that could go towards deficit reduction and invest in policies that will better support working families.

TRADE

Congressman DeFazio has been a leader in fighting “free” trade agreements that have led to massive job loss, the withering of the U.S. manufacturing base, soaring trade deficits, and the erosion of U.S. sovereignty, among other problems. He has voted against every free trade agreement, was a lead opponent of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), fought against President Obama’s disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), worked to improve the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).

As someone who has spent their entire career fighting on behalf of the American worker, Congressman DeFazio knows Congress can and must do more to address the very real frustrations of Americans whose lives have been devastated by trade policies that put corporate profits over working people. He will always fight to ensure there is a level playing field for American workers.

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

In 2018, Congressman DeFazio was elected by his peers to serve as Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. A member of the Committee since 1987, DeFazio previously served as Chairman or Ranking Member of four of the six subcommittees: Aviation, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Highways and Transit, and Water Resources and Environment.

Over his career, DeFazio has established a reputation as a national leader on transportation issues. He believes the United States must invest in a robust, multimodal transportation system if it is to remain in league with competitor nations around the world. Yet the U.S. is seriously lagging behind. According to the Federal Highway Administration over 337,502 bridges—over 50% of all bridges in the U.S.—are not in good condition. Similarly, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) found that “one out of every five miles of highway pavement is in poor condition and our roads have a significant and increasing backlog of rehabilitation needs.” Across the country, trucks are rerouted due to weight restrictions on bridges, and Americans waste time and money on gasoline idling in traffic.

VETERANS ISSUES

Congressman DeFazio firmly believes the federal government is obligated to properly care for the men and women who serve in our nation’s Armed Forces. Throughout his time in Congress, he has fought to ensure that the United States makes good on that promise. In recent years Congress has passed long overdue structural changes as well as funding increases for the VA, and Congressman DeFazio has insisted that these changes translate into better service for Oregon veterans.

Part of Congressman DeFazio’s commitment to Oregon veterans is one-on-one assistance with their benefits. Congressman DeFazio has two full-time staff members in his Eugene district office devoted to helping veterans navigate the VA system. He urges veterans to call his Eugene office at 1-800-944-9603 if they need assistance.

Congressman DeFazio served in the United States Air Force Reserve from June 1967 until his honorable discharge with the rank of 2nd Lt. on March 30, 1971.