Jim Moran

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For other persons named James Moran, see James Moran (disambiguation).
Jim Moran
Jim Moran
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 1991
Preceded by Stanford Parris
Born May 16, 1945 (1945-05-16) (age 63)
Buffalo, New York
Political party Democratic
Spouse LuAnn Bennett
Religion Roman Catholic

James Patrick "Jim" Moran Jr. (born 16 May 1945 in Buffalo, New York) has represented the 8th congressional district of Virginia since 1991. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

His brother, Brian Moran, is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Congressman Moran grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Boston. He attended Marian High School in Framingham, Massachusetts, the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a masters degree in Public Administration. Voters elected him to the Alexandria, Virginia, City Council in 1979. He served as deputy mayor from 1982 to 1984, when he resigned as part of a Nolo contendere plea bargain to a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge, which courts later erased. Moran subsequently ran successfully for Mayor of Alexandria in 1985.

[edit] Congress

Elected to the House in 1990, he serves on the House Appropriations Committee. 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 been involved in a few controversies related to personal financial dealings with lobbyists and business interests. He served as the chief Democratic sponsor of a bankruptcy reform bill after a major credit card issuer gave him a large home equity loan under favorable terms. Moran contended in press accounts that his support for the bankruptcy bill had nothing to do with this loan.

On October 10, 2002, Jim Moran was among the 133 members of the House voting against authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

Politically, Moran is a New Democrat, and is affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council. On economic issues he often breaks with his party, supporting CAFTA and other free trade agreements, harsher bankruptcy laws, and increased restrictions on the right to bring class action suits. However, he strongly supports gay rights and gun control, and voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. At different times he has voted to ban flag-burning and partial-birth abortions, though he has reversed his positions on both issues.

He is a cosponsor of legislation to provide the District of Columbia with voting representation(HR 2043).

Moran appeared on The Colbert Report as part of the series Better Know a District. During the appearance he described himself as "gentle," but later jokingly punched Colbert in the face after Colbert called Moran a "coward."[1]

[edit] Darfur

On 28 April 2006, Moran, along with four other members of Congress and six other activists, was arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington. They were protesting the alleged role of Sudan's government in ethnic cleansing in Darfur. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Their protest and civil disobedience was designed to embarrass the military dictatorship's ongoing genocide of its non-Arab citizens."[2]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Comments regarding pro-Israel Lobby

Main article: Israel lobby in the United States

Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq 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."[3][4]

Moran said that his comments were taken out of context, and he had said the same about the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention at three antiwar forums.[5][6]

The National Jewish Democratic Council criticized Moran's comments.[7] Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said Moran's comments were "unfounded, baseless, and way out of line." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Moran's comments have "no place in the Democratic Party." Joe Lieberman called the comments "deeply offensive and morally wrong."[3]

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.'"[8] According to a Gallup Poll, the vast majority of Jewish Americans oppose the war, even the minority of Republican Jews. Jewish American opposition to the war has been consistent even before the invasion, and they have been more strongly opposed to the war than any other major religious group.[1]

According to an article about Moran by Alexander Cockburn in The Nation[9], reporters like Robert Kaiser in the Washington Post have described the neoconservative lobby that supported the Iraqi war, which includes such prominent Jewish neocons as Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and Douglas Feith; The Forward reported that Jewish Groups, such as Workmen's Circle, were angry at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations for supporting the war; and the American Jewish Congress supported the war.

In 2004 Moran for the first time faced a Democratic primary challenger, Andy Rosenberg. 58.5% of the district voted for Moran versus 41.5% for Rosenberg. Moran went on to be reelected to the U.S. Congress in the general election for his eighth term.

In September, 2007, Moran again angered Jewish organizations. In an interview with Tikkun[10], Moran said, "Jewish Americans, as a voting bloc and as an influence on American foreign policy, are overwhelmingly opposed to the war," more than any other ethnic group. "But AIPAC is the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning. I don’t think they represent the mainstream of American Jewish thinking at all, but because they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful—most of them are quite wealthy—they have been able to exert power. The reason I don’t hesitate to speak out about AIPAC’s influence—notwithstanding the fact that I’ll be accused of being anti-Semitic every time I suggest it—is that I don’t think AIPAC represents the mainstream of American Jewish thinking.[11][12] The National Jewish Democratic Council responded "Rep. Moran’s comments are not only incorrect and irresponsible – they are downright dangerous.”[13] The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington complained that "[Moran] uses clearly anti-Semitic images such as Jewish control of the media and wealthy Jews using their wealth to control policy."[12]

[edit] Comments about earmarks

The June 10, 2006, edition of the Arlington Sun reported that the previous evening Moran had told a crowd of 450 at the Arlington County Democratic Committee's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner that if Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections, he would use his seniority to secure more money for his congressional district. He stated, "When I become chairman [of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies], I'm going to earmark the shit out of it" [2]. This assertion resulted in nationwide negative publicity for Moran after conservative columnist Robert Novak repeated the story in his syndicated column. Moran's office issued a statement asserting that he had made his remark in jest and that Rep. Moran remains committed to fiscal responsibility. (Rep. Moran did not become chairman of any subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee as a result of the Democrats taking control of the House in 2007.)

On June 19, 2006, the Washington Post reported that Moran supports earmarks stemming from "Project M," a technology involving magnetic levitation. To date, the project has received $37 million in earmarks. This project was designed to keep submarine machinery quieter, keep Navy SEALs safer in their boats, and protect Marines from roadside bombs. The Pentagon, however, has said that it has no use for the project. The owner of Project M's prime contractor, Vibration & Sound Solutions Ltd., has given $17,000 to Moran's campaign.

[edit] Comments regarding House Majority Leader election

Leading up to the election for House Majority leader, which John Murtha, who Moran and newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had supported, lost to Steny Hoyer. Moran said, "Some of the freshmen who came in with some naivete are understanding the meaning [of Pelosi’s endorsement]...They'll screw themselves for the rest of their lives."[14] He subsequently alleged that some members had told both candidates that they would support them, saying, "We know who they are."[15]

[edit] 2006 election

In 2006, Moran was re-elected with 66% of the vote, defeating Republican Thomas O'Donoghue, (31%) and Independent candidate Jim Hurysz (3%).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Colbert, Steven (2005-12-08). Know a District: Virginia's 8th. Better Know a District. Comedy Central. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  2. ^ Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Accessed 25 September 2006.
  3. ^ a b CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown CNN
  4. ^ CNN.com - Lawmaker under fire for saying Jews support Iraq war - Mar. 12, 2003
  5. ^ Q & A. The Incumbent: Rep. James P. Moran. Washington Post, June 3, 2004.
  6. ^ Berlau, John. "Moran can't keep his tongue tied: there is growing alarm about Rep. Jim Moran's habit of uttering offensive statements about Jews and Israel, apologizing for his remarks, then doing it all over again. (The nation: anti-semitism)." Insight on the News 19.9 (April 15, 2003): 34(2). General OneFile. Gale. Fairfax County Public Library. <http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>. Gale Document Number:A100111693. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  7. ^ Retiring Senator blasts AIPAC influence Mid-East Realities
  8. ^ In Defense of the Law of Return
  9. ^ 'No place in the Democratic Party,' Alexander Cockburn, The Nation, March 31, 2003, p. 8
  10. ^ The Israel Lobby--and the Interview with Cong. Jim Moran, Michael Lerner, Tikkun, September 2007.
  11. ^ Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
  12. ^ a b Gardner, Amy (September 15, 2007). Moran Upsets Jewish Groups Again. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  13. ^ NJDC TO MORAN: RETRACT AIPAC STATEMENTS. National Jewish Democratic Council (September 8, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  14. ^ thehill.com
  15. ^ NPR.org

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Stanford E. Parris		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 8th congressional district
1991 – present		 Incumbent
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