Chris Deluzio

Christopher Raphael Deluzio (born July 13, 1984) is an American politician, attorney, and former U.S. Navy officer serving as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes most of the northwestern suburbs and exurbs of Pittsburgh.

Early life and education

Deluzio, who is of Italian heritage, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Thornburg. He attended Bishop Canevin High School, where he played baseball. After graduation, he was admitted to the United States Naval Academy and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 2006. Following his naval service, he attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he graduated ''magna cum laude'' with a Juris Doctor in 2013.

Early career

After graduating from the Naval Academy, Deluzio served as a naval officer from 2006 to 2012, where he was a surface warfare officer and deployed to Iraq with an Army civil affairs unit. He later worked as a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City before joining the Brennan Center of Justice to work on voting rights and election security issues. Deluzio was then named a legal and policy scholar of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

Deluzio ran for the United States House of Representatives in to succeed Conor Lamb in the 2022 elections. He won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Jeremy Shaffer 53% to 47%.

2024

Deluzio defeated Republican nominee Rob Mercuri in the 2024 election 54% to 46%.

Tenure

Deluzio was sworn into Congress on January 7, 2023, and appointed to the Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs committees for the 118th congressional session. In February, following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, near his district, he partnered with Rep. Ro Khanna to introduce a bill tightening rail safety requirements for transporting hazardous materials. The following month, he introduced the House version of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act with Rep. Nick LaLota to strengthen regulations for freight rail. In May, he introduced the Build, Utilize, Invest, Learn and Deliver (BUILD) for Veterans Act to improve VA infrastructure and address unused buildings with long-term budget requirements.

In 2024, Deluzio co-sponsored the Shrinkflation Prevention Act with Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez to prevent corporations from reducing product sizes without lowering prices. In May, he worked to ensure union labor agreements were implemented for the restoration of the Montgomery Lock and Dam, a project funded by Biden’s infrastructure bill, which was expected to create 28,000 construction jobs. The next month, he was appointed to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure following the death of Rep. Donald Payne, because of his leadership on rail safety. In July, he joined House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Pittsburgh International Airport to highlight the impact of the bipartisan infrastructure law on its $1.5 billion modernization project.

Committee assignments

Deluzio's committee assignments for the 119th Congress include:
* Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
** Subcommittee on Aviation
** Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials (vice ranking member)
* Committee on Armed Services
** Subcommittee on Readiness
** Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces

Caucus memberships

Deluzio's caucus memberships include:
* Labor Caucus (vice chair)
* Congressional Steel Caucus
* Congressional Progressive Caucus (deputy whip)
* Navy and Marine Corps Caucus, (co-chair)
* Bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus

Policy positions

Labor rights

Deluzio supports the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a federal bill expanding workers' rights to unionize and collectively bargain. In 2024, he co-sponsored the bipartisan Public Service Worker Protection Act to extend OSHA protections to public sector employees in all states, addressing a gap that leaves approximately eight million workers without federal workplace safety standards. He also co-sponsored that year the Stop Spying Bosses Act, which aims to protect workers' rights by regulating workplace surveillance.

Healthcare

Deluzio supports universal healthcare and co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act. He also criticized the Supreme Court's decision to overturn ''Roe v. Wade'', and supports women's reproductive rights to make their own decisions about their families and healthcare.

Foreign affairs

In 2023, Deluzio voted against banning the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. That July, he co-introduced a bipartisan resolution that urged the Biden administration to secure the release of Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania teacher from his district who was unjustly sentenced to fourteen years in a Russian prison. In October, he voted in favor of providing support to Israel following the Hamas-led attack on October 7.

In 2024, Deluzio joined a bipartisan group urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Fogel as "wrongfully detained" to emphasize the political nature of his imprisonment. In early 2025, he once again joined Pennsylvania lawmakers in calling for Fogel’s release, which was secured the following month.

Personal life

Deluzio is from Thornburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Vincent and Rita Deluzio. His father owns a healthcare management consulting firm. In 2015, he married Alexandra Zoë Bunnell, whom he met while attending law school at Georgetown. They currently live in Fox Chapel.

References

External links

Congressman Chris Deluzio
official U.S. House website

Chris Deluzio for Congress
campaign website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Deluzio, Chris
1984 births
Living people
21st-century American naval officers
21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
21st-century Pennsylvania politicians
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Military personnel from Pittsburgh
Politicians from Pittsburgh
United States Naval Academy alumni
United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War
University of Pittsburgh people
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz people
American people of Italian descent