Jim Moran (golfer)
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James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
, from 1985 until 1990, and as the
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
for , including the cities of
Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...
and
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, all of
Arlington County Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, and a portion of
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous county in Virginia, the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington ...
) from 1991 until 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Moran chaired the
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...
from 1997 until 2001. He is of Irish descent and is the son of
James Moran Sr. James Patrick Moran (September 27, 1912 – August 18, 1983) was an American football player and coach. A standout Guard (gridiron football), guard in high school and college, he played professionally for a total of 17 games with the Boston Reds ...
, a former professional football player, and the brother of
Brian Moran Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until ...
, former chairman of the
Democratic Party of Virginia The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, th ...
.


Early life and education

Moran was born in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, the eldest of seven siblings in a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
family of Irish descent. He grew up in
Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part o ...
, a suburb of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. His parents were Dorothy (née Dwyer) and
James Moran Sr. James Patrick Moran (September 27, 1912 – August 18, 1983) was an American football player and coach. A standout Guard (gridiron football), guard in high school and college, he played professionally for a total of 17 games with the Boston Reds ...
, a professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player for the
Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the NFC East, East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). ...
in 1935 and 1936; outside of football he worked as a probation officer. Both his father and mother were Roosevelt Democrats and supporters of the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
. Moran attended Marian High School in
Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston ...
. Moran played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
on an athletic scholarship at the
College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
, where his father had been a football star in the early 1930s. Moran received his
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
in 1967. After attending
Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...
of the
City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
from 1967 to 1968, he received a
Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...
from the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
in 1970.


Career

After college, Moran followed his father's footstep to become an amateur
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
. During a campaign in 1992, he admitted that he had used
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
during his early 20s. Following a brief career as a stockbroker, Moran moved to
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Moran worked for five years at the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a Cabinet of the United States, cabinet-level United States federal executive departments, executive branch department of the federal government of the United States, US federal ...
as a budget officer before serving as a senior specialist for budgetary and fiscal policy at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
. From 1976 to 1979, he was on the staff of U.S. Senate Committee on Approrpriations. In 1979, Moran was elected to the City Council of
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
. From 1982 to 1984, he was
deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...
. In 1984, he resigned as part of a ''
nolo contendere ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a Criminal charge, charg ...
'' plea bargain to a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge, which courts later erased. The incident stemmed from charges that Moran had used money from a
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
to rent a tuxedo and buy Christmas cards; both of which were later judged by the
Commonwealth Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
to "fit the definition of constituent services", and were dismissed. In 1985, Moran was elected mayor of Alexandria, Virginia. He was reelected in 1988, and resigned after he was elected to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in November 1990.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections

In 1990, Moran first won election to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, defeating five-term Republican incumbent Stan Parris. During the campaign, Parris, referring to the issue of the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, said, "The only three people I know who support
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's position are
Moammar Gadhafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
,
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
, and Jim Moran." Moran angrily responded by saying that Parris was "a deceitful, fatuous jerk", and that he wanted "to break his nose". Moran's well-financed campaign also focused on Parris' opposition to abortion. Moran upset Parris, winning by 7.1 percent. He was sworn into office in January 1991. In the next two elections, Moran faced Republican lawyer
Kyle McSlarrow Kyle Eugene McSlarrow (born June 29, 1960) is a former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Energy and Congressional candidate. From 2011 to 2017, he served as the head of Comcast's lobbying and government-affairs office, which inc ...
. During the 1992 campaign, McSlarrow accused Moran of "lying to the public". Moran responded by portraying McSlarrow as a drug abuser, referring to the candidate's admitted use of
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
while at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. Moran compared McSlarrow to Parris, saying that Parris had "[t]en times more integrity than McSlarrow. He didn't create lies." Moran defeated McSlarrow with 56 percent of the vote. He was helped by the 1990s redistricting, which cut out some of the more Republican-leaning areas of his district. In 1994, Moran's daughter Dorothy was suffering from an inoperable brain tumor. During the campaign, neither Moran nor McSlarrow used the negative tactics of two years earlier. On his campaign strategy that election, McSlarrow said "It would not be a community service to shut down this campaign, but I probably will not talk much about Moran." Moran was reelected with 59 percent of the vote. In 1998 and 2000, Moran faced Republican and flat tax advocate Demaris H. Miller. In the 1998 campaign Miller accused Moran of flip-flopping in his support of President Bill Clinton, after Moran, who had been a vocal supporter of the Clinton White House, voted in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry following the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In 2002, Moran defeated Republican S. C. Tate and Independent R. V. Crickenberger. In June 2004, Moran, for the first time since his election in 1990, had a Democratic opponent in a primary. Moran defeated Alexandria attorney Andrew M. Rosenberg, 59% to 41%. In November, he defeated Republican Lisa Marie Cheney. In 2006, Moran defeated Republican challenger T. M. Odonoghue and Independent J. T. Hurysz. In 2008, Moran again had a primary challenger; he won with 86% of the vote. In the United States House of Representatives elections, 2008, general election, Moran faced Republican Mark Ellmore and Independent Green Ron Fisher. He won with 68 percent of the vote to Elmore's 30 percent. In November 2009, Ellmore announced he would again challenge Moran, but dropped out of the race four months later. In the June 2010 Republican primary, attorney Matthew Berry (politician), Matthew Berry narrowly lost to retired U.S. Army Colonel Jay Patrick Murray, after a last-minute mailing attacking Berry's homosexuality. Fisher again was on the ballot. During the campaign, Moran was criticized by military advocacy groups and conservatives for saying, at a local Democratic committee meeting, that Murray had not "served or performed any kind of public service". Moran responded by commending Murray's military service, while saying that he used the phrase in relation to Murray not having engaged in "local civic engagement" and not having served in local office. In November 2010, Moran was re-elected to an eleventh term with 61% of the vote. In 2012, Moran faced another primary challenge, from Navy veteran Bruce Shuttleworth. A controversy erupted when the Democratic Party of Virginia disqualified Shuttleworth, saying he had fallen 17 signatures short of the 1,000 threshold required. Shuttleworth cried foul and filed a federal lawsuit; the party then allowed Shuttleworth on the ballot. Moran went on to win by a sizable margin. In November, Moran defeated Republican J. Patrick Murray, Independent Jason J. Howell, and Independent Green Janet Murphy, winning 64% of the vote.


Tenure

Moran represented Virginia's 8th congressional district, an area in Northern Virginia that is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.; the district includes Arlington County, Virginia, Arlington county, and the cities of
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...
and parts of
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous county in Virginia, the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington ...
. The redistricting that followed the 2000 United States Census, 2000 census also gave Moran a portion of Reston, Virginia. His district is located in the Dulles Technology Corridor and is the home of many federal defense contractors as well as a significant number of those who work in the information technology industry. Many federal employees also reside within the district, mostly due to its proximity to Washington, D.C., Washington and because the United States Department of Defense and various other agencies are headquartered there. During the mid 1990s, Moran co-founded and later co-chaired the
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...
, a coalition of Democratic Party (United States), Democratic lawmakers who consider themselves to be Centrism, moderates with regard to commerce, budgeting, and economic legislation, but vote as liberals on social issues.Democratic Leadership Council
The New Democratic Credo
. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
Moran was also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the largest caucus operating within the Democratic caucus, which works to advance progressivism, progressive issues and opinions. He joined the caucus prior to the 111th United States Congress, 111th Congress.


1990s

In 1995, Moran and California Republican Duke Cunningham had to be restrained by the Capitol Police after a shoving match on the house floor over President Bill Clinton's decision to send U.S. troops to Bosnia. "I thought he had been bullying too many people for too long, and I told him so ... He said he didn't mean to be so accusatory ... After that, he would bring me candy from California", Moran claimed. During the final years of the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, Moran was critical of the President of the United States, President. In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky Lewinsky scandal, scandal, Moran was one of only 31 House Democrats to support launching a formal impeachment inquiry into Bill Clinton. In August 1998, he told ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine that, "This whole sordid mess is just too tawdry and tedious and embarrassing ... It's like a novel that just became too full of juicy parts and bizarre, sleazy characters." Moran is also reported to have told First Lady Hillary Clinton that if she had been his sister, he would have punched her husband in the nose. Moran eventually decided not to vote for Impeachment of Bill Clinton, impeachment, explaining that Clinton had not compromised the country's security, and that he still respected him for what he had accomplished as President. Moran proposed a resolution demanding that Clinton confess to a pattern of "dishonest and illegal conduct" surrounding his sexual involvement with Monica Lewinsky.


21st century

Moran was voted High Technology Legislator of the Year by the Information Technology Industry Council and was voted into the AeA, American Electronics Association Hall of Fame for his work on avoiding the 2000, Year 2000 crisis and his support of the Information Technology, IT Industry and defense contractors in Northern Virginia. He cosponsored failed bills in 2005 to provide the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia with D.C. voting rights, a House seat and to prohibit Animal slaughter, slaughter of horses. On April 28, 2006, Moran, along with four other members of Congress (the now-deceased Rep. Tom Lantos of California, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Jim McGovern (American politician), James McGovern and John Olver of Massachusetts), and six other activists, were arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., and spent 45 minutes in a jail cell before being released. 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 Politics of Sudan, military dictatorship's ongoing genocide of its non-Arab citizens." The day after the Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, Moran told a local radio station that the Federal Assault Weapons Ban should be reinstated, blaming the National Rifle Association of America and President George W. Bush for blocking gun control legislation. He further warned that if gun control legislation was not passed, then shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech will happen "time and time again." He later dismissed charges that he was politicizing the shooting, telling ''The Politico, Politico'' that "as a legislator, your immediate reaction is to think something could be done to avoid this. I don't know why the idea of figuring out how to avoid it is a political partisan issue." Shortly before the Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008, June 2008 Virginia Democratic primary, Moran endorsed Senator Barack Obama of Illinois for the presidency over New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. Explaining his endorsement, he told a local newspaper that the long-term goal of closing Alexandria's coal-fired power plant would be more attainable under Obama than under Clinton. Obama won the Virginia primary, and carried the state when he won the 2008 United States presidential election, general election in November. In May 2009, Moran introduced a bill that would restrict Television advertisement, broadcast advertisements for erectile dysfunction or penis enlargement, male enhancement medication. He said that such ads were morality, indecent and should be prohibited on radio and television between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm, in accordance with Federal Communications Commission policy. Later that year, Moran and former presidential candidate and former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean held a town hall meeting on the issue of health care at South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. The meeting was interrupted several times by protesters, most notably anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who, along with about half a dozen supporters, caused such a commotion that he had to be escorted out by police. The incident was replayed several times over the next few weeks on television as an example of the tension at town halls that fall. In February 2010, on the House floor, Moran called for the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the military policy of discharging soldiers on active duty who are openly homosexual. He spoke about a letter penned by a gay soldier who was then serving in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), Afghanistan War, who had "learned that a fellow soldier was also gay, only after he was killed by an improvised explosive device, IED in Iraq. The partner of the deceased soldier wrote the unit to say how much the victim had loved the military; how they were the only family he had ever known ... This immutable human trait, sexual orientation, like the color of one's skin, does not affect one's integrity, their honor, our commitment to their country. Soldiers serving their country in combat should not have their sacrifices compounded by having to struggle with an antiquated "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Let's do the right and honorable thing and repeal this policy." As a member of the United States House Committee on Appropriations, House Appropriations Committee, Moran worked to allocate federal funding to projects in Northern Virginia, usually in the technology and defense industries. He also assisted in authorizing the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, a bridge between
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
, and Prince George's County, Maryland, which had gained a reputation over the years among Northern Virginia residents as the site of numerous rush-hour traffic jams. On March 9, 2010, Moran was named to succeed Norm Dicks of Washington (state), Washington as the chairman of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. The chairmanship gave Moran authority over appropriations to the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts; among other things. Moran said he was excited to be able to play a role in protecting the environment and conserving natural resources.


2010s

Moran became the ranking member of the subcommittee after the Democratic Party lost control of the House of Representatives following the United States House of Representatives elections, 2010, November 2010 elections. After President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address, Moran was interviewed by Alhurra, an Arab television network. During the interview, he said, "a lot of people in [the United States of America] ... don't want to be governed by an African-American" and that the Democrats lost seats in the 2010 election for "the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States ... the Southern states, particularly the slaveholding states, didn't want to see a president who was opposed to slavery." The remarks received national media attention. ''The Washington Posts Jennifer Rubin said the remarks were "beyond uncivil" and "obnoxious". On March 16, 2012, Moran was arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC, at a protest against human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sudanese government, specifically bombings in the Nuba Mountains and refusal to allow humanitarian aid organizations access to refugees. He was charged with disorderly conduct and released, along with George Clooney and several others. On March 27, 2012, Moran introduced the AUTISM Educators Act that would implement a five-year pilot program allowing public schools to partner with colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations to promote teaching skills for educators working with high functioning students with autism. "This legislation is the product of a grassroots effort by parents, instructors, school officials and caring communities," he said. "Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at an exploding rate. We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to provide the best education for our children." In 2012, the bipartisan grassroots organization No Labels recognized Moran as a "Problem Solver" for "continued willingness to work across the aisle and find common ground with members of the opposite party on important issues. His attitude is what Congress needs more of." Moran joined Virginia Reps. Gerry Connolly and Bobby Scott (U.S. politician), Bobby Scott in asking Attorney General Eric Holder for a Department of Justice investigation into allegations of voter fraud in Virginia following charges that a contractor to the Republican Party of Virginia was caught discarding completed voter registration forms in a Harrisonburg, Virginia dumpster. Shortly thereafter, conservatism, conservative activist James O'Keefe released a video alleging involvement by Moran's son in a voting fraud discussion; see #Voter fraud allegations below. Moran occasionally appeared on MSNBC, usually on ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'' and ''The Ed Show''. He did not seek re-nomination to Congress in 2014, retiring after 24 years. Virginia's former lieutenant governor, Don Beyer, a fellow Democrat, was elected to succeed Moran.


Committee assignments

*United States House Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Appropriations **United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Subcommittee on Defense **United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)


Caucus memberships

* LGBT Equality Caucus * Congressional Progressive Caucus *
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...
(co-founder) * Animal Protection Caucus (co-Chair) * Sudan Caucus * Sportsmen's Caucus * United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus, International Conservation Caucus * Congressional Arts Caucus * Congressional Bike Caucus * Safe Climate Caucus * Crohn's and Colitis Caucus (co-Chair)


Political positions


Social issues

Moran voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, the Federal Marriage Amendment, and was in favor of repealing the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. He also supported gun control, voting for the Brady Bill and supporting a reinstatement of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. At different times he voted to ban Flag desecration, flag-burning and partial-birth abortions, though he reversed his positions on both issues. On education, he expressed support for the public education system, Universal preschool, universal pre-kindergarten, and full funding for the No Child Left Behind program. Moran was given a 100% rating by the NARAL and 0% by the National Right to Life Committee, indicating a Abortion-rights movements, pro-abortion rights voting record. He also voted to expand research of embryonic stem cells and to allow minors to go across state lines to receive abortions. On immigration, Moran supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and did not support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country or the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police. He was a cosponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP Act of 2009 (H.R.4321), which the House did not pass. He was given an overall immigration reduction grade of D by NumbersUSA. The American Immigration Lawyers Association scored him as having voted 31 times for the organization's position and 7 times against the organization's position. In September 2009, Moran was one of 75 members of the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives to vote no on a bill to eliminate any federal funds going to community organizer Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN.


Federal employees

Moran introduced and supported legislation to increase benefits and pay for federal workers, in part due to the Federal Government's large presence within the 8th District – 114,000 federal employees work within its bounds. He introduced a bill signed into law that allows FERS employees to buy back credit from a lapse in federal service toward annuity payments, with the goal of attracting individuals from the private sector back to public service. Moran also authored a law that allows a federal worker's unused sick leave to count toward their annuity. In the 112th Congress, he also spoke against attempts by Republicans to cut back the size of the federal workforce.


Environment

Moran listed the environment as one of his top issues, citing his high marks from the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club. He used his positions as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Appropriations Committee and as chairman of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Interior Appropriations Subcommittee to allocate federal funding for hiking trails and wildlife reserves in his district. He also voted to ban logging on federal lands. He criticized the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for inaction on climate change, saying that "EPA had a historic opportunity to tackle head-on one of the greatest threats to our existence—global warming. Instead they balked under pressure from the administration, concluding the problem is so complex and controversial that it cannot be resolved." He also endorsed and voted for the Clean Air Act (United States), Clean Air Act and said that global warming is an important issue to him. In 2010, Moran also expressed discontent with President Barack Obama's decision to allow offshore oil drilling, oil drilling off the coast of the United States.


Economy, budget, and taxes

Moran often broke with his party on economic issues. For example, he supported Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and other free trade agreements, harsher bankruptcy laws, and increased restrictions on the right to bring class action suits. He voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Reform and Accountability Act. He supported pay-as-you-go budgeting and believed "that the American government needs to strive to build up a surplus when possible, so that there are funds to support and sustain our country during tough financial times." Moran called former President George W. Bush "Fiscally irresponsible." Moran said he supported the redistribution of wealth, saying in November 2008 that "We have been guided by a Republican administration who believes in this simplistic notion that people who have wealth are entitled to keep it and they have an antipathy towards the means of redistributing wealth." He also said on his website that the Late-2000s recession, recession was largely "a result of the imbalance in the distribution of wealth over the last eight years and an absence of Financial regulation, oversight and accountability."


Social programs

Moran called Social Security (United States), Social Security "a safe, stable, and dependable source of financial assistance for retirement, retirees and their families," and strongly opposes privatizing Social Security, saying that it would "cripple the system". It was his position that any changes to the current system must "promote its long-term solvency without disrupting the core principles on which the program was founded." Moran expressed support for Universal Healthcare and more specifically the public health insurance option, saying at a town hall meeting in Reston, Virginia, in August 2009 that "It could do the most to bring down long-term medical costs and to adequately Health Insurance, insure every American." Moran ultimately voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed and was signed into law in March 2010.


Defense

Moran voted against authorizing the Iraq War in 2002 and did not support the troop increase for the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), Afghanistan War proposed by President of the United States, President Barack Obama in 2009, saying first that he appreciated Obama's "careful consideration regarding the U.S.'s engagement in Afghanistan", but later defining the issues on which he and the President disagreed:
Our security concern is Al-Qaeda, not the Taliban. Eight years ago we went into Afghanistan to eliminate al-Qaeda and the "safe haven" that Afghanistan's Taliban were providing the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda has no significant presence today in all of Afghanistan. ... Instead of increasing our troop presence, the U.S. should limit its mission in Afghanistan to securing strategic Afghan population centers with the troops currently on the ground.


Comments prior to the invasion of Iraq

Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Moran told an anti-war audience in Reston, Virginia, that if
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 brought criticism from many of his own party, including, among others, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and Senator Joe Lieberman. Nancy Pelosi, who was Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader at the time, remarked that "Moran's comments have no place in the Democratic Party." Moran apologized for the remarks, saying that
I should not have singled out the Jewish community and regret giving any impression that its members are somehow responsible for the course of action being pursued by the administration, or are somehow behind an impending war ... What I was trying to say is that if more organizations in this country, including religious groups, were more outspoken against war, then I do not think we would be pursuing war as an option.CNN.com – Transcripts: NewsNight with Aaron Brown, March 11, 2003
. Retrieved February 15, 2010.


BRAC

Moran voted against BRAC 2005 which would move over 20,000 workers to Ft. Belvoir. The Army later decided to relocate approximately 6,400 Department of Defense workers to the Mark Center building in Alexandria. Moran opposed the selection of the Mark Center saying "I'm very disappointed ... It belonged at the Springfield site." Moran blocked federal funding for an HOV ramp directly to the Mark Center citing the impact upon Winkler Preserve. At Moran's request, DoD ultimately delayed moving all workers to the Mark Center by one year. To help prevent gridlock, Moran got $20 million in short- and mid-term road improvements and a parking limit at the Mark Center of approximately 2,000 cars Moran also got $180 million to widen route 1 for the new Ft. Belvoir Hospital, an effort Sen. Webb called "a tribute to Congressman Moran's persistence."


Animal rights

Moran was in favor of stronger prohibitions against animal fighting. He sponsored legislation to penalize those who "knowingly attend animal fights and allow minors to attend." He sponsored legislation limiting federal funding for horse slaughter inspection plants, effectively preventing the practice. In the past he promoted reinstating a five-year ban on slaughtering horses for food, noting that "horses hold an important place in our nation's history and culture ... they deserve to be cared for, not killed for foreign consumption." Moran in the past promoted safer keeping and treatment of exotic animals used in circus performances. In October 2014, Moran received the Lord Houghton Award from Cruelty Free International for his service and contribution to animal welfare.


Other

Moran does not support D.C. statehood movement, granting statehood to the District of Columbia. However, he voted to allow Washington, D.C., to send a voting representative to the United States Congress.


Controversies


MBNA loan

Moran's support for harsher bankruptcy law provisions and sponsorship of stricter bankruptcy legislation brought allegations in 2002 that his support came in return for financial favors by financial institutions which could benefit from such laws. In January 1998, one month before he introduced the legislation, credit card bank MBNA advocated that it would restrict the ability of consumer debtors to declare bankruptcy. Moran received a $447,000 debt consolidation loan at over 10% interest rate. The Lieutenant Governor of Virginia at the time, Tim Kaine, joined Republican Party (United States), Republican lawmakers in calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation into the loan, saying that Moran had made "an error in judgment" by accepting it. In his own defense, Moran said that the timing of the legislation's introduction was coincidental and had nothing to do with the loan. MBNA spokesman Brian Dalphon said that the bank had offered the mortgage package not knowing that Moran was a member of Congress, and that the loan "made good business sense" because with the mortgage loan, "we improved our position by getting security for an unsecured loan. ... He had credit cards with us, he was having financial difficulties; this put him in a better position to be able to pay us back from a cash-flow standpoint."


PMA group

The House Ethics Committee investigated several members of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, including Moran, Peter J. Visclosky, Norm Dicks, Marcy Kaptur and the late John Murtha, who was the chairman at the time, for a conflict of interest in the allocation of the government contracts to clients of the PMA Group, which donated nearly a million dollars to Moran's
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
, as well as a significant amount of money to the gubernatorial campaign of Moran's younger brother, Brian Moran, Brian. Moran said that he was unaware of "who made donations", and "how much they gave", and therefore was not affected by the donations when allocating the funding. In February 2010, the panel cleared Moran and the others, saying that they violated no laws. The panel concluded, as part of its 305-page report, that ''"simply because a member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor ... does not support a claim that a member's actions are being influenced by campaign contributions"''. After PMA's founder, Paul Magliocchetti, pleaded guilty in September 2010 to six years of campaign finance fraud, Moran said that he would not return the $177,700 in PMA Group-related donations that he received from 1990 to 2010.


Insider trading

In November 2011, author Peter Schweizer published a book, ''Throw Them All Out'', which included an allegation that Moran used information he got from a September 16, 2008 briefing, in which Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned of what became the 2008 financial crisis, for his stock market activity: Schweizer alleged that Moran made more than 90 trades that day. Moran defended himself by citing that the trades were made in the midst of the Great Recession and that all one had to do was turn on the television to see that stock prices were dropping fast.


Voter fraud allegations

On October 24, 2012 a video was released showing Patrick B. Moran, the Congressman's son and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots. It was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. In response to the person's suggestion about trying to cast votes using the names of 100 inactive voters, Patrick Moran attempted to discourage the scheme, but also discussed the practical difficulties of forging documentation such as utility bills. The person he was speaking with was actually a conservative activist with James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he didn't want to be a distraction during the election, and stating, "at no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not." The following day, the Arlington County Police Department opened a criminal probe into the matter. Two days after the video was released, the Virginia State Board of Elections asked Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli to investigate Moran's campaign for voter fraud. On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."


Anti-Semitism and the Iraq War

In 2003, Moran drew criticism for telling an audience in Reston, Virginia 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 comment was condemned by then House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and then Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. In 2007, Moran again generated controversy for linking the Jewish community with the war, this time by blaming American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC for American involvement in Iraq, telling the progressive Jewish magazine Tikkun (magazine), Tikkun that “… AIPAC is the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning … 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 comments were again condemned by Democratic leadership as anti-semitic.


Later career

In February 2015, Moran joined McDermott Will & Emery as a senior legislative advisor. He later left the firm and became a senior policy advisor in the Washington, D.C. office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. In April 2023, he started his own lobbying firm, Moran Global Strategies, representing clients such as Qatar, Biafran separatist Simon Ekpa and various defense contractors. Virginia Tech announced in April 2016 that Moran had joined the School of Public and International Affairs as professor of practice.


Electoral history

, + : Results 1990–2012 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , United States House election, 1990, 1990 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 88,745 , , 51.7 , , , Stanford Parris , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 76,367 , , 44.6 , , , Robert T. Murphy , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 5,958 , , 3.5 , - , United States House election, 1992, 1992 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 138,542 , , 56.1 , , , Kyle E. McSlarrow , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 102,717 , , 41.6 , , , Alvin O. West , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 5,601 , , 2.3 , - , United States House election, 1994, 1994 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 120,281 , , 59.3 , , , Kyle E. McSlarrow , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 79,568 , , 39.3 , , , R. Ward Edmonds , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 1,858 , , 0.9 , - , United States House election, 1996, 1996 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 152,334 , , 66.4 , , , John E. Otey , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 64,562 , , 28.1 , , , R. Ward Edmonds , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 6,243 , , 2.7 , - , United States House election, 1998, 1998 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 97,545 , , 66.6 , , , Demaris H. Miller , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 48,352 , , 33.0 , , - , United States House election, 2000, 2000 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 164,178 , , 63.3 , , , Demaris H. Miller , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 88,262 , , 34.0 , , , Ron Crickenberger , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 3,483 , , 1.3 , - , United States House election, 2002, 2002 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 102,759 , , 59.8 , , , Scott Tate , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 64,121 , , 37.3 , , , Ron Crickenberger , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 4,558 , , 2.6 , - , United States House election, 2004, 2004 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 171,986 , , 59.7 , , , Lisa Cheney , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 106,231 , , 36.9 , , , James Hurysz , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 9,004 , , 3.1 , - , United States House election, 2006, 2006 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 144,700 , , 66.4 , , , Tom O'Donoghue , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 66,639 , , 30.6 , , , James Hurysz , , Independent (politics), Independent , , 6,094 , , 2.8 , - , United States House election, 2008, 2008 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 222,986 , , 67.9 , , , Mark Ellmore , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 97,425 , , 29.7 , , , J. Ron Fisher , , Independent Green , , 6,829 , , 2.1 , - , Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2010, 2010 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 116,293 , , 61.0 , , , Jay Patrick Murray , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 71,108 , , 37.3 , , , J. Ron Fisher , , Independent Green , , 2,704 , , 1.4 , - , United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2012, 2012 , , , , James Moran , , Democratic Party (United States), Democratic , , 226,847 , , 64.6 , , , Jay Patrick Murray , , Republican Party (United States), Republican , , 107,370 , , 30.6 , , , Jason J. Howell , , Independent , , 10,180 , , 2.9


Personal life

Moran has been married four times and divorced three times. His second wife, Mary Howard Moran, filed for divorce in 1999, one day after an argument at the couple's Alexandria home that resulted in a visit from the police. The Congressman provided his own divorce papers a few months later, and in 2003 the couple officially separated. He remarried in 2004 to real estate developer LuAnn Bennett. In December 2010, Moran and Bennett announced they were separating. Moran married a fourth time in 2025 on his 80th birthday to Deborah Warren. Moran is the father of four children. A son, Patrick B. Moran, once worked as a field director for one of Moran's election campaigns but resigned in 2012 when allegations of voter fraud surfaced. Later in 2012, Patrick pleaded guilty to simple assault after being arrested after an incident with his girlfriend in front of a Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.), Columbia Heights bar on December 1.Wing, Nick
Patrick Moran, Son Of Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Girlfriend
, Huffington Post, December 12, 2012.
He was sentenced to probation.Sommer, Will
Rep. Jim Moran's Son Guilty of Beating Up His Girlfriend in Columbia Heights
, Washington City Paper, December 12, 2012.
Another one of Moran's children is Dorothy, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor during her father's campaign for reelection against
Kyle McSlarrow Kyle Eugene McSlarrow (born June 29, 1960) is a former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Energy and Congressional candidate. From 2011 to 2017, he served as the head of Comcast's lobbying and government-affairs office, which inc ...
in 1994. It was said at the time that she had only a twenty percent chance of living to age five, but after almost two years of chemotherapy and herbal therapies she was declared cancer-free. His brother,
Brian Moran Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until ...
, is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and the head of the Virginia Democratic Party between early 2011 and December 2012. He was an unsuccessful primary candidate for Governor of Virginia in the Virginia elections, 2009, 2009 election.


References


External links

*
Jim Moran
as featured in the film ''Finding Our Voices''
Better Know a District – Virginia's 8th – Jim Moran
The Colbert Report, December 6, 2005 * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Jim 1945 births American stock traders College of the Holy Cross alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Employees of the United States Senate Holy Cross Crusaders football players Living people Mayors of Alexandria, Virginia Politicians from Arlington County, Virginia Politicians from Buffalo, New York People from Natick, Massachusetts University of Pittsburgh alumni Virginia city council members Members of Congress who became lobbyists Catholics from Massachusetts Catholics from Virginia 20th-century mayors of places in Virginia 21st-century Virginia politicians 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives