[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15779-15780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING JAMES P. MORAN'S LEGACY OF PUBLIC SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 14, 2014

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, it is with great respect and admiration 
that I rise to recognize my friend and colleague, Jim Moran, for a 
distinguished career in public service spanning four decades. Jim 
announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election to 
Congress, where he has spent the last 24 years as a formidable advocate 
for Northern Virginia and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. For 
anyone who knows him, Jim's passion for public service is apparent. He 
wears it on his sleeve like a badge of honor. Throughout his career, he 
has been a proponent for protecting the environment, a defender of the 
downtrodden, and a champion for commonsense, responsive government, 
even if that meant challenging his own party.
  I have had the pleasure of knowing Jim since his days serving on the 
Alexandria City Council, where he was first elected in 1979. He'd 
already amassed a respectable career in public service by that point, 
working for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the 
Library of Congress, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. 
During Jim's tenure on the City Council, Alexandria was experiencing 
rapid growth along with the rest of Northern Virginia. He was elected 
Mayor in 1985 and re-elected to a second term.
  At the urging of his late friend, Mame Reiley, and others in the 
community, Jim decided to run for Congress in 1990. He challenged and 
defeated 5-term incumbent Republican Stan Parris--I know for some it 
might be inconceivable that a Republican ever represented the 8th 
District, but it just demonstrates how much the demographics of the 
district have shifted. Jim did not waste time making his mark on any 
number of local, national, and international issues. He quickly became 
a champion for consumers, working to prohibit state motor vehicle 
agencies from selling personal information to mail order companies and 
other organizations, and he worked in bipartisan fashion with our 
former colleagues Dan Burton and Ed Markey to pass legislation that 
allowed parents to better monitor and control the television viewing 
habits of their children.
  He was an early, outspoken critic of the military's Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell policy and has been a consistent advocate for LGBT rights. Jim was 
one of 67 members to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Nearly 
20 years later, he can feel a sense of vindication knowing Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell was repealed in 2011 and 30 states now recognize same-sex 
marriage, with more likely to join them as the courts continue to 
question the constitutionality of banning such marriages.
  Following one of the worst tragedies to befall our nation on 9/11, 
Jim was instrumental in the fight to restore air service, which had 
been temporarily suspended, at National Airport. He also helped lead 
the charge in questioning the legitimacy of the Bush administration's 
case in

[[Page 15780]]

the build up to the war in Iraq, ultimately voting against the use of 
military force--something we continue to debate to this day as other 
conflicts in the Middle East have erupted. It was Jim who later 
introduced legislative language requiring regular reports to Congress 
on the Strategy for Success, including performance metrics which have 
since become benchmark standards.
  Through it all, Jim never lost sight of his local government roots. 
Early in his tenure, he helped secure passage of legislation requiring 
the CBO and other agencies to analyze and report on the fiscal impacts 
of federal legislation on state and local governments, capturing the 
unfunded mandates, something to which I wish more of our colleagues in 
Congress would pay greater attention. He also partnered with our former 
colleague Tom Davis, the Clinton administration, and former District of 
Columbia Mayor Tony Williams to advance D.C. Home Rule and reduce 
Congressional restrictions on the District. During my tenure on the 
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, we worked closely with Jim and the 
rest of our Congressional delegation on the closure of the D.C.-
operated Lorton Prison, and the eventual sale of the 3,000-acre former 
prison property to the County for use as parkland, public facilities, 
and limited economic development.
  Jim's fingerprints also are visible on most major transportation 
improvements across Northern Virginia in the last two decades. He 
worked with the regional delegation and leveraged his position on the 
Appropriations Committee to help secure the major federal commitment to 
help Virginia and Maryland replace the aging Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the 
only federally owned bridge in the nation. Later, Jim worked with 
Fairfax County and the Commonwealth to convince the Pentagon to help 
build a new road skirting the outer edge of Fort Belvoir after two 
popular commuter routes through the base were closed following 9/11. He 
also was instrumental in securing federal commitments to help the 
region absorb the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure movements, in which 
Fort Belvoir saw the largest net increase in military personnel. 
Richmond Highway provides the primary access point to the base, which 
has no transit connection, and Jim helped secure funding to widen the 
already clogged Route 1 to ensure the new workers and visitors to 
Belvoir could actually get there.
  In addition to those road improvements, Jim worked with the regional 
delegation to secure the long-term capital funding agreement with 
Metro, in which the federal government has committed to match the 
contributions from Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. And I was pleased to 
stand with Jim and our colleague Frank Wolf, who is also retiring after 
34 years in Congress, at the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for Metro's 
new Silver Line. That one project has been more than 50 years in the 
making and will have a transformative effect on the National Capital 
Region, and Jim and Frank were among those who helped us finally push 
it over the finish line.
  From his days working at the Department of Health to his tenure as 
chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations 
Subcommittee, Jim has labored to make government work better for our 
constituents and our communities and to ensure we have competent and 
committed public workforce to advance our shared priorities. It is 
fitting that we use the occasion of the 8th Congressional District 
Democratic Committee's annual Kennedy-King Dinner, which honors the 
legacies of Sen. Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to 
celebrate the tremendous record of accomplishment of Jim Moran. Like 
others in our generation, Jim stepped forward to accept the baton to 
carry on Bobby Kennedy and Dr. King's mission to promote a civil, just, 
and prosperous society. Mame Reiley, who we tragically lost earlier 
this year to breast cancer, was the impetus behind this annual 
gathering, and we rightfully take a moment to honor her legacy of 
service as well.
  Though she ran her own communications firm, Mame's true calling was 
as a political strategist. As noted earlier, she counseled Jim on his 
first run for Congress and went on to serve as his campaign manager and 
first Chief of Staff. She was elected to the Democratic National 
Committee from Virginia, chairing the Women's Caucus. She advised 
former Gov. Doug Wilder in his Presidential exploratory campaign and 
went on to serve in political advisory roles for Gov. Mark Warner and 
Gov. Tim Kaine. She also advised Jim's brother, Brian, in his bid for 
statewide office. There is no question Jim and Mame were a dynamic 
political duo, and their collective efforts have touched and improved 
lives throughout the community.
  In closing, let me just say that for me personally, Jim Moran is 
first and foremost, a dear friend. When I came to Congress as the 
junior member of the Northern Virginia delegation, Jim was there for me 
every step of the way. We've become true partners and have collaborated 
on hundreds of issues facing our region, and I hope to be able to 
continue calling on his counsel. I wish him and his family all the best 
as he begins this new chapter of his life, and I congratulate him on a 
meaningful legacy of service and accomplishment for which any of us in 
public life could be proud.

                          ____________________