Peter DeFazio was the 2023-24 Wayne Morse Chair and is now a Senior Fellow at the Wayne Morse Center. He served for 36 years as the U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 4th congressional district, making him the longest-serving member of Congress in Oregon history. Known as the “Tiger for the House” for his leadership on transportation, infrastructure, the environment, and progressive issues, he is, as his colleague Rep. Earl Blumenauer observed, “a legislative giant in the mold of his hero, Wayne Morse.” 

 Congressman DeFazio chaired the influential House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over highways and transit, ports and water resources, railroads, aviation, economic development, and the Coast Guard. Among his many accomplishments as committee chair, he increased federal investment in America’s infrastructure by more than $550 billion. 

Rep. 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. A native of Massachusetts and a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserve, he previously was a county commissioner in Lane County.  

Rep. DeFazio voted against and refused to accept every congressional pay raise while the government is deficit spending. Instead, he used his pay raises to fund scholarships at five southwestern Oregon community colleges.