Biography
Born in Chicago on December 28, 1936, Jim McDermott was the first member of his family to attend college. He went on to finish medical school, and after completing residencies in adult and child psychiatry, he joined the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in 1968.
As a Lieutenant Commander, Jim McDermott was assigned to the Long Beach Naval Station in California. His assignment at Long Beach was to assist returning Vietnam veterans and their families with adjusting to civilian life in an America increasingly hostile to the war and its combatants. Jim witnessed firsthand the often devastating effects of the war and its surrounding controversy on the returning soldiers and their families. He became more interested in a career in politics as he sought a way to change the policies that had led to that war.
Jim McDermott's first political campaign was in 1970, when he was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives from the 43rd Legislative District in Seattle. In 1974 he was elected to the Washington State Senate, a position to which he was re-elected three times.
And in 1980, Jim McDermott successfully challenged an incumbent Governor to become the Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee.
After 15 years of legislative service, Jim McDermott decided to leave politics in 1987, but he continued in public service as a Regional Medical Officer in the U.S. Foreign Service. Based in Zaire, he provided psychiatric services to Foreign Service, AID, and Peace Corps personnel throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
When Washington State's 7th Congressional District seat became open in 1988, Jim returned from Africa to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to the 101st Congress and is currently serving his 9th term in the House.
Trained as a physician, Jim McDermott is especially interested in health care issues. While serving in the State Legislature, he developed the Washington State Basic Health plan—the country's first statewide program to provide low-cost health insurance to the unemployed and the working poor.
As a Congressman, Jim founded the Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS in 1992. He was the Task Force's first chair and continues to serve in that position. He also introduced the AIDS Housing Opportunities Act, a program enacted in 1990 to provide special housing assistance to people with AIDS. In 1993, Jim cofounded the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
Jim McDermott is the coauthor of legislation to establish a single-payer health-care system in the United States, and he continues to lead the fight in the U.S. House of Representatives to guarantee all Americans comprehensive health care coverage.
Jim also is deeply involved in trade issues. Last year the Congress passed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a measure with far-reaching economic and humanitarian implications. In some diplomatic circles, Jim McDermott is known as the "Father of AGOA" because he worked for years to secure bipartisan support and final passage of the legislation.
On September 19, 2002, while standing on the steps of the Cannon House Office Building, Jim McDermott became the first Member of Congress to publicly suggest that the Bush Administration would willingly mislead the American people about its intentions in Iraq. His remarks turned out to be prophetic.
McDermott is married to Therese Hansen, an attorney in Seattle, and has two adult children and two grandchildren—soon to be three.
• Attended public schools in Downers Grove, Illinois
• B.S., Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, 1958
• M.D., University of Illinois Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, 1963
• Internship, Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, New York, 1963–1964
• Residency in Adult Psychiatry, University of Illinois Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois, 1964–1966
• Residency in Child Psychiatry, University of Washington Hospitals, Seattle, Washington, 1966–1968
• U.S. Navy Medical Corps, Lieutenant Commander, Chief Psychiatrist, Long Beach Naval Station, California, 1968–1970 State
• House of Representatives, 43rd District, 1971–1972
• Washington State Senate, 43rd District, 1975–1987
• Chairman, Senate Ways and Means Committee, 1983–1987
• Chairman, Legislative Budget Committee, 1983–1985
Current Assignments:
• Committee on Ways and Means
• Subcommittee on Trade
• Subcommittee on Human Resources - Ranking Member
• Congressional Africa Trade and Investment Caucus, Co-chair
• Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS, Co-chair
• Congressional Kidney Caucus, Cochair
• Japan-United States Friendship Commission
• India Caucus, Past ChairMajor
• Basic Education Act, 1977
• Nursing Home Reform Act, 1979
• Public Works Trust Fund, 1985
• Comparable Worth Funding, 1985
• Centennial Clean Water Act, 1986
• Basic Health Care Act, first-in-nation plan providing affordable managed care to unemployed and uninsured residents, 1987
• AIDS Housing Opportunities Act, 1990
• African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), 2004
• Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington Hospitals, Seattle, WA 1970–1983
• Chief Psychiatrist, Seattle/King County Jail, Seattle, WA, 1978
• Consultant, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation, Seattle, WA 1972–1979
• Consultant, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Seattle, WA, 1972–1983
• Member, Public Health Associates of Seattle, Seattle, WA 1983–1986
• Regional Medical Officer, U.S. Foreign Service, Kinshasa, Zaire, 1987–1988
• Americans for Democratic Action, National President, 2002–Present
• Emil Verban Society, Founding Member
Revision date: August 27, 2007
