Biography

Dennis Moore is a lifelong Kansan with a long history of dedicated public service for the people of Kansas. 

He was born in Anthony, KS, and educated in Wichita public schools.  He attended the University of Kansas for his undergraduate studies and later received his law degree from Washburn University School of Law.  After law school, Dennis served in the Army and Army reserves before starting his legal career, which included time as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kansas and in private practice in Johnson County.
                                                  
In 1976, Dennis was elected to his first of three terms as District Attorney for Johnson County.  In his 12 years as D.A., Dennis had many victories on behalf of the people of Johnson County.   For example, he personally prosecuted 25 felony jury trials, established the first Victims Assistance Unit and led the successful lawsuit against a big oil company which was rigging oil pumps and charging exorbitant rates to consumers.

After his third term, Dennis returned to private practice but remained a very active member of his community. He was twice elected to the Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees. He helped found Safehome, a shelter for battered women and children. Dennis also worked on establishing the Coalition for the Prevention of Child Abuse, which later became Sunflower House, and the Johnson County chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates (or CASA).

Dennis was first elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in November 1999, and has been re-elected four times.  He currently serves on the House Financial Services and Budget Committees, and is a member of the House Biofuels Caucus and the House Renewable Fuels Caucus.  Dennis also serves as the Policy Co-Chair for the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally-conservative Democrats.

Dennis and his wife Stephene, a registered nurse, live in Lenexa, near their children and grandchildren.  He returns home almost every weekend to meet with his constituents and hear their concerns and to spend time with his family.

Blue Dog Coalition

Congressman Moore is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 49 moderate to conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives who are committed to restoring fiscal responsibility to our budget process and accountability in Congress.  He currently serves as the Co-Chair for public policy, working with other Coalition members to address the issues facing our country with moderate, common-sense values in  mind.   Moore is known, however, for working not just with Democrats, but with any member from either side of the aisle that is interested in promoting fiscally-responsible legislation and getting our country back on track so that we don't pass on massive debt to our children and grandchildren.
 

Accomplishments

Supporting our Military
Congressman Moore filed a bill, now law, to require the Department of Defense to pay all travel costs for our military personnel who wished to return home from Iraq or Afghanistan for their two-week Rest and Recuperation (R&R) leave.  Prior to Congressman Moore’s legislation, the Department of Defense only provided travel back to one of the major ports on the east cost of the United States.  From there, our service personnel had to pay their own travel back to their hometown.
         

Honoring our Fallen Soldiers
Congressman Moore wrote legislation, now law, to raise the death gratuity payment provided to the family of a soldier who has died in combat from a $12,000 to $100,000.  Money would never ease the pain of losing a loved one, but this is the least we can do to help a family through an economic hard time.

Promoting Fiscal Responsibility
Congressman Moore and his fellow Blue Dog Democrats believe that our government should live within a budget, just like most American families do, so that we can return fiscal responsibility to our country. The Blue Dogs put this belief into action by pushing to have the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rule reinstated in the House rules for the 110th Congress.  This simply means that any new tax cut or program proposal must be paid for with additional revenue or spending cuts.  Setting budget priorities is a difficult process, but we must make the hard choices if we are going to get our country back on the right track and not pass on massive debt to our children and grandchildren.

Ensuring Greater Transparency in Government
With Congressman Moore’s support, Congress passed the most comprehensive lobbying reform and accountability measure in a generation, bringing greater transparency and accountability to our government.

Promoting Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards
For the first time in 32 years, Congress raised the fuel efficiency requirements for new vehicles, setting a goal of 35mpg by 2020. This effort, which Congressman Moore supported, will reduce costs for consumers, reduce our dependence on gas and foreign oil and is an important step toward addressing our environmental concerns.

Helping Working Families
With our struggling economy and high gas prices, working families are struggling to make ends meet.  That’s why Congressman Moore and Congress approved the first minimum wage increase in ten years, raising it from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.  This pay raise for 12.4 million workers nationwide, including approximately 240,000 in Kansas, is long overdue. Raising the minimum wage is a key step in strengthening the economy for all Americans and will make a real difference in the lives of millions of America’s working families.

Protecting our Children
Throughout his many years of public service, including his time as a District Attorney, Congressman Moore has made protecting our children one of his highest priorities.  That's why he led the effort to bring the AMBER Alert system nationwide, wrote legislation, now law, to protect our children from gasoline accidents by requiring child-proof caps on portable gas cans and introduced legislation to strengthen child support enforcement so that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.  As a father and grandfather, Congressman Moore is also working to keep our children safe by banning lead in children's toys and paint and improving the national sex offender registry.

Promoting Public Education
Congressman Moore continues to support efforts to ensure that all of our children have access to a quality education, from kindergarten through higher education.  Specifically, he is calling on Congress to live up to it's promise and give our schools the funding they need under No Child Left Behind, working to promote math and science education so that our workforce can remain competitive in the global economy and supporting efforts to increase the number of quality teachers in our schools, decreasing class size.  In addition, he has supported legislation to help rebuild school facilities, invest in early childhood education, increase graduation rates and make higher education more affordable.  Congressman Moore understands that an investment in our children's future is an investment in our country's future.