Timothy E. Wirth

Senator Wirth began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education in the Nixon Administration. In 1970, he returned to his home state of Colorado and successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. He represented the Denver suburbs from 1975-1987. As a first-term Congressman, he organized the “Freshman Revolt” in 1975, and with colleagues Norman Mineta, Leon Panetta, and Dick Gephardt, he was part of “The Gang of Four” challenging the budget process and developing high technology and alternative budget in 1982. As Chair of the Communications Subcommittee, he led Congressional initiatives to deregulate the communications industry in America; his legislation became the template for the court-ordered break-up of the AT&T monopoly, and Senator Wirth’s Cable Television Bill of 1984 restructured the television industry. He also authored the Indian Peaks Wilderness Act of 1978, served on the Speaker’s Steering and Policy Committee, and was one of the founders of The Democratic Leadership Council. For eight consecutive years was selected as one of the 25 most effective Members of Congress.