User:LizArchive/Diana Maddow-Jones

Diana Maddow-Jones (born January 18, 1946) is an American politician and the Senior United States Senator from Albany, a position she has held since 1984. Maddow-Jones served as Senate Majority Leader from 1985 until 1989. Maddow is an Independent who caucuses with the Farmer Labor Party. She is the Chair of the Senate Rules Committee.

Personal life
Diana Maddow-Jones married Doug Jones in 1974. They have no children. Maddow has publicly stated that she has no desire or intention to have children. She is a Roman Catholic. Maddow regularly attends church service at Washington National Cathedral in DC and the Cathedral of St. Joseph when she is in Vermont.

Political career
Maddow ran for United States Senate in 1984 with the Social Democratic Party against 2 Independent candidates. She won with 63% of the vote. Maddow was re-elected in 1990 with 88% of the vote. Maddow co-wrote S. 17 the AHPSA bill which created a new Heathcare public insurance company and stronger protections for patients. The bill passed congress in 1988 and passed automatically and became law.

Maddow has introduced several bills. A notable bill that she co-wrote was the Safe Travels Act. Representative Bob Jones and Senator Hubert Humphrey also co-wrote it. It passed in the 100th Congress and was signed into law by President Jeremy Grenwich.

She ran for Senate Majority Leader in the 99th Congress and was reelected in the 100th.