WASHINGTON — One week ago, Representative Madeleine Dean, Democrat of Pennsylvania, was among the lawmakers who hid on the floor of the House gallery, donning an emergency hood as tear gas was fired in the Rotunda and protesters threatened to break into the chamber.
Ms. Dean, nearly two weeks into her second term, is now one of the impeachment managers Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has designated to present the case for removing President Trump from office on the grounds that he committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
“The president and many in this chamber have shamelessly peddled dangerous untruths about this election — despite the warnings of where these lies would lead,” Ms. Dean said on the House floor before voting to impeach Mr. Trump. “Last Wednesday, those lies and dangers found themselves inside this Capitol. This hateful rhetoric is another virus — it is time to remove its host.”
In the Democratic caucus, she was an early advocate of pursuing an impeachment inquiry against the president just over a year ago, and showed little hesitation in endorsing a second impeachment.
“To heal we need accountability and truth,” Ms. Dean said Wednesday. “That begins by acknowledging the president’s dangerous lies and their deadly consequences.”
At 19, Ms. Dean volunteered on her first campaign for a state representative, where she met her husband. After earning a law degree and opening her own practice, she changed careers to become an assistant professor in the English Department at La Salle University and taught writing and ethics.
She was elected to be a state representative in 2012, and then she sought a seat in Congress after the 2016 election. In Congress, she secured a seat on the House Judiciary Committee. She won her second term by 19 points in November.
Tucked in her pocket Constitution, which she carries with her at all time, is a copy of the Beatitudes.
“I carry them with me because one is a guide to life — a high standard to strive for — and the other is the law of the land,” Ms. Dean once said. “One is how to live as a human being, and how to live as a citizen.”
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