Congress
Upon the sudden death of U.S. Representative Larry McDonald,who was killed in the 1983 downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007,Darden won a special election to fill McDonald's seat for the remainder of the Ninety-eighth Congress. He resigned from the Georgia General Assembly. [6] [7]
During his tenure in office,Darden sponsored 61 bills,including H.R.2044,legislation that authorize and directs the National Park Service to assist the State of Georgia in relocating a highway affecting the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Georgia. [8] Darden shepherded numerous bills,including those benefiting Lockheed Aeronautical Corp.,through Congress as part of the Armed Services Committee and co-sponsored others. "You don't have to introduce a tiny little bill with your name on it to make a difference," he said. [9]
Darden was a member of the Standards of Official Conduct committee,elected in 1991,and served on the Committee on Armed Services and Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. [10] [11]
Darden has supported socially conservative positions:he opposed federal funding for Medicaid abortions except in cases of rape,incest or threat to the life of the mother. [12] He supported the death penalty. [12] Darden advocated maintaining a strong defense in spite of improved East-West relations. He said any money saved from a "peace dividend" should go to deficit reduction. [12] In 1992,the Americans for Democratic Action gave Darden's 1991 voting record 40 points out of 100;the American Conservative Union gave him 35 points. [12]
He was reelected to five more terms until 1994,when he was defeated by Bob Barr. [13] He sought the Democratic nomination for his old seat,now numbered as the 11th district,in 2002,but lost to Roger Kahn,who was defeated in the general election. [14] [15]
He was the last white Democrat to represent the Atlanta suburbs until Carolyn Bourdeaux was elected from a nearby district in 2020.
