Henry
A. Waxman represents California's 30th Congressional District,
which includes the complete cities of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills,
Agoura Hills, Calabasas,
Hidden Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village and West Hollywood, as
well as such areas of Los Angeles as Beverly-Fairfax, Pacific
Palisades, Brentwood, Beverlywood, Topanga, Agoura, Chatsworth
and Westwood.
Rep.
Waxman chaired the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health
and the Environment from 1979 to 1994 and was the Subcommittee's
Ranking Member in 1995 and 1996. Rep. Waxman continues to serve
on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He currently sits on the
Subcommittee on Health, the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality,
and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Since
1997, Rep. Waxman has served as ranking member of the Government
Reform Committee, the principal investigative committee in the
House. From this position, he has conducted investigations into
a wide range of topics, including the high costs of prescription
drugs, conditions in nursing homes, overcrowded schools, and voting
irregularities. He formed a "Special Investigations Division"
of the minority staff that has prepared hundreds of investigative
reports on local and national topics for Members of Congress.
And he led the Democratic response during the Committee's partisan
investigation of the Clinton Administration.
Since 2001, Rep. Waxman has used his Government Reform position
to oppose efforts by the Bush Administration to block congressional
oversight and roll back health and environmental laws. He has
launched investigations of White House ties to Enron, contract
abuses in Iraq, and the politicization of science. He has also
fought for disclosure of the names of the energy industry lobbyists
who shaped the White House energy plan, and filed suits to force
the Administration to release important census data and the withheld
Medicare cost estimates. In addition, Rep. Waxman has repeatedly
fought efforts by EPA to relax important air pollution and drinking
water protections and by FDA to weaken enforcement of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Rep.
Waxman has been a leader on health and environmental issues, including
universal health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, tobacco,
AIDS, air and water quality standards, pesticides, nursing home
quality standards, women's health research and reproductive rights,
the availability and cost of prescription drugs, and the right
of communities to know about pollution levels.
Rep.
Waxman has been involved in health issues since 1969, when he
was appointed to the California State Assembly Health Committee.
In Congress, Rep. Waxman has sponsored a long list of health bills
that have been enacted into law. These measures include the Ryan
White CARE Act, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, the
Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act, the Safe
Medical Devices Act, the Patent Term Restoration and Drug Competition
Act, and the Orphan Drug Act.
Rep.
Waxman has also passed legislation that improves the quality of
nursing homes and home health services and that sets policy for
childhood immunization programs, vaccine compensation, tobacco
education programs, communicable disease research, community and
migrant health centers, maternal and child health care, family
planning centers, health maintenance organizations, and drug regulation
and reform.
Throughout
the 1980s, Rep. Waxman championed national health care reform
and improvements in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. He successfully
led the fight for improved prenatal and infant care for low-income
families, for Medicaid coverage of all children in poverty, for
protection against impoverishment for the spouses of persons in
nursing homes, and for more services in the community for people
needing long-term care. He has also been a long-time advocate
for comprehensive prescription drug coverage in Medicare.
In
the environmental arena, Rep. Waxman was one of the primary authors
of the 1990 Clean Air Act, which sets out a comprehensive program
to combat smog, acid rain, toxic air emissions, and ozone depletions.
He also sponsored the 1986 and 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments,
the 1996 Food Quality Act (which regulates pesticides), the Radon
Abatement Act, and the Lead Contamination Control Act. Rep. Waxman
is continuing to pursue legislation to control indoor air pollution,
and global warming.
Rep.
Waxman is a leader in efforts to assist the elderly by providing
them with opportunities for better health care through such programs
as improved long-term nursing care and better housing and nutrition.
A strong defender of the Social Security System, he fought moves
to reduce benefits and to increase the retirement age. He was
a co-author of legislation that abolished mandatory retirement
for Federal employees and raised the retirement age in the private
sector from 65 to 70.
Rep.
Waxman has been a leading supporter of the right of women to have
freedom of choice with respect to safe and legal abortions, including
the full extension of this right to lower-income women who depend
on the Medicaid program for health care. He has been at the forefront
of efforts to stop any limitations on this right. He strongly
opposes the prohibition of federally funded clinics from offering
abortion information and counseling.
Since
coming to Congress, Rep. Waxman has earned the reputation of being
an expert on Middle East policy and an effective proponent of
American aid to guarantee Israel's security and survival.
Prior
to his service in Congress, Rep. Waxman served three terms in
the California State Assembly, where he was chairman of the Health
Committee, the Committee on Elections and Reapportionment, and
the Select Committee on Medical Malpractice. He was the author
of such major legislation as the Fair Campaign Practices Act,
the Fair credit for Women Law, and the legislation establishing
standards for Health Maintenance Organizations in California.
Henry
Waxman was born September 12, 1939, in Los Angeles, and holds
a bachelor's degree in political science from UCLA and a J.D.
from the UCLA Law School. He and his wife, the former Janet Kessler,
have a daughter and son-in-law, a son and daughter-in-law, and
three grandchildren.