Grace Flores Napolitano was first elected to Congress in 1998. She is serving her fourth term, having run unopposed in her most recent election bid. She represents California’s 38th District, which covers numerous cities and unincorporated communities within Los Angeles County, including Norwalk, Pomona, Montebello, Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera and Hacienda Heights.

Congresswoman Napolitano enters the 109th Congress as the new chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus and ranking member on the Energy and Water Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee.

Napolitano has made water a key priority.  She has worked tirelessly to ensure residents in her district and elsewhere in Southern California and the West receive safe drinking water. She is working to advance various water management plans that will provide an adequate supply while meeting the mandate for reducing the state’s share of Colorado River water by 2016.  Her legislative efforts were instrumental in the 2004 passage of important CalFed legislation, a state-federal partnership that developed a critical statewide water management plan that will also protect the fragile ecosystem of the Bay-Delta.

The congresswoman has also taken a leading role on several mental health issues, earning her “Legislator of the Year” honors from the National Mental Health Association in 2004. Her focus on suicide prevention is driven by a disturbing statistic: nearly one out of every three Latina adolescents has seriously considered suicide, the highest rate for any ethnic or racial group in the country. During her time in Congress, Napolitano has helped spearhead and secure more than $2 million in federal funding for a mental health program that goes to schools in her district. She has also made veterans’ mental health a main concern of the Caucus.

Napolitano came to Washington after spending six years in the California Assembly, where she emerged as a recognized leader on international trade, environmental protection, transportation and immigration. She quickly earned a reputation as a hard worker and champion for small business, women, economic expansion and job creation. She served as chair of the Women's Caucus, the International Trade Committee and vice-chair of the Latino Caucus during her three terms in Sacramento.

Napolitano began her political career as a member of the Norwalk City Council, winning her first election in 1986 by a mere 28 votes. Four years later she won re-election by the highest margin in city history. In 1989, Napolitano’s council colleagues elevated her to serve as mayor. During her council tenure, she focused much of her attention on providing access to constituents and on redevelopment and transportation issues to address the city's need for jobs and a more diversified economic base.

Napolitano was born and raised in the border community of Brownsville, Texas. After graduating from high school there, she moved to California with her husband. A Norwalk resident for more than four decades, Napolitano spent 22 years moving up the ranks of Ford Motor Co. as a working mother. She is married to Frank Napolitano, retired restaurateur and community activist. They take great pride in their five grown children and 14 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Rep. Grace Napolitano's Official Website

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23% of Medicare beneficiaries have 5 or more chronic conditions who fill an average of 50 prescriptions per year.

Source:Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health