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 Caucus Co-Chairs:
Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME) , Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA).
Co-Chair Biographies
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CO-CHAIR BIOGRAPHIES
The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch
The Honorable Michael H. Michaud
The Honorable Linda T. Sánchez
The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch
Congressman Stephen F. Lynch was first sworn in to the United States Congress in October 2001, following the sudden passing of legendary Congressman John Joseph Moakley.
The son of Francis Lynch, an ironworker, and Anne Lynch, a postal clerk, Congressman Lynch was born and raised in the public housing projects of South Boston.
Upon graduation from South Boston High School in 1973, Congressman Lynch entered the Ironworkers Apprenticeship Program and later joined his father as a member of Boston's Ironworkers Local 7. He worked as a structural ironworker for 18 years and was eventually elected to serve as president of The Iron Workers Union, the youngest president in the history of the 2000 member union.
Congressman Lynch continued his education at Wentworth Institute of Technology on nights and weekends, earning a Bachelor's degree in Construction Management. He later received a law degree from Boston College Law School, was admitted to both the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Bar, and continued his advocacy for working people as a labor and employment attorney.
In 1994, Congressman Lynch was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After just fourteen months in office, he was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in a special election. In the Senate, he served as the Chair of the Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor.
In 1999, he earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
During his career as an ironworker, Congressman Lynch worked at the General Motors Plant in Framingham, Massachusetts, the General Dynamics Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts and the U.S. Steel Plant in Gary, Indiana, all of which were shut down due to foreign competition and unfavorable trade conditions. Congressman Lynch's first-hand experience in seeing the effects of plant closings on American workers and on local communities has led him to focus on efforts to improve U.S. Trade Policy and protect American jobs.
In the 111th Congress, Congressman Lynch is a member of the Financial Services Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he serves as Chairman on the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. Lynch is also a member of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.
Congressman Lynch is a co-founder of the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus, which was formed to protect workers rights and educate Members of Congress on issues that impact American families.
Lynch continues to serve as co-chair of the Task Force on Terrorism and Proliferation Financing , a bipartisan Congressional panel that monitors the status of national and international efforts to track and stop the flow of funds to terrorist groups and works to strengthen our national anti-terrorist finance strategy.
He and his wife Margaret continue to live in their lifelong hometown of South Boston where they are raising their daughter Victoria and niece Crystal.
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The Honorable Michael H. Michaud
MMichael H. Michaud was sworn in as a United States Congressman in January 2003 to represent the Second Congressional District of Maine in Congress. He is the first recognized Franco-American from Maine to be elected to federal office.
Mike is the second of six children. He was raised in Medway and attended Schenck High School in East Millinocket. After graduation, Mike followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, gaining employment at the Great Northern Paper Company. He is a 29 year employee of GNP and is a member of USW Local #4-00037 (formerly PACE Local #1-40037).
Citing a desire to help clean up the badly polluted Penobscot River near his home, Mike first ran for and was elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1980, where he went on to serve seven consecutive terms. In 1994, he defeated a millionaire incumbent in his first bid for the Maine Senate, despite huge Republican victories across the country.
During his first term in the Maine Senate, Mike was appointed to Governor King's Productivity Realization Task Force. In 1996 Mike was appointed Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In 2000, as Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Mike fought to ensure there were funds in the budget for the legal defense of the Maine Rx program, which he cosponsored.
In December 2000, Mike was unanimously elected Maine Senate President. Writing on his time in the Maine Legislature, the Portland Press Herald described Mike "as being the first legislator to come to work in the morning and the last to leave at night."
In 2001, Mike was honored with the dedication of the Michael H. Michaud Technology Center in recognition of his critical leadership in securing state funding for the University of Maine at Presque Isle Houlton Higher Education Center. He also received the College Board's Education Award at the National Council of State Legislatures Annual Meeting in Texas for his lifelong commitment to higher education.
Mike has made economic development a top priority. In 2008, his legislation creating the Northern Border Regional Commission became law. The commission is authorized to invest $30 million per year in federal resources for economic development and job creation in the most economically distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
In Congress, the first bill Mike introduced was a national version of the innovative Maine Rx law, called America Rx, which would allow the federal government to negotiate affordable prescriptions for all Americans without coverage. Leaders in Congress recognized that this approach made commonsense. On January 12th, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, which directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.
Through his leadership on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Mike is working to ensure that our veterans receive fair and equal treatment as well as the benefits that they deserve. As the Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, he helped pass the largest ever funding increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mike has also successfully passed provisions into law which led to increased access to health care services for rural Maine veterans.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the Committee on Small Business.
Mike attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University. In 1989, he was awarded a Doctor of Public Service from Unity College. In 2007, he was awarded a Doctor of Public Service from Husson College.
Mike currently resides in East Millinocket, where he is remodeling his late grandmother's home.
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The Honorable Linda T. Sánchez
Congresswoman Linda Sánchez's dedication to the interests of America's working families came from the unlikeliest of sources: grapes.
As a child, Sanchez's mother would not allow her family to eat the grapes picked at local vineyards. The Sánchez children would listen as their mother would tell them about how poorly their fellow immigrants and laborers were treated, how little they earned for their hard work, and the lack of respect they were shown for the jobs they did. It is a memory that has stayed with Sánchez to this day.
Linda Sánchez brings this unique perspective on working families to the United States Congress. As the daughter of working immigrant parents, Sánchez was instilled early on with the values of hard work and fairness that have shaped her life.
When determining what path she wanted her life to take, Sánchez knew that she wanted to help those who would not ordinarily have a voice. As she worked her way though the University of California, Sánchez helped give immigrants students the resources they needed to succeed by serving as a bilingual aide and ESL instructor. After graduating from the UCLA School of Law, Sánchez helped provide legal assistance to workers and families in need. Sánchez demonstrated her commitment to public service by raising money for scholarships for the poor and dedicating hundreds of hours to defeating ballot initiatives such as the anti-labor Proposition 226.
In 1998, Sánchez was alarmed to learn that due to poor enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act, honest workers in California were not receiving the wages they deserved for their work. She then joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 as a compliance officer and helped ensure that workers were paid the prevailing wage.
Two years later, Sánchez was urged by members to run for Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Orange Country Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Elected unanimously to the post, Sánchez brought fresh leadership and perspective that revitalized the council. Under Sánchez, two new unions were organized and the council stepped up its lobbying efforts for pro-labor legislation. Sánchez defied expectations by securing an equitable contract for Orange County Janitors in only nine months, an accomplishment she was told would take years to happen in conservative Orange County. Also, thanks to her efforts, over 7,000 in-home care workers now receive the health care coverage they deserve.
In the House of Representatives, Sánchez continues to fight to give working families the dignity, power, and attention they deserve in Congress. In addition to reducing crime, making public schools safe for our children, and providing quality education and affordable health care for working families, Sánchez is committed to developing a pro-worker agenda in Congress. In September 2003 Sánchez co-founded the first Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus, through which she will provide the leadership needed to put Congress back into the hands of America's working families.
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