U.S. Representative (CA-D), 30th District

Henry A. Waxman is the US House Representative for California’s 30th Congressional District. Congressman Henry Waxman is currently the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Henry Waxman is passionate about key issues, such as universal health insurance, improving Medicare and Medicaid coverage, tobacco regulation, finding a cure for AIDS, strengthening air and water quality standards, regulating pesticides, improving nursing homes, and reproductive rights.

Henry Waxman earned his B.A. and law degree from UCLA. After working as a lawyer, Henry Waxman cut his political teeth in 1969 in the California Assembly, serving three successful terms. In 1974, Congressman Henry Waxman won the Democratic nomination for the 24th district, and cruised to election. He has been reelected 16 times, and he even ran unopposed in 2008. His district was renumbered as the 30th in 2003.

Henry Waxman has sponsored many bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that have become law, including 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.

Through all his terms, Henry Waxman has been a champion for senior citizens. In addition to fighting for Medicare and Medicaid reform, he worked to protect for spouses of person in nursing homes, and to create more services for people needing long-term car. Waxman worked to lower drug costs and helped defend Social Security. Henry Waxman has also helped raise the mandatory retirement age for Federal employees from 65 to 70

Political observers have classified Henry Waxman as a progressive liberal. Henry Waxman is firmly pro-choice, and supports a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion. He has defended federally funded clinics, and supports abortion counseling and the right of lower-income women on Medicaid to attain an abortion. Waxman’s progressive credentials can be seen in the environmental legislation he has supported, including the Safe Climate Act of 2007, the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, the 1996 Food Quality Act the Radon Abatement Act, and the Lead Contamination Control Act. He is currently working to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which will bring about sweeping changes to the renewable energy sector.

Henry Waxman is very proud of his Jewish heritage. “Judaism is about acting and doing the right thing, not simply believing in it or mindlessly following ritual,” Henry Waxman once said in a speech. He continued, “Jewish values of human rights, social justice, and equal opportunities … are synonymous with American values.”