Henry Waxman
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Image:Waxman henry.jpg Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939) is an American politician. He has represented the 30th congressional district of California (map)in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1975. Waxman, a Democrat, is considered to be one of the most influential liberal members of Congress.
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Life
Waxman was born in Los Angeles. He attended college at UCLA, earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 1961. Waxman also attended UCLA’s law school, receiving his law degree in 1964. After graduating, he worked as a lawyer and member of the California Assembly before being elected to the House. In 2003, Waxman delivered the keynote address to the Political Science graduating class at UCLA in Pauley Pavilion.
Before the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in 1995, Waxman was a powerful figure in the House as chair of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and the Environment from 1979. In this role he conducted investigations into a range of health and environmental issues, including universal health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, AIDS and air and water pollution.
As of 2004, he was the ranking minority member of the Committee on Government Reform and a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
According to his Web site, his legislative priorities are health and environmental issues. These include 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.
Waxman and the Red Line
In response to a 1985 methane gas fire in the Fairfax District, Waxman sponsored a bill to ban federal funding for the proposed Red Line subway in his district. As congestion in the district increased, the ban became increasingly unpopular. At the request of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Waxman agreed to lift the ban if a panel of five engineers found tunneling under the Miracle Mile stretch of Wilshire Blvd to be safe. In October 2005, the panel decided that tunneling was possible, and on December 16, Waxman responded by announcing he would introduce a bill to the U.S. House which would lift the ban on federal money for subway tunneling in the district. However, this bill is not expected to pass until late 2006.
Waxman maintains that the 1985 bill was sponsored in the interest of public safety and not, as some allege, to hinder access of the working classes in South and East Los Angeles to his affluent district. In a letter to the Los Angeles Times[1], Waxman cites the 2005 study: "The panel concurred as well that in 1985, the decision to hold further tunneling in abeyance was prudent, given the circumstances and extent of information and technology at that time. Much has changed since then to significantly improve tunneling and operation safety."
District and contact information
The district includes the complete cities of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village, West, and Woodland Hills, as well as such areas of Los Angeles as Beverly-Fairfax, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Beverlywood, Topanga, Agoura, Chatsworth and Westwood.
Rep Waxman's district office is at 8436 West Third Street, Suite 600 Los Angeles, California 90048. His Washington office is at 2204 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.
See also
- Hatch-Waxman Act
- Politicization of science for a brief discussion of Waxman's work on the subject
- Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 for Waxman's take on whether that bill became law or not
Biographies & Profiles
- "Waxman: Democrats' Eliot Ness" - Profile by David Corn from The Nation
External links
- Official Website
- Government Reform Committee website
- Democratic Commitment -- a project of L.A. PAC
- BuzzFlash Interviews Congressman Henry Waxman Part 1
- BuzzFlash Interviews Congressman Henry Waxman Part 2
- LA Weekly interview on subway proposal
- Waxman: Democrats' Eliot Ness
- Los Angeles Times Interview: Henry Waxman
- Rep. Henry Waxman on Karl Rove: "The President Said He Would Fire Anybody He Found Responsible"
- Letter from Waxman to Andrew Card asking if Bush knowingly signed into law a bill that didn't pass