Mike Thompson represents California's 5th Congressional District. The district includes all of Napa and parts of Contra Costa, Lake, Solano and Sonoma Counties. He was first elected in 1998. Prior to serving in Congress, Thompson represented California's 2nd District in the California State Senate, where he chaired the powerful Budget Committee.
Thompson is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and serves as Chairman of the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee and as a senior member of the Health Subcommittee.
My grandmother worked her entire adult life to provide for her family. She owned and operated a small business with my grandfather, sewed gloves at the Napa glove factory and labeled wine bottles at Inglenook Winery. When she retired, she had only a small pension of $53 per month.
Social Security and Medicare gave my grandmother comfort and security. She would always talk about how she earned those benefits, how she paid into them. She was proud of it. That's exactly what Medicare and Social Security are—they’re earned benefits. And they are so critically important to both current and future generations of retirees.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Social Security, I’m fighting to strengthen our social safety net. For example, I’m working through the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security to pass the Social Security 2100 Act. This bill, of which I’m a proud cosponsor, would increase benefits and ensure Social Security is funded for the long-term. I’m also fighting to stop Republicans in Congress from privatizing Social Security and ending the Medicare guarantee.
Please know I strongly support protecting Medicare and Social Security. Congress must not take away benefits earned over a lifetime of hard work, nor balance our budget on the backs of seniors who can least afford it.