The Honorable Bill Thomas

The Honorable Bill Thomas, Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute and Former Chairman, U.S. House Ways and Means Committee

Bill Thomas, former Chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, now serves as a Visiting Fellowat the American Enterprise Institute. Thomas served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 – 2007, most recently representing California's Twenty-Second Congressional District, which covered most of Kern and San Luis Obispo Counties and part of Los Angeles County. Thomas was elected Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in January 2001 and served until January 2007. In regard to health policy, Thomas was a chief architect of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which added a new Medicare prescription drug benefit while also making critical reforms to the program. Prior to his election as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Thomas served as Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, where he was instrumental in passing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. In 1998, he was appointed Administrative Chairman of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Thomas was also Chairman of the House Administration Committee from 1995 to 2001. Before entering Congress, he was a faculty member at Bakersfield Community College and a member of the California State Assembly.