Bennie Thompson

For the football player of the same name see Bennie Thompson (American football).

Bennie Thompson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office April 13, 1993
Preceded by	Mike Espy
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	London Thompson

Bennie G. Thompson (born January 28, 1948) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 2nd District of Mississippi (map) since 1993. The district includes most of Jackson and is the only majority-black district in the state. The district is approximately 275 miles long, 180 miles wide and borders the Mississippi River. The Mississippi Delta comprises the vast majority of the 2nd District. He is the first African American to chair the Homeland Security Committee.

Thompson is a native of Bolton, Mississippi and attended Hinds County public schools before earning degrees from Tougaloo College and Jackson State University. He served as an alderman, then mayor of Bolton before being elected to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

Thompson joined the House of Representatives in April 1993, after winning a special election for the 2nd Congressional seat, which became vacant when former Representative Mike Espy resigned. Thompson subsequently has been reelected several times overwhelmingly. Thompson has 38 years of public service, ranking him as Mississippi's most senior African-American politician.

On December 7, 2006, Thompson was elected by his House colleagues to serve as Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, a Congressional committee responsible for providing government oversight on terrorism and disaster relief agencies. As a former volunteer firefighter and local official, Thompson has focused the Committee on assuring that state and local officials, as well as first responders (fire, police, EMTs), have the resources they need to protect their communities.

Thompson, by far the most liberal member of the Mississippi delegation and one of the most liberal members to ever represent the state in Congress, became an outspoken advocate for the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005. From his position on the Homeland Security Committee, he pushed for accountability at FEMA and a careful review of the role of the Red Cross in the time of disaster. He also pursued waste, fraud, and abuse in hurricane contracting and called for preferences to be given to small and Gulf Coast businesses in the recovery and rebuilding of the affected states. Thompson is the founding Member of the bipartisan Gulf Coast Recovery & Rebuilding Caucus in the House of Representatives.

Thompson also belongs to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Rural Caucus, Congressional Sunbelt Caucus, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucus, Congressional Travel & Tourism Caucus, and the Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus. He also is involved in the Congressional Children's Working Group and the National Guard & Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization.

Thompson's legislative platform focuses mainly on civil rights, agriculture and rural issues, equal education and health care reform. In 1975, he became one of the original plaintiffs in the Ayers Case, which concerned the adequate funding of predominantly black educational institutes in Mississippi. In 2000, Thompson wrote legislation that created the National Center for Minority Health and Health Care Disparities.

He was one of the 31 who voted in the House to refuse to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004. [1]

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Thompson brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005^[1]. The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed^[2].

On January 5, 2007, Thompson introduced H.R.1, "Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007," the first bill of the 110th Congress. The bill, cosponsored by more than 100 House Members, provided for the implementation of the 9/11 Commission's remaining recommendations. It included provisions requiring major improvements in aviation security, border security, and infrastructure security; providing first responders the equipment and training they need; beefing up efforts to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction; and significantly expanding diplomatic, economic, educational, and other strategies designed to counter Islamic terrorism. The bill had bipartisan support and passed 299-128 on January 9, 2007. On July 27, 2007, the Conference Report on H.R. 1 passed the House overwhelmingly, 371-40. The previous day, it had passed the Senate 85-8. The President has said he will sign H.R. 1 into law.

With the passage of H.R. 1, Thompson is the first African-American Chairman of a House Committee to have a House-Senate Conference on the first bill introduced in either the House or the Senate in any given Congress.

In October 2007, the House Homeland Security Committee sent aides to two NASCAR events and hospitals and holding areas around them. The goal of the trip was to research whether the state and federal emergency response system could sufficiently manage an incident at large events. As committee chair, Thompson recommended the staffers receive several vaccines before leaving for the trip.^[3] Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina wrote a letter to Thompson asking why he recommended the vaccinations, as NASCAR fans do not pose a health hazard.^[4] Thompson wrote back to Hayes, saying that the innoculations are warranted because the staffers would be visiting hospitals and holding centers where people are temporarily detained.^[5]

He is married to the former London Johnson of Mound Bayou, Mississippi and has one daughter, BendaLonne, one grand-daughter, Jeanna. and one grandson, Thomas. Thompson is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and a lifetime member of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Bolton. He is also an avid hunter and outdoorsman.

Hayes' letter tto Thompson is actually found here: http://media.charlotteobserver.com/images/pdf/hayesletter.pdf

• U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson official House site
• United States Congress. "Bennie Thompson (id: t000193)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Federal Election Commission — Bennie G. Thompson campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Bennie Thompson issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Bennie G. Thompson campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Bennie G. Thompson (MS) profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Bennie Thompson voting record
• Bennie G. Thompson official campaign site
• The Committee on Homeland Security, Democratic Office