U.S. Representative Thomas Massie entered Congress in November 2012 after serving as Lewis County Judge Executive. He represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District which stretches across Northern Kentucky and 280 miles of the Ohio River.
U.S. Representative Massie attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. During school, he invented a technology that enabled people to interact with computers using their sense of touch and leveraged that technology to found SensAble Technologies, Inc., which raised over $32 million of venture capital, created 70 jobs, and obtained 29 patents. The hardware and software he developed is now used to design automobiles, jewelry, shoes, dental prosthetics, and even reconstructive implants for wounded soldiers.
In Congress, Thomas serves on three committees: the House Committee on Rules, the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, and the House Judiciary Committee.
The House Committee on Rules is amongst the oldest standing committees in the House, having been first formally constituted on April 2, 1789. The Committee is commonly known as “The Speaker’s Committee” because it is the mechanism that the Speaker uses to maintain control of the House Floor, and was chaired by the Speaker until 1910. Because of the vast power wielded by the Rules Committee, its ratio has traditionally been weighted in favor of the majority party, and has been in its “2 to 1” (9 majority and 4 minority members) configuration since the late 1970s.
The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure has jurisdiction over roads, bridges, mass transit, railroads, aviation, maritime and waterborne transit.
The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over laws that affect intellectual property, industrial hemp, civil liberties, firearms, and other topics that were among the reasons Thomas ran for Congress!
In addition to serving on these committees, Thomas is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, and he serves as a member of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Thomas lives on a cattle farm in Kentucky. Thomas married his high school sweetheart, Rhonda, and their union produced four wonderful children.
He’s honored to be able to serve the citizens of Kentucky’s 4th District.