U.S. CONGRESSMAN MIKE THOMPSON | REPRESENTING CALIFORNIA'S FIFTH DISTRICT

Washington, DC, May 10, 2012 - Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1) today voted against H.R. 5652, a spending plan offered by the House Majority that would make harmful cuts to Medicare for seniors, health care for kids, food and nutrition assistance for struggling families, and other vital safety net programs. The bill also protects tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

“We need to get our deficit under control, but the plan offered today by the House Majority is the absolute wrong choice for America,” said Thompson. “We can’t reduce the deficit on the backs of seniors, children and the poor. We need a balanced approach where we get rid of programs that aren’t needed, where we make sure that programs that are needed are running as efficiently as possible, and where everyone pays their fair share.”

The House Majority’s bill that Thompson voted against today:  
•    Slashes food assistance by nearly $36 million – reducing food stamps to all recipients and cutting access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to nearly two million people at a time when families can least afford it.
•    Permanently eliminates the Social Services Block Grant program, which provides assistance for roughly 23 million Americans, including:     
     o    Child care and related assistance for 4.4 million children,
     o    “Meals on Wheels” and other home-based services for nearly 1.7 million older Americans,
     o    Child protective services for 1.8 million at-risk children,
     o    Transportation, respite care and other services for nearly 1 million disabled individuals.
•    Eliminates the Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) requirement included as part of the Affordable Care Act, putting 300,000 children at risk of losing health insurance coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
•    Cuts the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which provided 61 communities and states with funding in fiscal year 2011 to implement health and wellness programs and benefited approximately 120 million Americans, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, and Yolo. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and sits on the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.