'Thompson: Bring the troops home'

Willits News
Ending the war in Iraq is the top priority item for District 1 Congressman Mike Thompson, who was returned to office for a fifth term by California voters in the November 7 election. "We've got to bring the troops home as soon as possible," Thompson said in a recent visit to TWN. In no uncertain terms, the Congressman (like former secretary of state, General Colin Powell) described the situation on the ground as a civil war. "Our troops don't need to be in the middle of it," Thompson said. The Bush administration, on the other hand, describes the ongoing violence in Iraq as the work of al-Qaeda extremists. As far as Thompson is concerned, U.S. troops should not have been in Iraq in the first place: "We're not safer (because of the war). People dislike us more. It was a screwup to go there and an even bigger screwup when we got there." Thompson said invading Iraq "squandered the good will" the international community had toward the United States after the 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Walking his talk, Thompson is co-author of a bill that would redeploy U.S. troops and "accountably measure" all the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan for both military purposes and reconstruction. Thompson estimates the cost of the war in Iraq at about $500 billion, so far not counting the cost of services to injured and disabled veterans, which may include lifetime care: "There are more head injuries," Thompson said. "People are surviving injuries that would otherwise be fatal (thanks to improved medical technology.) I go to Walter Reed Hospital to visit. I see people missing legs and arms, and a lot people blind from head injuries." Thompson also sponsored a bill that would establish a "Veteran's Right to Know Commission," which would alert those who had been exposed to depleted uranium and other toxics associated with certain U.S. weapons systems. Thompson considers U.S. involvement in Iraq one of the reasons for astronomical increases in the national debt. His website contains a running total of the amount: $8,629,790,565,726 (that's about 8.5 trillion) as of yesterday morning. According to the website Debt Clock, nearly a quarter of the debt, 22.7 percent, is owed to foreign lenders. Another 37.3 percent, is owed to American lenders, including nearly $285 billion to insurance companies. Dealing with an international issue of a different sort, Thompson in the House and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) in the Senate introduced bills to control carbon emissions associated with global warming. "She says it's the most important thing she's ever done," Thompson reported. He called the damage caused by global warming irreversible and predicted "a disaster for the whole planet" if it continues unchecked. In the meantime, 10 states have brought suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate carbon emissions. At least one EPA spokesperson has argued carbon dioxide is not a contaminant since it is essential to life. With road congestion, as well as carbon emissions in mind, Thompson is calling for "revitalizing" the nation's the rail lines. In California, he said, functioning railroads would, in turn, "revitalize the ports." Thompson was active in securing passage of this year's Transportation Equity Act, which includes $12 million in loan forgiveness for the NCRA (North Coast Railroad Authority) and releases $8 million toward rail line restoration. The cost of decommissioning the rail lines, Thompson said, would have been at least $2 billion. Addressing other environmental issues, Thompson, named Legislator of the Year by the Resource Conservation Districts, introduced the recently-passed Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Act (H.R. 233), designating 273,000 acres of Northern California as wilderness in perpetuity. Thompson also supports sustainable energy, opposes off-shore oil drilling, and has introduced two bills funding restoration of riparian (waterway) areas in order to restore fish populations and the fishing industry. The first bill would allocate $200 million to California, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Oregon for restoration projects. The second would allocate the same over 12 years to landowners and tribes who participate in water conservation projects in the Klamath River Basin, the third most productive salmon fishery in the continental U.S. The Congressman recently received the Green Key Award from the National Rural Water Association and the California Rural Water Association for helping rural communities access clean water. In the Willits area, Thompson supports allocations that will help protect at least 400 acres of Ridgewood Ranch, eight miles south of Willits, as an intact conservation area of sustainable forestry, sustainable farming, old growth redwood stands, and pristine waterways. In a change of focus, Thompson also supports measures designed to guarantee affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans. He recently introduced bills that would allow importation of lower-priced pharmaceuticals from Canada, permit background checks on applicants for nursing home jobs, promote the use of telemedicine in rural areas, and improve Medicare reimbursement rates, and require public health services to include examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault. He also supports legislation addressing the shortage of medical workers, particularly nurses, in U.S. hospitals and clinics. Other bills co-sponsored by Thompson include an amendment to the tax code exempting those inheriting family-owned businesses from having to pay estate taxes, and restoration of reservation lands to the Elk Valley Band of Indians. Thompson was reelected by a vote of 128,984 Californians in the November election. Other candidates were Republican John W. Jones (56,297 votes), Green candidate Pamela Elizondo (6,193) and Timothy Stock of the Peace and Freedom party (3,145).