Press Releases

Today Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) released the following statement upon the House's passage of PAYGO legislation:

“Today we passed legislation that will establish in law the principle that our country should pay for what it buys. I've been an advocate for Pay-as-you-go legislation, also known as PAYGO, since I was elected to Congress. It just makes sense- we shouldn't spend more money than we have.

Over 10,100 people participated in Monday night's telephone town hall, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) announced today. The majority of callers had questions about health care reform. The congressman also fielded questions on climate change, renewable energy, the peripheral canal, and the state of our economy.

Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) joined 265 of his colleagues in voting for the Agriculture Appropriations Act. This bill will help protect Americans' food safety, boost rural economies, protect Americans against price fluctuations for necessities and help feed struggling families. In this bill, Congressman Thompson secured $27 million in funding for several agricultural research projects that are important to our district.

Op-Ed by Congressman Mike Thompson

Congress must act quickly to pass health care reform- the bottom line is- we can't wait any longer. Across our country, 14,000 Americans are losing their health care coverage every day, joining the 46 million who aren't covered by health insurance. I'm as worried as anyone about how we're going to pay for this overhaul. But the cost of doing nothing is even greater. We must address the lack of access, and the crippling cost of health care that is hurting our families and our economy.

Today Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced legislation to protect our nation's children from preventable illnesses, which he believes will help save lives and reduce health care costs. The bill requires individual and group insurers, employee benefit plans, and health savings accounts to cover preventive benefits for children without copayments or deductibles.

Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-CA), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Lee Terry (R-NE), and Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation that would significantly increase the availability of telemedicine for all Americans. Currently about 80% of Americans do not have access to telemedicine facilities because of restrictions that limit funding for these types of facilities to rural areas. The “Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act,” (H.R. 2068), would expand Medicare reimbursement to urban and suburban areas and include more facilities. It will also allow doctors to monitor patients remotely.

Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT-AL) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA-01) today introduced legislation in the U.S. House that would require every soldier to have a face-to-face mental health screening before they are deployed on a combat mission, upon their return, and every six months for two years following their return. The bill is the companion legislation to a measure introduced in the Senate by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT).

Today, Representative Mike Thompson (D-North Coast) introduced bipartisan legislation to protect and restore the healthiest remaining wild Pacific salmon ecosystems in North America. A companion bill was introduced earlier this month by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), with co-sponsorship from the entire West Coast Senate delegation.