Newsroom
Latest News
January 30, 2012
After an all-sides agreement and lengthy scientific study, the country's biggest dam removal project should be on track to restore the Klamath River. But the momentum behind this promising project could stall if Washington lets political gridlock sour the deal.
January 30, 2012
A House-Senate conference committee is expected to decide within a few weeks whether a time limit for airline passengers to remain on delayed flights becomes federal law.
The right to get off a grounded plane after three hours “is really the holy grail for airline passengers,” said Kate Hanni of Napa, who has lobbied for air travelers' rights for five years.
Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, included the three-hour limit in the Senate version of a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill, officials said Monday.
The right to get off a grounded plane after three hours “is really the holy grail for airline passengers,” said Kate Hanni of Napa, who has lobbied for air travelers' rights for five years.
Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, included the three-hour limit in the Senate version of a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill, officials said Monday.
January 30, 2012
Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1) today called on the House Members of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Conference Committee to include his Airline Passenger Bill of Rights in the long-term FAA authorization bill. The Airline Passenger Bill of Rights would ensure that passengers are given the option to deplane after three hours. In addition it would require that fliers are provided with basic necessities, including access to food and water, comfortable cabin temperatures, and adequate restroom facilities.
January 27, 2012
Representatives Mike Thompson (CA-1) and Lee Terry (NE-2) yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation increasing rural communities' access to high quality health care. The bipartisan “Medicare Hospice Access Care Act,” allows physician assistants to care for Medicare hospice patients.
Issues:Health Care
January 25, 2012
Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1), joined by Democratic Members of the California Congressional Delegation, today welcomed the President's proposal from the State of the Union to provide responsible homeowners with the opportunity to refinance at historically low rates, but said this is only half of the equation.
January 25, 2012
WASHINGTON â€" Dissatisfied California lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration for more aggressive solutions to the foreclosure epidemic ailing the state.
It could get very expensive. But the alternative, lawmakers warn, could be continued hardship for California residents and sustained political trouble for the president.
In a concerted show of strength, 16 California House Democrats gathered Wednesday to bolster the case for more help. They want a meeting with the president, an infusion of new blood and specific relief for financially troubled homeowners.
It could get very expensive. But the alternative, lawmakers warn, could be continued hardship for California residents and sustained political trouble for the president.
In a concerted show of strength, 16 California House Democrats gathered Wednesday to bolster the case for more help. They want a meeting with the president, an infusion of new blood and specific relief for financially troubled homeowners.
Eureka Times-Standard - Klamath draft report released; Thompson: The time for Congress to act is now
January 25, 2012
A draft report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of the Interior says a landmark agreement to remove dams in the Klamath Basin will restore salmon and sustain irrigation for farmers in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
The findings seem to support a bill recently introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkeley, D-Oregon, and North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, that would authorize the Interior Department to decide whether to remove the four Klamath River dams.
The findings seem to support a bill recently introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkeley, D-Oregon, and North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, that would authorize the Interior Department to decide whether to remove the four Klamath River dams.
January 25, 2012
WASHINGTON - The ambitious proposal to remove four Klamath River dams would add jobs and aid fish, a new federal report asserts, but the idea still leaves California lawmakers badly divided.
As they approach a make-or-break decision on whether to recommend the dam removal, U.S. Interior Department officials on Tuesday touted anticipated benefits that include improved salmon habitat and 1,400 construction jobs during the year it would take to remove the hydroelectric dams.
Long-term Klamath basin restoration efforts would add an estimated 4,600 jobs, the report says.
As they approach a make-or-break decision on whether to recommend the dam removal, U.S. Interior Department officials on Tuesday touted anticipated benefits that include improved salmon habitat and 1,400 construction jobs during the year it would take to remove the hydroelectric dams.
Long-term Klamath basin restoration efforts would add an estimated 4,600 jobs, the report says.
January 24, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C -- While the nation's Capitol was abuzz with reaction to President Obama's State of the Union Address, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St.Helena) said Tuesday night, "There's no place I would rather spend my 61st birthday, if I can't be with my wife, than with the President of the United States, tonight."
Thompson said "the President did a good job of talking about issues that are on the minds of every American."
He said the general platitudes could easily be focused at a local level.
Thompson said "the President did a good job of talking about issues that are on the minds of every American."
He said the general platitudes could easily be focused at a local level.
January 24, 2012
EUREKA -- U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson visited the Fresenius Medical Care Eureka Dialysis Center on Friday to learn about kidney disease and its progression to kidney failure, and to observe local residents receiving life-saving dialysis treatments.
According to the U.S. Renal Data System's 2011 annual report, California has the third highest number of people with kidney failure per capita in the country. In 2009 alone there were 14,030 new cases in the state, a 15 percent increase since 2004.
According to the U.S. Renal Data System's 2011 annual report, California has the third highest number of people with kidney failure per capita in the country. In 2009 alone there were 14,030 new cases in the state, a 15 percent increase since 2004.
Issues:Health Care