108th Congress

The House of Representatives approved legislation yesterday (H.R. 4569) that would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a national plan to control and manage Sudden Oak Death. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) worked with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) and Rep. Max Burns (R-GA) to introduce the legislation. “Sudden Oak Death is not unique to California, it is prevalent in many regions of the country,” Thompson said.

Announcing that he will vote against the bill, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) called today's surprise vote on reinstating the military draft a shameless political maneuver unfitting of our troops' service. Thompson, a combat veteran and former member of the House Armed Services Committee, charged the Republican House Leadership with abusing House rules for their own political gain.

Congress today approved a key appropriations bill that moves toward correcting low Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians in Sonoma County. Under language requested by Sonoma County Representatives Mike Thompson and Lynn Woolsey, the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services must present a plan to Congress by January 1 for fixing a decades old discrepancy in the reimbursement rates paid to doctors in Sonoma and three other California counties. “Remedying this problem is one of the most important steps we can take to improve health care in Sonoma County,” Thompson said.

The House of Representatives last week approved $400,000 in Forest Legacy funding for Ridgewood Ranch, the onetime home of Seabiscuit. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-North Coast) requested the funding as part of the fiscal year 2005 Interior Appropriations Bill. Last month the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Ridgewood Ranch one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Seabiscuit, the racehorse who inspired Americans during the Great Depression, arrived at Ridgewood in 1939 and recuperated from injuries on the ranch before his heroic win at Santa Anita.

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) hailed today's ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court repealed a lower court's decision regarding the Trinity River Record of Decision (ROD) and ruled that the ROD should be fully implemented. “This is a great victory for the Hoopa Tribe and Northern California's costal communities, whose economy and jobs have been decimated by declining fisheries,” Thompson said.

The House Appropriations Committee today has approved $42 million in funding to fight Pierce's Disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) requested the funding as part of the FY2005 Agriculture Appropriations bill. Pierce's Disease is a harmful plant virus, spread by the glassy-winged sharpshooter. The disease attacks and kills grapevines. It is responsible for the complete destruction of more than 1,000 acres of grapevines in Temecula starting in the late 1990's that cost growers and the California economy tens of millions of dollars. Rep.