In separate announcement Mike Thompson joins calls for restrictions, labels on GE fish

Rep. Mike Thompson, the Napa Democrat who represents Benicia in the U.S. House, will join fellow Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, Friday as host of a public forum on immigration.

At the forum, Thompson and Huffman will describe the impact of President Barack Obama’s executive actions announced in November and will answer questions from the public about what the executive actions mean locally.

Besides Thompson and Huffman, the forum will include Monica Toro, field office director for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; Madeline Feldon, staff attorney for the International Institute of the Bay Area; and two specialists, Dr. Chong-Uk Kim, Sonoma State University immigration economist, and Jesus Guzman, representing Sonoma County DREAMer. They will talk about the economic impact of immigration reform and those who are directly affected by immigration policies.

DREAMers are those who have met the criteria of the Obama administration’s deferred action initiative for youth who were brought to this country as children by undocumented parents.

The initiative offers a two-year, renewable reprieve from deportation to undocumented immigrants who are younger than 31, who entered the U.S. before they were 16 and who have lived here continuously for at least five years and not been convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors.

They must be in school or must have a high school or equivalency diploma or have served in the military.

The term “DREAMers” comes from the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

The panel also will explain what the president’s actions mean to individuals, families and the country in general, and the need for congressional action on comprehensive immigration reform.

The forum will be 3:30-5 p.m. Friday in Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. Reservations are being taken at 707-542-7182 and by email at RSVP.SantaRosa@mail.house.gov.

Calls for fish labels, restrictions

Thompson also announced Tuesday he is part of a bipartisan group opposed to genetically engineered salmon that is hoping to require labels for such fish.

Joining him are Don Young, R-Alaska, Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Huffman.

The first bill, House of Representatives 394, is called the Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States (PEGASUS) Act.

The legislation, if passed, would ban genetically engineered fish in the U.S. by prohibiting the shipment, sale, transportation, purchase, procession or release into the wild of genetically engineered salmon and other fin fish unless the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service completes a full environmental impact statement and concludes that it will result in no negative impact to the environment.

The second bill is H.R. 393, which would require labeling of all genetically engineered fish sold for consumption.

“With the growing concerns for approval of GE (genetically engineered) fish for human consumption, H.R. 393 would force the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of these controversial products,” Thompson said.

“No genetically engineered salmon should be in our waters or on our dinner plates, unless a full environmental study, using the best available science, is conducted to make sure these fish won’t harm natural salmon, our fisherman, and the health of American families.

“The FDA’s evaluation of these fish is inadequate. Until rigorous scientific studies are completed, these fish shouldn’t be in our waters or stores.”

Young said the FDA is reviewing genetically engineered salmon “as if it were a new animal drug, but this type of review process is obviously dead wrong for a product destined for our dinner plates.”

He said the FDA’s approach fails to consider whether such fish threaten natural salmon fisheries.

“The PEGASUS Act’s message is unmistakable, it tells federal regulators to rethink their approach before a monumental mistake is made that cannot be undone,” Young said.

Jones said consumers “have a right to know if they’re a eating a wild-caught fish or somebody’s science project.”

Huffman said genetically engineered salmon need to be kept from oceans, rivers and streams, and said they pose a danger to wild salmon populations.

DaFazio said wild salmon runs are “critically important to the environment, to our fishermen and to consumers across the globe.”

He said it would be “incredibly short-sighted and dangerous” to let “some biotechnology company tamper with the natural order by creating genetically engineered salmon. It would only be a matter of time before these Frankenfish mix in with the wild salmon population, destroy the species and wreak havoc on our fishing industry.”