Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-2), fought to protect the benefits of U.S. Veterans by offering a Motion to Recommit amendment to H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. Rep. Bishop’s motion stated that, “It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that could result in a reduction in veteran’s benefits.” The motion, which received bi-partisan support, was unsuccessful by a vote of 188 to 236.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-2), sponsor of H.R. 1941, the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee this morning.

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011. The measure, which would reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years and make several reforms to strengthen NFIP’s financial position, passed the House by a vote of 406 to 22. Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) voted in favor of the bill.

WASHINGTON – Today, H.R. 2219, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2012 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 336 to 87. Rep. Bishop voted in favor of the bill and released the following statement.

Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a misguided piece of legislation to abolish the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Congress created the commission in the aftermath of the 2000 election to upgrade voting systems across the country as part of the Help America Vote Act. The bill, H.R. 672, bill failed to pass under suspension of the rules, which require a two-thirds majority, by a vote of 235-187.

Nearly 100 Albany residents tried their hand at balancing the federal budget tonight during a deficit reduction workshop held by Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02). The bi-partisan Concord Coalition helped organize the event at Albany Technical College, which put people into groups of five to ten and asked them to work together and act as their own budget committee.

Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) stood up for farmers and rural communities in voting against the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act because it unfairly targeted the agriculture community. If signed into law, the bill would make draconian cuts to agriculture research programs, rural development programs and assistance for seniors and pregnant mothers who go hungry. The bill barely passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 217 to 203.

Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) this week joined members of the Georgia delegation in sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging him to designate 22 Georgia counties suffering from drought as Secretarial Disaster Areas. Farmers across Georgia have suffered major crop losses because of the extreme weather, and the Georgia USDA State Emergency Board recently listed which counties are suffering from extreme drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor as of June 2, 2011.