Press Releases

U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop has voted to add $77.9 billion more to this fiscal year's budget to fight the war in Iraq, provide humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people, strengthen homeland defense against terrorism, and help financially troubled U.S. airlines cover increased security costs.

The House and Senate Thursday (4/3) passed their own versions of the bill, entitled the "Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act," and Congress was expected to reach final agreement the following week.

While supporting an alternative proposal which he says would better protect health care providers and patients alike, U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop Thursday (3/13) voted against a bill to impose a "restrictive" $250,000 cap on medical malpractice cases because "it supercedes the laws of all 50 states and will not solve the problem of high insurance costs."

The measure, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives 229-196, now goes to the Senate.

U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop issued the following statement Thursday (3/20) in connection with the tornadoes that struck areas of Southwest Georgia:

Representative Sanford Bishop is scheduled to tour the areas of Mitchell County struck by the tornadoes Friday (3/21) afternoon from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. He will be accompanied on the tour by Mitchell County Commission Chairman Benjamin Hayward and Mitchell County Sheriff W.E. Bozeman. They will be flown over damaged areas in a Georgia State Patrol helicopter. The tour will start from the Sheriff's headquarters, located on Highway 37 east of Camilla.

For more information, call the Mitchell County Sheriff's office: (229) 336-2030

U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop issued the following statement on the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew:

"Every Georgian I've talked to since the crash of Columbia feels the terrible shock and sorrow that I'm feeling over the loss of the seven gifted, courageous people who were aboard, each risking his and her life to explore the difficult and dangerous frontier of space and advance the boundaries of understanding for all humanity.

Although he fought for more, U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop described the $3.1 billion in drought relief aid approved by the House Thursday (2/13) as a "substantial" amount that can enable many farmers who have suffered severe weather-related crop losses to financially survive.

Drought and other extreme weather conditions have impacted more than 80 percent of the country's farm communities over the past two years, leaving many farm operations in a financial crisis and contributing to the economic instability in many rural communities.

Georgia's Second District U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop was elected Thursday (1/9) to fill one of the two vacant seats open to Democrats on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop has come out swinging for new federal emergency aid in the range of $5.9 billion for farmers who have suffered extreme crop and livestock losses due to drought and other weather-related disasters over the past two years.