More than 100 House members from both sides of the aisle have signed on to co-sponsor a bill that would require background checks for all commercial gun sales.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, chairman of the House Democrats’ gun-violence task force, and Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., introduced H.R. 1565 on April 15, two days before the Senate rejected the identical Manchin-Toomey amendment.

“We won’t take ‘no’ for an answer when it comes to passing commonsense laws that keep guns from criminals, terrorist and the dangerously mentally ill,” Thompson and King said in a news release today. “This debate isn’t over. The American people deserve for this bill to be signed into law.”

The bill would expand the existing background check system to cover all commercial firearm sales, including those at gun shows, over the internet or in classified ads; it would not cover private, person-to-person sales, as California’s law does.

This widening of background checks is tempered by several nods to those concerned about Second Amendment rights: The bill bans the government from creating a federal registry and makes the misuse of records a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. It also lets gun owners use a state concealed-carry permit issued within the last five years in lieu of a background check, and allows interstate handgun sales from licensed dealers.

And it improves the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by offering incentives to states to improve reporting of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill and by directing future grants toward better record-sharing systems; federal funds would be reduced to states that don’t comply.

The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary and Veterans’ Affairs committees.

The King-Thompson bill’s original co-authors are Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; Pat Meehan, R-Pa.; Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.; and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.

From the greater Bay Area, co-sponsors include Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Sam Farr, D-Santa Cruz; John Garamendi, D-Fairfield; Mike Honda, D-San Jose; Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose; Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco; Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo; and Eric Swalwell, D-Pleasanton.

The locals who haven’t signed on are Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton; and George Miller, D-Martinez. I’ve reached out to their offices to find out where they stand on the bill, and will update this item accordingly.

UPDATE @ 1 P.M. TUESDAY 5/7: McNerney and Miller both have signed on.

Activists are descending today upon the offices of federal officials across the Bay Area, and across the nation, to deliver petitions urging the protection of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits from cuts proposed by President Obama.

Organized by MoveOn.org, it appears there’ll be gatherings at noon at the offices of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in Oakland, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, Rep. Eric Swalwell in Pleasanton, Rep. Jackie Speier in San Mateo, Rep. George Miller in Concord, Rep. Zoe Lofgren in San Jose, and Rep. Jared Huffman in San Rafael.

“I supported President Obama for reelection, but I won’t support him cutting Social Security,” said Frank Burton of Castro Valley, co-organizer of the event at Swalwell’s office. “Seniors depend on Social Security, and the cut in the cost-of-living adjustment is based on false logic. Seniors need the full cost-of-living adjustment because of huge increases in medical costs every year.”

Clark Sullivan of San Francisco said he helped organize the event at Pelosi’s office “because most people collecting Social Security are already starving for several days at the end of the month.

“Cutting benefits would increase the already unacceptable level of human misery for Americans who have paid a lifetime of taxes to support Social Security,” he said. “The Social Security Act has been one of the most successful federal programs ever enacted and is more solvent than it ever has been. There is no need to tamper with its current success.”

One of the Bay Area’s House freshmen was among the region’s top fundraisers in the first quarter of 2013, according to newly filed Federal Election Commission reports.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Pleasanton, raised $262,810 in the first three months of the year, leaving him with $222,932 cash on hand as of March 31.

On its face, that’s more even than the $207,030 that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, collected in individual contributions to her campaign committee. But Pelosi also transferred in more than $136,000 from her Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, which itself raised $671,400 in the first quarter. (Now THAT’s some serious scratch; don’t mess with the big dog, Congressman Swalwell.)

Still, Swalwell’s first-quarter fundraising outstripped that of every other Bay Area House member including Mike Honda, D-San Jose, who raised $214,000 while already in full campaign mode due to the challenge posed by fellow Democrat Ro Khanna.

Swalwell might also face a fellow Democrat in 2014: state Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, who like Swalwell had hoped to succeed Pete Stark in the 15th Congressional District but chose not to run against him last year. Corbett, who’s favored by many of the same local Democrats who had backed Stark in 2012, raised $16,201 in the first quarter of this year and had $114,963 cash on hand as of March 31.

Here’s a readout of the rest of the greater Bay Area delegation’s first-quarter haul, looking only at their principal campaign committees:

Barbara Lee, D-Oakland: $69,482 raised, $29,804 cash on hand

George Miller, D-Martinez: $79,253 raised, $215,537 cash on hand

Mike Thompson, D-Napa: $209,566 raised, $1,357,504 cash on hand

Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton: $125,004 raised, $114,001 cash on hand

Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose: $45,240 raised, $571,704 cash on hand

Sam Farr, D-Santa Cruz: $32,650 raised, $70,731 cash on hand

Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto: $50,186 raised, $319,929 cash on hand

Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo: $34,728 raised, $976,878 cash on hand

Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael: $95,152 raised, $116,503 cash on hand

California’s U.S. Senators and two Bay Area House members this week urged President Obama to add the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands to the California Coastal National Monument.

The region around Stornetta in Mendocino County gets about 1.75 million visitors each year, the vast majority of whom are from the Bay Area and Sacramento. The California Coastal National Monument, designated by President Bill Clinton in 2000, protects small islands, exposed reefs and pinnacles off the 1,100 miles of California coastline.

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, along with Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, noted in their letter to the president that this would be the first land-based connection to the national monument.

“Beyond the natural benefits the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands provide to our families and our communities, the region has a significant economic impact as well,” the lawmakers wrote. “Tourists drawn to Mendocino County to visit Stornetta and Mendocino’s south coast support nearly 5,000 jobs and generate more than $110 million in economic activity annually.”

Visit Mendocino County, the local tourism bureau, said the business community there strongly supports adding the land to the monument. “Over 50 local businesses signed a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar last month and emphasized that adding the Stornetta Public Lands to the California Coastal National Monument would have a strong economic benefit to our region,” president and CEO Scott Schneider said in a news release.

Thompson last summer had introduced H.R. 4969 to add the lands to the monument, but the bill never made it out of committee.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced a new round of committee assignments today, following up the initial assignments made last month.

In the Bay Area, it looks as if Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, won’t be getting that Transportation and Infrastructure seat he wanted; instead, Pelosi assigned him today to Homeland Security. She had named him last month to Science, Space and Technology, which makes sense given that his district includes the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, but neither that assignment nor this one is likely to have the influence – and the ability to bring federal dollars home to the district – that T&I would’ve offered. Still, Swalwell sounds unruffled and eager.

“From protecting ports like San Francisco, to keeping the Internet secure, to safeguarding mass transit such as BART, the House Committee on Homeland Security plays a vital role in making sure the American homeland is safe,” Swalwell said in a news release today. “I look forward to serving on that committee in the 113th Congress. I want to thank Leader Pelosi, Steering and Policy Co-Chairs DeLauro and Andrews, and the entire Democratic Steering and Policy Committee for this tremendous opportunity.”

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Pelosi named Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, to the Budget Committee – a much-coveted assignment for any House member. She had named him last month to the Natural Resources Committee, for which he’d hoped.

Here are all the California assignments Pelosi announced today:

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego – Agriculture

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael – Budget

Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Los Angeles – Budget

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin – Homeland Security

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach – Natural Resources

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego – Science, Space and Technology

Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove – Science, Space and Technology

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Oak Park – Science, Space and Technology

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside – Science, Space and Technology

Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro – Small Business

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Coachella – Veterans’ Affairs

Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino – Veterans’ Affairs

Congressman-elect Eric Swalwell will serve on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee while Congressman-elect Jared Huffman will serve on the Natural Resources Committee, according to assignments announced Thursday by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Swalwell, D-Dublin – who unseated fellow Democrat Pete Stark last month – had voiced interest in serving on Transportation and Infrastructure, but this assignment makes sense given that the newly drawn 15th Congressional District he’ll represent includes the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Swalwell said today his assignment “will offer me the opportunity to pursue many of the initiatives I discussed during my campaign. This includes clean energy innovation and the development of alternative energy systems to drive economic growth and create jobs.”

“The focus on technology will also enable me to pursue my ideas for a ‘Mobile Congress’ to use new technologies to adopt rules and practices for the Congress that are in-tune with 21st Century technology and culture,” he added, noting additional committee assignments might be coming in January.

Huffman, D-San Rafael, who succeeds Lynn Woolsey and had talked of applying his experience as an environmental attorney, got what he was hoping for. His newly drawn 2nd Congressional District stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge all the way up to the Oregon border – the largest stretch of California coastline of any district, and so a natural resource unto itself.

“The economy of his congressional district is directly tied to California’s natural resources, and the committee plays a critical role in public lands management, fishing policy, tribal issues, and coastal protections,” Ben Miller, who will serve as Huffman’s chief of staff, said today. “With Jared’s background and his interest in resolving natural resource conflicts and advancing clean energy solutions, it’s a perfect fit.”

Here’s how other California members-elect fared:

Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino – Agriculture

Scott Peters, D-La Jolla – Armed Services

Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove – Foreign Affairs

Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach – Foreign Affairs

Juan Vargas, D-San Diego – Foreign Affairs

Tony Cardenas, D-Los Angeles – Natural Resources

Raul Ruiz, D-Coachella – Natural Resources

Julia Brownley, D-Oak Park – Veterans Affairs

Mark Takano, D-Riverside – Veterans Affairs

Pelosi also put Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, on the Budget Committee; Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, on the Judiciary Committee; and Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“Our Democratic Caucus is the most diverse in the history of Congress, and each of our Members will bring a unique perspective to the great challenges of our day – from job creation and economic growth to innovation, education reform, and clean energy development,” Pelosi said in her news release. “On every committee, our colleagues will offer their experience, passion, and persistence to the task of effectively and faithfully serving the American people.”