Good morning.  We are here today to consider H.R. 1173, “The Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011.”  The bill, authored by our colleague Charles Boustany, repeals the CLASS Act, ending this program that even the Administration has admitted is flawed beyond repair. The CLASS program has long been a subject of concern.  Simply put, the program is… Read more

I’m pleased the Ways and Means Committee is considering H.R. 1173, bipartisan legislation to repeal the unsustainable CLASS Act. I introduced this bill in March, 2011 with Congressmen Phil Gingrey and Bill Lipinski and we have gained more than 100 cosponsors. The bill is simple – it repeals the CLASS Act as the program is fatally flawed, fiscally irresponsible and irreparable. Last… Read more

Good morning.  I would like to welcome all of you to our hearing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP.  I would particularly like to recognize Ambassador Beazley from Australian, Ambassador Chan from Singapore, and Ambassador Moore from New Zealand.  I am particularly excited about today’s hearing because we can finally talk about a new trade initiative, one that will… Read more

Thank you Chairman Baucus, and thanks to all of you for joining us for the second joint hearing this year of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee.  Having served on Ways and Means for a number of years, I will say that holding one, let alone two, joint hearings with these two committees is highly unusual and reflects the deep interest Chairman Baucus and I… Read more

The Social Security Disability Insurance program has been the source of great debate both before and since its cash benefit program was signed into law in 1956 by then President Dwight D. Eisenhower.   Soon after Social Security was established in law in 1935, serious discussion emerged whether to expand the program to workers who became permanently and totally disabled before age… Read more

At the first Ways & Means Committee hearing this year Chairman Camp said that comprehensive tax reform would be a “long discussion.”  Last month Chairman Camp initiated a new phase of this “long discussion” when he released his international tax reform discussion draft.  I applaud Chairman Camp and his staff for their wonderful work in putting the discussion draft… Read more

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy: they account for more than half of America’s private gross domestic product and employ about half of its private sector workforce. As our economy struggles to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, small businesses are bearing the brunt of the pain.  Consumer demand is down, costs are rising, and too often,… Read more

Good morning.  In today’s hearing, we will review Supplemental Security Income or SSI benefits for children.   SSI provides monthly Federal payments of up to $674 to 1.2 million low-income, disabled children across the U.S.  In all, SSI provides about $9 billion in payments to children each year, averaging about $8,000 per child.  That $9 billion nearly matches the… Read more

China is both an opportunity and an obstacle when it comes to our economy and American jobs. While the Chinese market is a large and rapidly growing destination for U.S. exports, China willfully disregards its international obligations and impedes fair commerce.   Despite benefitting significantly from globalization and a more integrated global economy, China remains stubbornly… Read more

The United States has many frustrations with the U.S.-China economic relationship, but China remains among the most important U.S. export markets.  Last year U.S. companies exported more than $90 billion worth of American goods to China.  U.S. exports to China increased by 32 percent in 2010, whereas exports to the rest of the world increased by only half that rate.  And… Read more