Republicans and Democrats on this Committee have long worked together to make sure Social Security has the resources it needs to effectively administer their benefit programs.  During the last two fiscal years Social Security received funding at levels higher than the President’s request, along with an additional $1 billion to build a new computer center and to process rising numbers of… Read more

The South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement should be ratified, and soon, because of the initialing last month of a similar agreement between South Korea and the European Union. The EU-Korean free-trade agreement hasn't yet been formally signed or ratified, but it will be. Americans have their own agreement already in our pockets. It was signed on June 30, 2007. It awaits ratification,… Read more

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  International trade is a powerful engine for economic growth and job creation, as our experience here at home demonstrates.  One out of every five American jobs depends on trade, and as Ambassador Kirk notes, jobs supported by exports pay higher wages than other jobs.  For that reason, I commend you for holding this hearing.  The global economic downturn has hurt… Read more

There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. As we recover slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest… Read more

During the 2006 campaign, then-House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi unabashedly stated that, “Democrats are proposing a New Direction for America.”  As the table below shows, it turned out to be the wrong direction for American workers and families.   [i] Total non-farm employment in January 2007 and October 2009. http://www.bls.gov/data/#employment. [ii] Number of unemployed in… Read more

A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending -- one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's health-care system -- would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday. The report, requested by House… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today released an analysis he requested from the nonpartisan, independent experts at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  The report shows national health care costs will increase significantly – by $289 billion – if the House Democrats' bill (H.R. 3962) was… Read more

Today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement in response to the President’s announcement that the United States will participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations: Camp:  “I am pleased that the United States will finally begin participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership… Read more

Due a sharp rise in the number of unemployed, reflected in the increase in the U.S. unemployment rate to 10.2%, the Obama Misery Index (OMI) continued its upward trend in October. The OMI measures the combined change in the public debt and unemployment since President Obama was inaugurated. Since January 21, 2009, the number of unemployed Americans and the U.S. public debt have soared by… Read more

Pelosi's Health Care Bill:"It creates a vast new entitlement, financed by European levels of taxation on business and individuals" Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied policy logic and public opinion late Saturday night, ramming through the House a nearly 2,000-page health-care leviathan that counts as the biggest expansion of the federal government since the New Deal. As President Obama likes… Read more