In the heat of the 2012 presidential campaign, the Obama administration announced it would ease up on the work requirements that made the 1996 reform of the nation's welfare law such a success. At the time, congressional Republicans denounced the move as "gutting" the law and vowed they would not let it stand. On Wednesday the House Committee of Ways and Means took the first steps… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the following statement in reaction to the February jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor.  A net total of 236,000 jobs were created, and the unemployment rate for February decreased to 7.7 percent. “Despite this month’s positive report, job growth is still woefully behind where it should be. … Read more

Then:   "It's about jobs. In its life, it [ObamaCare] will create 4 million jobs -- 400,000 jobs almost immediately."   (Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Administration’s “Health Summit” on February 25, 2010)   Now :   “I’ve got a news flash for you.  The Affordable Care Act is not a jobs program.”   (Jared Bernstein, former chief economist for… Read more

A new survey released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) sums up what small businesses want from comprehensive tax reform – a code that closes loopholes in order to make it less complex and less costly to comply with. Underscoring just how broken the tax code is, 85 percent of those surveyed by the nation’s leading small business group, “think that Congress… Read more

Good morning.  We are meeting today to consider H.R. 890, legislation that would prohibit the Obama Administration from waiving work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program. Last July, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued “guidance” that, for the first time, sought to unilaterally allow States to waive work… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement after the Committee approved, by a vote of 21 to 14, H.R. 890, the Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2013. “Ways and Means Committee passage of the Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act today brings us one step closer to preventing the Obama… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Committee on Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA) introduced the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Extension Act of 2013.  Under current law, the TANF program is authorized through March 27, 2013.  The TANF Extension Act would extend the program’s authorization through December 31,… Read more

Three years ago this month, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. For individuals, families, and small businesses struggling to pay for health care, this milestone is no cause for celebration.  Today we will examine the impact of the key tax provisions of that law. The President’s… Read more

Last week, the Obama Administration took then-Speaker Pelosi’s line, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" one step further by making clear the American people still won’t know what’s in ObamaCare until all the regulations are released.  Buried on page 308 of the “HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014” is a new “user fee” that will be… Read more

  Washington, DC – Today, Committee on Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee Member Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY) and Human Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), along with Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Members of the Human Resources Subcommittee introduced H.R. 948, the Standard Data and Technology Advancement Act, or the “Standard DATA… Read more