National Committee Urges House to Reject Creation of Sunset Commissions

The United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the more than 4.6 million members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I urge you to reject H.R. 5766 and H.R. 3282—two pieces of legislation which create sunset commissions.

The sunset commissions created by both of these bills pose a direct threat to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs serving our nation’s seniors. Under both bills, a majority of the commission members would be appointed by the President or the leaders of his party in Congress, many of whom have already made clear their support for privatizing Social Security.

H.R. 5766, the Government Efficiency Act of 2006, introduced by Representative Tiahrt, allows for the creation of multiple sunset commissions with broad powers to recommend cuts to, or the abolishment of, any federal program or agency. The National Committee is concerned that this commission could be used as a back door means to privatize Social Security. The fast-track provisions in the legislation further undermine Social Security. H.R. 5766 would forego the legislative protections normally afforded to Social Security and enable Congress to pass legislation privatizing Social Security without amendment, with only 10 hours of floor consideration, and with a simple majority vote.

We understand that floor action on H.R. 3282, the Abolishment of Obsolete Agencies and Federal Sunset Act of 2005, introduced by Representative Kevin Brady, may be postponed until a later time. However, the National Committee strongly opposes this legislation. It would create a sunset commission to review all federal agencies once every twelve years to determine whether or not they should be reorganized or abolished. Regardless of the commission’s recommendations, a federal agency would be automatically abolished one year after the commission completed its review, unless affirmatively reauthorized by Congress. Even if Congress passed legislation reauthorizing the agency, the President could veto the reauthorization. His veto would stand unless a supermajority of Congress was able to override his decision. Ultimately, the provisions in H.R. 3282 could be successfully used by a small group in either House of Congress to undermine, cut, and abolish the agencies serving seniors, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Administration on Aging.

The National Committee supports efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in government operations. However, Congress already has sufficient constitutional authority to achieve this goal. The sunset commissions created by H.R. 5766 and H.R. 3282, in addition to being granted broad and unnecessary powers, represent an inefficient use of limited taxpayer dollars. They would duplicate the work already being conducted on a daily basis by professional government analysts within the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and Congressional authorizing and appropriations committees.

For all these reasons, we strongly urge you to vote against H.R. 5766 and H.R. 3282.

Cordially,

Barbara B. Kennelly
President and CEO

The National Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that acts in the interests of its membership through advocacy, education, services, grassroots efforts and the leadership of the board of directors and professional staff. The work of the National Committee is directed toward developing a secure retirement for all Americans.