Committee on Budget
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Arrington, Ranking Member Boyle, and Members of the Committee:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to urge you to oppose H.R. 5779, a bill to establish a fiscal commission that would circumvent Congress’ regular order for considering Social Security and Medicare changes, when it comes before the Budget Committee for markup. The National Committee is a grassroots advocacy and educational organization dedicated to preserving and strengthening the programs which are vitally important to the well-being of our nation’s seniors.
Commissions are intended to squeeze every possible dollar of savings out of Social Security and Medicare without consideration for the adequacy of benefits during their deliberations. They are intended as a maneuver for enacting deep cuts to these critical programs that could never pass Congress through the normal legislative process because of their unpopularity with the voting public.
H.R. 5779 establishes a prime example of such a commission. The bill is designed to rush the Commission’s recommendations, which would inevitably prioritize deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, through Congress so they can be enacted before the American people have a chance to study them and understand how they would be affected. The bill’s goal of avoiding political accountability is made clear as H.R. 5779 prohibits the issuance of the Commission’s recommendations prior to election day, November 6, 2024, and provides that the ensuing legislation would be voted on by a lame-duck Congress, many of whose Members would not be returning to Congress in the subsequent session.
The National Committee believes Social Security and Medicare must be reformed, their benefits updated to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s beneficiaries and their financial solvency assured for future generations. But the process to achieve that goal must be deliberative and fully accessible to the public. The committees with jurisdiction over Social Security and Medicare should hold hearings, develop legislation that has strengthening the economic and health security for the American people rather than budget cutting as its primary mission, and Congress should vote on any consensus package produced under the regular rules of the House and Senate. The future of these critical programs must not and should not be determined as part of a budget cutting exercise.
Commissions on steroids forcing changes to hard-earned benefits will not fool American voters – President Biden has called them “death panels” for Social Security and Medicare for good reason.
I urge you to oppose H.R. 5779 when it comes before the Budget Committee for markup.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO