The following is a message from the office of Dave Camp:
Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today was selected by House Minority Leader John Boehner to serve as one of three House Republicans on the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
“I want to thank Leader Boehner for naming me to the Commission,” said Camp. “Frankly, there may be no greater or graver task we face than getting our fiscal house in order. We simply cannot sustain the deficit spending going on in Washington, nor can families and employers sustain the higher taxes many in Washington believe are the solution to that crisis. I look forward to working with the other members of the commission to tackle our spending problems and shoring up vital programs like Medicare and Social Security.”
Charged with finding solutions to achieve long term fiscal sustainability as well as balancing the federal budget (excluding interest payments on the debt) by 2015, the Commission will be required to examine entitlement spending on Medicare, Social Security and welfare programs, all of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee.
Camp has long held the federal budget should be balanced without raising taxes. In order to do so, Camp has supported:
- Enacting the line-item veto
- Passing a Balance Budget Amendment to the Constitution
- Eliminating redundant and ineffective programs
- Supporting the Sunset Commission Act, requiring Congress to review federal agencies once every 12 years
- Requiring a separate vote on increasing the public debt
- Prohibiting add-ons to emergency war spending bills
