July 24, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican, issued the following statement today regarding the Democratic Majority’s planned vote to cancel any legislative action on the looming entitlement crisis:

“The action the Democrats will take today on the Medicare Part D trigger provision is the continuation of a very troubling pattern: duck and cover rather than stand and deliver.  Whether it’s the energy crisis, the appropriations process, or the fiscal health of Medicare, if the Democrats don’t want to deal with it, they just don’t.

“When the House approved the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003, a ‘trigger’ provision was included to ensure the long term fiscal health of the program was always being addressed.  The concept was simple: if two consecutive reports indicated that over 45% of Medicare’s costs would come from the general Treasury over the next six years, Congress would have to act.  We did not mandate what steps Congress would have to take.  We simply required that solutions be examined, debated, and brought to a vote.  We believed this provision was critically important because we as Republicans have two goals for Medicare.  First, it must effectively provide health coverage for our seniors.  Second, it must be run efficiently and responsibly. “Today, we are confronting exactly the scenario that concerned us.  But the Democratic Majority, unable or unwilling to address runaway costs, simply wants to make this attempt at good governance go away.  The rule the House will consider later today would quash the provision requiring us to consider a legislative fix.  This rule was added to the Rules Committee agenda late yesterday afternoon with less than an hour’s notice and 24 hours later, it’s being put to a vote.

“The American people expect us to solve problems, not run away from them.  It’s unfortunate the Democratic Leadership continues abuse the rules of the House in its effort to duck the hard work of governing.”