Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing with Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew on the President’s 2012 Budget. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. A Missed Opportunity “This budget is a missed opportunity – it misses the opportunity to substantially reduce spending so that our private sector can flourish; it misses the opportunity to address entitlement reform so that progr... Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the President’s 2012 Budget. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. Failure of the Budget "...[I]t would result in record high deficits while pushing the federal tax burden to over 20 percent of our economy, a level never sustained in our nation’s history...Let me be clear Mr. Secretary, Americans are not taxed... Read more

Welcome to the first hearing of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security in the 112th Congress. I especially want to welcome the new Members of the Subcommittee and our colleagues from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, especially their new Chairman Jeff Denham. I also want to say how much I look forward to working with our new Subcommittee Ranking Member, and my good friend, Xavier Becerr... Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on the Health Care Law’s Impact on the Medicare Program and its Beneficiaries. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. More Than One-Half Trillion in Cuts to Medicare “…there are more than one half-trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare that have been made in an effort to finance the law. Those changes include massive cuts to hospitals, cuts to home health ... Read more

Today's hearing is about how we can better help unemployed workers return to work. Clearly we have our work cut out for us. As this chart shows, our Democrat colleagues' 2009 stimulus plan promised to drive unemployment under 7 percent by now. Instead, unemployment has now remained at or above 9 percent for a record 21 months. Stimulus advocates also promised 137.5 million jobs by now; instead they delivered 7 million fewer. That has left almost 14 million workers unemployed, plus record numbers... Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on President Obama's Trade Policy Agenda. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. Administration’s Lack of Commitment on Trade "Frankly, the lack of commitment on these critical, job-creating agreements is hindering the rest of our trade agenda – most notably ATPA and TAA. The President’s unwillingness to engage, especially on Colombia, has ground everyth... Read more

For the past two years, many of us have been wondering what role trade plays in the Obama Administration’s overall economic and foreign policy. While the Administration has been hesitant on the issue, American businesses, farmers, and ranchers are falling behind as other countries move forward without us, costing valuable customers – and jobs. American workers are the most productive in the world, and our goods and services exports are among the most coveted globally. We in government should not... Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on the Democrats’ Health Care Law’s Impact on Jobs and the Economy. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. Health Care Law's Negative Impact on Employers "As signed into law, the Democrats’ health care law imposes more than one-half trillion dollars of tax increases and thousands of pages of mandates and onerous regulations on employers. My friends on th... Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today delivered opening remarks at the Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on Pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea and the Creation of U.S. Jobs. Below are excerpts, followed by the full remarks. Free Trade Agreements as Job Creators “This deadline [consider all three agreements in the next six months] isn’t being driven by politics or posturing– it is driven by the need to create jobs for American workers.... Read more

There has been a lot of speculation that trade may be one area where bipartisanship can carry the day. I think that is right: this is an area in which Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together to create thousands of good-paying American jobs. I hope that the President is serious about moving a more ambitious trade agenda forward, because, as I’ve been saying for several months now, he’ll find a willing partner in House Republicans. The first step in this partnership is to find a ... Read more