In rare bipartisan action to address the nation’s $34 trillion long-term debt, the House Committee on Budget has advanced Rep. Scott Peter’s Fiscal Commission Act to the floor for a vote.
The legislation, co-authored by Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, would establish a bipartisan, bicameral, and open-doored commission to address the nation’s long-term debt and avoid automatic and across-the-board cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
“In the next 10 years, we will spend more on interest on our debt than on defense or Medicaid,” said Peters on Thursday. “This commission allows us to finally address the unsustainable debt that endangers our children’s future.”
Peters, a Democrat from San Diego, said priorities for both parties “are threatened if we cannot have frank discussions about our spending and revenues to get our fiscal house in order.”
The commission would put forward recommendations on tax revenues, hold field hearings and educate the public on its work. The goal is a series of reforms to stabilize the debt at no more than 100% of GDP within 10 years.
Senators Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney introduced companion legislation in the Senate under the Fiscal Stability Act.
” I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this legislation passed in both chambers and signed by the President,” said Peters
Peters, who represents the 50th District in San Diego County, is co-chair of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum,
