Ehrlich on Washington column, November 27, 2000

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of November 27, 2000 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Thanksgiving: A Time to Reflect Once again, Americans have elected a majority of Republican members to the House of Representatives, thereby placing the leadership and trust of this chamber under the Republican Party. While this majority is slim, my colleagues and I in this past Congress have shown we still can unite and produce historic achievements previously considered unattainable during 40 years of Democratic rule. As we complete the work of the 106th Congress, I would like to review some of our legislative successes. There is a temptation to spend in today’s era of unprecedented surpluses. Fortunately, the Republican-led Congress did not indulge this temptation and, instead, brought fiscal discipline to the Federal government. We succeeded in protecting Social Security and Medicare, paying down the public debt, funding vital areas such as health care and providing tax relief. Specifically, we stopped the Federal government’s 39-year raid of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds to pay for other projects by declaring them off-limits. By protecting Americans’ retirement security, we reversed the course of over three decades of reckless spending which had increased our nation’s public debt. We then targeted a remarkable 90% of surplus funds to reduce this debt. Paying off the public debt helps many Americans with lower interest rates for homebuyers, student loans, and car payments. Most importantly, debt reduction now helps our children and grandchildren have the opportunity to celebrate their financial freedom in the future. We addressed the needs of millions of seniors who cannot afford prescription drugs they need. We passed H.R. 4680, the Medicare Rx 2000 Act, to offer those needy seniors the choice of several federally-subsidized prescription drug plans managed by insurance companies - without jeopardizing the Medicare benefits many already enjoy. This prescription drug benefit in Medicare is affordable, available, universal, and offers choice, without government price controls. In addition, Congress recently passed H.R. 2614, the Certified Development Company Program Improvements Act of 2000, which provides seniors with critical access to health care and lower out-of-pocket costs, and increases the number of doctors in emergency rooms, ambulances in rural areas, and health aides in seniors’ homes. I remain hopeful the President