Protecting and Preserving Medicare
While Republicans in Congress have attempted to find practical solutions to this growing crisis, President Obama’s “solution” is to put more Washington bureaucrats in charge and cut billions out of Medicare. One example of this “solution” was the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) in ObamaCare (PPACA). IPAB is a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats who would have sole authority to cut Medicare and determine what treatments seniors can receive. It is unconscionable that this group of unaccountable appointees could ration not only Medicare, but all health care, and the American people will have no recourse.
With my support, this week the Energy and Commerce Committee overwhelmingly repealed IPAB. The repeal should send a clear message to President Obama and his Administration that personal health care decisions should be made by you and your doctor, and no one else. Our health care system needs reform, but ObamaCare is not the answer. We can do better than a job-killing government takeover. When it comes to health care, we need choices—not unconstitutional mandates. We need commonsense policies that improve access to care without busting the budget.
The U.S. and Israel: Standing Up to Iran
Last week I attended a dinner hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the guest of honor. The dinner was well-timed, given that the United States and Israel—the oldest democracy in the Middle East—face momentous decisions as Iran continues to defy the international community and march towards nuclear weapons-making capability.
Even without nuclear weapons, Iran is already dangerous. It is on the U.S. State Department’s official list of terror-sponsoring governments. Indeed, Iran has worked with terrorist groups to wreak havoc and destabilize the Middle East. In Iraq, it gave explosives and other weapons to militants who then killed American troops. It has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant amount of the world’s oil and commerce flows. And its leaders have threatened to wipe Israel—a country roughly the size of the Ninth District—off the map.
If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it will be a nightmare. Iran already has missiles capable of striking targets in Europe and the Middle East, including any U.S. forces stationed in those regions. But it has launched satellites into space, so it has the knowledge and capabilities necessary to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States. Indeed, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon recently said that the Iranians had been developing ICBM technology at a military facility that was destroyed by a mysterious explosion in November 2011.
Iran cannot be allowed to get the capability to make nuclear weapons! I hope that international diplomacy and economic sanctions will succeed in stopping Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons-making capability, but it’s far from certain. All options must be on the table. As the United States and Israel work to meet the challenge posed by Iran’s dangerous nuclear ambitions, both countries must continue to stand together through thick and thin.
This Week in History
March 16, 1751:
James Madison, drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the Constitutional Convention, author of the Federalist Papers, and fourth president of the United States, is born in Virginia.
Madison served for three years in the House of Delegates. He assisted with the drafting of the Virginia Declaration of Religious Freedom and the decision for Virginia to cede its western claims to the Continental Congress. Madison is best remembered for his role in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he presented the Virginia Plan to the assembled delegates in Philadelphia and oversaw the difficult process of negotiation and compromise that led to the drafting of the final Constitution. Madison's published Notes on the Convention are considered the most detailed and accurate account of what occurred in the closed-session debates. It should be noted the Virginia delegates were divided. Some Virginians like Patrick Henry feared that the constitution would ultimately give too much power to the government in Washington. Hmm. Further reading: http://bit.ly/bmtdtP.
As always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at
www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
