Runyan Comments on President's Willingness To Include Entitlement Reforms In Budget Discussions

Statement

This morning several media sources including the Washington Post reported on President Obama's plans to discuss with Congressional Leaders the inclusion of "significant reductions" in entitlement spending including Medicare in his debt-reduction proposal.

Today, Congressman Jon Runyan issued the following statement:

"Today I was pleased to hear President Obama acknowledge the facts about our government's unsustainable fiscal path. In order to get our fiscal house in order, we must address the escalating costs of entitlement programs. While many in the President's own party have waged political attacks against me in order to scare and mislead seniors, the President appears to understand that in order to preserve critical safety-net programs, including Medicare, we must do all that we can to ensure that they remain solvent.

"I believe that we can and must preserve these programs for the seniors that are currently enrolled or near the age of enrollment. In fact the House budget that I supported does just that for Medicare recipients who are 55 years of age and older. This budget was a sound and honest attempt to significantly reduce spending, address the debt crisis, and tackle entitlement reform. It was a critical first step in the dialogue about entitlement reform, which the President today has acknowledged is an essential and necessary component of any serious debt reduction plan."

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