108th Congress: A Record of Accomplishment

108th Congress: A Record of Accomplishment
By Congressman Joe Pitts

Over the last two years, this Congress has worked hard to pass legislation that will address the challenges and needs facing our nation. In doing so our goal was to expand freedom and prosperity for all Americans and to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids.

We passed and the President signed the first reform of Medicare in forty years. This Congress was able to accomplish what politicians had promised for years: a prescription drug benefit. There are issues still to address, but the fact remains that we have set up a Medicare prescription drug program for the first time ever, getting assistance to more than 40 million seniors and persons with disabilities. Until this year, seniors with Medicare had no relief from prescription drug prices.

The bill also included vital seeds of reform that, if encouraged, will make Medicare even stronger. One such reform was the creation of Health Savings Accounts. The savings families accrue in these accounts will remove significant financial stress from Medicare and from future generations faced with footing an ever-increasing bill for health care.

In addition to reforming Medicare, we are very close to reforming our nation's intelligence services and implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. One thing we have learned since 9/11 is that our enemies are bent not on our defeat, but our destruction. We need the intelligence capability to stop them. H.R. 10, the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act, enables us to do that. It shifts resources and alters organization to make sure we can adapt to the changing threats posed by al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks.

In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will work out our differences on this bill and send it to the President. Once enacted this reform will put terrorists on notice that we will do whatever it takes to make our nation safe and prevent them from using their murderous, extremist ideology to terrorize our nation and our allies.

We have also increased funding on the military and homeland security. Our bipartisan plan for FY 2005 grants the Defense Department over $416 billion dollars in new spending to protect America .

These major initiatives did not prevent us from acting to strengthen our economy.

During this Congress, bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress have worked to extend the tax relief we passed in 2001 and 2002 and we set out to expand that relief in 2003.

Middle class families were the primary targets of this tax relief. So we increased the child tax credit from $600 per child to $1000 per child and extended that relief through 2010. We made sure rebate checks were sent out immediately. We made sure low income Americans will continue to benefit from the 10 percent tax bracket. When the dust settled, we returned $13.7 billion tax dollars to families across the country.

For those who think Congress only cares about tax cuts, we have passed the American Dream Down Payment Act. It offers greater access to the dream of owning a home to thousands of low-income and first-time homebuyers by providing them with down-payment assistance.

The House has also taken the lead on reducing health care costs. Association Health Plans (AHPs), passed by the House but not yet through the Senate, would enable small business owners to provide more employees with health insurance. Medical liability reform, approved by the House but stuck in the Senate, will cut costs on doctors and hospitals and lower medical bills for patients.

We are also investing a great deal of energy in protecting children and families.

In this Congress, we outlawed the barbaric partial birth abortion procedure, we recognized two victims - the mother and her unborn child - in the commission of federal crimes, we strengthened laws against child pornography, we expanded laws to combat kidnapping and child abuse, and strengthened our nation's schools.

I cannot tell you what an honor it has been to serve in this Congress. We have made great progress on these and many other issues that matter to American families. And we have a number of items that we will form our agenda next year.