Three House Democratic committee chairmen — Henry Waxman (CA) at Energy & Commerce, Charles Rangel (NY) at Ways & Means, and George Miller (CA) at Education & Labor — have just sent a letter to President Obama vowing to work together on health care reform legislation that can become law this year.
The letter is notable for its emphasis on a uniform, coordinated timetable to ensure that turf battles over committee jurisdiction do not slow down the debate over health reform. The still-unwritten climate change bill, by contrast, is already the subject of some jockeying for position by Rangel and Waxman.
Also, the House chairmen’s letter contains stronger indications of a coordinated effort than a similar missive sent to Obama by the Senate’s key chairmen on health care, Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
The senators declared their “continuing commitment to enacting comprehensive health care reform this year,” while their House counterparts committed specifically to “work from a harmonized approach [in their committees] to ensure success.” There was some initial concern on the Hill that Baucus and Kennedy would butt heads as both committees moved forward with health care, but the Boston Globe reported this week that the two are working well together.
You can read the House chairmen’s full letter after the jump.
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to thank you for organizing the White House Forum on Health Reform last week and to let you know of our intention to work closely together to pass national health reform. Comprehensive reform is essential to controlling health care costs, reviving our economy, and expanding coverage. We are committed to working with you to pass this legislation this year.
In the House, jurisdiction over health reform is shared among three primary committees. As chairs of these committees and veterans of past health reform debates, we have agreed to coordinate our efforts. Our intention is to bring similar legislation before our committees and to work from a harmonized approach to ensure success.
We have also agreed on a timetable for our joint efforts. In order to achieve our shared goal of enacting health reform this year, we will coordinate our committee consideration so that action on the House floor can occur before the August recess.
Your health care forum gave these efforts a strong start. As we proceed, we look forward to working closely with you, senior Administration officials, and our colleagues in the Senate. We will also be broadly reaching out to members of the House to build wide support for this essential effort. Your leadership and guidance are critically important to our collective success.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman Charles B. Rangel George Miller
Chairman Chairman Chairman
Committee on Energy and Committee on Ways and Committee on Education and
Commerce Means Labor
