United States Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK 4th District) was on a tour through the district and stopped by the Newcastle Pacer on Wednesday, March 27.
Cole had just announced that he is seeking to be chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, a committee in which he has served on since 2009.
“It is safe to say — I know the Appropriations Committee very well,” Cole said. “I have served on the Committee for the majority of my career in a variety of positions, and I firmly believe that those experiences will aid me going forward to do a respectable job as Chairman.”
The speaker has not set an election date, but will in a couple of weeks. While Cole is not the only one seeking the chairmanship, he feels like he has a pretty good chance of being successful.
The Congressman said he was pleased in the recent bipartisan funding bill that was passed to keep the government from defaulting and shutting down.
Cole said, “You have to work in a bipartisan manner in divided government to get things done. We did that. We got the entire government funded.”
Cole described the legislation as a pretty good bill which increases funding on defense, on homeland security, and funding for veterans.
He said, “It cuts funding on almost every other program, and looking at next year it lowers the deficit which is still way too high by about $400 billion dollars. It lowers it over a 10-year period, and if we stay on course, by about $2 trillion.”
Cole said this doesn’t solve all the problems, but it is a step in the right direction. He said the big problem is funding for entitlement programs, which are not part of the funding which goes through the Appropriations Committee. The Committee only controls about 28% of the U.S. expenditures. The remaining about 60% goes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, as well as interest on the national debt, Cole said.
He said to really solve the problem over a 10-year period of what will be a $16 trillion deficit, there will need to be long-term reforms in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“If you leave them like they are, you are not protecting them,” Cole said.
Cole has been working about the past six years for a solution by introducing the Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act, which he believes can help. He said he’s been unsuccessful with this bill because those who are the sitting presidents don’t want to touch the funding problem. He said they know they’ll only be there for four years, and the next person can deal with it. He said a president will have to support it, but for now they are only playing politics with the funding issue.
Cole said the Social Security Commission Act would establish a bi-partisan commission to bring up proposals and Congress would have to vote on them — up or down. Cole said this was done in 1983, and it increased the life of Social Security by about 50 years. He said at that time there were additional cuts, but they also had additional income to sustain the system.
Cole will be on the ballot again as elections ramp up this year. He seeks to continue serving as Congressman in District 4, which includes Newcastle. As this year’s elections near, Cole had a word of advice.
“I urge your readers to take time and vote this time. I don’t care how you vote, just please participate,” Cole said. “I think this is going to be a very close national election. There are all kinds of issues, and this is a pretty dangerous world right now, so people need to step up and take responsibility and vote.”
