Latest news with #HouseCommitteeonWaysandMeans
The Hill
05-08-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Something both sides agree on: A bill to prevent late-stage cancer
One million Medicare beneficiaries will be diagnosed with cancer this year. 600,000 people in the U.S. will die of cancer this year. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, affecting millions of families each year. Evidence consistently shows that early detection significantly improves treatment outcomes, reduces costs and saves lives. Investing in early detection is a critical and cost-effective public health strategy. Despite this, our healthcare system is still struggling to keep up. Many Americans, especially those living on fixed incomes, in rural communities or facing already limited access to healthcare, are being diagnosed at later stages of cancer, when outcomes are poorer and treatment much more expensive. And for too many, the diagnosis arrives not just as a health crisis, but as a financial one. I have worked with too many families who find themselves facing impossible choices — buy groceries for the week or cover their cancer treatments. Against this backdrop, Congress has a rare and urgent opportunity to act. Last year, members of the House Committee on Ways and Means shared deeply personal stories of how cancer has touched their lives as they reviewed and unanimously supported the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. So, it should come as no surprise that the act is the first and only health care bill to garner majority support in both the House and Senate. That level of bipartisan consensus is almost unheard of. But the job isn't finished until this bill becomes law. My organization, the Cancer Support Community, and other nonprofits have seen where the system fails patients. Rural communities, in particular, face significant disparities in access to timely screening and care. Our data shows that longer travel times to treatment often result in later-stage diagnoses and lower quality of life. Catching cancer early can prevent this, offering patients the opportunity to receive less aggressive (and less expensive) treatment, and most importantly, more time with loved ones. Yet many cancers still lack reliable screening tools. Expanding investment in early detection is not only a medical imperative, it's an economic one. The earlier cancer is found, the less it costs to treat and the better the chances of survival. One estimate suggests that the preventative cancer screenings we do have saved the U.S. a cumulative $6.5 trillion over the last 25 years. The Nancy Gardner Sewell Act would modernize Medicare to allow for coverage of cutting-edge screening technologies that can detect dozens of cancers through a simple blood test. This policy would mark a turning point in the fight against cancer, particularly for older adults who face the highest risk and are often diagnosed in later stages. The support is overwhelming. More than 550 organizations representing cancer patients, providers, researchers and advocates have urged lawmakers to seize this moment. Congress has already thoroughly vetted this bill and cleared it for passage. When lawmakers return from their summer break, there will be no better time to get this bill over the finish line. Everything is ready to go. The support is there. Now is the time for passage.
31-07-2025
- Politics
Illinois Rep. Danny Davis says he won't seek reelection after 15 terms in Congress
CHICAGO -- U.S. Rep. Danny Davis announced Thursday that he won't seek reelection next year after 15 terms in office, making him the latest longtime Illinois Democrat to announce their retirement from Congress. Davis, 83, sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means. First elected in 1996, he represents a solidly Democratic district that includes downtown Chicago, large sections of the city's South and West Sides, and inner ring suburbs. "We're not going to go away," Davis said, flanked by his wife, local pastors and congressmen at a parking lot in East Garfield Park on Chicago's West Side. 'But the time has come.' Davis's retirement adds to an already unsettled 2026 congressional landscape in Illinois, where there are now four open seats. His announcement comes months after longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky said she won't run again and U.S Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, decided he won't seek a sixth term in 2026. There are two other open congressional seats, with U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly planning to run for Senate. Davis has easily won reelection for decades, enjoying his status as a respected elder statesman. Known for his deep and distinct voice, he remained visible in his district, which includes large low-income pockets. However, his last two primaries were challenging, with questions about his age and whether he remained the right fit for the district. During the campaign, he fended off questions about his acumen by playing up his experience and using humor. 'I'm not running to be the quarterback for the (Chicago) Bears. I'm not running to carry the torch in the Olympics,' he told the Associated Press last year. 'I'm running to use my knowledges, my expertise, my intellect.' Davis — among the most liberal members of Congress and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus — has made issues of racial equality central to his political career. Before announcing his retirement, Davis warned about efforts to undo his and other Democratic officials' health care advocacy efforts. 'There are efforts right now underway to try to diminish Medicare, Medicaid," he said Thursday. "If those programs are seriously diminished, thousands and thousands and thousands of people will not have access to health care.' Davis was among the House Democrats who took part in a 2016 sit-in to demand a vote on gun control measures. His advocacy took a personal turn later that year when his 15-year-old grandson was fatally shot in Chicago after a dispute over basketball shoes. He also pushed for legislation that would ban racial profiling, saying he was a victim of it himself when he was pulled over by two white police officers in Chicago. He was co-chair of the Congressional Black Men and Boys Caucus, which was formed in 2013 after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager who was shot and killed during a confrontation with a neighborhood watch volunteer. Over the years, he has also pushed for legislation to help former prison inmates find jobs and has helped inmates in his district by sponsoring workshops. He has spent Christmas Day with inmates at Cook County Jail. Born in Arkansas, Davis worked as a school teacher and Civil Rights activist. Before Congress, he served as a Chicago city alderman and Cook County board member. In 1991, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Chicago against Mayor Richard M. Daley. He actively sought other offices while in Congress too. He contemplated another Chicago mayoral run in 2010 after Daley announced he was leaving office. In 2009, he threw his name in the hat for Cook County Board president, filing as a candidate for Congress and for board president. He eventually dropped the board president bid. Until former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest in December 2008, Davis was interested in replacing Barack Obama in the Senate after Obama's presidential victory. Davis said Blagojevich eventually offered him the appointment but he rejected it because of the scandal surrounding the governor. Word of Davis' retirement set off a scramble among potential replacements, including on Thursday when Davis endorsed longtime state legislator, Rep. La Shawn Ford of Chicago. Davis called Ford 'young, energetic, super ready," calling it 'my honor, my pleasure, my delight" to endorse him. Several others have floated the idea of running, including Chicago City Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who unsuccessfully challenged Davis last year, and businessman Jason Friedman.
Toronto Star
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Illinois Democratic Rep. Danny Davis says he won't seek reelection after 15 terms in Congress
CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. Rep. Danny Davis announced Thursday that he won't seek reelection next year after 15 terms in office, making him the latest longtime Illinois Democrat to announce their retirement from Congress. Davis, 83, sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means. First elected in 1996, he represents a solidly Democratic district that includes downtown Chicago, large sections of the city's South and West Sides, and inner ring suburbs.
GMA Network
29-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Mika Suansing is chairperson of House appropriations committee
Suansing, 33, earned her Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University as a full scholar in 2021, and also served as the senior vice chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means during the 19th Congress. Nueva Ecija Rep. Michaela Suansing was elected the chairperson of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday night. Suansing's election happened after the House, in a plenary session, adopted the motion put forward by House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, the son of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The President, in his State of the Nation Address on Monday, said that he would veto items in the General Appropriations Act in 2026 if they are found inconsistent with the National Expenditure Program submitted by the executive branch. Suansing, 33, earned her Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University as a full scholar in 2021, and also served as the senior vice chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means during the 19th Congress. Other House members elected as chairpersons of influential House committees include: Davao de Oro Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora - House Committee on Accounts Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores - House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Manila Rep. Joel Chua - House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr. - House Committee on Human Rights Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan - House Committee on Public Information Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano - House Committee on Public Order and Safety Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo - the House Committee on Ways and Means –NB, GMA Integrated News
Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider talks Trump and tariffs at town hall; ‘We can't let this be normal'
Questioners at a town hall hosted by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, wanted to know what he did, and plans to do, about cuts to services and other actions by the Republican majority in Congress pushing the agenda of President Donald Trump. Democrats brought 500 amendments to the legislation dubbed Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' last week, knowing they would be voted down, but Schneider said that may eventually get some Republicans to cross party lines and slow the momentum of the president's agenda. 'We can slow it down,' he said. 'They have this idea of flood the zone. I don't get the chance to score any points. We can't let this be normal. We can't accept it as normal.' Schneider updated a crowd of more than 200 people about the impact of Trump's legislation now in the U.S. Senate, discussed the effect of tariffs on businesses, answered dozens of questions and explained the methodology of the 500 amendments at a town hall Tuesday in Northbrook. Knowing there was little chance any of the amendments Schneider and his colleagues proposed would pass, he said they were targeted at specific Republicans who represent swing districts, like U;S. Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania. Both Carey and Fitzpatrick sit on the House Committee on Ways and Means with Schneider. Schneider said some of the amendments were meant to force them to take a position that is unpopular with the people they represent. 'We wanted to force Republicans to vote on the amendments,' he said. 'The amendments were tailored to what's important in their district, so they have to go home and explain why they voted against something, making them own the votes they take.' Either representatives like Fitzpatrick and Carey will cross party lines on some votes, or there will be campaign ads next year letting voters in their districts know about votes on legislation that led to cuts in programs like Medicaid. 'We need to get people to understand what some of these guys are saying and doing in Washington is not what they're doing and saying at home,' Schneider said. People like Art Schwank of Lincolnshire said the actions of Trump and Republican members of Congress are scary. He talked about the speed Trump's executive orders are making changes he considers unhealthy. 'This is out of control,' Schwank said. 'They're playing with firecrackers and dynamite, and they don't know what they're doing.' Along with forcing Republicans in swing districts to be more responsive to their constituents, Schneider said shifting public sentiment will go a long way toward bringing changes, if not immediately, by the 2026 election. 'Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, public sentiment is everything,' Schneider said. 'With it, you can do anything. Without it, nothing is possible. If we can sway public opinion, first it will slow it down, and ultimately it can flip. The key thing for me is flipping the House. Some people asked what can be done now, before the 2026 election when 435 representatives to Congress will be elected once again. Schneider said more of his colleagues need to act like U.S. Rep Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, who was critical of Trump's stance on the war in Ukraine. 'I just need five Republicans,' Schneider said. 'I don't need them to become Democrats. I need them to stand up against what this administration is trying to do in undercutting the Constitution. I can point to a number of people who should be willing to step out and step forward.' Several people questioned Schneider on Trump's imposition of tariffs and their impact. Schneider said Congress needs to reclaim its constitutional duty to impose tariffs, which the president must enforce. 'A number of us have introduced a series of bills that will reestablish the responsibility for tariffs rests with Congress,' he said. 'We are the ones who establish those tariffs. It's not up to the president to decide tariffs on Friday, and on Sunday draw those tariffs back.' Schneider said the uncertainty of the tariffs is making it hard for small and medium-sized businesses in Lake County to plan, for manufacturers to decide what raw materials to purchase and when, as well as for retailers to order the goods now they intend to sell during the holiday season. 'What these companies have to do is decide what to bring in for manufacturing a month from now,' Schneider said. 'Those tariffs are really hard on them.'
