In the News

In May, the Ways and Means Committee held one hearing focused on the border tax proposal, and another on increasing U.S. competitiveness. However, Tax Policy Subcommittee ranking minority member Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said Congress needs more time to discuss potential legislation inspired by the GOP’s “A Better Way” tax reform blueprint. Doggett suggested that Republicans’ true time frame is to pass a tax bill before December, without much public input, just like they did with the American Health Care Act (AHCA, H.R. 1628). He said potential hearings should address “what are the pros and cons of expensing capital investments versus deducting interest,” which are two of the major blueprint proposals.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) criticized the measure as a reward for the nuclear sector, which he said has a “record of miserable failures” when it comes to getting more reactor projects up and running.

“Instead of today’s measure, our focus should be on safe, healthy forms of energy instead of an industry that costs too much and poses too much danger to humans,” he said.

Members of the San Antonio Food Bank and Feeding Texas joined Rep. Lloyd Doggett to urge members of the Texas Congressional Delegation to reject President Donald Trump’s budget proposal . . . “I believe SNAP has been honored as a really successful anti-poverty program, and unlike some government programs, it is an extremely efficient program and it administers the assistance to make sure people have a good, healthy meal to eat in a way that is very cost-effective,” Doggett said.

“Another broken Trump promise seems to be in the making, with Medicare negotiation abandoned in favor of Big Pharma’s wish list,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who co-chairs the Prescription Drug Task Force, told POLITICO. “In January, two weeks after declaring that drugmakers were ‘getting away with murder,’ Trump was cozying up to pharmaceutical executives at the White House. He should be using executive power now to bring down prices, not to promote more restrictive government-approved monopolies upon which Big Pharma relies.”

U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who has been calling for an independent commission since November, said his Republican colleagues have more members willing to “cover up instead of to open up…and that’s where the role of these petitions becomes so very important.”

He continued: “The Trump administration will try to hide behind the bushes or behind the tweets, but the cover-up will be uncovered by people across this country who demand change. Together we can continue to resist.”

Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat, panned the waivers as a “scam.”

“Once again insurers will be able to write into their policy fine print coverage limitations and exclusions that deny help when you most need it,” he said in a statement.