{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301120925/http://bustos.house.gov/press-and-media/press-releases/congresswoman-cheri-bustos-calls-on-budget-conference-committee-to", "Congresswoman Cheri Bustos Calls On Budget Conference Committee To Protect Social Security & Medicare", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "IL", "Cheri Bustos", "B001286", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced that she called on the Budget Conference Committee to protect Social Security and Medicare in the event that a budget deal is reached next month.\u00a0 In a letter Bustos sent to the co-chairs of the House and Senate Budget Conference Committee \u00a0- Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Paul Ryan \u2013 she urged \u201csupport of policies that prioritize America\u2019s seniors.\u201d\u00a0 Bustos also requested the \u201cconference to reject policy reforms that place Medicare and Social Security benefits on the chopping block\". Bustos has been a champion for Illinois seniors and has fought against attempts to cut Social Security benefits and to end Medicare as we know it by turning it over to private insurance companies.\u00a0 Last month, \u00a0Bustos joined with Congressman Dave Loebsack (IA-02) to ensure that Medicare open enrollment was not affected by the recent reckless and irresponsible government shutdown.\u00a0 In a joint letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Bustos and Loebsack urged her to make sure that any shutdown related delays or problems surrounding Medicare open enrollment are swiftly addressed.\u00a0 A copy of the Bustos-Loebsack letter can be found HERE.\u00a0 In September, Bustos\u2019 wrote a joint op-ed with Max Richtman, the President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.\u00a0 In the op-ed Bustos and Richtman discussed their recent telephone town hall with Illinois seniors on the importance of protecting Medicare and Social Security.\u00a0 The op-ed can be found HERE. \u00a0\u00a0 In August, Bustos was honored by the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans for her strong support for both Medicare and Social Security and her opposition to switching to a so-called \u201cchained CPI\u201d system in calculating Social Security benefits.\u00a0 In March, Bustos held a telephone town hall with Congressman Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, the highest ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, to discuss the disastrous Ryan Budget that would end Medicare as we know it.\nThe complete text of the letter that Bustos and her colleagues sent is below and HERE.\nNovember 20, 2013\nThe Honorable Patty Murray  \n\tCo-Chair  \n\tConference Committee on the FY 2014 Budget  \n\t154 Russell Senate Office Building  \n\tWashington, D.C. 20510\nThe Honorable Paul Ryan  \n\tCo-Chair  \n\tConference Committee on the FY 2014 Budget  \n\t1233 Longworth House Office Building  \n\tWashington D.C. 20515\nDear Senator Murray and Representative Ryan,\nAs you work with your colleagues on the conference committee for the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, we urge you to support policies that prioritize America\u2019s seniors and the benefits that they have earned over a lifetime of hard work. While we understand that you and your fellow conferees will have to make difficult decisions to find common ground, we believe that any compromise the conference produces must protect Medicare and Social Security for current and future generations.\nIn the aftermath of the disgraceful and avoidable government shutdown, you have an opportunity to develop a bipartisan budget that reduces our debt and deficit in a responsible manner. To make good on this opportunity, the conference must reject policy reforms that place Medicare and Social Security benefits on the chopping block. Too often, we hear of proposals to drastically slash benefits provided through these critical programs. These proposals are presented under the guise of fiscal responsibility, but would jeopardize the livelihood and health of the millions of seniors who depend on  \n\tSocial Security and Medicare.\nWhat the conference committee does in the coming weeks will shape the outcome of the FY 2014 budget process. Now is the time to send a clear message to the American people: While arriving at a solution to a budget impasse does require difficult choices, it does not require Americans to surrender their hard-earned benefits.\nMedicare and Social Security are central to the health and retirement security of our nation\u2019s seniors. Millions of Americans who have paid into these systems are counting on these investments to be there for them. That is why we urge you and your fellow conferees to support a responsible conference agreement that protects these bedrock promises we have made to our seniors.\nWe thank you for your attention to this matter. We hope and expect that your deliberations will be successful.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301120925/http://bustos.house.gov/press-and-media/press-releases/congresswoman-cheri-bustos-calls-on-budget-conference-committee-to"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8677118457853794, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}