January 2011 Archives

Hendersonville Times-News Editorial

Legislation to reform the congressional redistricting process and make it more transparent makes sense and deserves a serious hearing, although it alone is unlikely to end the nation’s divisive political rancor.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, the Democrat who represents Western North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville, Tenn., introduced the two pieces of legislation last week.

One of them, dubbed the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act, H.R. 453, aims to “lessen the divisive, partisan tone in Washington,” Shuler says.

“The current system of gerrymandered districts has left a patchwork of highly partisan, ideologically skewed congressional districts, where representatives are more beholden to their political party than the constituents they were elected to serve,” Shuler said. “While most Americans identify with the ideological center, too many of our congressional districts don’t reflect that. These gerrymandered districts often result in representatives from both extremes of the political spectrum being elected to Congress who cannot or will not work together for the benefit of all.”

Shuler and Cooper are part of the conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats.

It’s no surprise that the legislation comes after the GOP’s stunning November wins to seize control of 19 state legislatures. They now control both legislative chambers in 26 states, including

Tennessee for the first time in history and North Carolina for the first time since 1870.
Shuler’s Republican opponents will denounce the bill as another political stunt, intended to make redistricting “fair” now that Democrats have lost control of the redistricting process in many states.

Yes, the legislation would empower more moderates like Shuler and Cooper at the expense of the most strident politicians, left and right, who now occupy gerrymandered “safe” seats. But there’s a catch: If passed, it would not take effect until 2020.

The legislation, H.R. 453, would require states to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to redraw congressional district lines every 10 years following the census. The minority and majority floor leaders in each state’s legislature would appoint an equal number of commissioners. The appointed commissioners then would elect, by majority vote, the commission chairperson. Anyone who has worked for a political party or on a political campaign in the previous four years would not be allowed to serve on the commission.

The legislation requires the commission to use “geographical contiguity and compactness of district,” rather than political affiliations and incumbent protection, as criteria for redrawing district lines.

Getting both sides to agree to end gerrymandering won’t be easy.

Incumbents of both political extremes will fight to hold onto their “safe” seats. Republicans are now in the driver’s seat for redistricting in 16 states, including key presidential battleground states such Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida. They will be reluctant to give up that control. Then there are the practical questions. Who will decide the definition of “geographical contiguity and compactness?”

While the legislation governing redistricting would not take effect until 2020, Cooper’s companion legislation, the Redistricting Transparency Act, would take effect immediately. It would require all proposed redistricting plans to be available online for review and public comment prior to their adoption. The bill aims to increase public participation and accountability in the redistricting process.

Both bills make a lot of sense. It will be interesting to see if the new House GOP majority gives them a fair hearing or lets them languish, given that Democrats and Republicans have been equal offenders when it comes to gerrymandering. One thing is for sure: With all the hidden money flowing into political campaigns as a result of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision last year, our nation needs all the transparency it can get.

The bitter tone in politics has been a big issue lately. It is not likely to go away despite the bipartisan seating at last week’s State of the Union address, the temporary truce brought on by the Tucson tragedy, or these two bills. But any structural change that brings fairness and transparency to the redistricting process would be welcome, whether or not it leads to more civility and rationality in our national discourse.

Washington, D.C. - Representative Heath Shuler has been appointed to serve on the powerful House Committee on the Budget.

"Our nation's exploding debt has become the single greatest threat to America’s economic future," Rep. Shuler said. "The Budget Committee in the 112th Congress will play a pivotal role in setting the fiscal course of our nation for next two years and, hopefully, for years to come. I look forward to using my position on the Committee to find common ground between Republicans and Democrats to balance our budget, cut wasteful spending, and restore fiscal discipline and restraint in Washington."

The Budget Committee determines the country's spending priorities and develops the annual federal budget. As co-chair of the fiscally responsible Blue Dog coalition, Rep. Shuler worked closely with members of the Budget Committee in the 111th Congress to establish pay-as-you-go, or PAYGO, rules that ensure that neither spending nor tax legislation increase the federal deficit. These rules dictated that new mandatory spending programs or tax cuts must be offset by an equal amount of mandatory spending cuts. PAYGO was largely responsible for the budget surplus under President Clinton in the late 1990s.

"Congress must live within its means today to ensure our children and grandchildren are not paying for our actions tomorrow," Shuler continued. "Balancing our budget will not be simple or easy, and cannot be done by just one political party. We must work in a bipartisan fashion to craft a balanced budget that invests in our future and keep taxes low. I look forward to getting to work immediately my Budget Committee colleagues on both sides of the aisle to protect America’s fiscal and economic security."

In addition to the Committee on the Budget, Rep. Shuler serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

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Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler and Representative Jim Cooper today introduced two bills aimed at reforming the Congressional redistricting process to lessen the divisive, partisan tone in Washington.

Shuler introduced the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act, H.R. 453, which requires states to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to redraw congressional district lines every 10 years following the decennial census. An equal number of commissioners would be appointed by the minority and majority floor leaders in each state's legislatures. The appointed commissioners would then elect, by majority vote, the commission chairperson. This legislation requires the commission to use geographical contiguity and compactness of district, rather than political affiliations and the impact redistricting will have on incumbent representatives, as criteria for redrawing district lines. If passed H.R. 453 would go into effect for the 2020 redistricting, not 2010.

"The American people should choose their representatives—not the other way around," Rep. Shuler said. "The current system of gerrymandered districts has left a patchwork of highly-partisan, ideologically skewed Congressional districts, where Representatives are more beholden to their political party than the constituents they were elected to serve. While most Americans identify with the ideological center, too many of our congressional districts don’t reflect that. These gerrymandered districts often result in representatives from both extremes of the political spectrum being elected to Congress who cannot or will not work together for the benefit of all."

Rep. Cooper introduced companion legislation to H.R. 453, the Redistricting Transparency Act, which requires all proposed redistricting plans to be available online for review and public comment prior to their adoption. This legislation will increase public participation and accountability in the redistricting process, set to begin in most states within in the next week.

"Together, these two pieces of legislation take steps to create a culture of bipartisanship that has been absent in Washington in recent years," Rep. Shuler said. "If we are to work together in Washington to find solutions to the challenges facing our country, bipartisanship must start at home with the way our congressional districts are drawn. The result will be a system where the American people---not political parties---have the advantage in our political process."

Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

"Tonight we saw members from both political parties sitting with one another as a symbolic first step in trying to reduce the partisan gridlock that has become too common in the Congress. After listening to the President echo that call for unity and compromise tonight, I remain hopeful that we can work together, as Americans, to revitalize our economy, create jobs, and strengthen our middle class."

"The President was right to call on all of us to unite together to achieve the great things and meet the challenges before us by investing in education and research to unleash the boundless American potential. Now, it falls to us in the Congress to put that call into action. To put aside partisan differences and move our nation together."

Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON - As states get ready to redraw their congressional maps for the first time in a decade, two Democrats in Congress are resurrecting proposals they say will inject more transparency into the process and prevent the new boundaries from being drawn in a way that gives a lopsided advantage to one political party.

U.S. Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, and Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, N.C., said the bills they intend to file this week would lead to more evenly balanced districts and ultimately a Congress that better reflects the will of voters.

"We think it's what the American people deserve and need," Shuler said Monday.

Congressional redistricting, done every 10 years to reflect population shifts based on new census data, is always a politically charged exercise. Both parties try, often with little or no public input, to refashion the maps in a way that gives them an advantage.

The result is that Republican districts usually become more Republican, Democratic districts become Democratic, and come election time, there are few truly competitive districts anywhere in the country.

"Democrats love heavily Democratic districts and Republicans love heavily Republican districts," Cooper said. "And that's the root of the problem."

In most states, including Tennessee, congressional districts are drawn by the state legislature. Data needed to sketch out the new boundaries won't be available from the U.S. Census Bureau until March, so Tennessee lawmakers don't expect to take on the redistricting process until 2012.

Whenever they tackle the job, it will be the first time in Tennessee history the GOP has been in charge of the congressional remapping, which will give Republicans a chance to remake the districts to their advantage. The same will be true in 14 other states, including Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature and will be in complete control of the redistricting process.

Cooper said his bill would try to make the redistricting process open to public scrutiny regardless of who's drawing the maps. The legislation would require state entities that redraw congressional boundaries to set up a website and solicit the public's input on the maps via the Internet, public hearings and other methods.

New congressional maps would have to be posted on the website at least 10 days before they are adopted and seven days after adoption, along with the reasons behind the new boundaries, dissenting opinions and other information.

"It doesn't favor either party," Cooper said of his approach. Plus, "sunshine is the best disinfectant."
Shuler's bill would change the way redistricting is done. It would put the process in the hands of a five-member bipartisan commission in each state, similar to what is currently done in California, Iowa and a handful of other states. The majority and minority leaders in each state would appoint two members apiece, and those four would in turn select the fifth commissioner.

No one who has worked on a political campaign or for a political party for the four previous years would be eligible to serve on the commission. And people who serve on the commission would not be allowed to run for Congress for at least 10 years.

If approved, Shuler's bill would not take effect until the 2020 redistricting cycle. Cooper's transparency bill would take effect this year and would apply to the upcoming round of redistricting.

Neither proposal is new. Former U.S. Rep. John Tanner, a Union City Democrat who retired last year, tried for years to get Congress to take redistricting out of the hands of the state legislatures and give it to a bipartisan commission. When that idea went nowhere, he began pushing a transparency approach like the one outlined by Cooper.

Memphis attorney John Ryder, a Republican National Committee member who is chairman of the organization's redistricting committee, said redistricting is primarily a legislative process that has been left up to the states.

"Some states do conduct public hearings. Some states do not," Ryder said. "It seems to me that is a matter that is properly determined by the legislature in each state, in accordance with its history, traditions and political culture."

Handing redistricting responsibilities over to a commission won't take politics out of the process, Ryder said. It will just shift the politics from the floor of the General Assembly to the selection of the committee members, he said.

Ryder suggested Shuler might have political motives of his own for pushing to change the redistricting process. "It's obvious that Mr. Shuler seems to be motivated to create a commission now that the Republicans have gained control of both houses of the North Carolina legislature," he said. "He was less concerned with that before the last election.''

But Shuler and Cooper said they both backed the proposals when Tanner was pushing the initiatives and when Democrats still held the majority in the U.S. House.

The changes are needed because the current redistricting process is so political "you have elected officials whose jobs are to make sure their political party gets more of an advantage over the next political party," Shuler said. "The injustice is the American people suffer because of it."
 

Last week the House of Representatives spent the majority of its time in Washington considering the complete repeal of the health insurance reform law passed last year. While I did not support the health care bill when it came to the House floor in 2010, I also did not support its total repeal and the political theater that ensued. This effort simply continues the divisive nature of our political discourse and does nothing to address the needs of American families and businesses.

Full repeal of the existing health care law also would have meant the loss of many of its positive effects that have the support of Democrats and Republicans. For example, a broad bipartisan group support the ability of parents to maintain coverage for their children until the age of 26, the closing of the Medicare prescription drug benefit donut hole so more seniors can afford all their medications, and preventing the denial of coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. It would be immoral and unproductive to take positive effects of the law away.

However, I also understand that we must take steps to improve the current health care law. That is why I supported two separate efforts last week to address some of the negative impacts of the bill.

Along with more than 250 of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, I cosponsored H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, legislation that would repeal the onerous 1099 reporting requirements placed on small businesses. I also voted in favor of H. Res. 9, which directs the appropriate House committees to write new health care legislation which could potentially replace the existing law.

H. Res. 9, which was introduced by House Republicans, requires any new health care legislation to meet the following criteria:

1. Foster economic growth and private sector job creation by eliminating policies and regulations that place a burden on businesses
Lower health care premiums through increased competition and choice
2. Preserve a patient's ability to keep his or her health plan if they want
3. Provide those with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage
4. Reform the medical liability system to reduce unnecessary and wasteful health care spending
5. Increase the number of insured Americans
6. Protect the doctor-patient relationship
7. Provide the States greater flexibility to administer Medicaid programs
8. Expand incentives to encourage personal responsibility for health care coverage and costs
9. Prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions and provide conscience protections for health care providers
10. Eliminate duplicative government programs and wasteful spending
11. Not accelerate the insolvency of entitlement programs or increase the tax burden on Americans

Moving forward I am hopeful we can work together, regardless of party affiliation, to address the very real healthcare challenges before us. That is what the American people expect and deserve.

Last November the American people made it clear that they wanted Congress to focus on revitalizing our economy and creating jobs. Many of us had spent the previous two years telling the Democratic leadership in Congress just that. They did not listen. Now, it appears the new Republican leadership is turning the same deaf ear to the voice of the American people.

Rather than opening this new Congress by looking forward and finding answers to our economic challenges, we are beginning by looking backward with an effort to completely repeal the health insurance reform bill passed in 2010.

While I did not support that legislation, I also do not support the political theater playing out around its repeal in the House. This vote simply continues the divisive nature of our political discourse and does nothing to address the needs of American families and businesses.

By opening Congress with this effort, and immediately creating a toxic partisan atmosphere, we are also making it more difficult for any bi-partisan efforts to reform the law in a targeted, thoughtful, and positive manner.  For example, I have joined a bi-partisan group of Members sponsoring legislation that would repeal the onerous 1099 reporting requirements placed on small businesses.

However, full repeal of the healthcare law would also mean the loss of many positive effects of the law supported by Democrats and Republicans, including: the ability of parents to maintain coverage for their children until the age of 26, the closing of the Medicare prescription drug benefit donut hole so more seniors can afford all the medications, and preventing the denial of coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. It is not just wrong, but immoral to take those things away.

Additionally, this repeal effort introduces more uncertainty into our economy, further slowing recovery.

Nationally, repeal would do nothing to reduce the cost of healthcare nor would it do anything to reduce our national deficit. On Main Street, repeal efforts simply create more uncertainty, pausing small business growth and further depressing consumer confidence at this critical time.

The American people, regardless of political affiliation, expect Congress to get things done and face the very real challenges ahead of us, not refight the battles of yesterday. Our energy should be spent working to reduce the overall cost of healthcare and improving our economy by creating jobs and providing incentives for companies to bring their business and employment opportunities back to America.

While we may differ on thepaths we think we should take, we must remember that at the end of the day we are all walking forward together, as Americans.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Heath Shuler today began working to move in a commonsense direction to fix the nation’s healthcare law, while also maintaining the portions of the existing law on which Republicans and Democrats can agree.

“The American people expect Congress to find real solutions to the challenges facing us, not continue divisive partisan bickering,” Shuler said. “The healthcare legislation that passed last year had serious flaws, and we should be working to solve those problems.”

Specifically, Shuler announced that he has cosponsored legislation, H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, to repeal the onerous 1099 reporting requirements placed on small businesses by the healthcare reform law. The bill was introduced by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA).

“By repealing that provision we will provide immediate relief to our small businesses, while also recognizing the positive accomplishments reforms that were achieved in the reform bill,” Shuler continued.

Shuler specifically cited the ability of parents to maintain coverage for their children until the age of 26, the closing of the Medicare prescription drug benefit donut hole to help seniors afford their medicine, and the prevention of denial of coverage to children with pre-existing conditions as positive accomplishments of the bill that members of both parties support.

“These are commonsense improvements that have broad bipartisan support. It would be immoral and unproductive to take those things away.”

“Today’s attempt to fully repeal that law continues to fail the American people. We need to be working together to address the very real healthcare challenges before us by keeping the portions of the law that work, and fixing the portions that don’t.”

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We were all shocked and saddened by the horrific, senseless attack that occurred in Tucson on Saturday. My thoughts and prayers are the families and friends those wounded and killed and, of course, my friend and colleague Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Gabby is a dedicated public servant who speaks with a strong voice on behalf of her constituents. I pray for her continued recovery so that she can return home to her husband and children. I also hope she will soon be able to return to Washington to continue her work on behalf of the people of Arizona.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to write, email or call my offices. I am committed to keeping free and open lines of communication with the families I represent. With your input, and that of the brave men and women of our federal, state and local law enforcement, we will work to ensure that the violence of the few does not prevent our government from helping the many.

I remain honored to serve you in the United States House of Representatives.

Washington, D.C.-U.S. Representative Heath Shuler continued working to show the need for a more moderate and consensus-building course for the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives by running for Speaker of the House against Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and John Boehner (R-OH), despite knowing the attempt would not be successful.

"The American people are tired of the usual partisan bickering and gridlock that prevents us from moving our country forward," Shuler said. "We need more moderate voices in Congress -- on both sides of the political aisle -- that represent the majority of Americans, not just the fringes on the right and left. That's what this campaign was about."

Shuler received a total of eleven votes, including the support of fellow North Carolinians Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre, in what is typically a straight party-line vote between two candidates. A total of nineteen Democrats declined to support re-electing former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the post.

Rep. Mike Ross (D-AK), who supported Shuler for Speaker said, "I proudly voted for Heath Shuler as I have known him for many years and have come to deeply respect him as a person and as a leader in the Congress. He is a fellow leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, a fiscal conservative, and someone who fights for working families in his home state and all across America. Heath Shuler's bipartisan, commonsense approach to legislating is something that would have served this nation well."

The American people expect us to work for them, not for political parties," Shuler concluded. "Today, Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi both spoke about working together. I am hopeful that as we begin this new Congress we will be able to do just that. I look forward to working with the leadership of both parties and will hold them accountable for the promises they made today."

The last few weeks of December brought a rush of activity in Congress. Many joked that our Lame Duck session was anything but lame. In the last week before Christmas, I was proud to see a number of important bills passed in the House of Representatives:

• The Anti-Border Corruption Act, H.R. 6472, a bill I introduced to prevent corruption among U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents and ensure effective border security;
• The Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510, which represents the most sweeping overhaul of our food safety system in 70 years while protecting small farmers like those who are so vital to our Western North Carolina economy;
• The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, H.R. 2142, a Blue Dog backed bill which will bring increased accountability and transparency to the government by implementing a results-oriented approach that will enable Congress to invest in programs with proven effectiveness and stop funding those that are not effective.

This Wednesday, as I am sworn in to the 112th Congress, I will be thinking about these bills and other legislation, past and future, that will improve our economy, bring jobs back to America, care for our troops and veterans, protect our environment, and control our national debt.

I wish everyone in Western North Carolina a happy and prosperous 2011. I am confident that this year will bring forward progress and economic growth for our region and our country. In this coming year and in the 112th Congress, I resolve to continue to work to represent those of the 11th Congressional District to the best of my ability.

Please don't hesitate to write, email, or call me with any questions or concerns. Now, as always, it is an honor to serve you in the U.S. House. My family and staff join in wishing you all the best in the year to come.