Charles W. Stenholm: “no one is proposing that Congress change the methodology of calculating CPI. Everyone agrees that only BLS should change…”

“no one is proposing that Congress change the methodology of calculating CPI. Everyone agrees that only BLS should change the methodology for determining CPI, and anyone who suggests that the blue dog budget or any other budget proposal would change the methodology for determining CPI is distorting the issue for political purposes. What the blue dog budget proposes is that BLS be given the resources and the authority to make whatever changes necessary to improve the accuracy of the CPI, change how CPI is used to index Government programs to the cost of living while BLS improves CPI. I think it is important to remind all of us today that numerous experts, including BLS, have warned Congress about the limitations of using CPI to make cost-of-living adjustments. The Consumer Price Index was never intended to be used to make cost-of-living adjustments. Congress decided to use CPI as an approximation of increases in cost of living to index Government programs. In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, BLS Commissioner Katharine Abraham stated, "Although I believe that we can make important improvements in the CPI, I do not believe it is possible to produce a perfect cost-of-living measure." That means that those who use the data we are able to produce should recognize the limitations of those data and exercise judgment accordingly concerning whether and how the data should be used.”