Michael Burgess: “I think we'll look forward to having similar discussions in the future, probably frequently, because it's important that…”

“I think we'll look forward to having similar discussions in the future, probably frequently, because it's important that we not just have the debate with both sides of the Chamber. It's also important that we have the conversation with the American people. I would remind people that the Republican budget that was passed in April was an aspirational document. It wasn't terribly long. If you look at something that becomes an actual law, it can get fairly long and intricate, but the budget was an aspirational document that set the goals. In 10-years' time, we want to see Medicare on a sustainable path. We want to preserve, protect and defend it for the future, and this aspirational document sets the pathway for achieving that goal. All of the work that will be done to actually develop the legislative product will be done in the committees that Mr. Thompson and I are on in the House and that Members of the other body are on in the Senate. The actual work will be done on those committees, and there will be ample opportunity for people to comment, for people to contact their legislators. There will be periods of open comment at the Federal agencies as those laws are written. They won't be written in the next couple of months. They will be written over the next several years.…”