I Strongly Support Social Security and Medicare 

I'm not going to beat around the bush. I strongly support Social Security and Medicare and oppose plans to cut them. In fact, I am working hard to protect those programs. While some in Washington are willing to risk your financial security with reckless spending on countless other proposals, I am committed to restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington while fully funding benefits for these vital programs.

Our government made a promise to seniors and those who are approaching retirement age that Social Security and Medicare would be there for them in their retirement. Workers have paid into these programs and lived their lives depending on this promise. I will continue to make sure we deliver on that promise.

This brings me to why I am setting the record straight. You may have seen a negative ad against me trying to scare seniors about cuts to Social Security and Medicare. You should know that even a fact-checking organization Politifact has labeled the ad as misleading.

The group behind the ad is attempting to tie me to a proposed budget from the Republican Study Committee (RSC). The RSC is a group of elected officials who come together to discuss proposed solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing our country. Some of their ideas are great, others would only make matters worse.

I am a member of the Republican Study Committee because I believe we all must work together to find solutions, but I do not support every proposal from every member of the group. In fact, I strongly oppose the budget proposal mentioned in the attack. This proposal does not have enough support to be brought to the House floor for a vote, but if it did, I would vote against it and recommend others do the same.

In my view, the biggest threat to Social Security and Medicare is out-of-control government spending. We have all heard about the demographic challenges facing Social Security as families have fewer children and there are fewer people entering the workforce. These are challenges to be addressed, but the best way to address these issues is with a fiscally strong federal budget that focuses on our priorities, not unnecessary new spending. By controlling federal spending and making Social Security and Medicare top priorities, we can protect these programs for years to come.

An example of this was last year’s Fiscal Responsibility Act. This bill finally made some progress on controlling spending in Washington, and importantly, it did so while protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Veterans’ health care. In a time of Washington dysfunction, I voted in support of the Fiscal Responsibility Act which passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support and was signed into law. This bill can serve as a model of how we can protect programs like Social Security and Medicare for the long term.

In the same breath, the attack ad is criticizing my vote in support of the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R.1). Despite what they want you to believe, this legislation unleashes domestic energy production and lifts regulatory burdens for the construction of more energy infrastructure. The bill reduces our reliance on adversaries like China and Russia because the more energy we produce, the less we need to import. The Lower Energy Costs Act also repeals that $6 billion tax implemented by President Biden that raised the cost for you to heat your home.

The attack ad is trying to mislead you about my record. Do not be fooled. I am working to preserve critical programs like Social Security and Medicare for future generations and my priority remains protecting those in retirement and individuals approaching retirement age. We cannot allow promises made to seniors to be broken because of dysfunction in Washington.

I will always fight to preserve Social Security and Medicare, regardless of what outside groups may claim.

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

Click here to subscribe to my e-newsletter