Press Release

Congressmen Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07) and Tom Reed (NY-23) introduced a resolution this week to move beyond Congressional gridlock and develop a new national strategic agenda with shared goals for our nation that both parties can agree on. A bipartisan group of 26 members—all part of the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus—are supporting the bill, H-Res 207.

The national strategic agenda aims to solve problems by setting goals first, then working through the details together. The four shared goals are:

• Create 25,000,000 new jobs over the next 10 years;
• Balance the Federal budget by 2030;
• Secure Medicare and Social Security for the next 75 years; and
• Make the United States energy secure by 2024

"I came to Congress to work with people, regardless of party, to solve this country's challenges and put the people of Sacramento County before politics," said Bera. "That starts by agreeing on goals for our country. Everyone should be able to support creating jobs, balancing the budget to address our debt, securing Medicare and Social Security for our seniors, and securing America's energy needs, and the American people deserve to have their leaders work to address these important issues."

"Working toward tackling our nation's greatest challenges is why I came to Washington," said Reed. "We must reaffirm our promises to the elderly by securing Social Security and Medicare. We need to ensure our debt is not paid for on the backs of our kids. We need to create jobs and opportunity and we must work towards energy security. These issues are critical and I am humbled to work towards solving them."

Co-Sponsors include Reps. Brad Ashford, Sanford Bishop, Carlos Curbelo, Ryan Costello , Rodney Davis, Charles Dent, Robert Dold, Chaka Fattah, Michael Fitzpatrick, Tulsi Gabbard, Christopher Gibson, Jim Himes , Jared Huffman, Lynn Jenkins, Adam Kinzinger, Daniel Lipinski, David Loebsack, Rick Nolan, Scott Peters, Reid Ribble, Scott Rigell, Kurt Schrader, Kyrsten Sinema, and Todd Young.

Bera has represented Sacramento County in Congress since 2013. Born and raised in California, he is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He's fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country's debt in a responsible way. One of Bera's first acts in Congress was to help lead the effort to pass the No Budget No Pay Act, which says if members of Congress don't pass a budget, they don't get paid. As a leader of the No Labels' Problem Solvers, he's working with people from both parties to find bipartisan solutions to our nation's challenges. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Rep. Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit https://www.bera.house.gov.