Panel to look into bipartisan debt-reduction commissions

Lawmakers looking to stem the flow of red ink are trying to harness growing concerns over the $1.4 trillion budget deficit to pass legislation establishing a bipartisan commission to force Congress to address the fiscal imbalance.

"It is just clear to me that the regular process cannot deal with a debt burden of this proportion," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said Monday.

Conrad said about 11 senators met with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Friday, where they said they would not support an increase in the debt limit without legislation forming a bipartisan debt reduction commission.

"There are 11 of us who have taken this position; we believe there are several more who believe that this is critically important as well," Conrad said.

His comments come as his panel Tuesday will hold a hearing on proposals for long-term fiscal stability. The panel will hear from Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and Frank Wolf, R-Va., who are all working on commission legislation.

Other witnesses will include Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Budget; David Walker, president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a former GAO comptroller general; William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of DHE Consulting, a former CBO director.

The hearing comes after the Treasury Department and OMB last month put the fiscal 2009 budget deficit at $1.4 trillion.

Any commission legislation "has to reflect a real interest in doing something rather than a way to avoid doing something," MacGuineas said. "There needs to be a broad commitment for action and then the commission has to be the vehicle that helps it, but it can't do the heavy lifting of making people who don't want to fix the problem fix it because, commission or no commission, it is going to require some really difficult policy choices."

Conrad and Budget ranking member Judd Gregg are working on legislation to establish a bipartisan commission that would consider all options to address the deficit, including revenues and taxes, as well as mandatory and discretionary spending.

A previous incarnation of the bill, introduced in 2007, would have established a 16-member task force of eight Democrats and eight Republicans, designated by congressional leaders and the president. Fourteen members of the task force would have been members of Congress, and the remaining two members would have been from the administration. The Treasury secretary would have chaired the task force.

Cooper, Wolf, Voinovich, and Lieberman have introduced their own commission legislation, which has nine co-sponsors in the Senate and 85 in the House.

Wolf said Monday a commission is the only way to address the issue.

"Congress has failed to address this," he said.

Their commission would hold public meetings across the country, according to testimony Wolf will give.

"There has to an honest discussion with the American public about the choices our country faces," Wolf said. "Everything -- and I mean everything, from entitlement spending to tax policy -- would be on the table."

The commission would then develop recommendations, which Congress would be required to vote up or down on the panel's proposal, similar to the base closing process. "There would be no avoiding the hard choices," Wolf said.

Feinstein is working with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on commission legislation. Introduced in January, it would create a bipartisan entitlement commission to guarantee the long-term financial stability of Social Security and Medicare.

The commission would consist of 15 members selected for their financial expertise.

Of the members, seven would be selected from the majority party, seven from the minority party and one from an independent, non-affiliated party. The panel would make recommendations only when two-thirds of its members are in agreement and Congress would be required to vote within 120 days of receiving commission reports.