The U.S. Treasury Department has pegged August 2nd as the day when the United States will exhaust its borrowing authority and default on its debt, unless an agreement is reached to further raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Because of Washington’s reckless spending habits, every American child born today already owes more than $46,000 to our creditors – that is close to the annual income of most Michigan families. With staggering figures like this, is it any surprise that Admiral Mike Mullen... Read more

U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this evening joined his House colleagues in voting to pass the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011” (H.R. 2560), an innovative three-pronged approach to tackle our nation’s soaring debt and put our fiscal house back in order. Specifically, this legislation would cut total spending by $111 billion in FY 2012, reducing non-defense discretionary spending below FY 2008, pre-stimulus levels; implement s... Read more

With June’s national unemployment rate above 9 percent, we must remain focused on policies that create jobs and help put our economy back on track. In the past six months as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have continued to advance an agenda that puts Michigan’s working families and job creators first. From promoting an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy that creates jobs, lowers energy prices, and fortifies our energy security, to putting a halt on overreaching, job-stifl... Read more

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) yesterday released a progress report on the committee’s work in the first half of the year, revealing that the panel has produced legislation to save taxpayers close to $90 billion, protect nearly 4 million jobs from being destroyed by job-crushing regulations, and create another 150,000+ jobs via American Energy Initiative legislation to increase domestic production and energy security while bringing down prices at the pump. Th... Read more

By Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) - From the Tri-City Record, 07/07/2011 As Michigan families continue to fight their way through high unemployment and the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, our government must be committed to policies that promote private sector growth and job creation. I have strongly supported such an agenda on a whole host of fronts, from removing regulatory barriers that needlessly hamper local business to working to restore economic confidence by putting our na... Read more

By Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) - One year ago today, the Obama administration declared the summer of 2010, “Recovery Summer.” Even as the unemployment rate soared to a staggering 9.8 percent, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner penned an out-of-touch oped entitled, “Welcome to the Recovery.” With the unemployment rate still hovering above 9 percent a year later, Democrats are finally singing a different tune. President Obama’s former economic advisor Larry Summers this week admitted, “The United Sta... Read more

Click HERE to listen West Michigan Congressman Fred Upton says negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling should lead to major structural changes. Upton says that will mean some tough decisions on cutting spending. The Saint Joseph Republican says no one wants to see the United States default on its debt, but he says spending reductions are needed for the next fiscal year. Upton says Congress is also overdue to tackle comprehensive reform of the tax code. The Congressman says he is opti... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) praised this evening’s House vote to reject a so-called “clean” increase in the statutory debt limit, which would raise the debt limit without reductions in federal spending or budgetary reforms. The measure, H.R. 1954, would have provided for a $2.4 trillion increase to the nation’s already-historic $14.3 trillion debt limit – the amount necessary under the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2012. The increase was soundly rejected by a bipartisan v... Read more

By Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) - The Board of Trustees for Social Security and Medicare recently released a bombshell of a report that shows this essential health safety net is coming apart at the seams. The report estimates the Medicare trust fund will run dry in 2024, five years earlier than last year’s estimate, and went on to explain, “The fund is not adequately financed over the next ten years.” In an alternative scenario released late Friday afternoon that received less press coverage, CMS Chi... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) made the following statement in response to an agreement reached this evening by House Republicans and the White House to avoid a shutdown of the government while also enacting historic cuts in federal spending. Final details to cut federal spending some $78.5 billion below the President’s 2011 budget proposal will continue to be negotiated between the House and Senate through April 14th. Tonight, the Congress passed a short-term resolution that will keep th... Read more