U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb vows to protect Medicare, pre-existing conditions protections

Beaver County Times (PA)

Oct. 17--Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb said he has spent a lot of time in Beaver County over the summer and fall meeting voters in the new 17th Congressional District and their reaction has been far from the "extremely divided" political culture that dominates the national media.

"People have given me the opportunity to make my case," Lamb, D-18, Mount Lebanon, told The Times editorial board in an endorsement meeting on Monday.

Lamb, 34, said there is a "sense of optimism" among county residents, much of it attributed to the $6 billion Shell Chemical ethane cracker plant, and that has reinforced his belief that there is an unacknowledged middle ground.

"People basically want a positive, clean campaign," he said. "They want us to say what we're for, not attack the other guy."

The "other guy" in the 17th District race is U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-12, Sewickley, making the contest the only one in the country in which two incumbents are competing. Rothfus has served three two-year terms, and Lamb has been in office since April after winning a nationally watched special election against GOP state Rep. Rick Saccone.

Besides Beaver County, the 17th District includes part of Cranberry Township in Butler County and a large portion of Allegheny County, including Sewickley and Leetsdale, and Moon, Crescent, Leet, Findlay and North Fayette townships.

Lamb said he and Rothfus differ on health care, including "basic support" for Medicare. Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have said that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid could face cuts to address a growing deficit, which has exploded following a $1.5 trillion Republican tax-cut plan passed in December.

"I haven't voted to cut Medicare, and I never will," Lamb said. "We need to strengthen and expand that program rather than cut it."

Prescription drug costs also need to be addressed, especially because of their impact on seniors, he said. "It's bankrupting people," said Lamb, who said he supports a plan for Medicare to bargain with drug companies to lower prices.

The failed Republican health-care overhaul bill would have allowed insurance companies to charge people with pre-existing conditions more, Lamb noted, and Rothfus voted repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which guarantees protections for those Americans.

Last week, Lamb and other Pennsylvania Democrats in the U.S. House released a report saying that more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions are at risk of losing their coverage if the Trump administration is successful in overturning regulations in the ACA, or Obamacare.

"On health care, Keith and his party, they're very sure of what they're against," Lamb said. "They are sure they're against the Affordable Care Act, but they have never made a good-hearted effort to replace it with anything and I think that's a problem. You can't leave people out to dry."

President Donald Trump tweeted an endorsement of Rothfus on Oct. 13 and again tried connecting Lamb to frequent GOP target House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, calling him a "Pelosi puppet-weak on crime." Lamb, a Marine veteran and former federal prosecutor, has maintained that he would not support Pelosi for House speaker.

"We need new leaders on both sides of the aisle," Lamb said, saying the Pelosi attack is "a distraction" from the failure of the GOP and Rothfus to address health care, Social Security, Medicare and infrastructure.

"That's a difference in the way we campaign. Keith has been in Congress for six years. I've been there for six months, but all his ads are about me and all his mail is about me," Lamb said. "That just goes back to, I think it's out of step with what people want."

Lamb has said Democratic calls for impeaching Trump because of Russian ties in the election are far too early because Special Counsel Robert Mueller has not issued a report and Congress has not seen any evidence gathered.

On Monday, Lamb, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said House members need to fulfill their duty to the American people, transitioning to discussing a project to make U.S. Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs medical records electronically compatible.

"Our focus should be on the care of the people that put us there, not on the personalities in the White House or the party," Lamb said. "If we exercise our powers with that philosophy, I think we'll do the right thing by every American."

If Democrats retake the House, Lamb said improving the Affordable Care Act should top their agenda along with protecting Social Security, for which Lamb has co-sponsored a bill to guarantee benefits until 2100.

Other efforts, he said, should be focused on helping the middle class, such as improving the economy so that Americans are not just working but have livable wages, and addressing workforce training and infrastructure, including locks and dams.

Lamb has criticized the $1.5 trillion Republican tax cut, but he recently voted for a House bill, expected to go nowhere in the Senate, that would have made cuts permanent and increased the deficit by $3.2 trillion in a decade.

The first GOP plan ignored the middle class to benefit corporations and the second bill would have made middle-class tax cuts permanent, Lamb said. He explained that he did not like how Republicans have cut taxes without providing a way to pay for them, but not every bill will be perfect when working across the aisle.

"I was willing to give them my vote on that one as a way of telling people of the middle class, 'Hey, I'm serious about tax relief for you, and we can go back to the drawing board to fix deficiencies in the overall tax cuts we've taken on to try and make it a little bit more fair for everybody,'" Lamb said.

Lamb said he sees the potential for advanced manufacturing in the corridor between Pittsburgh International Airport and the cracker plant with Defense Department grants driving innovation and creating a market that could bring trade and technology jobs.

And, Lamb reiterated his support for closing gun-law loopholes that allow for criminals and those diagnosed with mental health issues to purchase weapons. He told The Times in the spring that he opposes banning semi-automatic weapons because millions are already owned by law-abiding Americans.

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