REP. XAVIER BECERRA (D-CA)
Member
Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, has represented California’s 31st congressional district since 1992. He is currently the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a member of the House Ways and Means and Budget committees.
Rep. Becerra has historically voted in favor of deficit-fighting packages, including the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, was expected to cut the deficit by $127 billion over five years.
But Rep. Becerra is also in favor of larger government. While he voted for the recent health reform bill, he wasn’t pleased with it. He said he preferred a publicly-funded health care system and wanted to allow illegal immigrants the right to buy health insurance. And when Commission chairman Erskine Bowles, also a Democrat, recently praised fiscal austerity measures undertaken in Britain, Rep. Becerra disagreed. “How we resolve our economic challenge is premised on an American solution … It won’t be the British solution,” Becerra said.
Rep. Becerra is a member of the Commission’s tax reform working group. A July 22 Twitter post seemed to indicate the Congressman favors increasing taxes on all Americans in order to close the deficit. “Mtg w/ Fiscal Commission tax reform group; we all must share in pain if we want to share in gain of balanced budgets,” Rep. Becerra Twittered. Rep. Becerra also discussed possible tax increases with Southern California Public Radio.
You can view the remarks Rep. Becerra’s at Commission meetings here.
