Brian Higgins is a member of the United States House of Representatives serving New York’s 26th congressional district, which includes portions of Erie and Niagara Counties.
Widely accepted as the principal architect of waterfront development in Buffalo and Western New York, Brian led the fight for a quarter-billion dollar federal relicensing settlement from the New York Power Authority that continues to finance the transformation of Buffalo's long-neglected Inner and Outer Harbor waterfront areas. In our nation’s capital, Brian is an advocate for policies important to our regional and national economies. Brian is an avowed supporter of increased funding for biomedical research – an area creating jobs throughout the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus – and remains a strong voice for robust infrastructure investment, for “nation building here at home.”
Prior to its creation in 1965, only 50 percent of seniors had health insurance. Today, Medicare provides one of the most important guarantees in our society – the guarantee that if you are an older American and you get sick, you will get the care that you need without going broke. Brian is committed to protecting the Medicare guarantee, opposing plans that would force seniors to buy insurance on the open market, and making sure that the program remains affordable and continues gives seniors access to the care they deserve.
Social Security is the most successful antipoverty program in American history and we must keep it strong for the future. The formula used to set the annual cost of living increase is out of date and does not properly weigh the price increases in housing and medical care. Brian supports using a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to more accurately reflect the costs incurred by seniors. And rather than cut benefits or ask Americans to invest their Social Security in Wall Street, Brian thinks we should lift the cap on what very high income Americans are asked to pay into the system.