U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan is co-chair of the bipartisan 29-member Florida congressional delegation and currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, international trade, health care, welfare, Social Security and Medicare. Buchanan is second in seniority on the committee after Leader Kevin Brady and is the lead Republican of the Health Subcommittee, a key panel that has broad jurisdiction over traditional Medicare, the Medicare prescription drug benefit and Medicare Advantage. The subcommittee also oversees issues relating to medical education, private health insurance programs and subsidies delivered through the tax code, consumer-directed health savings tools and issues related to the quality of and access to care. Buchanan is also the co-chair of House Republican Leader McCarthy’s Healthy Future Task Force which aims to develop Republican health reform initiatives.
"If we can grow our exports, it will help Florida’s economy as we send our goods, services, and products to people around the world.”
Free trade means jobs. As Florida’s only member on the Trade Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over international trade policy, I am committed to expanding trade and investment opportunities in the global marketplace to create jobs and grow the economy.
The economic benefits of trade are well documented. International trade supports more than 38 million American jobs. In Florida alone, international trade – both exports and imports – supports 2.2 million jobs. Florida exports tens of billions of dollars in goods and services annually, which range from aerospace materials, to citrus products, to travel services. The vast majority of Florida exporters are small and medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 workers. International trade agreements create a huge opportunity to help grow the American economy. Free trade can ease trade barriers and open up foreign markets to U.S. goods and services.