Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., a top congressional foil of Republican attempts to replace Obamacare, announced a bid Wednesday to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee by calling for preserving net neutrality and tackling high drug prices.
Pallone has served as the top Democrat on the committee since 2015 and has served on the committee since 1992. He previously was the top Democrat on the panel’s subcommittee on health from 2006 to 2014.
“Next year, we will follow through on pushing policies that build a stronger economy, create more good-paying jobs and protect consumers from skyrocketing costs that make it increasingly difficult to make ends meet,” Pallone said in a statement. “We’ll also conduct vigorous oversight of the Trump administration, so Washington works again for the people not the special interests.”
In March 2017, Pallone led Democrats to a 27-hour markup of the House’s Obamacare repeal bill.
However, he has worked with Republicans on several compromises, including the opioid package that President Trump signed into law in October. He also worked on the 21st Century Cures Act that President Obama signed in late 2016.
It remains unclear if Pallone will make a bid for introducing “Medicare for all” if he assumes the chairmanship. Pallone did not sign on to a House version of a bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would extend Medicare to all Americans.
“Medicare for all” has started to gain support among Democrats and was a key plank among progressive challengers in 2018.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., has been a staunch supporter of the legislation. Pallone unsuccessfully ran against Booker in 2014.
Pallone laid out a list of priorities if he is elected to be chairman of the committee, which is responsible for healthcare, environmental, and technology issues.
His priorities include strengthening Medicare and Medicaid and addressing climate change by in part “holding the administration accountable for its policies that make it worse.”
Pallone added he wants the committee to “restore environmental protections gutted over the last two years.”
