The Issues
A founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Miller is considered a stalwart of the left. He pushes liberal positions on education, labor and the environment, and he voted with the Democrats 97.6 percent of the time during the 110th Congress.He was a critic of Gephardt for being too centrist, and he backed Pelosi early in her run for minority leader against the more moderate Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Miller’s friendship with Pelosi made him a close ally during the Democrats’ “100 hours” agenda. In 2006, he wrote the ethics reform that became the basis for the bill passed in early 2007, and he led the charge for raising the minimum wage, writing that bill, as well.
As someone who voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq, Miller has been a vocal critic of the war since its start. But he has said he doesn’t want to play “political chicken” and withhold funding for the war while it continues.
He is also a strong believer in Congressional oversight of the executive branch and the corporate world. After a series of mining accidents in 2007, Miller chaired committee hearings to look mine safety and determined that senior employees withheld information that could have prevented the disaster in the Crandall Canyon Mine. He has consistently pushed a labor-friendly agenda that includes making it easier for workers to form unions, often with little success.
Education
A longtime member and the current chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Miller has pushed for increased funding for primary and secondary education. He was part of a pre-inauguration meeting with George W. Bush and Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) to discuss education funding, and the result was the beginning of the No Child Left Behind Act, which became law in 2002. Since then, Miller has supported the ideas behind the law, but has criticized the administration’s handling of the program, saying it has been underfunded by $56 billion since 2002. "I'm very proud of No Child Left Behind," Miller said. "It's hard to say publicly."
He has also worked to help fund college education. Miller was a leading proponent of the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which lowered interest rates for college loans and boosted financial aid for low-income students.
"This bill will help ensure that no qualified student is prevented from going to college because of the cost," Miller said.
When the Democrats won the House majority in 2007, Miller became Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee and laid out a long list of education priorities that included universal pre-kindergarten and expanded Head Start, as well as increased Pell Grants for higher-education, which was part of the college cost bill.
The Economy
Miller voted for the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street in Oct. 2008, and then chaired hearings to examine how the economic downturn impacted retirement security for American workers. Nevertheless, he said he was unhappy about voting for it.
"No one wants to make a commitment like that. And we all know that this bill alone is insufficient to end the recession, create jobs, and cure the economy," he said. "But this bill is one critical piece of the puzzle toward solving our economic crisis."
Environment
Helping to turn Death Valley and Joshua Tree national monuments into National Parks under the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, Miller has been dubbed the “green giant” for his body of work on environmental issues.
He is still a member of and takes a great deal of interest in the House Natural Resources Committee, which he chaired and then was ranking Democrat on from 1991 until he moved to Education and Labor in 2001. Miller has battled Republicans for trying to change the Endangered Species Act and for wanting to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
To combat calls for more drilling, Miller introduced what he called the “Use it or Lose it Act,” which would have taken leased land away from oil companies that sat unused, but the measure failed.
Health-Care Reform
In 2009, President Obama made reforming the nation's health-care system his top legislative priority, and Miller joined Reps. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) in unveiling the House Democrats' health-reform bill.
The three Democrats are the respective chairmen of the House committees with jurisdiction over health care, Miller of Education and Labor, Waxman of Energy and Commerce and Rangel of Ways and Means. Rather than producing three bills, the men pledged to write a “tri-committee” bill.
The bill, estimated to cost more than $1 billion, includes progressive reforms such as a mandate that all Americans obtain health insurance with discounts for those who can't afford it, an expansion of the government-funded Medicaid program, and a controversial new public health-insurance option. The bill requires employers to provide health insurance to their employees or face a stiff fine equal to a percentage of payroll
If passed, the bill would pay for reform by increasing income taxes on the rich on a sliding scale. Individuals earning more than $280,000 per year would face a one percent increase, and families earning more than $1 million annually would pay a 5.4 percent "surcharge."
The Congressional Budget Office's Doug Elmendorf estimated that the bill would extend coverage to 37 million Americans, leaving 17 million uninsured, half of whom would be illegal immigrants.
In November 2009, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)proposed a health-care reform bill that merged the bills drafted by the three committees. In order to get conservative Democrats on board, Pelosi's plan included a publicly-funded health insurance option, but one that paid doctors and hospitals at higher rates than Medicare. Just before the bill went to a vote, Pelosi had to make significant concessions to Republicans by promising that the public plan would not fund abortions. In the end, the bill squeaked through the House by a vote of 220 to 215.
