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Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LOUISVILLE — U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess is resigning of his own accord.
The North Texas Republican and former obstetrician-gynecologist has served in Congress for more than two decades, making his mark on both energy and health policy through several key committee roles. Known by his colleagues as an affable, soft-spoken policy wonk, he was named chairman of the powerful Rules Committee earlier this year, which plays a major role in determining which bills make it to the House, but will step down as chairman just four months later.
Burgess is one of several longtime Texans who have left Washington in recent years, along with Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth, who is finishing up her term, and Rep. Kevin Brady of Houston, who is retiring at the end of 2022. At a time when the average age of House members is rising and many are serving into their 80s, Burgess will be stepping down at the peak of her influence.
Burgess, 74, spoke to The Texas Tribune about his experience as a doctor and politician and the direction of the party going forward.
MPs who have left the party in recent years have cited gridlock and infighting as their reasons. Did that influence your decision?
No, it just happened over time. The founders never intended for these positions to be permanent. I am one of the truly lucky ones. I have been able to work as a doctor in my hometown for 25 years and as a representative for my hometown for 22 years. I really couldn’t ask for more.
Politicians are accusing each other of staying in office longer than necessary, pointing to President Biden’s age for example. Was setting your own terms for leaving office a factor for you?
We only have a limited time on this earth and some very sad things have happened. [Former Dallas Rep.] Eddie Bernice Johnson retired and unfortunately passed away within a year. I want to spend a few more years after this job doing other things, doing things for my family. I think I’ll do something else after this, but I’m not sure what it is. I didn’t have a job lined up, but I decided not to run for reelection.
(Burgess said his medical license is still valid, but he no longer has malpractice insurance.)
Other longtime members of the Texas delegation have left or retired recently, including Republican Reps. Kay Granger and Kevin Brady. (Longtime Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, retired before her death last year, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston passed away last month.) What advice would you give to the Texas delegation as it moves into a new chapter?
And keep in mind, the Texas delegation on the Republican side is about 10 people larger than when I was there, so the delegation is a lot larger now, so it makes it a little bit more difficult.
We would get together as a family every Thursday at noon. When I first became a Congressman, the thing that impressed me most was the unity of the Texas delegation. Every good thing that happened during my time as a Congressman was because of the Texas delegation. The only reason I was on the Energy and Commerce Committee early in my career was because of the Texas delegation. [U.S. Rep.] Tom DeLay. Some of the work that I’ve done has been bipartisan, but it’s been through my relationships with the Texas delegation.
Would you say that the cohesion is still there, or is it different?
It seems to have decreased. [Former] Senator [Kay Bailey] Hutchinson was very vocal about making sure the Republican and Democratic Texas delegations met at least once a month, and because she was the senior member, she called us all into her office and we had quite a few people there.
We just don’t have that much unity yet. Even on the Republican side, the weekly lunches that we’ve had for years have seen attendance drop off a little bit. I think we should meet.
We don’t all agree on things. At the same time, when we work as a group, we’re pretty powerful. When you have 24 members of the Texas delegation, that’s a pretty big block to move and people have to look to you.
You became Chairman of the House Rules Committee in March, a very important position (the Committee is the legislative “traffic controller” and controls which bills get a vote on the full House floor). Can you tell us about the power of that gavel and what it means to have taken on that role in such a short time?
The Rules Committee is a behind-the-scenes committee that has a very important function. All the work that gets done in the committee, every hearing that gets held, every bill that gets amended, all of that work gets brought to the Rules Committee, and we get it in a format to bring it to the House floor. We are such a large organization that if we brought a bill to the floor without any framework, we wouldn’t get anything done. We wouldn’t operate as a governing body.
This is the most open process in the House. Anyone who wants to participate and speak can participate. In fact, most members don’t take advantage of this. If you want to speak, the Rules Committee is always the place to do so. As far as I can remember, no one has taken you up on that offer.
In your years as a member of Congress, what is your proudest accomplishment? What stands out in your memory?
The region is experiencing rapid population growth and a great need for infrastructure development, but it would never have reached this population level without the decision of people in their 40s and 50s to move forward with the construction of Lake Lewisville Dam.
A few years ago, this dam was deemed unsafe, in fact dangerous. I worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine what was wrong and what needed to be fixed. Water was getting deep under the dam, threatening its integrity. So I raised the money to stabilize the dam and keep the lake from spilling out. This will be a story that will be told long after I leave Congress. This community cannot survive without water.
Other big things have happened. In 2017, I helped reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration. I helped put hearing aids over the counter. We reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program with one Democrat vote. It was paid for.
Finally, and this one doesn’t make the headlines, the state senate just passed a bill that’s in the works to allow a mental health facility to be built in Dallas. There was an exemption written into the original Medicaid law of 1965 that remains in place: a hospital could only allocate 16 beds and would not be eligible for Medicaid coverage.
I Abolished IMD [Institution for Mental Diseases] With Medicaid exclusions coming into effect in March, Medicaid will be available when this new mental health facility opens in Dallas.
The recent storms have had a personal impact on many Texans, which has led them to think more deeply about energy. What would you say to people worried about energy in Texas?
ERCOT projects that by 2030, the amount of new energy supply that’s going to be needed is going to be massive. We know we’re going to need more energy supply and some of it is going to have to be natural gas. That’s the bridge to the future. At some point, we’ll have renewables, wind, solar, and we’ll find better ways to store that energy.
One area where we are lagging behind in this country is nuclear power, and I believe we are even further behind. People talk about small modular reactors, but let’s not forget the older nuclear plants like Comanche Peak. If we could expand Comanche Peak onto an existing site and double the power of the nuclear plant, that would be a big win in an area with a growing population.
You wrote a book in 2011 about repealing Obamacare. That never happened. Do you still feel the same way? Is that a priority that people should pursue in the next term?
I hope some smart, inquisitive person in the media will look into how much of Obamacare that was passed in 2009 is no longer in existence. There has been a bipartisan effort to repeal something called the Cadillac tax. [a 40% tax on high-cost insurance plans]This is, in my opinion, one of the most harmful things Congress has ever done. [former President Donald] President Trump essentially repealed it in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the tax was then permanently repealed in a bipartisan vote in 2019).
So the most nasty and nasty parts of Obamacare are gone now. The other two things Trump did — allowing limited-term plans and eliminating the individual mandate — really relieved the pressure.
However, there are still many negative aspects of the current law that could be improved.
You’re an obstetrician-gynaecologist, and you’ve made it clear that you’re pro-life, but you say that ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages should be treated separately. [from abortion]What advice would you give to your party in addressing this issue?
Well, this is now a state issue. I think the state needs to pay more attention to this issue than it has in the past. There is no question about who needs treatment for miscarriage. It’s not hard to do. When I was a doctor, I was a pro-life OB-GYN and did not perform elective abortions, but I did treat miscarriages frequently. Unfortunately, 12% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Everyone knows someone who has had a miscarriage.
In 2018, when I was chair of the Health Subcommittee, I passed a bill that would have allowed for the creation of a maternal mortality review committee. I am pro-life, which means we have to respect mothers and families as professionals. We have to be prepared to care for people. Parkland Hospital has statistically superior outcomes because they take very good care of their patients. What we really need is the right things being done. What can we do to make hospitals more like Parkland?
What are you most looking forward to now that you’ve retired and moved back to Texas?
Being the Rules chairman takes up so much of my time. I don’t really think about it. I don’t think about work. There are a lot of cynics saying he’s in for a big payday. No, I’m unemployed. If the Texas Tribune is hiring…
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