Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that 45 senators are moving forward in support of legislation based on the Simpson-Bowles fiscal reform report.
"We're doing that now. It's being written. The bill will be written and we're going to ask for a vote. There's 45 of us," Manchin said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Manchin said although the group of senators is working towards producing the legislation, the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would help spur the legislative process.
"He [Reid] says 'bring it to me,' the only thing I would ask is, 'Majority Reid, we need a little bit of help.' You have all the resources if you could help us write this thing, put all of your people together and if everybody believed in this and really put something together, we could get it going," Manchin said.
As chairmen of the president’s fiscal commission, former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles produced a report recommending ways to reduce the country's debt and deficit.
The Bowles-Simpson commission recommended limiting future spending growth to half the projected rate of inflation through 2020. It generated revenue from a simplification of the tax code that would eliminate deductions while lowering rates to spur growth. The plan also reformed Social Security by cutting benefits.
The Bowles-Simpson plan did not receive sufficient backing from commission members to be presented to Congress as a legislative measure. Both Bowles and Simpson have predicted that their plan will be revisited as the debt crisis continues.
Manchin has praised Simpson-Bowles in the past, calling for its adoption during the failed deficit-reduction supercommittee negotiations in November.
When asked why the Simpson-Bowles proposal has taken so long to adopt as law, Manchin laughed. "I've only been there a year and it seems like an eternity."
"I can't tell you that," he said.
Lawmakers from both parties have pressed the president to implement Simpson-Bowles.
The so-called Gang of Six, made up of three Senate Republicans and three Senate Democrats, worked on an agreement to put the commission's recommendations into legislation. While the lawmakers agreed to a framework, they did not draft legislative language.
The Democratic senator and former West Virginia governor lamented the inability of Congress to take action on deficit reduction, as well as produce a budget.
"I don't have an excuse. There's no excuse. I would have been impeached as governor. I would have been impeached. I had to produce a budget," Manchin said.
Funding for the federal government expires on Dec. 16, forcing Congress to pass another continuing resolution before that deadline to prevent a government shutdown.
