West Michigan Congressman Fred Upton says he did not ask to be appointed to the so-called "super committee" that has to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next ten years. The Saint Joseph Republican is one of 12 members on the committee. It is split evenly with six members from each party, three each from the House and Senate.

Upton says he also wants the Congress to work on tax reform. He says it may not be part of the "super committee's" work on deficit reduction.

Upton says he believes that most people, regardless of their ideology, want to see the committee succeed. The Saint Joseph Republican says that not reaching a deal would trigger very severe cuts in defense and other spending. He says those cuts should be a strong incentive to reach an agreement.

Upton says the committee is similar to the Base Closing Commissions used in the 1990's to agree on which military bases to close. He says not allowing amendments with an up or down vote in Congress will force Congress to either accept the committee's recommendations (if the committee can reach agreement to put a proposal forward) or accept deep cuts across the board.