The Hill News

House Republican leaders vowed Tuesday to include entitlement reforms in their forthcoming budget, to help kick off the "adult conversation" on reform that President Obama said he desired.

"Our budget will lead where the President has failed, and it will include real entitlement reforms so that we can have a conversation with the American people about the challenges we face and the need to chart a new path to prosperity," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a joint statement with the rest of the GOP leadership team and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

The statement all but ensures that Republicans will opt to include reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicare as part of their budget proposal, due in late March or early April.

It also comes amid GOP criticism of Obama's budget the past two days. The White House proposal calls for cuts to discretionary spending, but leaves entitlement programs unaddressed.!

"What we've done is we've been very specific in terms of how to stabilize the discretionary budget, how to make sure that we're not adding additional debt by 2015," Obama said of his approach to entitlement reform during a news conference this morning at the White House. "And then let's together, Democrats and Republicans, tackle these long-term problems in a way that I think will ensure our fiscal health and at the same time ensure that we're making investments in the future."

The Republicans weren't satisfied by Obama's desire to initiate an "adult conversation" on entitlements, claiming his budget "punts on entitlement reform."

"By taking critical steps forward now, we can fulfill the mission of health and retirement security for all Americans without making changes for those in or near retirement," the GOP leaders said. "We hope the President and Democratic leaders in Congress will demonstrate leadership and join us in working toward r! esponsible solutions to confront the fiscal and economic chall! enges be fore us.”