June 27, 2012 (Remarks as Prepared) Today’s joint hearing is on disincentives to work built into current welfare and tax credit programs in the U.S.   As we have already heard from Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom, other countries are wrestling with these same issues. Secretary Duncan Smith’s presentation, as well as the… Read more

June 27, 2012 (Remarks as Prepared) Thank you, Chairman Davis.  It’s a pleasure to have this opportunity to hold a joint hearing between our subcommittees. Providing an adequate safety net for Americans who have fallen on hard times is a non-partisan issue in Congress.  It’s something all of us agree on.  As is making sure government does not stand in the way of… Read more

Good afternoon and welcome to our fourth hearing in our series on securing the future of the Social Security Disability Insurance program.  Today we will focus on how Social Security disability claims are appealed and whether the process works as well as claimants and taxpayers have the right to expect. In earlier hearings we have highlighted the explosive growth of the… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) According to this year’s report from the Social Security Board of Trustees, Social Security will be unable to keep its promises to the hard-working Americans who pay into the system.  We will hear today that not only is Social Security’s financing outlook worse, but it will also be increasingly difficult to protect benefits for those who rely on them most if… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Good morning.  I want to welcome everyone and extend a special welcome to our guests, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk; and the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of State, Ambassador William Burns; as well as our second panel of witnesses, which will begin at 2:00 this afternoon.  I am looking forward to a… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Today, we will be hearing from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) on the analysis and recommendations contained in its June 2012 report. This Subcommittee has heard from numerous witnesses over the last year and a half about the financial challenges facing the Medicare program.  In fact, the Medicare Trustees reported in April that the… Read more

The hearing will come to order.  Good morning and thank you for joining us today for another in our series of hearings on tax extenders. During our Member Day hearing in April we had the opportunity to hear from our House colleagues about the merits of extending—or not extending—many of these tax policies.  By all accounts it was a productive exercise.  I commend… Read more

Good morning.  Today, we will separately consider four health care measures, two repealing portions of the Democrats’ health care law and two advancing new opportunities to lower costs and increase flexibility for health care consumers.   The repeal provisions target two of the taxes in the law – the medical device tax and the ban on using health-related savings accounts for… Read more

Our hearing today will focus on three critical aspects of the Customs mission:  modernization, streamlining and facilitation, and enforcement – as well as the accurate, timely measurement of improvement in all three.  I want to welcome everyone and extend a special welcome to our guests.   Just 100 years ago, the main function of Customs was revenue collection… Read more

Our hearing today reviews a key provision of welfare reform: State spending requirements and their impact on work requirements. As part of welfare reform in 1996, States were given a Federal block grant for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (or TANF) program which maintained record Federal spending on welfare.  At the same time, States were allowed to reduce State… Read more