Mr. Chairman, Madame Chair, I want to thank you for holding this important hearing.  But before I turn to this hearing’s subject, and in light of the Social Security Subcommittee Chairman’s recent retirement announcement, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to personally acknowledge and thank the Chairman for his long and distinguished service to this nation.  Mr. Chairman,… Read more

Chairman Lewis, thank you for yielding time.  I want to join with my colleagues in saying that as we approach the holiday season, we have grave concerns about how these difficult times are generating unprecedented need for life’s basic necessities: food, clothing, and shelter.  I also want to commend the work that the organizations testifying today – as well as countless others – do… Read more

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. Republicans are all for promoting charitable giving to help those in need.  Private charity is the most effective and compassionate form of aid.  We all welcome the chance to promote more people helping one another, and look forward to hearing proposals to that effect.  As this hearing will review, this system of private charity is… Read more

Republicans and Democrats on this Committee have long worked together to make sure Social Security has the resources it needs to effectively administer their benefit programs.  During the last two fiscal years Social Security received funding at levels higher than the President’s request, along with an additional $1 billion to build a new computer center and to process rising numbers of… Read more

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  International trade is a powerful engine for economic growth and job creation, as our experience here at home demonstrates.  One out of every five American jobs depends on trade, and as Ambassador Kirk notes, jobs supported by exports pay higher wages than other jobs.  For that reason, I commend you for holding this hearing.  The global economic downturn has hurt… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Madame Chairman, The people have spoken: they do not want a trillion-dollar government plan to replace their health care.  Republicans have listened to the American people; it is clear from the Speaker’s health care bill, H.R. 3962, the Democratic majority has not. The bill Speaker Pelosi crafted over the last three months, behind closed doors – which doubled… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Earlier this year this Subcommittee met to examine issues surrounding banking secrecy and illegal tax evasion.  At that hearing, we all agreed that criminal tax evasion should be Aggressively pursued and punished.  I also said that I hoped our efforts in this area would remain focused on compliance; that the line between illegal tax… Read more

Mr. Chairman, thank you for yielding time.  I want to thank you for holding this hearing.  When the Ways and Means Committee and the tax code are used for purposes beyond raising the revenues necessary to fund the federal government – for instance, to pursue social and economic policy goals – the members of this Subcommittee have a responsibility to conduct oversight of those tax… Read more

Webster’s dictionary defines a safety net as “something that provides security against misfortune or difficulty.” That’s a broad definition, and safety nets come in many forms. Even in these enormously difficult times, 90 percent of Americans count their job as their real safety net, along with family, home, and savings. Those safety nets supply their current income and their confidence… Read more

I’d like to thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing.  As he knows, Republicans enacted many improvements to our nation’s pension laws in 2006.  The Pension Protection Act was a bipartisan piece of legislation that garnered the support of many current and former Democrats on this Committee, including that of now-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  I think it is… Read more