Another day, another change by the White House to “fix” their controversial health care law.  Today, families and patients abandoned by the new law learned the Obama Administration has launched a new and improved marketing campaign for the troubled law.   It is a strange use of resources given that the problems are with the policy, not the politics, and what’s needed are real… Read more

Good Morning.  I would like to welcome Marilyn Tavenner to the Committee today.  I look forward to your testimony and to hearing an honest, straightforward assessment on the status of the health care law.   Six months ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius told this Committee a dozen times that the Administration “will be ready October 1.”   We now… Read more

Welcome to our hearing today.   Before being elected to Congress, I spent over 32 years working in law enforcement in King County, Washington, becoming Sheriff in 1997. I saw firsthand the many tragedies children face when they’re not cared for by loving parents. It was in the Sheriff’s office where I first witnessed the horrors of child sex trafficking, and it convinced me we… Read more

Good afternoon and welcome to our hearing on the Social Security disability fraud conspiracy in Puerto Rico. On August 21st, the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico announced the arrest and indictment of 75 individuals for Social Security fraud.  Let me repeat that number; 75 arrested for allegedly seeking to defraud Social Security.  So we’re not talking… Read more

Welcome to this afternoon’s hearing on the Internal Revenue Service’s Exempt Organizations Division. In May, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an audit exposing the Internal Revenue Service’s practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on name and policy position. The audit confirmed what many feared – that the IRS was treating applicants… Read more

Today’s hearing is on ending benefits for incarcerated individuals and other ways to improve the integrity of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program.   As a former Sheriff, I was shocked to read headlines about individuals in jails collecting unemployment benefits, which you might call “cash for cons.”  In New Jersey, there were 20,000 inmates who collected over $24… Read more

Just a few months ago, in testimony before this Committee, Secretary Sebelius repeatedly told Congress and the American people that the Obama Administration “was on track to meet the October 1 deadline” for the new healthcare law.  However, over the past two months, the evidence shows just the opposite is true: 1. In June, the Government Accountability Office released two… Read more

Today’s hearing is the third in a series this summer, set around the theme of reforming programs designed to assist low-income Americans in going to work and climbing the economic ladder. Our first hearing highlighted how not working or working less than full time is the number one cause of poverty.  Despite this obvious fact, the complex interaction between welfare programs… Read more

Good morning.  I want to welcome everyone and extend a special welcome to United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Mike Froman.  First of all, let me congratulate you on your confirmation.  You are now leading one of the most professional and productive agencies in the U.S. government. You take the helm of USTR at a critical juncture.  We are in the midst of… Read more

This is our second hearing on the controversial decision by the Treasury Department to delay for one year President Obama’s Affordable Care Act mandate forcing local businesses to offer government-approved health care or pay a tax.  Today, at last, we will hear directly from the Treasury Department.     What families and workers in my district are asking is this:… Read more