Eighty years ago, on June 17, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff, significantly raising the duties on imported goods. Hoover and his congressional allies thought that reducing imports would strengthen the economy. Instead, it contributed to a collapse in world trade and the spread of protectionism around the globe. The lessons from this policy mistake… Read more

Despite the Administration’s declaration that this is the “Summer of Recovery,” data released today by the U.S. Department of Labor, and the chart below, show that virtually the entire country is experiencing a yet another season of continued unemployment. Through May 2010, the latest data available, a total of 48 out of 50 states have seen a net job loss since the President signed the… Read more

Fathers play an enormous role in their children’s lives, every day of the year.  Yet an increasing number of fathers are absent from their families, contributing to school dropout, poverty, crime, and other ills, as we will hear today. To counteract those trends, 1996 reforms let States spend welfare funds on “healthy marriage” and “responsible fatherhood” programs; and 2006 amendments… Read more

Thank you, Chairman Levin. I believe there is a clear and unified message this Committee and this Congress would like to send to China, and it is this: China is not acting in good faith and is aggressively engaged in a series of troubling and downright protectionist policies that put our economic relationship at risk.   Unless China immediately begins to eliminate trade barriers and end… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Republicans today sent a letter to Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI) requesting a hearing with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the implementation of the new health care law and to get answers to why HHS has missed numerous statutorily-mandated deadlines. Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) said, “While the Administration is focused… Read more

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is broad agreement that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) needs to do far more to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare.  In fact, fraud is such an issue in Medicare that the Chief Counsel to the HHS Inspector General, who is testifying on the second panel today, said that, “a lot of career criminals and organized criminals have… Read more

Chairman Stark, thank you for yielding time.  And thank you Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Herger for your thoughtful statements.  Medicare fraud has been and continues to be a very serious problem.  It costs the American taxpayers billions of dollars every year.  It depletes the Medicare trust funds of money that is desperately needed if we hope to continue providing adequate health… Read more

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree it is important for the Ways and Means Committee to periodically review tax law related to particular industries to ensure it is consistent with other sections of the Code, advances in technology, and current industry practices.  I expect we will hear broad support today for some of the changes related to Regulated Investment Companies that have been… Read more

Mr. Speaker, this bill contains many positive features but also some negative ones and thus I reluctantly plan to oppose it. Like my friend on the other side of the aisle, I am pleased to see that it does include some tax relief, albeit limited, for small businesses, including provisions championed by both Republicans and Democrats. And I am also pleased that, unlike an earlier version… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) will offer a proposal on the House floor to repeal the requirement forcing Americans to buy government-approved health insurance (the “individual mandate”). “The American people have been speaking out in opposition to the Democrats’ health bill which forces them to choose between paying a new tax or purchasing health… Read more