29 Jun 2015

Country of Origin Labeling Hearing

By Grassley Press

Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

Hearing on Country of Origin Labeling

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this important hearing on Country of Origin Labeling.  I would also like to thank Craig Hill, President of the Iowa Farm Bureau, for testifying here today.

I have supported COOL since it was first adopted during the 2002 Farm Bill.  My support for COOL stems from wanting to provide consumers additional information about the meat they consume.  If we can know the country of origin for every T-shirt in this country, we should also be able to know where our meat is coming from.

We must be true to our obligations at the World Trade Organization.  The WTO has ruled against the current COOL law four times.  I think we are past the point of debating IF our COOL law is going to change.

The question we are debating is HOW the current COOL law is going to change.  I'm not ready to eliminate COOL altogether for pork and beef.  I think we can find a way forward on COOL that ends the mandatory segregation under current law which is the key point of the WTO case.

As proof that there is a way forward on COOL, I would simply point out that Canada has a voluntary "Product of Canada" label. That label even has its own qualifying statement outlining the fine details that must be met in order for the product of Canada label to be used.

I fail to see how Canada can have a voluntary program with clear stipulations but we cannot. 

Beyond that point, I have heard rumblings that a voluntary program is not flexible enough.  To people with those concerns I simply ask- how do you get more flexible than voluntary?

A voluntary program for beef and pork is something we need to consider.  There are undoubtedly details to be worked through, but I must say I find it hard to believe we cannot set some basic criteria for a voluntary label.

Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow, I look forward to working with you all to resolve this issue before August recess.

-30-
29 Jun 2015

Supreme Court ruling on the health care law

By Grassley Press

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the Supreme Court's ruling in King v. Burwell on the President's health care law.

"I respect the court and its role in our system of government, but Obamacare remains a terrible law.  It's led to too many people losing the coverage they had and spending more for what coverage they can get.  Iowans tell me directly in town meetings and in emails and letters to my office that they don't like the law.  Obamacare upended the whole health system instead of targeting what was wrong and fixing those problems.  Now the debate returns to the Congress and next year's presidential election.  I'm committed to replacing Obamacare with health care reforms that empower consumers, drive down costs, and use marketplace incentives to make health care coverage accessible and affordable.  The current majority in Congress is committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with effective reforms driven by the marketplace, not the heavy hand of government."
29 Jun 2015

Grassley Seeks IRS Accounting of Health Care Tax Credit Discrepancies

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley is asking the IRS to explain its handling of Premium Tax Credit claims and the procedures it uses to reconcile those claims with overpayments of the Advanced Premium Tax Credit under the health care law.

"The accuracy of the procedures is important for making sure recipients are getting the intended amounts and that taxpayers aren't overpaying," Grassley said.  "An audit raised questions about gaps and discrepancies in how the tax credits are calculated.  The IRS should explain how it's handling these issues and how it will fix the problems."

A recent audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration highlighted shortcomings in the preparation for processing Premium Tax Credit claims. The audit also revealed problems with the procedures used to reconcile Advanced Premium Tax Credit overpayments.

Grassley, with Sen. Orrin Hatch, sought information from the IRS in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on how the agency determined the accuracy of Premium Tax Credit claims and how it reconciled overpayments, given gaps in the information necessary to calculate the amounts.

The text of the letter is available here.

-30-
29 Jun 2015

Senate, House Co-Chairs Relaunch Congressional Trademark Caucus

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Senator Chris Coons, Congressman J. Randy Forbes and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene have relaunched the Congressional Trademark Caucus in an effort to support the vital role trademarks and legitimate Internet website domain names play in the U.S. economy.

"The Congressional Trademark Caucus can help educate members of the House and Senate, as well our constituents, about the valuable role trademarks play in the global marketplace.  The Caucus will be focusing on a number of items to increase awareness and foster public dialogue about the value trademarks have in our economy and the risks associated with counterfeit goods.  Consumers should know the dangers of purchasing fake and potentially unsafe products," Grassley said.

"Trademarks are a bedrock of our economy and one of the critical ways in which American companies distinguish themselves from competing products around the world," said Coons. "When our trademarks are open to attack, our economy and national security are put at real risk. The Congressional Trademark Caucus will work hard in both the House and the Senate to build support among policymakers and consumers for protecting our trademarks and fighting against intellectual property theft."

"Protecting American trademark holders not only impacts consumer safety, but also the economic well-being and national security of our country," Forbes said.  "As a member of both the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, I am acutely aware of the ripple effects that trademark counterfeiting and infringement have across industry lines, and the concerted efforts necessary to protect American consumers by curtailing counterfeit products entering the U.S. I am pleased to join my fellow Co-Chairs in taking a leadership role in shaping policy to combat trademark counterfeiting, and ensuring the United States remains both competitive and secure."

"Trademark counterfeiting and Internet domain name theft activity is a threat to our economy and national security, and it cannot be ignored. It damages brand owners large and small, posing health and safety threats to consumers," DelBene said. "As a member of the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow Co-Chairs to broaden the focus on trademark counterfeiting efforts across industry sectors and to make it a priority for policymakers to focus on the serious harm trademark counterfeit products pose to the health and safety of American consumers."

The caucus is looking to support congressional committees with jurisdiction over trademark Intellectual property, with special attention to consumer issues; help increase awareness among Congress, the media and the public about trademarks' importance to global commerce; play a role in creating public policy dialogues on the responsibilities of state and federal governments and brand owners in decreasing the presence of counterfeit goods in the marketplace; and highlight trademark protection in discussions between the U.S. and other nations and world governing bodies.

-30-
26 Jun 2015

Committee Approves Bill to Crack Down on Federal Charge Card Waste and Abuse

By Grassley Press

Bipartisan Bill Will Improve Detection and Prevention of Waste and Misuse Across Federal Agencies

WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved a bipartisan bill to curb waste, fraud and abuse in federal agency travel and purchase cards spending. The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015 (S. 1616) was introduced by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) earlier this month. The legislation was approved unanimously by the committee by voice vote.

"Federal agencies have made progress in strengthening financial controls over government travel and purchase cards  - but recent reports have revealed that more needs to be done to eliminate wasteful charge card spending," Sen. Carper said. "This bipartisan legislation would implement stronger and smarter controls to prevent potential abuse and misuse of government charge cards, and help ensure our taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly across federal agencies. I thank Sen. Grassley, Sen. McCaskill and Chairman Johnson for their partnership on this common sense, bipartisan bill.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to ensure that our federal agencies better communicate and coordinate to crack down on charge card abuse and misuse."

 

"This bill builds on my Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 by adding an additional layer of government-wide oversight to the work of individual agency inspectors general," Sen. Grassley said. "The recent Defense Department inspector general report, which was drafted in response to the 2012 law, highlighted some areas where the Defense Department was not properly implementing the required controls and flagged casinos as a high risk for misuse of charge cards. Our bill will make sure we're looking for similar patterns of misuse across all federal agencies and that agencies are sharing best practices to prevent misuse and identify potential cost savings."

 

"We've got the tools to prevent waste and fraud of government-issued change cards - and this legislation would finally give us the power to put them to use on a government-wide basis," said Sen. McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and top-ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "By giving federal agencies the commonsense ability to better safeguard taxpayer dollars against abuses, it's my hope we can give Americans a little more faith in their government."

 

"I am pleased to partner with Ranking Member Carper to move this bill through committee," Sen. Johnson said. "I have said from day one that I want to use my chairmanship of this committee to pass common sense reforms that protect the American taxpayer. This bill is a perfect example - instructing the GSA to do a better job of monitoring the billions of dollars of credit card transactions by federal bureaucrats makes sense and will hopefully serve to cut back on the waste and fraud of Washington."

The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015 would help prevent charge card misuse and abuse by establishing an Office of Federal Charge Card Analytics and Review within the Government Services Administration to continuously examine charge card purchases made across the federal government. The legislation would also facilitate improved anti-fraud information sharing among federal agencies that use purchase and travel cards, in addition to requiring those agencies to share best-practices for detecting and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. In addition, the bill would encourage agencies to leverage purchasing power through strategic sourcing.

Last month, a Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General report detailed how some employees at the Department misused government-issued charge cards to gamble and pay for adult entertainment. This legislation aims to prevent charge card misuse and abuse by implementing more oversight controls for travel and purchase cards across federal agencies.

###
26 Jun 2015

Finance Committee Passes Four Grassley Health Care Bills

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Four health care bills from Sen. Chuck Grassley today received unanimous passage by the committee of jurisdiction, the Finance Committee.  A fifth bill of which Grassley is the primary cosponsor also passed unanimously.  The bills cover physical therapy in Medicare, financial trusts for individuals with disabilities, rural hospitals, community-based independence for seniors in Medicare, and quality care for mothers and children in Medicaid.

"These bills fill gaps and try new solutions to improve health care," Grassley said.  "They're all bipartisan and non-controversial.  I appreciate the Finance Committee chairman's decision to put these proposals on the agenda, and I'll continue to work toward their enactment."

The Grassley bills passed out of committee today are:

·         S. 313, the Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act (including lead Democrat Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, with 19 cosponsors, eight Republicans, 11 Democrats).  The bill allows physical therapists locum tenens rights under Medicare.  Locum tenens is the Latin phrase for "place holder."  Under current law, practicing physicians utilize locum tenens arrangements to have qualified substitute physicians, who are not employees of the physician, serve as "place holders" to provide care to their patients during short periods of absence.  This bill will give physical therapists the same rights.

·         S. 349, the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act (with Democrats Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan).  Under current law, individuals with disabilities cannot set up a special needs trust for themselves even when they are able.  This bill fixes that discriminatory exclusion.

·         S. 607, the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act (including lead Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, with 14 cosponsors, 10 Republicans, four Democrats).  This bill extends the rural hospital demonstration program for five years for a number of "tweener" hospitals.  In Iowa, it benefits hospitals in Newton, Grinnell, Carroll, and Spirit Lake.

·         S. 704, the Community Based Independence for Seniors Act (with Democrats Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York).  This bill creates a Medicare demonstration to expand the Special Needs Plan program to allow for 5,000 people to receive community-based benefits.  It is a small but novel proposal for Medicare that could be expanded eventually.

Grassley is the lead Republican co-sponsor of the following led by Stabenow, also passed out of the committee today:

·         S. 466, the Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act.  This bill provides for quality collaboration, including sharing best practices, and reporting standards for Medicaid for childbirth to improve quality.

Grassley is a senior member and former chairman of the Finance Committee.

-30-


26 Jun 2015

Members of the Iowa Congressional Delegation Add Support for Federal Disaster Declaration

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Members of the Iowa congressional delegation have added their support for Governor Terry Branstad's request for a federal declaration of a major disaster for the state due to catastrophic losses because of the avian flu outbreak.

"The Governor determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments to handle effectively and federal assistance is needed," the members wrote.

The disease has wiped out tens of millions of birds and cost producers hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.  Dozens of poultry farms in the state have been hit by the disease.

A copy of the text of the letter is below.  A signed copy of the letter can be found here.
26 Jun 2015

Sens. Franken, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Support Children in Foster Care System

By Grassley Press

Senators' Measure Would Help Make Sure Foster Youth Can Have Best Possible School Environment

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/19/15]?U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced a key bipartisan measure to help give children living in foster homes the best opportunity to get a good education.

The legislation, called the Educational Stability of Foster Youth Act, would support students in the foster care system by strengthening connections between child welfare agencies and state and local education institutions. Often, schools may be the only familiar place for a child in foster care, and the Senators' measure will help make sure that those kids can go to school in a safe, stable environment.

"A quality education in a trusting environment can help children in foster care overcome the abuse, neglect, and instability that many of them may have experienced," said Sen. Franken, a member of the Senate Education Committee. "Our bipartisan legislation will help support the education of kids in the foster care system. It's far past time that we take steps to ensure that children have access to an equal education."

 

"It's important to remember that kids in foster care often don't have school stability. That can put them behind in their education, and getting behind can be hard to overcome," said Sen. Grassley, founder and co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. "In the worst case, older kids drop out of school altogether. This bill will help make sure that school stability is at the forefront for foster kids."

 

The Educational Stability of Foster Youth Act was also backed by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). You can read a summary of the bill here and you can download a copy of the bill here.

The bill does the following:

·         Ensures that children can remain in their original school when it is in their best interest?when they enter foster care and move from placement to placemen;

·         Allows children to immediately enroll in a new school when it is not in their best interest to remain in their original school;

·         Gives students prompt access to their educational records when they must change schools;

·         Requires local educational agencies and child welfare agencies to work together to develop a process and ensure that funding for transportation is available;

·         Assures that a point of contact for education of foster children is appointed in the local educational agency when there is also a point of contact in the corresponding child welfare agency; and

·         Requires a report by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services on implementation of these new assurances for foster children, including on the progress made and remaining barriers.

###
24 Jun 2015

Sens. Carper, Grassley, McCaskill and Johnson Introduce Legislation to Prevent Misuse of Government Charge Cards

By Grassley Press

Bipartisan Bill Will Improve Detection and Prevention of Waste, Fraud and Abuse

WASHINGTON - Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) was joined by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to introduce the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015, legislation that targets waste, fraud and abuse through stronger oversight of federal agency travel and purchase cards spending.

This legislation would prevent charge card misuse and abuse by establishing an Office of Federal Charge Card Analytics and Review within the Government Services Administration (GSA) to continuously examine charge card purchases made across the federal government. The legislation would facilitate improved anti-fraud information sharing amongst federal agencies that use purchase and travel cards, in addition to requiring those agencies to share best-practices for detecting and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. The bipartisan bill would also encourage agencies to leverage purchasing power through strategic sourcing.

"Congress has a moral obligation to look into every nook and cranny of government spending and ensure our hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and effectively. While federal agencies have made real progress in strengthening financial controls and preventing wasteful charge card spending, recent reports revealed that we can and should implement stronger and smarter steps to get better results in these efforts," said Sen. Carper. "This bipartisan bill will help prevent future abuse and misuse of government travel and purchase cards by making effective improvements in agency oversight and coordination. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on this and other legislation to yield stronger stewardship of our taxpayer dollars across our federal agencies."

 

"This bill builds on my Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 by adding an additional layer of government-wide oversight to the work of individual agency inspectors general," said Sen. Grassley. "The recent Defense Department inspector general report, which was drafted in response to the 2012 law, highlighted some areas where the Defense Department was not properly implementing the required controls and flagged casinos as a high risk for misuse of charge cards. Our bill will make sure we're looking for similar patterns of misuse across all federal agencies and that agencies are sharing best practices to prevent misuse and identify potential cost savings."

"This legislation is as commonsense as they come: we have tools that can help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of government-issued charge cards?we should be using them," said Sen. McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor. "My hope is that if federal agencies are all using the best tools available to safeguard taxpayer dollars, the public can rest a little easier and have a little more faith in government."

"The federal government collects huge amounts of data involving the flow of dollars, then rarely looks at it for obvious red flags and opportunities to save money," said Sen. Johnson. "Instructing the GSA to use better techniques to find waste and fraud in the billions of dollars of credit card transactions by federal bureaucrats is a small but important step in improving Washington's stewardship of taxpayers' money."

Last month, a Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General report detailed how some employees at the Department misused government-issued charge cards to gamble and pay for adult entertainment. This legislation aims to prevent charge card misuse and abuse by implementing more oversight controls for travel and purchase cards across federal agencies.

###
24 Jun 2015

Grassley, Wyden, Casey Introduce Bill to Help Individuals With Disabilities Gain Independence

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania today introduced bipartisan legislation that would create a demonstration project to encourage states to improve opportunities for individuals with disabilities to obtain employment in the community, gaining self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion.

"A key public policy goal is giving individuals with disabilities every chance to live and work as fully in the community as possible," Grassley said.  "Medicaid is one of the biggest programs that provides support for the disabled, and it doesn't do enough to achieve the policy goal.  States have financial disincentives to do more under the current system.  This bill would try something different.  For participating states, it would change the incentives and help states do what they'd really like to do to better serve individuals with disabilities."

"Medicaid provides critical services and supports to individuals with disabilities," Wyden said. "This legislation builds on those services and supports by expanding employment opportunities and promoting integrated work settings for individuals with disabilities. This bill marks an important step to improve the lives of Americans with disabilities."

"Those with disabilities should have the same opportunities for community participation and economic self-determination as anyone else, and this legislation reaffirms that," Casey said. "This is a commonsense effort to encourage states to help those with disabilities enjoy life and work in their communities."

The Transition to Independence Act, S. 1604, would create a five-year, 10-state Medicaid demonstration program to give bonuses to states for helping individuals with disabilities achieve the goals of working and living in the community.  It would encourage coordination among those who provide health services, housing, education and workforce training, transportation and other support to people with disabilities to maximize the outcome for the individual.  The bill would be deficit-neutral.

The National Council on Disability provided technical assistance in developing the bill.  Other organizations supporting the bill include the American Association of People with Disabilities, the American Association on Health and Disability, the American Network of Community Options and Resources, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the National Adult Day Services Association, the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services and Autism Speaks.

A technical summary of the bill is available here.  The bill text is available here.

-30-

Pages

Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts

On Stands Now

 

Tagged Content

Two Ways to Subscribe

1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.

You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?) 

* indicates required

View previous campaigns.

2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48

Get 12 issues mailed monthly for $48 per year.

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Subscribe now.