Monday, January 30, 2012

Here is information about Senator Grassley's schedule this week in Washington.  The Senate is in session.

·         Senator Grassley will meet during the week with Iowans from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the National League of Postmasters, the ALS Association, the National Rural Health Care Association, the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Communications Workers of America, the Iowa State Troopers Association, officials and community leaders from the Dubuque area, and the American School Counselor Association.

·         Senator Grassley will meet during the week with an Iowa family visiting Washington from Council Bluffs.

·         On Monday, January 30, at 2:30 p.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will meet with Marilyn Tavenner, who has been nominated to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Department of Health and Human Services.  Her appointment must be considered and approved by the Senate Finance Committee.

·         On Tuesday, January 31, at 8:15 a.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will speak to the National Rural Health Care Association at the Capitol Hilton.  He will address uncertainty in health care policy, as well as pending legislation for Medicare doctor reimbursement rates and expiring rural health care provisions, including reimbursement raises for ambulance services and an outpatient hold-harmless provision.

·         On Tuesday, January 31, at 10 a.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will participate in a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee titled "Extenders and Tax Reform:  Seeking Long-Term Solutions."

·         On Tuesday, January 31, at 4:30 p.m. (ET), Senate Grassley will attend, if possible, an event at the Department of Justice marking the 25th anniversary of enactment of a major update of the False Claims Act.  In 1986, Senator Grassley and Representative Howard Berman of California authored the legislation with provisions to empower private-sector whistleblowers to come forward with valuable information about fraud by government contractors.  Then focused on defense contract fraud, these qui tam provisions today have become the government's most effective tool against health care fraud, especially in Medicare.  In 25 years, the whistleblower provisions have recovered more than $30 billion for taxpayers that otherwise would have been lost to fraud.  Experts estimate the deterrent effect of the law to be billions of dollars more. Senator Grassley continues to safeguard and strengthen the provisions legislatively and through oversight.

·         On Tuesday, January 31, at 6:30 p.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will answer questions via Skype from a UNI journalism class taught by Waverly Independent editor Anelia Dimitrova.

·         On Wednesday, February 1, at 2:30 p.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will participate as Co-Chair in a hearing of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control titled "Caribbean Basin Security Initiative."  The hearing will examine drug-related violence in the Caribbean and U.S. security assistance.  The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica have been named by President Obama as major drug-transit counties.

 

·         On Wednesday, February 1, and Thursday, February 2, Senator Grassley will meet with community leaders and city officials traveling with the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce to Washington to discuss economic development initiatives and other public policy matters as they relate to the Dubuque area.

·         On Thursday, February 2, at 10 a.m. (ET), Senator Grassley will participate as Ranking Member in a business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  These nominations are on the calendar for possible consideration:  Paul J. Watford to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit and Dennis J. Erby to be United States Marshall for the Northern District of Mississippi.  Additionally, the committee will begin consideration of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011, S.1925.

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