Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) announced that several provisions of his Plain Writing Act of 2010 are going into effect.

Today is the deadline for agencies to designate a Senior Official for Plain Writing. This individual will be responsible for overseeing each agency's implementation of Braley's law, including:

·         creating a plain writing section of the agency website;

·         training agency employees;

·         ensuring full implementation of the law; and

·         publishing a public report on progress towards meeting the plain writing requirements.

"The Plain Writing Act requires some simple changes to business-as-usual that'll make a big difference for anyone who's ever filled out a tax return or received a government document," Rep. Braley said.  "Today, some of those changes go into effect and begin the process of making our government agencies moreaccessible. In the long run, writing government documents in plain languagewill increase government accountability and will save Americans time and money."

The Plain Writing Act, authored by Rep. Braley, requires the federal government to write documents, such as tax returns, federal college aid applications, and Veterans Administration forms in simple easy-to-understand language, making government more transparent and saving the government millions of dollars. President Obama signed Rep. Braley's bill into law last October.

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New national television ad, grassroots activities, and Capitol Hill blitz tell lawmakers, "Seniors are not pushovers."

Washington, DC–Today, AARP launched its latest wave of efforts, centered around a new direct-message television ad, urging Congress and the President to make responsible decisions during the deficit reduction debate by cutting waste and closing loopholes instead of cutting critical Medicare and Social Security benefits that millions of Americans have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

The new, multi-million dollar advertisement is AARP's third focusing specifically on the deficit debate, and begins airing today nationally and in local markets.  In addition to the TV ads, AARP leaders are hitting Capitol Hill to urge their Members of Congress to oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits as part of a deal to pay the nation's bills.  AARP is keeping up the pressure on Congress and the President by engaging its millions of members to make their voices heard through direct mail, phone calls, email alerts, publications, and tele-townhall meetings.

"We're taking the voice of older Americans to the airwaves, to Capitol Hill and across the country," said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President. "Don't cut the Social Security and Medicare benefits seniors have earned."

AARP will air the television spot beginning July 13.  The television ad script follows here:

"I'm a grandfather.  A retired teacher.  And I count on Social Security.

"Here's what I'm not...

"A pushover.

"Right now, some in Washington want to make a deal cutting the Social Security and Medicare benefits we worked for.

"With billions in waste and loopholes, how could they look at us?

"Maybe we seem like an easy target...

"Until you realize...

"...there are 50 million of us.

"Tell the politicians to cut waste and loopholes, not our benefits."

To date, nearly 4.5 million petitions have been signed and will be delivered to Congress, and over 500,000 calls and emails have gone into congressional offices and to the White House over the past several weeks urging elected leaders to protect Medicare and Social Security from harmful cuts as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

LeaMond added: "We know Washington needs to make tough decisions to reduce the deficit, but they should make responsible decisions instead of cutting the Social Security and Medicare benefits that seniors have worked for their entire lives."

To view the new television ad and learn about AARP's campaign, visit www.aarp.org/protectseniors. 

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with nearly 35 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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Leucadia Project Will Boost Regional Economy;

Provide Long-Term Price Certainty to Consumers

CHICAGO - July 13, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation that will help create Illinois' first coal gasification plant and substantially reduce carbon emissions, while creating 1,500 jobs and saving consumers more than $100 million over the next several years. The new law follows principles the Governor outlined in the spring legislative session requiring all energy projects to protect consumers, create jobs and safeguard our environment.

"Projects that create jobs and protect consumers strengthen our continued economic recovery," said Governor Quinn. "This project protects Illinois consumers, while continuing our position as a leader in clean energy technology by utilizing home grown resources to create the jobs of today and tomorrow."

The Chicago Clean Energy project is a $3 billion coal gasification project that will be located on a brownfield site within the Chicago-Calumet Industrial Corridor at 115th Street and Burley Avenue, formerly the LTV Steel plant, on Chicago's southeast side.

The project will utilize, for the first time in Illinois, an advanced clean coal process known as gasification. The chemical process allows production of substitute natural gas from Illinois coal and petroleum coke without burning the coal or petroleum coke. Carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions are captured as part of the process and then eventually sequestered underground. Experts view the process as a lynchpin to development of new coal facilities with sharply reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Chicago Clean Energy expects to generate more than $10 billion in economic output for Illinois and create tens of thousands of jobs, including approximately 1,100 construction jobs, 200 permanent jobs and 165 additional mining jobs. The plant will use at least one million tons of Illinois coal per year.

"We are grateful to Governor Quinn for his foresight in seizing an opportunity to make Illinois a leader in clean energy technology, and in securing clean energy jobs for the state," said Tom Mara, executive vice president of Leucadia National Corporation, the company behind the Chicago Clean Energy project. "We are committed to working closely with local leaders and community members to make this project a tangible benefit to Chicago and the entire state of Illinois."

The final legislation was revised from a previous measure considered earlier this year to include input from the Governor, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Citizens Utility Board, local organizations near the project site and other stakeholders. The bill now proportionally allocates the natural gas produced at the facility to Illinois' gas utilities. It also includes a number of consumer protections, including a rate cap, a robust reserve account that fairly aligns the interests of the developer with those of the consumer, and a revised system to share savings and potential revenues with consumers. 

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Prepared Statement of Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa

U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Hearing on "The Violence Against Women Act: Building on Seventeen Years of Accomplishments"

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today's hearing on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  This is an important law that has helped countless numbers of victims across the country break the cycle of domestic violence and move on to productive lives.  The law created vital programs that support efforts to help victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.  Further, the law provides resources across the country to victim advocates, attorneys, counselors, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, health care providers, emergency shelters, and many other services to help victims. 

As an original cosponsor of the Senate version of the reauthorization, I remain deeply committed to ensuring federal resources are provided to programs to prevent and end sexual assault and domestic violence.  There is, however, an unfortunate reality that we must face.  We live in dramatically different times today than we did in 2000 or 2005 when VAWA was previously reauthorized.   

Today, more than 14 million Americans are unemployed.  That's a 9.2 percent unemployment rate.  The unemployment numbers get worse each month and the national deficit keeps growing and growing.  The federal government must drastically reduce its spending and bring the fiscal house in order.  During these difficult economic times, we simply can't continue to allocate resources without verifying that the resources are being used as effectively and efficiently as possible.  Now, that doesn't mean we do away with VAWA as a program.  Instead, it means that as we in this committee look to reauthorize this program, we need to take a hard look at every single taxpayer dollar expended, determine how those dollars are being used, and determine if the stated purpose of the program is being met.  The American taxpayers expect us to do this with every law and this hearing affords us that opportunity.

I have long advocated for reviewing grant management at the Department of Justice and determining if programs are meeting their expectations and complying with the law.  Back in 2001, Senator Sessions and I requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review all VAWA grant files at the Justice Department.  That review found that VAWA files often lacked the documentation necessary to ensure that the required monitoring activities occurred.  GAO found that a "substantial number of [VAWA] grant files did not contain progress and financial reports sufficient to cover the entire grant period."  Ultimately, GAO concluded in the 2001 review that "because documentation about monitoring activities was not readily available, [DOJ] was not positioned to systematically determine staff compliance with monitoring requirements and assess overall performance."  These are significant problems and unfortunately, it appears that they continue to persist a decade later.

A review of individual VAWA grantee audits that were conducted from 1998-2010 by the Department of Justice Inspector General indicates that the problem with VAWA grantees' administration and record keeping may actually be getting worse.  During this timeframe, the Inspector General conducted a review of 22 individual grantees that received funding from VAWA programs.  Of those 22 grantees, 21 were found to have some form of violation of grant requirements ranging from unauthorized and unallowable expenditures, to sloppy record keeping and failure to report in a timely manner.  Some of these audits are downright appalling.  In 2010, one grantee was found by the Inspector General to have questionable costs for 93 percent of the nearly $900,000 they received from the Justice Department.  Another audit, this one from 2009, found that nearly $500,000 of a $680,000 grant was questioned because of inadequate support for expenditures.  Another audit in 2005 questioned $1.2 million out of a $1.9 million grant.  The list goes on and on for pages.  Simply put, in today's economic environment, we cannot tolerate this level of malfeasance in federal grant programs.  There are too many victims out there that do not have access to necessary services for the Justice Department to continue to provide funding to entities that play fast and loose with taxpayer dollars.

So, how do we fix this problem?  To start, we need a legitimate, rigorous evaluation of the VAWA program to ensure that these sorts of grantees are prohibited from getting funds.  That can be done by building effective anti-fraud measures into the legislation, such as debarring poor and underperforming grantees.  It also means requiring annual audits and evaluations of program grantees.  Unfortunately, as our witness from GAO will point out today, it is difficult to evaluate VAWA grantee performance because the data that is provided to Justice Department by grantees is often difficult to evaluate given varying definitions among different programs. GAO also notes that "information gaps" exist because the various authorizing statutes for different grants for victim's services have different purposes.  Finally, GAO notes that the various grants administered by both the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice use varying data collection practices making uniformity of data difficult.  Taken together, GAO notes that while the agencies are making progress to address the gaps in data, these important issues need to be addressed by Congress as we consider reauthorizing VAWA.  Given the difficult financial situation that our nation faces, it is imperative that any reauthorization of VAWA include, at a minimum, new studies to determine how effective VAWA programs are, whether grantees are providing adequate services for the amount of funding they receive, and how we root out and cut down on fraud and abuse by VAWA grantees.  This grant program accountability will help to ensure that services really go to those in need.

Another issue that must be addressed during the reauthorization process is immigration marriage fraud.  Specifically, I'm concerned about the reports that some of the procedures employed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services actually help to facilitate immigration marriage fraud, and some of it is further enhanced by provisions under VAWA. 

I'm glad we have a witness here today to tell her story about how provisions of VAWA were manipulated by her ex-husband to facilitate his access to a green card. As a past cosponsor of VAWA reauthorizations, I'm saddened to hear this example of how a law designed to help victims, may be used to continue to abuse victims of domestic violence.  

These are important issues that should be addressed as part of any reauthorization.  We are well past the time where we can continue to reauthorize programs without giving them the scrutiny needed to ensure that the population we are trying to help, here victims of domestic violence, are getting the services they need.  We also have a duty to ensure that those programs are actually working, are not subject to fraud, waste, or abuse, and that victims are not harmed by the programs themselves.  

We must do everything in our power to help victims of abuse and domestic violence.  At the same time, we face a new challenge of making sure we get it right and simply don't write another check on the taxpayer's dime without ensuring the program is meeting its goals. 

I look forward to hearing the testimony from the witnesses and working with members of the Judiciary Committee on finding the right approach.

Thank you. 

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