[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6885-6886]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, as I come to the floor today Americans 
all across the country are paying very close attention to the multiple 
scandals surrounding the Obama administration--one of the scandals my 
colleague and friend from Indiana has just so eloquently discussed.
  We are seeing headlines all across the country. Today my hometown 
newspaper, the Casper Star Tribune, had the headline ``Trio of 
Troubles'' relating to the Obama administration.
  What the American people are seeing from the Obama administration is 
a high level of incompetence and a very low level of transparency.
  Here are just a few of the headlines today in the Washington Post: 
``Criminal Probe of IRS launched.'' Criminal probe of IRS launched. 
Just below that, ``Leak Probe. Phone-records uproar ends Holder's 
respite.'' That has to do with the Justice Department's secret 
gathering of records from the Associated Press.
  Inside the paper, open it, and there is much more. ``Media outlets 
condemn agency,'' ``Justice Department, IRS scandals challenge Obama's 
civil liberties credibility.''
  Other articles in today's paper note the ongoing scandal over the 
administration's handling of the attack on our consulate in Benghazi. 
The Washington Post Fact Checker recently gave the President four 
Pinocchios for his attempt to mislead the public on the issue. The only 
reason they didn't give him five Pinocchios is you can't get five. Four 
is the highest rating you can get for misleading and inaccurate 
information.
  Well, we need more details about the Benghazi coverup, the IRS 
targeting of conservatives, and the Justice Department's decision to 
monitor members of the media.
  Today, though, I want to talk about another important story that 
raises serious questions about this administration's actions. Of 
course, I am referring to the abuse of power that I call ``the Sebelius 
shakedown.''
  This scandal was first reported by the Washington Post on its front 
page last weekend. Here is the headline. ``HHS asking firms for money 
for ObamaCare.'' The article goes on to say:

       Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, has 
     gone hat in hand to health industry officials, asking them to 
     make large financial donations to help with the effort to 
     implement President Obama's landmark health care law.

  The article goes on to say:

       Over the past 3 months, Sebelius has made multiple phone 
     calls to health industry executives, to community 
     organizations, and to church groups, and asked that they 
     contribute whatever they can to nonprofit groups that are 
     working to enroll uninsured Americans and increase awareness 
     of the law.

  Madam President, these are very serious allegations against the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services. The President's health care law 
is a disaster that threatens American jobs, threatens American 
paychecks, and threatens Americans' health care. Instead of facing the 
reality, though, Secretary Sebelius has called on the exact same 
companies she regulates--the companies she regulates--to make financial 
donations to organizations that are trying to make this awful law look 
better than it is.
  Well, the Sebelius shakedown is outrageous. She is the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services for the country. She holds tremendous power 
and influence over these companies she regulates. Her words and her 
requests matter. One industry official with direct knowledge of the 
Secretary's funding request was quoted in the Washington Post as saying 
there was a clear insinuation by the administration that insurers 
should give financially to this effort.
  This would be like your boss coming in and standing by your desk and 
then asking you how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies you plan to buy 
from the boss's daughter that year.
  This kind of conflict of interest would be disturbing even if this 
were just a minor agency with limited power, but Health and Human 
Services is not a minor agency. It is one of the

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most powerful and influential bureaucracies in all of Washington. 
President Obama's health care law gave Secretary Sebelius unprecedented 
power to regulate a very large portion of the U.S. economy. She 
controls a budget of nearly $1 trillion and oversees health care 
industries ranging from insurance companies to hospitals.
  On top of that, Health and Human Services is currently negotiating 
with health plans to set premium rates. It is also setting up the 
government-run health care exchanges and confirming which companies 
will get to participate in those. That raises the stakes dramatically 
for these companies, and it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on 
them to keep the Secretary happy.
  Private companies and other organizations should never be put in a 
position where they could fear for their future based upon their 
response to inappropriate requests from a member of the President's 
Cabinet. The American people should never have to wonder if their 
government is shaking down the very businesses they regulate.
  At best, asking health care industry executives to donate money for 
the administration's health care law enrollment efforts is a blatant 
conflict of interest. At worst, the Secretary may have violated the law 
by increasing Federal spending without congressional authorization. As 
Congress begins investigating Secretary Sebelius's actions, the 
American people deserve answers to a number of important questions.
  For starters, the American people would like to know who exactly the 
Secretary called. What did she ask? What specific legal authority 
permits the Secretary or any other HHS employee to solicit financial 
donations to implement the health care law? Which HHS officials 
participated in the decision to ask for these donations? Did anyone 
else at HHS ask for donations from outside groups and businesses? Did 
any other Obama administration officials make similar solicitations? 
What specific steps has Health and Human Services taken to ensure the 
Obama administration will not favor businesses and organizations that 
gave money or punish those that did not donate?
  Secretary Sebelius had a history of questionable decisions even prior 
to her latest efforts to shake down the health industry. Back in 
September 2010, health insurance companies started informing their 
customers how much the President's health care law would increase the 
premiums of these individuals. So the Secretary responded by warning 
insurers the administration would be keeping track of their actions, 
and that some companies might be ``excluded'' from health insurance 
exchanges in 2014.
  That was not an idle threat. Medicare's Chief Actuary had predicted 
in the future that essentially all Americans would buy health insurance 
through the government exchange. So the Secretary seemed to be 
threatening that any insurers telling customers the reason behind 
premium increases--which, of course, would be the President's health 
care law--could be put out of business.
  Most recently, last fall the U.S. Office of Special Counsel concluded 
that Secretary Sebelius violated the Hatch Act. She did this when 
campaigning for President Obama when traveling on official government 
business. Federal workers who violate the Hatch Act are often fired, 
but Secretary Sebelius was not punished at all.
  There are already enough concerns about how the President's health 
care law will harm the American people. We cannot afford unresolved 
questions about whether a Cabinet Secretary pressured businesses that 
she regulates to make donations.
  A lot of media attention on these scandals has focused on the 
political fallout. The politics is not the real issue. The real issue 
is that the American people need to know their government is not a 
thug. The real interest of the American people is in knowing they have 
confidence that their government will act in the people's best 
interests, not just in President Obama's best interest.
  The American people need confidence that the administration is not 
favoring or punishing the people it regulates based upon their support 
for the administration's pet causes.
  When it comes to these disturbing allegations about Secretary 
Sebelius and all of the other recent scandals, the American people 
deserve to know what happened. Yesterday Secretary Sebelius had an 
opportunity to answer questions. She did not. Today, again Secretary 
Sebelius had an opportunity to answer questions. Again, according to 
press reports, she refused to do so.
  The American people want answers. Members of the Congress want 
answers. There are many more questions to be asked.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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