[House Report 108-754]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                            Rept. 108-754
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                      Part 1

======================================================================

 
  REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND 
       HUMAN SERVICES PROVIDE CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO THE HOUSE OF 
 REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO ESTIMATES AND ANALYSES OF THE COST OF THE 
                 MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG LEGISLATION

                                _______
                                

                October 7, 2004.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Thomas, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                       [To accompany H. Res. 776]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 776) of inquiry requesting the President 
and directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
provide certain documents to the House of Representatives 
relating to estimates and analyses of the cost of the Medicare 
prescription drug legislation, having considered the same, 
report unfavorably there- on without amendment and recommend 
that the resolution not be agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Introduction.....................................................2
          A. Purpose and Summary.................................     2
          B. Background..........................................     2
 II. Hearings.........................................................3
III. Votes of the Committee...........................................3
 IV. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations.................4
          A. New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures...........     4
          B. Performance Goals and Objectives....................     4
          C. Constitutional Authority Statement..................     4
          D. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget 
            Office...............................................     4
  V. New Advisory Committees..........................................5
 VI. Congressional Accountability Act.................................5
VII. Federal Mandates.................................................5
VIII.Views............................................................6


                            I. INTRODUCTION


                         A. Purpose and Summary

    House Resolution 776 requests the President and directs the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide to the House 
of Representatives certain documents relating to estimates and 
analyses of the cost of the Medicare prescription drug 
legislation (P.L. 108-173).

                             B. Background

    House Resolution 776 is a resolution of inquiry, which 
pursuant to rule XIII, clause 7, of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, directs the Committee to act on the resolution 
within 14 legislative days, or a privileged motion to discharge 
the Committee is in order. H. Res. 776 was introduced and 
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, on September 15, 2004, 
and was ordered reported adversely by the Committee on 
September 23, 2004 by a vote of 19 to 12.
    Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution 
of inquiry is the means by which the House requests information 
from the President of the United States or the head of an 
executive department. According to ``Deschler's Precedents,'' 
it is a ``simple resolution making a direct request or demand 
of the President or the head of an executive department to 
furnish the House of Representatives with specific factual 
information in the possession of the executive branch.''
    On September 15, 2004, Mr. Rangel of New York introduced H. 
Res. 776, requesting the President and directing the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services to provide certain documents to 
the House of Representatives relating to estimates and analyses 
of the cost of the Medicare prescription drug law.
    The issue of Medicare cost estimates has been thoroughly 
investigated by the Committee. On March 24, 2004, the Committee 
held a hearing on the Board of Trustees 2004 Annual Reports on 
the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds. Witnesses at the 
hearing included Richard Foster, Chief Actuary at the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and Stephen 
Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration. 
During the hearing, the Committee heard testimony about the 
various cost estimates of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) 
prepared by CMS and CBO. These two entities had differing cost 
estimates of the legislation, and the reasons for those 
differences were thoroughly explored through the questioning of 
the witnesses.
    During this hearing, the issue was raised as to whether CMS 
had prepared cost estimates of the MMA that were not released 
to Congress during its deliberations of the legislation. 
Specifically, the minority raised concerns that CMS cost 
estimates of the legislation were not made available to 
Congress prior to the vote on the conference report. It was 
noted during this hearing that CBO is the official scorekeeper 
of Congress, and the final CBO score for the legislation was 
available on November 20, 2003, in advance of the final House 
and Senate votes on the legislation. Furthermore, Mr. Foster 
testified during this hearing that the CMS Office of the 
Actuary did not have a final score of the entire conference 
report until December 23, 2003, one month after the conference 
report had been passed by the House and the Senate.
    On April l, 2004, the Committee held a continuation of this 
hearing, at the request of the minority, to further investigate 
questions of whether cost estimates of the MMA, prepared by 
CMS, were available prior to the vote on the Conference report 
and withheld from Congress. Witnesses at that hearing included 
Leslie Norwalk, Acting Deputy Administrator, CMS and Jeff 
Flick, San Francisco Regional Administrator, CMS.
    The question of Medicare cost estimates has also been 
investigated by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 
within the Department of Health and Human Services. The OIG 
issued its report on July 7, 2004. In its report, the OIG 
concluded that although CMS did fail to furnish information 
requested on several occasions by Members of Congress and 
staff, no criminal statutes were violated. Furthermore, the OIG 
report stated that the CMS Actuary did not have the authority 
to release information independently to Congress without the 
approval of the CMS Administrator; the CMS Administrator has 
the final authority to determine the flow of information. 
However, the OIG did not investigate whether federal 
appropriations laws were broken; this issue was investigated by 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO), as outlined below.
    GAO looked specifically into whether federal appropriations 
laws were broken and issued its report on September 7, 2004. 
GAO found that Former CMS Administrator Scully prohibited the 
CMS Chief Actuary Richard Foster from responding to 
Congressional requests for information and threatened sanctions 
should Foster respond to Congressional inquiries. GAO found 
that these actions were in violation of appropriations language 
that prohibits the use of funds to pay salaries of employees 
who interfere in communications between federal employees and 
Congress. The GAO concluded that as a result of these actions, 
the HHS appropriation for Mr. Scully's salary was unavailable 
under appropriations law. GAO recommended that HHS recover Mr. 
Scully's salary from the point of the prohibition of 
communication to the point of Mr. Scully's departure. At the 
time of the issuance of this report, Mr. Scully was no longer 
an employee of the Federal government, and HHS indicated it did 
not intend to pursue the matter further.
    The Committee reported the resolution adversely because the 
question of cost estimates of the Medicare prescription drug 
legislation has been thoroughly investigated, as outlined 
above. Furthermore, the legislation in question was signed 
intolaw on December 8, 2003. The Committee did not find that any 
legislative purpose would be served by the release of documents 
outlined in the resolution.

                              II. HEARINGS

    The Committee did not hold hearings on H. Res. 776.

                      III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the following statements are made 
concerning the votes of the Committee on Ways and Means in its 
consideration of the Resolution of Inquiry, H. Res. 776.

                    MOTION TO REPORT THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution, H. Res. 776, was ordered adversely reported 
by a rollcall vote of 19 yeas to 12 nays (with a quorum being 
present). The vote was as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Representative             Yea       Nay     Present     Representative       Yea      Nay     Present
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Thomas.......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Rangel.........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Crane........................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Stark..........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Shaw.........................  .......  ........  ........  Mr. Matsui.........  ........  .......  ........
Mrs. Johnson.....................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Levin..........  ........  .......  ........
Mr. Houghton.....................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Cardin.........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Herger.......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. McDermott......  ........        X  ........
Mr. McCrery......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Kleczka........  ........  .......  ........
Mr. Camp.........................  .......  ........  ........  Mr. Lewis (GA).....  ........        X  ........
Mr. Ramstad......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Neal...........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Nussle.......................  .......  ........  ........  Mr. McNulty........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Johnson......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Jefferson......  ........  .......  ........
Ms. Dunn.........................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Tanner.........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Collins......................  .......  ........  ........  Mr. Becerra........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Portman......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Doggett........  ........  .......  ........
Mr. English......................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Pomeroy........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Hayworth.....................        X  ........  ........  Mr. Sandlin........  ........        X  ........
Mr. Weller.......................        X  ........  ........  Ms. Tubbs Jones....  ........        X  ........
Mr. Hulshof......................  .......
Mr. McInnis......................        X
Mr. Lewis (KY)...................        X
Mr. Foley........................        X
Mr. Brady........................        X
Mr. Ryan.........................        X
Mr. Cantor.......................        X
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          IV. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    The Committee held no oversight activities with respect to 
clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

              A. New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of House Rule XIII is inapplicable because 
H. Res. 776 does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

                  B. Performance Goals and Objectives

    The rule requiring a statement of performance goals and 
objectives is inapplicable.

                 C. Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this resolution in article I, section 1 of the Constitution.

      D. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget Office

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, requiring a cost estimate 
prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, the following 
report prepared by CBO is provided.

H. Res. 776--A resolution of inquiry requesting the President and 
        directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide 
        certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to 
        estimates and analyses of the cost of the Medicare prescription 
        drug legislation

    H. Res. 776 would request the President, and direct the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, to furnish the House of 
Representatives all documents relating to the Administration's 
cost estimates or analyses of any version of H.R. 1 or S. 1 
(Medicare prescription drug legislation), as considered by the 
108th Congress. CBO estimates that complying with that 
resolution would not have a significant effect on federal 
spending. Implementation of H. Res. 776 would not affect 
spending or revenues.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Tom Bradley. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       V. NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEES

    H. Res. 776 does not establish or authorize any new 
advisory committees.

                  VI. CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

    H. Res. 776 does not apply to the legislative branch.

                         VII. FEDERAL MANDATES

    H. Res. 776 provides no Federal mandates.

                              VIII. VIEWS

                              ----------                              


                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    We write as senior members of the Committee on Ways and 
Means and of the United States House of Representatives. While 
we happen to be Democrats, we do not believe preserving 
Congress' prerogative to obtain timely information about 
legislation is a partisan issue. Thus, we are profoundly 
disappointed by the majority's decision to adversely report 
this resolution. In doing so, the Committee has seriously 
undermined Congress' ability both to legislate with the best 
available information and to oversee programs under our 
jurisdiction. By voting to endorse the Bush Administration's 
decision to withhold important information from the Congress 
and the American people, the majority broke with long-standing 
precedent that the United States government should be 
accountable to Congress and the American people and not merely 
to the President's appointees. This contempt for Congressional 
prerogatives is as disturbing as the original suppression of 
information and its insidious effect on the outcome of last 
year's debate.
    We are saddened that our colleagues chose to put the 
political agenda of the Administration above the needs of the 
people and their elected representatives in the Congress. 
Consideration of this resolution provided an opportunity to 
bring closure to this unfortunate chapter. Instead, the 
decision by the majority to adversely report this measure means 
that these questions remain unanswered.
    If passed, H. Res. 776 would force the Bush Administration 
to release within two weeks of its adoption ``all documents, 
including telephone and electronic mail records, logs, and 
calendars, and records of internal discussions'' related to the 
estimates and analyses of last year's Medicare legislation 
(P.L. 108-173), including its predecessors (H.R. 1 and S. 1), 
to members of Congress and others in the executive branch. We 
introduced this resolution with our colleagues on the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, Representatives John Dingell and 
Sherrod Brown.

Background

    Throughout last year's debate on the Medicare Modernization 
Act (MMA), the Bush Administration claimed the Medicare bill 
carried a price tag of $395 billion over 10 years--the cost 
estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)--as 
they attempted to sell the legislation to reluctant members of 
Congress and the public. However, while they publicly touted 
the CBO estimates, they privately suppressed estimates by chief 
Medicare actuary Rick Foster and others in the Office of the 
Actuary (OACT) that consistently predicted the cost would total 
$500-600 billion over the same time period. Ultimately, their 
final estimate showed a cost of $534 billion--approximately 
$140 billion more than CBO. Even this estimate may be low, as 
it does not include spending for revenue provisions, which are 
included in the CBO estimate.
    Although Democrats asked for the actuary's estimates back 
in June of 2003 (and continued to do so through the rest of 
2003), the Bush Administration refused to provide Congress with 
the information, and even threatened to fire Foster if he 
revealed the information. These facts have been well documented 
by Foster's testimony before the Committee on March 24, 2004; 
additional testimony provided to the Committee on April 1, 
2004; press reports (including those that published internal 
Administration emails detailing at least one threat); and the 
investigation conducted by the Health and Human Services' (HHS) 
Office of the Inspector General (OIG). In addition, the 
Congressional Research Service (CRS) found in April of this 
year that these actions violated numerous federal laws and the 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) found earlier this month 
that the Administration illegally spent appropriations funds to 
pay the salary of then-CMS Administrator Tom Scully for the 
duration of the period in which he suppressed the information 
(starting in June 2003 and ending when he left the 
Administration in December 2003). GAO recommended that HHS seek 
repayment of Scully's salary for that period, but HHS has 
refused to do so and Scully has been quoted in several media 
outlets as saying that he wouldn't repay the funds even if they 
asked.
    This is not the first time Republican members of this 
Committee have gone on record in support of the Bush 
Administration and against the interests of Congress and the 
American people with respect to our effort to obtain 
information on the Medicare legislation and the process by 
which it was suppressed. Now, however, there is no doubt that 
the majority members on this committee are complicit in the 
Administration's coverup.

Timeline of key events

    While the Chairman implied at the mark-up of H. Res. 776 
that he would have worked with us on this issue had he known of 
our continuing interest, the timeline included below makes 
clear that we have tried time and again to obtain these 
documents and that the majority has consistently blocked our 
efforts. This timeline highlights key events in our effort to 
uncover the truth with respect to who knew what and when about 
the Medicare analyses last year. Please note that additional 
efforts have been undertaken by Democrats on the Committee on 
Government Reform and on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
including a lawsuit to force disclosure, which was filed by 
Democrats on the Committee on Government Reform.
    June-November 2003. Numerous requests made by Democratic 
Ways and Means Members and staff during this time for cost 
estimates and analyses (e.g., premium increases, total cost and 
participation, effect on solvency, subsidies for private plans 
versus fee-for-service, etc.) of the MMA and its precursors.
    June 25, 2003--Rep. Stark publicly announces that Foster 
has been threatened. On June 24, Foster tells staff that he has 
some of the requested information, but cannot provide it 
because his job has been threatened. Staff confirm this with 
Scully. Rep. Stark issues press release announcing Scully's 
threat to Foster.
    June 26, 2003. Administration releases a memo to Ranking 
Member Rangel, while on the floor, partially responding to a 
request--i.e., memo projects that premiums under traditional 
Medicare could rise by up to 25 percent if H.R. 1, as being 
considered, were enacted. Memo does notinclude any information 
on costs. Last official information received from the Administration 
until 2004 budget and Trustees documents released, in February and 
March, 2004, respectively.
    January 30, 2004--Secret table. Ways and Means Democratic 
staff receive a fax from an anonymous source of June 11, 2003 
table from OACT showing an estimate of $551.5 billion for a 
benefit similar to, but less generous than, S. 1 (which was 
scored at $422 billion by CBO), proving that the 
Administration's modeling consistently showed differences close 
to those found in the final scores.
    February 2, 2004. President's FY 2005 budget officially 
discloses that Administration estimates for spending in the 
Medicare Modernization Act total $534 billion. This likely 
understates the total cost, as it does not include revenue 
effects (which have never been fully disclosed).
    February 3, 2004. In light of the new information, Reps. 
Rangel, Dingell and Waxman send a letter to Secretary Thompson 
asking for the specific outstanding analyses from last year, 
and issuing a new request for all other analyses and estimates 
related to H.R. 1 (as passed the House), S. 1, conference 
committee proposals and H.R. 1, as enacted.
    February 6, 2004. Reps. Stark and Rangel send letters to 
Secretary Thompson and OMB Director Bolten requesting that 
Foster attend forthcoming budget hearings and be available to 
answer questions.
    February 10, 2004. Secretary Thompson appears before Ways 
and Means Committee, without Foster, to testify on the budget. 
Chairman Thomas promises that Foster will be invited in the 
Spring to discuss the forthcoming Trustees Report. Under 
questioning from various Democrats, Secretary Thompson (1) 
asserts that Scully told him he was disseminating information 
last year, (2) admits that their preliminary estimates were 
higher than CBO's and that individuals in the White House knew 
it, (3) says that he may have been ``derelict'' in allowing 
Scully to have too much control and blames him for 
micromanaging the actuaries, and (4) promises to restore access 
to ``anybody or anything in the Department you want.''
    February 11, 2004. OMB Director Bolten appears without 
Foster.
    February 12, 2004. Reps. Rangel and Stark send a letter to 
Secretary Thompson acknowledging his commitment at February 10 
hearing to restore access to Actuary; includes reminder of 
outstanding February 3 request.
    March 12, 2004. Rep. Stark and several other House 
Democrats request an OIG investigation.
    March 24, 2004--Foster testifies at hearing on Trustees 
Report. Foster testifies before the Committee. First public 
appearance and discussion on these issues--reveals threats, 
that his numbers were consistently higher, that he had pretty 
close to the final number weeks before the final vote, etc. 
Democratic members request additional hearing under Rule 11, 
clause 2 (j)(1) in order to hear from additional witnesses. 
Requested witnesses include former CMS Administrator Tom 
Scully, White House aide Doug Badger, CMS Deputy Administrator 
Leslie Norwalk and CMS San Francisco Regional Administrator 
Jeff Flick (Scully's former special assistant).
    April 1, 2004--Rule 11 hearing (2nd hearing). Thomas holds 
a hearing, pursuant to Rule 11 (as invoked by Democratic 
members on the Committee), to continue discussions on the 
suppression of the cost estimates and analyses. Witnesses are 
Norwalk and Flick. Scully declines to attend, citing travel 
fatigue. White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez declines on 
behalf of Badger, citing executive privilege and precedent. 
Committee Republicans vote against motions to (1) subpoena 
Badger, (2) subpoena Scully and (3) to swear in Norwalk and 
Flick. However, the Chairman repeatedly states during the 
hearing that he would support additional actions to get the 
information if laws had been broken--e.g., ``If there was a 
violation of the law, the chair stands ready to use whatever 
tool is necessary to get to the bottom of the violation of the 
law.'' Accordingly, the American Law Division at CRS was asked 
after the hearing for an opinion with respect to whether laws 
had been broken (see April 30).
    April 16, 2004--HHS ``response.'' HHS sends Reps. Rangel, 
Waxman and others a letter to respond to the February 3 
request, but which refuses to provide the requested 
information, instead offering a few previously released 
documents. Virtually no new information. Stonewalling 
continues.
    April 30, 2004--New CRS opinion sent to Thomas, with 
request for additional actions. Reps. Rangel and Stark write to 
the Chairman to ask for his support in subpoenaing Badger and 
Scully for another hearing, in light of a new CRS paper 
asserting that numerous laws have been broken and the 
Chairman's statements at the April 1 hearing. The Chairman 
never responded.
    May 14, 2004. Rep. Stark sends letter to new CMS 
Administrator Mark McClellan, following his committment at a 
Health Subcommittee hearing on May 11 to restore access to the 
Actuary, requesting the documents in question. No response ever 
received.
    June 22, 2004. Bicameral Democratic letter to Frist and 
Hastert asking for a Congressional investigation.
    July 6, 2004--HHS/OIG report. OIG/HHS releases summary of 
internal investigation; provides first written official 
confirmation from the Bush Administration that information was 
withheld from Congress and Scully threatened Foster. While it 
asserts that no laws were broken, it does not address a key 
appropriations law that is designed to protect communications 
between the Executive and Legislative branches (P.L. 108-199 
and 108-7 et al.--see September 7) or whether such withholding 
is appropriate. [NOTE. Similar requests for investigation had 
been made of both GAO and OIG, thus they had agreed to divide 
work to avoid duplication; GAO agreed to use the OIG's facts 
and to review the appropriations law (P.L. 108-199 and 108-7 et 
al.), while the OIG would conduct the investigation to 
determine the facts and review other laws.]
    September 7, 2004--GAO opinion. GAO issues legal opinion--
based on the OIG's investigation--finding that Scully violated 
appropriations law by illegally gagging Foster. GAOrecommends 
that HHS seek repayment of Scully's salary from June-December 2003. HHS 
refuses to do so; Scully says he wouldn't pay even if asked.
    September 8, 2004. Bicameral Democratic letter sent to 
Frist and Hastert, following up on June request for 
investigation and citing GAO opinion as renewed impetus.
    September 9, 2004--Labor-HHS amendment. To provide 
incentive for the Administration to seek repayment, Rep. Stark 
offers an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill to 
reduce the Secretary's budget by the amount owed by Scully. 
Amendment failed 216-195 (22 not voting).
    September 15, 2004--Resolution of Inquiry (H. Res. 776) 
introduced. Reps. Rangel, Stark, Dingell and Brown introduce 
the Resolution of Inquiry demanding the still-hidden 
Administration documents.

                               CONCLUSION

    This committee has had a history of working on a bipartisan 
basis to seek data and effectively manage the Medicare program. 
While there have often been differences on broad programmatic 
issues, those differences were regularly put aside to oversee 
Medicare's operations and ensure careful spending of taxpayer 
dollars. Indeed, the steadfast refusal of both the Chairman and 
the Leadership to assert Congressional prerogatives to obtain 
relevant information known to be in the possession of the 
executive branch is an indication of just how far the House has 
fallen in the past decade.
    As Francis Bacon famously observed centuries ago, Ipsa 
Scientia Potestas Est--knowledge is power. By hiding the 
analyses we have requested, the Republican-controlled 
Administration and Congress were able to enact legislation that 
put the profits of the pharmaceutical industry and HMOs above 
the needs of beneficiaries, while simultaneously laying the 
groundwork to privatize and undermine Medicare.
    There is no question that this legislation would not be law 
today if the information we had requested had been provided. 
But this is part of a broader pattern of deceit by the Bush 
Administration. Whether on Medicare, Iraq, taxes, veterans 
benefits, Leave No Child Behind or a host of other issues, time 
and again the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership 
have withheld or manipulated information to suit their 
political agenda.
    This pattern occurs because poor policies cannot stand on 
their merits. Disclosure of the documents requested in this 
resolution would prove that last year's withholding of 
information was an orchestrated effort to hide the truth. It 
wasn't simply over-reaching by former CMS Administrator Tom 
Scully. This behavior goes to the top. That's why the Bush 
Administration and its partners in Congress have quashed this 
resolution and are determined to do whatever is necessary to 
prevent the American people from knowing the truth.
                                   Charles B. Rangel.
                                   Pete Stark.

                                  
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