[Senate Report 111-13]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     111-13

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

                                     

                                     

                                     


                              R E P O R T

                           ON THE ACTIVITIES

                                 of the

                          COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

                                 of the

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                               during the

                             110th CONGRESS

                              pursuant to

                    Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules

                                 of the

                          UNITED STATES SENATE




                 March 31, 2009.--Ordered to be printed


For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov  Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512ï¿½091800  
Fax: (202) 512ï¿½092104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402ï¿½090001


                 [110th Congress--Committee Membership]

                          COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

                     MAX BAUCUS, Montana, Chairman

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West         CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa
Virginia                             ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota            TRENT LOTT, Mississippi\1\
JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico            OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts         JON KYL, Arizona
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas         CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming\2\
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    GORDON SMITH, Oregon
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York         JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
KEN SALAZAR, Colorado                JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada\3\
                                     JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire\4\

                    Russell Sullivan, Staff Director

        Kolan Davis, Republican Staff Director and Chief Counsel

                             SUBCOMMITTEES

                                 ______

                              HEALTH CARE

            JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts         ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico            CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas         OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    JON KYL, Arizona
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
KEN SALAZAR, Colorado                JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada\3\

                                 ______

             TAXATION, IRS OVERSIGHT, AND LONG-TERM GROWTH

                  KENT CONRAD, North Dakota, Chairman

MAX BAUCUS, Montana                  JON KYL, Arizona
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    TRENT LOTT, Mississippi\1\
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York         JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire\4\
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
KEN SALAZAR, Colorado                MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
                                     ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah

                                  (ii)
?

             ENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND INFRASTRUCTURE

                  JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico, Chairman

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota            JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts         GORDON SMITH, Oregon
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas         ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    TRENT LOTT, Mississippi\1\
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
KEN SALAZAR, Colorado                JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada\3\
                                     JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire\4\

                                 ______

              SOCIAL SECURITY, PENSIONS, AND FAMILY POLICY

                 JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West         JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada\3\
Virginia                             TRENT LOTT, Mississippi\1\
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota            JON KYL, Arizona
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York         JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire\4\

                                 ______

             INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

                 BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas, Chairman

MAX BAUCUS, Montana                  GORDON SMITH, Oregon
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West         MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
Virginia                             OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico            PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York

----------
\1\Resigned from the Senate December 18, 2007.
\2\Died June 4, 2007.
\3\Joined committee July 10, 2007.
\4\Joined committee January 24, 2008.

                                 (iii)
?

                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       U.S. Senate,
                                      Committee on Finance,
                                    Washington, DC, March 31, 2009.
Hon. Nancy Erickson,
Secretary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Ms. Erickson: In accordance with rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the United States Senate and the pertinent 
unanimous consent order pertaining to this rule, I am 
transmitting herewith a report on the activities of the 
Committee on Finance of the United States Senate for the 110th 
Congress.

            Sincerely,
                                              Max Baucus, Chairman.
      

                                  (v)
                                     



                            C O N T E N T S

                               __________
                                                                   Page

110th Congress--Committee Membership.............................    ii
Letter of Transmittal............................................     v
Committee Jurisdiction...........................................     1
Rules of Procedure...............................................     2
Tax--Summary of Activities.......................................     5
    Committee Hearings and Member Meetings.......................     6
    Full Committee Executive Meetings............................    17
Trade--Summary of Activities.....................................    19
    Full Committee Hearings......................................    22
    Full Committee Executive Meetings............................    25
    Full Committee Member Meetings...............................    26
Health--Summary of Activities....................................    29
    Hearings and Meetings........................................    32
    Summits and Conferences......................................    37
    Full Committee Field Hearings................................    37
    Subcommittee on Health Care..................................    38
Social Security--Summary of Activities...........................    39
    Full Committee Hearings......................................    39
    Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy............    41
Oversight and Investigations--Summary of Activities..............    43
    Overview.....................................................    43
    Hearings.....................................................    44
    The Cayman Islands and Offshore Tax Issues...................    46
    Legislative Action by Senate Finance Committee on Offshore 
      Tax Evasion................................................    46
    Legislation..................................................    47
    Active Oversight Initiatives.................................    50
        Special IG for the TARP Program..........................    50
        Centers for Disease Control..............................    51
        Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...............    51
        Department of Health and Human Services..................    55
        Federal Bureau of Investigation..........................    56
        Food and Drug Administration.............................    60
        National Institutes of Health............................    64
        Pharmaceuticals and Devices..............................    65
        Miscellaneous............................................    67
    Monitored Oversight Initiatives..............................    70
        Federal Bureau of Investigation..........................    70
        Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...............    71
        Department of Health and Human Services..................    72
        Food and Drug Administration.............................    72
Nominations......................................................    75
Bills and Resolutions Referred to the Committee..................    85
Reports, Prints, and Studies.....................................    87
Official Communications..........................................    89

                                 (vii)

  
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     111-13

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



 
 REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE DURING THE 110TH 
                                CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

                 March 31, 2009.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Baucus, from the Committee on Finance, submitted the following

                                 REPORT

    This report reviews the legislative and oversight 
activities of the Committee on Finance during the 110th 
Congress. These activities parallel the broad scope of 
responsibilities vested in the committee by the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended, rule XXV(k) of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, and additional authorizing 
resolutions.

                         COMMITTEE JURISDICTION

    Rule XXV(i) of the Standing Rules of the Senate requires 
reference to this committee of all proposed legislation, and 
other matters, dealing with (i) Committee on Finance, to which 
committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, 
petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the 
following subjects:
          1. Bonded debt of the United States, except as 
        provided in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
          2. Customs, collection districts, and ports of entry 
        and delivery.
          3. Deposit of public moneys.
          4. General revenue sharing.
          5. Health programs under the Social Security Act and 
        health programs financed by a specific tax or trust 
        fund.
          6. National social security.
          7. Reciprocal trade agreements.
          8. Revenue measures generally, except as provided in 
        the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
          9. Revenue measures relating to the insular 
        possessions.
          10. Tariffs and import quotas, and matters related 
        thereto.
          11. Transportation of dutiable goods.

                                  (1)

                            COMMITTEE RULES

                         I. RULES OF PROCEDURE

    Rule 1.  Regular Meeting Days.--The regular meeting day of the 
committee shall be the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, except 
that if there be no business before the committee the regular meeting 
shall be omitted.
    Rule 2.  Committee Meetings.--(a) Except as provided by paragraph 3 
of Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate (relating to special 
meetings called by a majority of the committee) and subsection (b) of 
this rule, committee meetings, for the conduct of business, for the 
purpose of holding hearings, or for any other purpose, shall be called 
by the chairman. Members will be notified of committee meetings at 
least 48 hours in advance, unless the chairman determines that an 
emergency situation requires a meeting on shorter notice. The 
notification will include a written agenda together with materials 
prepared by the staff relating to that agenda. After the agenda for a 
committee meeting is published and distributed, no nongermane items may 
be brought up during that meeting unless at least two-thirds of the 
members present agree to consider those items.
      (b) In the absence of the chairman, meetings of the committee may 
be called by the ranking majority member of the committee who is 
present, provided authority to call meetings has been delegated to such 
member by the chairman.
    Rule 3.  Presiding Officer.--(a) The chairman shall preside at all 
meetings and hearings of the committee except that in his absence the 
ranking majority member who is present at the meeting shall preside.
      (b) Notwithstanding the rule prescribed by subsection (a) any 
member of the committee may preside over the conduct of a hearing.
    Rule 4.  Quorums.--(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) one-
third of the membership of the committee, including not less than one 
member of the majority party and one member of the minority party, 
shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business.
      (b) Notwithstanding the rule prescribed by subsection (a), one 
member shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting a 
hearing.
    Rule 5.  Reporting of Measures or Recommendations.--No measure or 
recommendation shall be reported from the committee unless a majority 
of the committee is actually present and a majority of those present 
concur.
    Rule 6.  Proxy Voting; Polling.--(a) Except as provided by 
paragraph 7(a)(3) of Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate 
(relating to limitation on use of proxy voting to report a measure or 
matter), members who are unable to be present may have their vote 
recorded by proxy.
      (b) At the discretion of the committee, members who are unable to 
be present and whose vote has not been cast by proxy may be polled for 
the purpose of recording their vote on any rollcall taken by the 
committee.
    Rule 7.  Order of Motions.--When several motions are before the 
committee dealing with related or overlapping matters, the chairman may 
specify the order in which the motions shall be voted upon.
    Rule 8.  Bringing a Matter to a Vote.--If the chairman determines 
that a motion or amendment has been adequately debated, he may call for 
a vote on such motion or amendment, and the vote shall then be taken, 
unless the committee votes to continue debate on such motion or 
amendment, as the case may be. The vote on a motion to continue debate 
on any motion or amendment shall be taken without debate.
    Rule 9.  Public Announcement of Committee Votes.--Pursuant to 
paragraph 7(b) of Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate 
(relating to public announcement of votes), the results of rollcall 
votes taken by the committee on any measure (or amendment thereto) or 
matter shall be announced publicly not later than the day on which such 
measure or matter is ordered reported from the committee.
    Rule 10.  Subpoenas.--Subpoenas for attendance of witnesses and the 
production of memoranda, documents, and records shall be issued by the 
chairman, or by any other member of the committee designated by him.
    Rule 11.  Nominations.--In considering a nomination, the committee 
may conduct an investigation or review of the nominee's experience, 
qualifications, and suitability, to serve in the position to which he 
or she has been nominated. To aid in such investigation or review, each 
nominee may be required to submit a sworn detailed statement including 
biographical, financial, policy, and other information which the 
committee may request. The committee may specify which items in such 
statement are to be received on a confidential basis. Witnesses called 
to testify on the nomination may be required to testify under oath.
    Rule 12.  Open Committee Hearings.--To the extent required by 
paragraph 5 of Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate (relating 
to limitations on open hearings), each hearing conducted by the 
committee shall be open to the public.
    Rule 13.  Announcement of Hearings.--The committee shall undertake 
consistent with the provisions of paragraph 4(a) of Rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate (relating to public notice of committee 
hearings) to issue public announcements of hearings it intends to hold 
at least one week prior to the commencement of such hearings.
    Rule 14.  Witnesses at Hearings.--(a) Each witness who is scheduled 
to testify at any hearing must submit his written testimony to the 
staff director not later than noon of the business day immediately 
before the last business day preceding the day on which he is scheduled 
to appear. Such written testimony shall be accompanied by a brief 
summary of the principal points covered in the written testimony. 
Having submitted his written testimony, the witness shall be allowed 
not more than 10 minutes for oral presentation of his statement.
      (b) Witnesses may not read their entire written testimony, but 
must confine their oral presentation to a summarization of their 
arguments.
      (c) Witnesses shall observe proper standards of dignity, decorum 
and propriety while presenting their views to the committee. Any 
witness who violates this rule shall be dismissed, and his testimony 
(both oral and written) shall not appear in the record of the hearing.
      (d) In scheduling witnesses for hearings, the staff shall attempt 
to schedule witnesses so as to attain a balance of views early in the 
hearings. Every member of the committee may designate witnesses who 
will appear before the committee to testify. To the extent that a 
witness designated by a member cannot be scheduled to testify during 
the time set aside for the hearing, a special time will be set aside 
for the witness to testify if the member designating that witness is 
available at that time to chair the hearing.
    Rule 15.  Audiences.--Persons admitted into the audience for open 
hearings of the committee shall conduct themselves with the dignity, 
decorum, courtesy and propriety traditionally observed by the Senate. 
Demonstrations of approval or disapproval of any statement or act by 
any member or witness are not allowed. Persons creating confusion or 
distractions or otherwise disrupting the orderly proceeding of the 
hearing shall be expelled from the hearing.
    Rule 16.  Broadcasting of Hearings.--(a) Broadcasting of open 
hearings by television or radio coverage shall be allowed upon approval 
by the chairman of a request filed with the staff director not later 
than noon of the day before the day on which such coverage is desired.
      (b) If such approval is granted, broadcasting coverage of the 
hearing shall be conducted unobtrusively and in accordance with the 
standards of dignity, propriety, courtesy and decorum traditionally 
observed by the Senate.
      (c) Equipment necessary for coverage by television and radio 
media shall not be installed in, or removed from, the hearing room 
while the committee is in session.
      (d) Additional lighting may be installed in the hearing room by 
the media in order to raise the ambient lighting level to the lowest 
level necessary to provide adequate television coverage of the hearing 
at the then current state of the art of television coverage.
      (e) The additional lighting authorized by subsection (d) of this 
rule shall not be directed into the eyes of any members of the 
committee or of any witness, and at the request of any such member or 
witness, offending lighting shall be extinguished.
    Rule 17.  Subcommittees.--(a) The chairman, subject to the approval 
of the committee, shall appoint legislative subcommittees. All 
legislation shall be kept on the full committee calendar unless a 
majority of the members present and voting agree to refer specific 
legislation to an appropriate subcommittee.
      (b) The chairman may limit the period during which House-passed 
legislation referred to a subcommittee under paragraph (a) will remain 
in that subcommittee. At the end of that period, the legislation will 
be restored to the full committee calendar. The period referred to in 
the preceding sentences should be 6 weeks, but may be extended in the 
event that adjournment or a long recess is imminent.
      (c) All decisions of the chairman are subject to approval or 
modification by a majority vote of the committee.
      (d) The full committee may at any time by majority vote of those 
members present discharge a subcommittee from further consideration of 
a specific piece of legislation.
      (e) Because the Senate is constitutionally prohibited from 
passing revenue legislation originating in the Senate, subcommittees 
may mark up legislation originating in the Senate and referred to them 
under Rule 16(a) to develop specific proposals for full committee 
consideration but may not report such legislation to the full 
committee. The preceding sentence does not apply to nonrevenue 
legislation originating in the Senate.
      (f) The chairman and ranking minority member shall serve as 
nonvoting ex officio members of the subcommittees on which they do not 
serve as voting members.
      (g) Any member of the committee may attend hearings held by any 
subcommittee and question witnesses testifying before that 
subcommittee.
      (h) Subcommittee meeting times shall be coordinated by the staff 
director to insure that--
          (1) no subcommittee meeting will be held when the committee 
        is in executive session, except by unanimous consent;
          (2) no more than one subcommittee will meet when the full 
        committee is holding hearings; and
          (3) not more than two subcommittees will meet at the same 
        time.
    Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), a subcommittee may meet 
when the full committee is holding hearings and two subcommittees may 
meet at the same time only upon the approval of the chairman and the 
ranking minority member of the committee and subcommittees involved.
      (i) All nominations shall be considered by the full committee.
      (j) The chairman will attempt to schedule reasonably frequent 
meetings of the full committee to permit consideration of legislation 
reported favorably to the committee by the subcommittees.
    Rule 18.  Transcripts of Committee Meetings.--An accurate record 
shall be kept of all markups of the committee, whether they be open or 
closed to the public. A transcript, marked as ``uncorrected,'' shall be 
available for inspection by Members of the Senate, or members of the 
committee together with their staffs, at any time. Not later than 21 
business days after the meeting occurs, the committee shall make 
publicly available through the Internet--
      (a) a video recording;
      (b) an audio recording; or
      (c) after all members of the committee have had a reasonable 
opportunity to correct their remarks for grammatical errors or to 
accurately reflect statements, a corrected transcript;
and such record shall remain available until the end of the Congress 
following the date of the meeting.
    Notwithstanding the above, in the case of the record of an 
executive session of the committee that is closed to the public 
pursuant to Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the record 
shall not be published or made public in any way except by majority 
vote of the committee after all members of the committee have had a 
reasonable opportunity to correct their remarks for grammatical errors 
or to accurately reflect statements made.
    Rule 19.  Amendment of Rules.--The foregoing rules may be added to, 
modified, amended or suspended at any time.
                                  TAX

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    During the 110th Congress, the Senate Finance Committee 
worked to address urgent challenges facing the American and 
global economy. The committee also worked to move forward many 
long-term priorities. The committee was actively involved in 
several major tax policy issues, including: (i) the tax 
portions of a bill to provide economic stimulus; (ii) the tax 
portions of legislation to address the failure of major 
financial firms and the tightening of credit; (iii) a patch to 
the alternative minimum tax; (iv) the tax title to the farm 
bill; and (v) the tax title to the housing bill. The committee 
held hearings to support its legislation and to explore future 
tax reform areas, including an examination of carried interest, 
education tax incentives, the tax gap, and renewable energy tax 
incentives.
2007 Legislation
    On June 21st 2007, H.R. 6, the ``Energy Independence and 
Security Act of 2007,'' which contained tax incentives to 
increase investment in renewable energy sources and increase 
energy independence and security, passed in the Senate. It 
became law on December 19, 2007 (Pub. L. No. 110-140)
    On May 17, 2007, H.R 2206., the ``U.S. Troop Readiness, 
Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability 
Appropriations Act, 2007,'' was passed in the Senate. It became 
law on May 25, 2007 (Pub. L. No. 110-28).
    On October 25, 2007, H.R. 3678, the ``Internet Tax Freedom 
Act Amendments Act of 2007,'' which amended the Internet Tax 
Freedom Act to extend the moratorium on certain taxes relating 
to the Internet and to electronic commerce, was passed in the 
Senate with unanimous consent. It became law on October 31 
(Pub. L. No. 110-108).
    On December 6, 2007, H.R. 3996, the ``Tax Increase 
Prevention Act of 2007,'' passed the Senate by a vote of 88-5. 
The law provided a one-year patch to the alternative minimum 
tax. It was signed into law on December 26, 2007. (Pub. L. No. 
110-166).
2008 Legislation
    On February 5, 2008, the committee considered and reported 
S. 715-S. 725 and S. 762-S. 773, the ``Recovery Rebates and 
Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008.'' S. 
715-S. 725 and S. 762-S. 773 were included in a substitute 
amendment to H.R. 5140. The bill included economic stimulus 
rebates to individuals, incentives for business investment, and 
an increase in conforming and FHA loan limits. The substitute 
amendment was agreed to by the House on February 7, 2008 and 
was signed into law on February 13, 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-185).
    On June 5, 2008, H.R. 6124, the ``Food, Conservation, and 
Energy Act of 2008,'' which continued agricultural programs 
through fiscal year 2012, was passed in the Senate. It was 
vetoed by the President on June 18, 2008. That same day, the 
House and Senate voted to override the President's veto and the 
bill became Pub. L. 110-246.
    In May 2008, the committee shepherded passage of a military 
personnel tax relief bill, S. 4772-S. 4774, by unanimous 
consent. S. 4772-S. 4774 and their identical counterpart H.R. 
6081, a bill ``to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
provide benefits for military personnel and for other 
purposes'' were signed into law on June 17, 2008 (Pub. L. No. 
110-245).
    On April 10, 2008, the Senate passed the ``Housing and 
Economic Recovery Act of 2008.'' The bill provided tax relief 
to homeowners, homebuyers, and homebuilders, including an 
increase in funding for mortgage revenue bonds, a credit for 
foreclosed properties, and a business loss tax relief 
provision. The measure was signed into law on July 30, 2008 
(Pub. L. 110-289).
    On October 1, 2008, the Senate passed H.R. 1424, the 
``Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.'' The bill gave 
the Federal Government authority to purchase and insure certain 
types of troubled assets with the goal of providing stability 
to the economy. It included a number of tax provisions, 
including energy tax incentives and extensions of current law. 
It also provided individual income tax relief through the 
alternative minimum tax and had disaster relief provisions. The 
bill was signed into law on October 3, 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-
343).
    On December 11, 2008, the Senate passed the ``Worker, 
Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008.'' The package 
included modifications to pension distribution requirements for 
seniors and temporary funding relief for pension plans. The 
bill also included the Pension Protection Technical Correction 
Act of 2008, originally passed by the Senate in December 2007 
and the House in March and July 2008. The measure was signed 
into law on December 23, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-458).

                 Committee Hearings and Member Meetings

2007
January 10, 2007--``Tax Incentives for Businesses in Response 
    to a Minimum Wage Increase.'' The purpose of the hearing 
    was to discuss the effects of a minimum wage increase and 
    potential policy responses to any additional burdens placed 
    on businesses. Received testimony from Dr. Jared Bernstein, 
    Director, Living Standards Program, Economic Policy 
    Institute, Washington, DC; Dr. Joseph Sabia, Assistant 
    Professor of Housing and Consumer Economics, College of 
    Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia, 
    Athens, GA; Matthew Kadish, Vice President of Legislation, 
    Small Business Council of America, Cleveland, OH; Dave 
    Ratner, Owner, Dave's Soda & Pet City, Agawam, MA; and 
    Bruce Obenour, President, Akwen, LTD., Dublin, OH.
January 11, 2007--Senators Meeting on the Minimum Wage Tax 
    Package.
January 18, 2007--Senators Meeting to discuss Economic Policy 
    with Secretary Paulson and Director Portman.
January 23, 2007--Senators Meeting to discuss economic policy 
    with Chairman Bernanke.
February 27, 2007--``America's Energy Future: Bold Ideas, 
    Practical Solutions.'' The purpose of the hearing was to 
    discuss domestic energy sources and potential policy 
    proposals to spur alternative energy development. The 
    witnesses discussed possible solutions that are efficient, 
    domestically sustainable, and renewable, which can be 
    partially met through changes in the tax code that 
    incentivize new, alternative energy solutions. Received 
    testimony from Governor Brian Schweitzer, D-MT; Michael A. 
    Aimone, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, 
    Installations, and Mission Support, U.S. Air Force; Dan 
    Arvizu, Ph.D., Director, National Renewable Energy 
    Laboratory, Golden, CO; Robert Socolow, Ph.D., Co-Director, 
    The Carbon Mitigation Initiative, Princeton University, 
    Princeton, NJ; and Dan Reicher, J.D., Director, Energy and 
    Climate Initiatives, Google Corp., Mountain View, CA.
March 13, 2007--Senators Meeting to discuss energy with 
    Secretary Samuel Bodman.
March 20, 2007--``Realizing a Competitive Education: 
    Identifying Needs, Partnerships, and Resources.'' This 
    hearing focused on flaws in the education system by 
    identifying problems from a variety of institutional 
    perspectives. It stressed the vitality of education in 
    sustaining economic growth and creating upward social 
    mobility. It also examined the role and effects of tax 
    policy on the future of education. Received testimony from 
    Governor Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent 
    Education, Washington, DC; Jane Karas, President, Flathead 
    Valley Community College, Kalispell, MT; William Green, 
    Chief Executive Officer, Accenture, Boston, MA; Greg 
    Taylor, Vice President for Programs, Youth and Education, 
    Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI; Patty Myers, Teacher, 
    Lewis and Clark Elementary, Great Falls, MT; and Steven L. 
    Paine, State Superintendent, West Virginia Department of 
    Education, East Charleston, WV.
March 29, 2007--``Clean Energy: From the Margins to the 
    Mainstream.'' This hearing addressed the importance of 
    clean, renewable energy. It focused on how tax incentives 
    can be used to create more domestic energy, which can 
    stimulate the economy. Moreover, diversifying the 
    electricity portfolio through new alternatives has 
    widespread benefits for the economy and the environment. 
    Received testimony from His Excellency John Bruton, 
    Ambassador, European Commission Delegation, Washington, DC; 
    John Krenicki, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
    General Electric Energy, Atlanta, GA; Todd Raba, President, 
    MidAmerican Energy Company (MEC), Des Moines, IA; Johan 
    van't Hof, Chief Executive Officer, Tonbridge Corporation, 
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Dr. Ryan H. Wiser, Scientist, 
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA.
April 12, 2007--``Filing your Taxes: An Ounce of Prevention is 
    Worth a Pound of Cure.'' This hearing examined the role 
    that tax preparers play in creating the tax gap. It 
    analyzed the role of fraud in the tax system and the way 
    that taxpayers can be manipulated by tax preparers. The 
    hearing looked at potential solutions to increase 
    accountability and standards and strengthen the 
    capabilities of the IRS to regulate tax preparers. Received 
    testimony from the Hon. Mark W. Everson, Commissioner, 
    Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC; James White, 
    Director, Tax Issues, Government Accountability Office, 
    Washington, DC; Michael Phillips, Deputy Inspector General 
    for Audit, Treasury Inspector General for Tax 
    Administration, Washington, DC; and the Hon. Eileen J. 
    O'Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, 
    U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
April 12, 2007--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``International Perspectives on Alternative 
    Energy Policy: Incentives and Mandates and Their Impacts.'' 
    This hearing addressed energy policy by identifying long-
    term goals of affordability, efficiency, and environmental 
    protection. The witnesses analyzed the effectiveness of 
    energy tax provisions in the context of other policies like 
    alternative energy price supports, investment incentives, 
    and mandates. Received testimony from Chet Boortz, Vice 
    President of Business Development, Advent Solar, an 
    Albuquerque, NM manufacturer of a new solar technology that 
    serves large markets in Europe and Asia; Jonathon Johns, 
    Partner, Renewable Energy, Waste & Clean Energy Group, 
    Ernst & Young, LLP, Exeter, UK; and John Krenicki, 
    President & CEO, GE Energy, Atlanta, GA.
April 18, 2007--``Examining the Administration's Plan for 
    Reducing the Tax Gap: What are the Goals, Benchmarks and 
    Timetables?'' This hearing gauged the effectiveness of 
    approaches taken in the past to address the tax gap and 
    looked at possible solutions to reduce the tax gap in the 
    future. Chairman Baucus set the concrete goal of 90 percent 
    voluntary compliance by 2017. Increasing enforcement, 
    regulation, and simplicity will increase honest compliance 
    and shrink the tax gap. Received testimony from the Hon. 
    Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, 
    Washington, DC; accompanied by the Hon. Eric Solomon, 
    Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Washington, DC; and the 
    Hon. Mark W. Everson, Commissioner, Internal Revenue 
    Service, Washington, DC.
April 19, 2007--``Grains, Cane, and Automobiles: Tax Incentives 
    for Alternative Fuels and Vehicles.'' This hearing 
    addressed potential ways to address U.S. energy policy in a 
    way that alleviates the burdens that expensive foreign 
    energy puts on the environment, national security, and 
    families. Witnesses testified on cleaner and greener ways 
    to fuel vehicles. The hearing looked at domestic solutions 
    to increase the production of biofuel, biomass, clean coal, 
    and ethanol. Received testimony from James Woolsey, Vice 
    President, Booz Allen Hamilton, Washington, DC; Vinod 
    Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Park, CA; Robert 
    Farrington, Ph.D., Principal Engineer and Manager, Advanced 
    Vehicle Systems Group, National Renewable Energy 
    Laboratory, Golden, CO; Bruce Dale, Ph.D., Professor of 
    Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, East 
    Lansing, MI; and Jay Debertin, Executive Vice President and 
    Chief Operating Officer for Processing and Renewables, CHS 
    Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN.
April 26, 2007--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``Coal: A Clean Future.'' This hearing 
    addressed the future of clean coal and its potential as a 
    viable alternative to foreign energy sources. The hearing 
    analyzed policy ideas regarding coal tax credits, 
    sequestration, gasification, coal-to-liquid, and 
    retrofitting coal-fired power plants. Received testimony 
    from Steve Waddington, Executive Director, Wyoming 
    Infrastructure Authority, Cheyenne, WY; Dr. Nina French, 
    ADA-ES, Director, Clean Coal Combustion, Napa, CA; John 
    Diesch, President, Rentech Energy Midwest Corporation, East 
    Dubuque, IL; Dr. Brian McPherson, Research Scientist, 
    Petroleum Recovery Research Center, NM Tech and Manager, 
    Carbon Engineering Group Energy and Geoscience Institute, 
    University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; and Bill Townsend, 
    CEO, Blue Source, Holladay, UT.
May 1, 2007--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``Advanced Technology Vehicles, the Road 
    Ahead.'' This hearing analyzed the future of transportation 
    infrastructure as the price of oil continues to rise and 
    the U.S. becomes increasingly reliant on foreign energy 
    sources. The witnesses provided a variety of perspectives 
    to analyze the effectiveness of potential tax credit 
    solutions to guide the country toward a more viable energy 
    future. Received testimony from Mark Chernoby, Vice 
    President, Advance Vehicle Engineering, DaimlerChrysler 
    Corporation, Auburn Hills, MI; David Vieau, CEO, 
    A123Systems, Watertown, MA; Martin Eberhard, CEO, Tesla 
    Motors, San Carlos, CA; Dr. Walter McManus, University of 
    Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI; 
    and Phillip Baxley, President, Shell Hydrogen, LLC, 
    Houston, TX.
May 10, 2007--``Can the Middle Class Make Ends Meet? Economic 
    Issues for America's Working Families.'' This hearing 
    addressed the increase in inequality and potential tax cuts 
    to address the issue. The hearing considered potential 
    causes like corporate profits, health care costs, and 
    gasoline prices while stressing that a broad middle class 
    benefits society as a whole. Received testimony from Gary 
    Burtless, John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair in Economic 
    Studies, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; Elizabeth 
    Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, 
    Cambridge, MA; Sarah Blackburn, Social Worker, Billings 
    Clinic, Billings, MT; and Scott Hodge, President, Tax 
    Foundation, Washington, DC.
May 24, 2007--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``Energy Efficiency: Can Tax Incentives 
    Reduce Consumption?'' This hearing focused on energy 
    efficiency, specifically in residential and commercial 
    infrastructure. Witnesses testified about ways that tax 
    credits can incentivize efficiency and thus limit 
    consumption in the long run. Received testimony from Kateri 
    Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy, Washington, 
    DC; Stuart Thorn, President, Southwire Company, Carrolton, 
    GA; Sean Casten, President, Recycled Energy Development, 
    Westmont, IL; Dan DeLurey, Executive Director, Demand 
    Response and Advance Metering Coalition, Washington, DC; 
    Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies, Cato 
    Institute, Washington, DC; and Doug Smith, PhD, President, 
    NanoPore, Albuquerque, NM.
June 27, 2007--``The Stealth Tax That is No Longer a Wealth 
    Tax: How to Stop the AMT From Sneaking up on Unsuspecting 
    Taxpayers.'' This hearing focused on the flaws in the AMT 
    and stressed the importance of renewing the AMT patch. 
    Witnesses emphasized the importance of alleviating any 
    burden that the AMT puts on middle-class families since the 
    plan was designed to compensate for a very small number of 
    taxpayers who were avoiding taxes altogether. Received 
    testimony from Frank Degen, representing the National 
    Association of Enrolled Agents, Setauket, NY; Dr. Leonard 
    Burman, Director of the Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute, 
    Washington, DC; Dr. Kevin Hassett, Director of Economic 
    Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute for Policy 
    Research, Washington, DC; and Michael J. Graetz, Justus S. 
    Hotchkiss Professor of Law, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT.
July 11, 2007--``Carried Interest, Part 1.'' The hearing 
    examined whether hedge fund and private equity managers 
    should pay tax on ``carried interest'' at the ordinary rate 
    or capital gains rate. Received testimony from the Hon. 
    Eric Solomon, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, U.S. 
    Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC; Peter Orszag, 
    Director, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC; 
    Andrew Donohue, Director, Division of Investment 
    Management, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, 
    DC; Kate D. Mitchell, Managing Director, Scale Venture 
    Partners, Foster City, CA; and Marc P. Gergen, Foundren 
    Foundation Centennial Chair for Faculty Excellence, The 
    University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX.
July 12, 2007--``Airport Airways Trust Fund: The Future of 
    Aviation Financing.'' This hearing provided context for 
    reauthorization of the Airport Airways Trust Fund (AATF). 
    Much of the reauthorization debate centers on the portion 
    of AATF funding that should be borne by users of the system 
    (commercial aviation vs. general aviation). Received 
    testimony from the Hon. Marion C. Blakely, Administrator, 
    Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC; Peter 
    Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, 
    DC; Gerald Dillingham, Director, Civil Aviation Issues, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Mark 
    Hansen, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental 
    Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
July 19, 2007--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``Aviation Financing: Industry 
    Perspectives.'' This hearing was the second on the aviation 
    trust fund and focused on the industry perspective. The 
    witnesses discussed their views on existing and proposed 
    tax structures and funding options for the reauthorization 
    of aviation programs. Received testimony from Jim 
    Whitehurst, Chief Operating Officer, Delta Air Lines, 
    Atlanta, GA; Fred Smith, CEO, Federal Express, Memphis, TN; 
    Vern Raburn, CEO and President, Eclipse Aviation Corp., 
    Albuquerque, NM; Dave Hackett, President, Gulfstream 
    International Airlines, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Richard Shine, 
    CEO, Manitoba Recycling, Lancaster, NY; Robert Olislagers, 
    Executive Director, Colorado Centennial Airport, Englewood, 
    CO.
July 24, 2007--``Oversight of Government Tax Policy in Farm 
    Country.'' This hearing looked at how the Finance Committee 
    could assist the Agriculture Committee on the tax titles in 
    the upcoming Farm Bill. Received testimony from Tom Buis, 
    President, National Farmers Union, Washington, DC; Terrance 
    (Terry) R. Fankhauser, Executive Committee Member of the 
    National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Vice President of 
    the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, Arvada, CO; Alison 
    Siskin, Ph.D., Specialist in Immigration Policy, Domestic 
    Social Policy Division, Congressional Research Service, 
    Washington, DC; Lisa Shames, Director, Natural Resources 
    and Enviroment, United States Government Accountability 
    Office, Washington, DC; Glen Keppy, Associate Administrator 
    for Farm Programs, United States Department of Agriculture 
    Farm Services Agency, Washington, DC; John Johnson, Deputy 
    Administrator Farm Programs, United States Department of 
    Agriculture Farm Services Agency, Washington, DC.
July 31, 2007--``Carried Interest, Part 2.'' This hearing was a 
    continuation of the July 11, 2007 hearing on carried 
    interest. This part focused primarily on the operation of 
    private equity funds, hedge funds, and real estate funds 
    and whether income from a carried interest should be 
    treated as income from a service or if it should receive 
    the character determined at the partnership. Received 
    testimony from Joseph Bankman, Ralph M. Parsons Professor 
    of Law and Business, Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA; 
    Charles Kingson, Lecturer in Law, University of 
    Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, PA; Darryl Jones, 
    Professor, Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, FL; 
    Adam Ifshin, President, DLC Management Corp., Tarrytown, 
    NY; John B. Frank, Managing Principal, Oaktree Capital 
    Management, LP, Los Angeles, CA; Bruce Rosenblum, Managing 
    Director, The Carlyle Group, Washington, DC, and Chairman 
    of the Board, Private Equity Council, Washington, DC; and 
    William Stanfill, Founding Partner, Trailhead Partners LP, 
    Denver, CO.
August 27, 2007--``Airfields and Alternative Fuels: Exploring 
    Rural America's Transportation Infrastructure.'' The 
    hearing was held at Dubuque Regional Airport, Dubuque, IA, 
    under the direction of Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member. The 
    purpose of this hearing was to focus on the infrastructure 
    required to produce alternative fuels and to draw attention 
    specifically to the unique issues faced by rural airports. 
    Received testimony from Kevin W. Billings, Deputy Assistant 
    Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health, 
    United States Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC; 
    Carl O. Bauer, Director, National Energy Technology 
    Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, Pittsburgh, 
    PA; the Hon. Thomas C. Dorr, Under Secretary for Rural 
    Development, United States Department of Agriculture, 
    Washington, DC; Bruce W. Heine, Director, Government and 
    Media Affairs, Magellan Midstream Partners, Tulsa, OK; 
    Steven R. Accinelli, Chairperson, Dubuque Regional Airport 
    Commission, Director, Aviation Programs, University of 
    Dubuque, Dubuque, IA; and Dr. Bruce J. Holmes, Director, 
    Aeronautics Research, DayJet Corporation, Boca Raton, FL.
September 6, 2007--``Carried Interest Part 3: Pension Issues.'' 
    This hearing was the third part of a series of hearings on 
    carried interest. It focused on the impact on pension funds 
    of a potential change in the taxation of carried interest 
    taxation and investigated the contention that pension funds 
    would bear the brunt of any tax increase on private equity. 
    Received testimony from Dr. Alan J. Auerbach, Robert D. 
    Burch Professor of Law and Economics and Director, Robert 
    D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, 
    Department of Economics, University of California, 
    Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Donald B. Trone, President, 
    Foundation for Fiduciary Studies, Coraopolis, PA; and 
    Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer, California Public 
    Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, CA.
September 18, 2007--``Breaking the Methamphetamine Supply 
    Chain: Meeting Challenges at the Border.'' Witnesses 
    included Thomas M. Siebel, chairman, Meth Project, Palo 
    Alto, CA; Peter D. Wolfgram, president and chief executive 
    officer, Bungalow Drug Inc., Belgrade, MT; Gary W. Kendell, 
    Director, Iowa Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy, 
    Des Moines, IA; Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Deputy Assistant 
    Administrator, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 
    Washington, DC; Christy A. McCampbell, Deputy Assistant 
    Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law 
    Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, 
    DC; and Matthew C. Allen, Deputy Assistant Director, Office 
    of Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs 
    Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 
    Washington, DC.
September 26, 2007--``Offshore Tax Issues: Reinsurance and 
    Hedge Fund.'' The subject of this hearing was certain 
    international tax issues, including offshore reinsurance, 
    investment by tax exempts in offshore hedge funds, and 
    offshore deferral of compensation by U.S. managers of hedge 
    funds. The hearing also examined the growth of university 
    endowments, which are significant investors in offshore 
    hedge funds. Received testimony from two panels. Panel I: 
    the Hon. Byron L. Dorgan, United States Senator (D-ND). 
    Panel II: William R. Berkley, Chairman, President, CEO and 
    COO, W.R. Berkley Corp, Greenwich, CT; Donald Kramer, 
    Chairman and CEO, Ariel Reinsurance Ltd, Hamilton, Bermuda; 
    Suzanne Ross McDowell, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, 
    Washington, DC; Daniel J. Shapiro, Partner, Shulte, Roth & 
    Zabel, London England; Dr. Jane G. Gravelle, Senior 
    Specialist in Economic Policy, Government and Finance 
    Division, Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC; 
    and Lynne Munson, Adjunct Fellow, Center for College 
    Affordability and Productivity, Washington, DC.
October 25, 2007--``Small Business Health Insurance: Building a 
    Gateway to Coverage.'' The hearing investigated the range 
    of concerns the committee will face when developing 
    legislation to expand health coverage for employees of 
    small business. Received testimony from Joel Ario, 
    Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of 
    Insurance, Harrisburg, PA; Alden J. Bianchi, Member, Mintz, 
    Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., Boston, MA; 
    Linda Blumberg, Principal Research Associate, Urban 
    Institute, Washington, DC; and Monty D. Newman, 2007 Vice 
    President & Liaison to Government Affairs, National 
    Association of Realtors, Hobbs, NM.
November 14, 2007--``Federal Estate Tax: Uncertainty in 
    Planning Under the Current Law.'' This hearing focused on 
    the difficulties of estate tax planning that result from 
    the ever-changing tax law. Received testimony from Warren 
    Buffett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire 
    Hathaway, Omaha, NE; Conrad Teitell, Principal, Cummings 
    and Lockwood, LLC, Stamford, CT; Dean Rhoads, Rancher, 
    Tuscarora, NV; and Eugene G. Sukup, Chairman of the Board, 
    Sukup Manufacturing Company, Sheffield, IA.
December 13, 2007--``The Housing Decline: The Extent of the 
    Problem and Potential Remedies.'' This hearing addressed 
    the causes of the housing crisis, the underlying economics 
    of mortgages, the future impact of the credit crunch on the 
    domestic and international market, and potential 
    opportunities to address the situation. Received testimony 
    from the Hon. Jack Kemp, Principal, Kemp Partners, 
    Washington, DC; Professor Morris A. Davis, Assistant 
    Professor in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, School 
    of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI; 
    Professor Deborah A. Geier, Leon M. & Gloria Plevin 
    Professor of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 
    Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH; and Michael 
    Decker, Senior Managing Director, Research and Public 
    Policy, The Securities Industry and Financial Markets 
    Association, Washington, DC.
2008
January 22, 2008--``Strengthening America's Economy: Stimulus 
    That Makes Sense--Part I.'' CBO Director Peter Orszag 
    discussed the CBO's report on fiscal stimulus which was 
    released the week prior to the hearing. Received testimony 
    from Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, 
    Washington, DC.
January 24, 2008--``Strengthening America's Economy: Stimulus 
    That Makes Sense--Part II.'' This hearing was the second 
    part of the January 22, 2008 hearing on economic stimulus 
    and focused on specific proposals for a stimulus package. 
    Received testimony from Dr. Martin Feldstein, Baker 
    Professor of Economics at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 
    and the President and CEO of the National Bureau of 
    Economic Research (NBER), Cambridge, MA; and Dr. Jason 
    Furman, Director of the Hamilton Project, Washington, DC.
January 25, 2008--Democratic Member's Meeting to discuss 
    Economic Stimulus.
February 5, 2008--``The President's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget 
    Proposal Part 1'' (for Part 2, see Health). The purpose of 
    this hearing was to discuss President Bush's budget and his 
    economic agenda for the rest of 2008. Received testimony 
    from the Hon. Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary, U.S. 
    Department of Treasury, Washington, DC.
February 12, 2008--Senators Meeting to discuss the economy with 
    Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke.
February 26, 2008--``Economic and Fiscal Conditions of the 
    States.'' The witness presented information about the 
    diversity of economic conditions among the States. The 
    hearing explored the State-Federal interaction among the 
    various Federal programs under the jurisdiction of the 
    Finance Committee. Received testimony from the Hon. Janet 
    Napolitano, Governor of Arizona.
February 28, 2008--``The Real Estate Market: Building a Strong 
    Economy.'' This hearing addressed the state of the real 
    estate industry, focusing especially on the commercial 
    side, the underlying economics of commercial-backed 
    securities, the future impact of the credit crunch on the 
    domestic and international market, and potential 
    opportunities to address the situation. Received testimony 
    from Dr. Lawrence Lindsey, President and Chief Executive 
    Officer, The Lindsey Group, Washington, DC; Dr. David 
    Seiders, Chief Economist and Senior Staff Vice President, 
    National Association of Home Builders, Washington, DC; 
    Timothy Callahan, Chief Executive Officer, Callahan Capital 
    Partners, Denver, CO; and Jeffrey Schwartz, Chairman of the 
    Board and Chief Executive Officer, ProLogis, Chicago, IL.
March 5, 2008--Senators Meeting to discuss current revenue 
    estimating procedures with Edward Kleinbard, Chief of 
    Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation.
March 12, 2008--``Alternatives to the Current Federal Estate 
    Tax System.'' The witnesses discussed estate tax reform, 
    specifically possible alternative systems to the current 
    estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer tax system. 
    These alternative systems included an inheritance tax 
    system, an accessions tax, and an income inclusion system. 
    Received testimony from Professor Lily Batchelder, New York 
    University School of Law; Professor Joseph Dodge, Florida 
    State University College of Law; and Professor David Duff, 
    University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
April 1, 2008--``Anti-Terrorism Financing: Progress Made and 
    the Challenges Ahead.'' The committee held an oversight 
    hearing on the Department of Treasury's Office of Terrorism 
    and Financial Intelligence (TFI) and TFI's efforts to 
    safeguard the Nation's financial system from terrorist 
    financiers. Under Secretary Stuart A. Levey discussed the 
    progress that the TFI made since his confirmation as Under 
    Secretary in 2004, as well as the challenges TFI continues 
    to face. Received testimony from the Hon. Stuart A. Levey, 
    Under Secretary, Office of Terrorism and Financial 
    Intelligence, U.S. Department of Treasury.
April 3, 2008--``Outside the Box on Estate Tax Reform: 
    Reviewing Ideas to Simplify Planning.'' Witnesses testified 
    about possible ways to fix the current estate and gift tax 
    system. The witnesses discussed deferral and installment 
    options, portability of exemption, the unification of the 
    gift and estate tax, and charitable giving as it relates to 
    transfer taxes. Received testimony from Dennis Belcher, 
    Partner, McGuire Woods LLP, Richmond, VA; Shirley L. Kovar, 
    Shareholder, Branton & Wilson, APC, San Diego, CA; Dr. Roby 
    B. Sawyers, North Carolina State University, Department of 
    Accounting; and Diana Aviv, President and Chief Executive 
    Officer, Independent Sector, Washington, DC.
April 10, 2008--``Identity Theft: Who's Got Your Number?'' The 
    committee's filing season hearing focused on the effects of 
    identity theft from the victim's point of view. The purpose 
    was to demonstrate the devastating effect of tax related 
    identity theft on victims, how IRS processes fail to 
    adequately address the identity theft problem, and actions 
    the IRS can take right now, without any changes in the law, 
    to improve its identity theft strategy. Received testimony 
    from the Hon. Douglas H. Shulman, IRS Commissioner, 
    Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC, accompanied by 
    Linda Stiff, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and 
    Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC; Nina 
    Olson, IRS National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue 
    Service, Washington, DC; the Hon. J. Russell George, 
    Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, 
    Department of Treasury; and Rebecca Spencer, Enrolled 
    Agent, Benedict's Laser Tax Service, Billings, MT.
April 15, 2008--``Tax: Fundamentals in Advance of Reform.'' The 
    witnesses explored the function of an income tax system, 
    the choices available for defining taxable income, and the 
    impact of these choices on taxpayer behavior. Received 
    testimony from Daniel N. Shaviro, Wayne Perry Professor of 
    Taxation, New York University School of Law; Michael 
    Graetz, Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law, Yale Law 
    School; Jason Furman, Director, The Hamilton Project, 
    Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; and Robert Carroll, 
    Vice President for Economic Policy, The Tax Foundation, 
    Washington, DC.
April 24, 2008--``Tax Aspects of a Cap-and-Trade System.'' The 
    witnesses discussed the effects of a cap-and-trade program 
    on the economy as well as the best way to design such a 
    system. Received testimony from Peter R. Orszag, Director, 
    Congressional Budget Office; Robert Greenstein, Executive 
    Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and Henry 
    Derwent CB, President and CEO, International Emissions 
    Trading Association, Geneva, Switzerland.
May 13, 2008--``Cracking the Code--Tax Reform for 
    Individuals.'' This hearing was the second in a series of 
    Finance Committee tax reform hearings. It focused on 
    individual income tax issues. The witnesses reviewed the 
    concept of implementing social policies through the tax 
    code, identified those goals that the tax code addresses 
    most effectively, and asked whether these goals should be 
    part of a reformed system. Received testimony from Dr. 
    Leonard Burman, Director, Tax Policy Center, and Senior 
    Fellow, Urban Institute, Washington, DC; Dr. William Gale, 
    Vice President and Director, Economic Studies, Brookings 
    Institution, Washington, DC; Stephen Entin, President and 
    Executive Director, Institute for Research on the Economics 
    of Taxation, Washington, DC; and Dr. J. D. Foster, Norman 
    B. Ture Senior Fellow, Economics of Fiscal Policy, The 
    Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC.
June 4, 2008--Senators Meeting to consider the Finance 
    Committee agenda for the work period.
June 5, 2008--``C, K, or S: Exploring the Alphabet Soup of 
    Small Business Choices in Advance of Tax Reform.'' This 
    hearing was the third in a series of Finance Committee tax 
    reform hearings. This hearing explored how the U.S. 
    currently taxes the income of domestic non-corporate 
    businesses and identified the benefits to the U.S. economy 
    of the current pass-through regime. It focused, in 
    particular, on entity classifications. Received testimony 
    from Dr. Douglas A. Shackelford, Meade H. Willis 
    Distinguished Professor of Taxation and Accounting, UNC 
    Kenan-Flagler Business School, Chapel Hill, NC; Dr. Eric J. 
    Toder, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute, Washington, DC; 
    Samuel P. Starr, Tax Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 
    and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law 
    Center, Washington, DC; and Dewey W. Martin, CPA, CMA, 
    Professor and Chair of the Accounting Department, Husson 
    College, Hampden, ME.
June 26, 2008--``The Foundation of International Tax Reform: 
    Worldwide, Territorial, and Something In-between.'' The 
    hearing explored how the United States taxes foreign income 
    of U.S. businesses under the current Federal tax system and 
    possible avenues of reform to help U.S.-based businesses 
    compete in a global economy. Currently, the United States 
    has a modified worldwide tax system. Received testimony 
    from Professor James R. Hines, Jr., University of Michigan 
    Law School; Stephen E. Shay, Partner, Ropes & Gray, Boston, 
    MA; and Robert H. Dilworth, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery 
    LLP, Washington, DC.
July 10, 2008--``Transportation Infrastructure: Issues and 
    Options.'' This hearing focused on transportation 
    infrastructure, specifically highways. The hearing was the 
    beginning of a discussion regarding the next Highway 
    Reauthorization bill and the need for a Highway Trust Fund 
    fix, and to debunk the notion that public private 
    partnerships (e.g., toll roads) and/or infrastructure banks 
    are good policy, particularly for rural areas. Received 
    testimony from Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional 
    Budget Office, Washington DC; and JayEtta Z. Hecker, 
    Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government 
    Accountability Office, Washington, DC.
July 22, 2008--``Indian Governments and the Tax Code: 
    Maximizing Tax Incentives for Economic Development.'' The 
    purpose of the hearing was to better understand the need 
    for tax incentives to assist economic development of Indian 
    country. The hearing reviewed tax exempt bonds, the Indian 
    employment tax credit, and the accelerated depreciation 
    credit. Received testimony from Dante Desiderio, Certified 
    Financial Planner, Economic Development Policy Specialist, 
    National Congress of American Indians, Washington DC; 
    Donald (Del) Laverdure, Chief Legal Counsel, Crow Nation 
    Executive Branch, Crow Agency, MT; and Wayne A. Shammel, 
    General Counsel, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, 
    Roseburg, OR.
July 24, 2008--``The Cayman Islands and Offshore Tax Issues.'' 
    The witnesses explored how individuals engage in tax 
    evasion through the use of offshore tax havens. Received 
    testimony from Michael Brostek, Director, Tax Issues, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Frank Ng, 
    Director, Large and Mid-sized Businesses, IRS, Washington, 
    DC; and Jack Blum, Counsel, Baker & Hostetler, Washington, 
    DC.
July 24, 2008--Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and 
    Infrastructure: ``Tax and Financing Aspects of Highway 
    Public-Private Partnerships.'' This hearing was called by 
    Senator Jeff Bingaman to consider more closely the sale of 
    concession rights to existing tolled highways as a 
    financing option for America's surface transportation. 
    Received testimony from Edward D. Kleinbard, Chief of 
    Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation; JayEtta Z. Hecker, 
    Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government 
    Accountability Office, Washington DC; Pat Choate, Economist 
    and Director, Manufacturing Policy Project, Washington, VA; 
    Linda E. Carlisle, Partner, White & Case LLP, Washington, 
    DC; and Dennis Enright, Principal, NW Financial, Jersey 
    City, NJ.
July 31, 2008--``Health Benefits in the Tax Code: The Right 
    Incentives.'' This hearing was the fifth in the series on 
    health reform and considered the tax treatment of current 
    health insurance and medical benefits. Received testimony 
    from Edward Kleinbard, Chief of Staff, Joint Committee on 
    Taxation; Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., Associate Head, 
    Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of 
    Technology, Cambridge, MA; and Katherine Baicker, Ph.D., 
    Professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Policy 
    and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, 
    MA.
November 17, 2008--Pending nomination hearing for Neil M. 
    Barofsky: This hearing considered the nomination of Neil 
    Barofsky for the position of Special Inspector General for 
    the Department of Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. 
    Received testimony from Neil M. Barofsky, Assistant United 
    States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

                   Full Committee Executive Meetings

2007
January 17, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider the Small 
    Business and Work Opportunity Act.
June 19, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider the Energy 
    Advancement and Investment Act of 2007.
September 21, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider and make 
    recommendations on proposed legislation implementing the 
    U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement; to consider an 
    original bill entitled American Infrastructure Investment 
    and Improvement Act; and to consider an original bill 
    entitled The Habitat and Land Conservation Act of 2007.
October 4, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider The 
    Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2007 
    and legislation implementing the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion 
    Agreement.
2008
January 30, 2008--Open Executive Session to consider the 
    Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and to consider changes to 
    the Rules of Procedure of the Committee on Finance.
March 6, 2008--Open Executive Session to consider the 
    Nomination of Douglas H. Shulman, to be Commissioner of the 
    Internal Revenue Service and to consider revising 
    subcommittee assignments to fill vacancies.
September 10, 2008--Open Executive Session to consider the 
    following: the Chairman's Mark, in the nature of a 
    substitute, to S. 3038, the ``Improved Adoption Incentives 
    and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008;'' the 
    Chairman's Mark, in the nature of a substitute, to S. 1070, 
    the ``Elder Justice Act of 2008;'' and the Chairman's Mark, 
    in the nature of a substitute, to S. 1577, the ``Patient 
    Safety and Abuse Prevention Act of 2008.''
                                 TRADE

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    During the 110th Congress, the committee exercised its 
oversight responsibilities and acted upon many important issues 
related to international trade and customs law and the American 
economy. A brief summary of the committee's activities is 
provided below, followed by a more detailed summary.
    In the first session, the committee held several hearings. 
The committee convened two hearings on the Administration's 
2007 Trade Agenda, receiving testimony from United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab, and, in a separate panel, 
from key stakeholders such as farmers, manufacturers, service 
providers, and labor unions. The committee also held two 
hearings on U.S. relations with China; the first on the 
opportunities and challenges in our bilateral relationship, and 
the second to examine the role of currency in the U.S.-China 
relationship. The committee also convened hearings to assess 
the effectiveness of U.S. trade preference programs, to examine 
the impact of trade and globalization on the U.S. workforce, to 
discuss import safety in an era of increasing trade, and to 
debate ways to improve the enforcement of U.S. trade agreements 
abroad and our domestic trade remedy laws here at home. And the 
committee also heard testimony from key stakeholders on the 
United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and on the 
Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act 
of 2007.
    Separately, the committee convened several open executive 
sessions. During these sessions, the committee considered S.J. 
Res. 16, a joint resolution approving the renewal of import 
restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act 
of 2003; S. 1607, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform 
Act; and S. 2113, the United States-Peru Trade Promotion 
Agreement Implementation Act. The committee also convened 
confirmation hearings for Dean A. Pinkert and Irving A. 
Williamson to be Members of the United States International 
Trade Commission; the Hon. David. H. McCormick to be Under 
Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, United 
States Department of the Treasury; and the Hon. Christopher A. 
Padilla to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International 
Trade, United States Department of Commerce.
    The Chairman and Ranking Member also worked to extend trade 
preferences and Trade Adjustment Assistance programs in the 
first session. H.R. 3375 extended all Trade Adjustment 
Assistance programs for three months, until December 31, 2007 
(Pub. L. 110-89). H.R. 1830 (Pub. L. 110-42), which provided an 
eight-month extension of the Andean Trade Preference Act 
(ATPA), passed the Senate on June 28, 2007.
    During 2007, the Chairman and Ranking Member worked with 
the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means 
Committee and USTR Schwab to complete a bipartisan trade deal 
that modified labor, environment, and intellectual property, 
and other standards for U.S. trade agreements. Upon completion 
of the bipartisan trade deal, its elements were applied to the 
recently completed trade agreements with Peru, Colombia and 
Panama, and certain of its elements were applied to the trade 
agreement with South Korea. The United States-Peru Trade 
Promotion Agreement became the first agreement containing these 
new standards to become law on December 14, 2007 (Pub. L. 110-
138).
    The Chairman and Ranking Member were also consulted with 
respect to conference negotiations for section 1701 of H.R. 1, 
Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 
(Pub. L. 110-53). Section 1701 amends the Security and 
Accountability For Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-
347) to require by July 1, 2012, the scanning of all 
containerized cargo destined for the United States at a foreign 
port. The Chairman and Ranking Member worked to ensure that 
implementation of section 1701 will occur in a manner 
consistent with the international trade obligations of the 
United States and the framework of the World Customs 
Organization. In addition, the Chairman and Ranking Member 
worked to refine the conditions under which the Secretary of 
Homeland Security may extend the implementation date, and to 
adjust the deadline for publication of an interim final rule to 
establish minimum standards and procedures for securing 
containers. The Senate version of H.R. 1 (S. 4) was referred to 
the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
    In the second session, the committee convened oversight 
hearings on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other 
trade agencies, as well as hearings on the international 
aspects of proposed carbon cap and trade programs, proposals to 
strengthen trade facilitation and enforcement through a customs 
reauthorization bill, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 
2007, the Trade Enforcement Act of 2007, U.S. trade preference 
programs, enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights 
abroad, and the future of U.S. trade policy from the 
perspective of former U.S. trade representatives.
    The committee also met in open executive session to discuss 
the Administration's 2008 Trade Agenda with USTR Schwab, and to 
consider S. 3227, the Iran Sanctions Act of 2008; S.J. Res. 41, 
a joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions 
contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003; and 
the nomination of Deanna Tanner Okun to be Deputy United States 
Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President.
    During 2008, the Chairman and Ranking Member worked 
together to include a number of trade and customs provisions in 
bills originating in other committees. The Chairman and Ranking 
Member worked to include in H.R. 6124, the Food, Conservation 
and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-246), key provisions, 
including measures to preserve the ``first-sale'' methodology 
for determining value for the purpose of computing customs 
duties; to preserve current provisions for computing duty 
drawback for U.S. wine exporters; to eliminate the ability to 
substitute jet fuel and mixtures containing imported ethyl 
alcohol for purposes of claiming a refund under the duty 
drawback program of duties paid on the imported ethyl alcohol; 
to extend the secondary tariff on imported ethyl alcohol 
through December 31, 2010; and to require declarations that 
softwood lumber imports from Canada are complying with the 
United States-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement; an amendment to 
the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act that extends the 
Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act through 2010; and the 
Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership 
Encouragement Act of 2008, an amendment to the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act that provides expanded apparel benefits 
to Haiti through 2018.
    The Chairman and Ranking Member also supported further 
extensions and reforms of U.S. trade preference programs. In 
February 2008, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, H.R. 
5624 (Pub. L. 110-191), which extended ATPA through December 
31, 2008. In October 2008, the Senate passed H.R. 7222 (Pub. L. 
110-436), which renewed the Generalized System of Preferences 
for one year; provided expanded access for certain apparel from 
the Dominican Republic, through the Earned Import Allowance 
Program; and amended the African Growth and Opportunity Act by 
designating Mauritius as a lesser developed beneficiary sub-
Saharan African country and eliminating the so-called Abundant 
Supply provision. H.R. 7222 also extended ATPA, with certain 
amendments. ATPA benefits for Colombia and Peru were extended 
for one year, while benefits for Ecuador were extended for 6 
months, with an automatic extension for another 6 months unless 
the President determines that Ecuador has failed to meet the 
eligibility criteria for ATPA benefits. Benefits for Bolivia 
were extended for 6 months, with the option to renew benefits 
for another 6 months if the President determines that Bolivia 
is in full compliance with ATPA eligibility requirements.
    In H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 
of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-314), the Chairman and Ranking Member 
worked to include key trade provisions relating to the 
importation of products regulated by the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission (CPSC). These measures include requiring the 
CPSC to work with CBP to develop a risk assessment methodology 
that utilizes the International Trade Data System (ITDS), 
insofar as practicable, to identify shipments that are likely 
to include consumer products that either fail to comply with a 
consumer product safety rule or have been deemed hazardous 
consumer products; to require the CPSC to develop a plan for 
sharing information and coordinating with CBP, including on 
staffing at U.S. ports of entry and the National Targeting 
Center (or its equivalent); to preserve the Secretary of the 
Treasury's authority to determine whether noncompliant imported 
products are destroyed or exported; to require the CPSC, in 
consultation with CBP and other relevant Federal agencies, to 
identify any consumer products or substances for which the cost 
of destruction would normally exceed bond amounts and recommend 
to CBP a bond amount sufficient to cover the cost of 
destruction of such products or substances; and to equally 
apply the third party testing requirement of certain children's 
products to all entities, whether domestic, foreign, joint 
ventures, or entities controlled in whole by a government.
    The Chairman and Ranking Member worked with House and 
Senate colleagues to enact H.R. 3890, the Tom Lantos Block 
Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008 
(Pub. L. 110-286), or JADE Act. The JADE Act expanded U.S. 
import sanctions against Burmese jade and rubies.
    The Chairman worked to include in H.R. 1424, The Emergency 
Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-343), 
provisions extending the wool research trust fund and the 
suspension of certain wool duties. The fund provides new 
product research and market information to U.S. wool growers, 
and lowers duties on imports of certain wool textiles to help 
U.S. textile and garment producers remain competitive. The 
Chairman and Ranking Member also worked to include a provision 
that provides that biodiesel imported and sold for export will 
not be eligible for the biodiesel production tax credit 
effective May 15, 2008.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2007
Feb. 15, 2007--``The Administration's 2007 Trade Agenda.'' 
    Received testimony from Ambassador Susan Schwab, United 
    States Trade Representative.
Mar. 8, 2007--``Perspectives on the 2007 Trade Agenda.'' 
    Received testimony from Larry Summers, Charles E. Eliot 
    University Professor, Harvard University; Fred Smith, CEO, 
    Federal Express; Bob Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial 
    Union Council, AFL-CIO; Craig Lang, President, Iowa Farm 
    Bureau Federation; Andy Warlick, President, Parkdale Mills, 
    Inc.; and Steve Holland, PE, Montana Manufacturing 
    Extension Center.
Mar. 27, 2007--``Opportunities and Challenges in the U.S.-China 
    Economic Relationship.'' Received testimony from Senator 
    Dorgan and a panel including Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor, 
    Columbia University; Daniel DiMicco, President and CEO, 
    NUCOR Corporation; Steve Chu, Director, Lawrence Berkeley 
    National Laboratory; and Norman Sorensen, President and 
    CEO, Principal International, Inc.
Mar. 28, 2007--``Risks and Reform: The Role of Currency in the 
    U.S.-China Relationship.'' Received testimony from Senator 
    Schumer and a panel including Stephen Roach, Managing 
    Director and Chief Economist, Morgan Stanley; Eswar Prasad, 
    Professor, Cornell University; Morris Goldstein, Senior 
    Fellow, Peter G. Peterson Institute for International 
    Economics; and John Makin, Visiting Scholar, American 
    Enterprise Institute.
May 16, 2007--``U.S. Preference Programs: How Well do they 
    Work?'' Received testimony from the Hon. Meredith 
    Broadbent, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for 
    Industry, Market Access and Telecommunications, Office of 
    the United States Trade Representative; Professor Muhammad 
    Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank; Professor Eric Reinhardt, 
    Emory University; Marcos Iberkleid, President, Ametex; and 
    Katrin Kuhlmann, Senior Vice President, Global Trade, 
    Women's Edge Network.
June 6, 2007--``Trade and Globalization: Adjustment for a 21st-
    Century Workforce.'' Received testimony from Dr. Lael 
    Brainard, Vice President and Director of the Global Economy 
    and Development Program, Brookings Institution; Kim Didier, 
    Executive Director, Newton Development Corporation; Jane 
    McDonald-Pines, Workforce Policy Specialist, AFL-CIO; 
    Howard Rosen, Executive Director, Trade Adjustment 
    Assistance Coalition; and Jerry Ross, current participant 
    in the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
June 12, 2007--``Trade Enforcement for a 21st-Century 
    Economy.'' Received testimony from Secretary Dan Glickman, 
    Chairman and CEO, Motion Picture Association of America; 
    Jennifer Hillman, Distinguished Fellow, Institute of 
    International Economic Law, Georgetown Law School; Robert 
    Lighthizer, International Trade Partner, Skadden, Arps, 
    Meagher & Flom; and Erik Autor, Vice President and 
    International Trade Counsel, National Retail Federation.
July 25, 2007--Hearing to consider the nomination of the Hon. 
    David H. McCormick to be Under Secretary of the Treasury 
    for International Affairs, United States Department of the 
    Treasury, and other non-trade related nominations. The 
    nominee was favorably reported by the committee on July 26, 
    2007.
Sept. 11, 2007--``United States-Peru Trade Promotion 
    Agreement.'' Received testimony from Secretary Michael 
    Kantor, Partner, Mayer Brown; Thea Lee, Policy Director and 
    Chief International Economist, AFL-CIO; Patricia Forkan, 
    President, Humane Society International; David Winkles, 
    Jr., President, South Carolina Farm Bureau; and Thomas 
    Catania, Vice President, Government Relations, Whirlpool 
    Corporation.
Oct. 18, 2007--``Growing Trade, Growing Vigilance: Import 
    Health and Safety Today and Tomorrow.'' Received testimony 
    from the Hon. Daniel Baldwin, Assistant Commissioner, 
    Office of International Trade, U.S. Customs and Border 
    Protection, United States Department of Homeland Security; 
    the Hon. Calvin Dooley, President and CEO, Grocery 
    Manufacturers Association; Sandra Kennedy, President, 
    Retail Industry Leaders Association; and Jean Halloran, 
    Director of Food Policy Initiatives, Consumers Union.
Nov. 1, 2007--Hearing to consider the nomination of the Hon. 
    Christopher A. Padilla to be Under Secretary of Commerce 
    for International Trade, United States Department of 
    Commerce, and other non-trade related nominations. The 
    nomination was favorably reported by the committee on 
    December 13, 2007.
Dec. 11, 2007--``Promoting American Agricultural and Medical 
    Exports to Cuba Act of 2007.'' Received testimony from Col. 
    Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to former Secretary of 
    State Colin Powell; Jaime Suchlicki, Director of Cuban and 
    Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami; Sgt. 
    Carlos Lazo, a member of the Washington National Guard and 
    Iraq war veteran; Dave McClure, President, Montana Farm 
    Bureau Federation; and Frank Calzon, Executive Director, 
    Center for a Free Cuba.
2008
Feb. 14, 2008--``International Aspects of a Carbon Cap and 
    Trade Program.'' Received testimony from Senator Specter 
    and a panel consisting of the Hon. Jennifer Haverkamp, 
    Senior Counsel, Environmental Defense, and former Assistant 
    U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural 
    Resources, Office of the United States Trade 
    Representative; Kjell Olav Kristiansen, Director of 
    Advisory Services, Point Carbon North America; Abraham 
    Breehey, Assistant Director of Government Affairs, 
    International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; and Ruksana 
    Mirza, General Counsel, Holcim Ltd.
Mar. 13, 2008--``Customs Reauthorization: Strengthening U.S. 
    Economic Interests and Security.'' Received testimony from 
    Samuel H. Banks, Executive Vice President, Sandler & Travis 
    Trade Advisory Services; Charlene N. Stocker, Chairwoman, 
    American Association of Exporters and Importers, Procter 
    and Gamble; Greg P. Brown, Counsel, Ford Global 
    Technologies; and Antoinette M. Tease, P.L.L.C., Registered 
    Patent Attorney.
Apr. 8, 2008--``S. 970, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 
    2007.'' Received testimony from Philip Gordon, Senior 
    Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution; Orde 
    Kittrie, Visiting Associate Professor, University of 
    Maryland School of Law, and Professor of Law, The Sandra 
    Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University; 
    William A. Reinsch, President, National Foreign Trade 
    Council; and Danielle Pletka, Vice President, Foreign and 
    Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute.
May 22, 2008--``S. 1919, the Trade Enforcement Act of 2007.'' 
    Received testimony from the Hon. Warren Maruyama, General 
    Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative; 
    Lael Brainard, Vice President and Director of the Global 
    Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution; 
    John Magnus, President, TradeWins; and Robert Atkinson, 
    President, Information Technology and Innovation 
    Foundation.
June 12, 2008--``Oversight of U.S. Trade Preference Programs.'' 
    Received testimony from Dr. Loren Yager, Director of 
    International Affairs and Trade, United States Government 
    Accountability Office; the Hon. Grant Aldonas, Principal 
    Managing Director, Split Rock International; Edward 
    Gresser, Director of the Project on Trade and Global 
    Markets, Progressive Policy Institute (PPI); and Fr. Andrew 
    Small, Foreign Policy Advisor, United States Conference of 
    Catholic Bishops.
June 24, 2008--``Oversight of Trade Functions: Customs and 
    Other Trade Agencies.'' Received testimony from the Hon. W. 
    Ralph Basham, Commissioner of Customs, U.S. Customs and 
    Border Protection; the Hon. Julie L. Myers, Assistant 
    Secretary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Hon. 
    Daniel R. Pearson, Chairman, United States International 
    Trade Commission; and the Hon. Warren Maruyama, General 
    Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
July 15, 2008--``International Enforcement of Intellectual 
    Property Rights and American Competitiveness.'' Received 
    testimony from Andrew Lack, Chairman, SONY BMG Music 
    Entertainment; Jeffrey Kindler, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer 
    Inc.; John Barton, George E. Osborne Professor of Law, 
    Emeritus, Stanford Law School; and J. Walter Cahill, 
    International Vice President, International Alliance of 
    Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, 
    Artists and Allied Crafts.
July 29, 2008--``The Future of U.S. Trade Policy: Perspectives 
    from Former U.S. Trade Representatives.'' Received 
    testimony from Secretary Michael Kantor, Partner, Mayer 
    Brown; Senator William E. Brock III, Founder and Senior 
    Partner, The Brock Offices; Secretary Carla A. Hills, 
    Chairman and CEO, Hills & Company; and Ambassador Charlene 
    Barshefsky, Partner, Wilmer Hale.

                   Full Committee Executive Meetings

2007
Jan. 31, 2007--Open Executive Session to organize for the 110th 
    Congress and to consider favorably reporting the 
    nominations of Dean A. Pinkert and Irving A. Williamson to 
    be Members of the United States International Trade 
    Commission and other non-trade related nominations. Both 
    nominees were favorably reported.
July 23, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider S.J. Res. 16, 
    a joint resolution approving the renewal of import 
    restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy 
    Act. The committee considered S.J. Res. 16 in open 
    executive session on July 23, 2007. The committee voted 
    unanimously, by roll call vote, and without amendment, to 
    favorably report S.J. Res. 16. A quorum was present. See 
    Report No. 110-146.
July 26, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider S. 1607, the 
    Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. The committee 
    ordered S. 1607 favorably reported, as amended by the 
    Chairman's amendment in the nature of a substitute, by a 
    roll call vote of 20 ayes and 1 nay with a quorum present. 
    See Report No. 110-248.
Sept. 21, 2007--Open Executive Session to review and make 
    recommendations on proposed legislation implementing the 
    United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement; to consider 
    an original bill entitled American Infrastructure 
    Investment and Improvement Act; and to consider an original 
    bill entitled The Habitat and Land Conservation Act of 
    2007. The committee informally considered draft 
    implementing legislation and a draft Statement of 
    Administrative Action for implementation of the United 
    States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. The committee 
    approved the draft implementing legislation and draft 
    Statement of Administrative Action without amendment, by 
    recorded vote, 18 ayes, 3 nays, a quorum being present. The 
    draft legislation and Statement of Administrative Action 
    were submitted pursuant to the cooperative procedures 
    provided in the Trade Act of 2002 for the approval of trade 
    agreements.
Oct. 4, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider S. 2242, The 
    Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2007; 
    and S. 2113, legislation implementing the United States-
    Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. The committee favorably 
    reported S. 2113 without amendment by voice vote, a quorum 
    being present. See Report No. 110-249.
Dec. 13, 2007--Open Executive Session to consider favorably 
    reporting the nomination of the Hon. Christopher A. Padilla 
    to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, 
    United States Department of Commerce, and other non-trade 
    related nominations. The nominee was ordered favorably 
    reported by the committee.
2008
Mar. 6, 2008--Open Executive Session with Ambassador Susan 
    Schwab, United States Trade Representative, to consider the 
    Administration's 2008 Trade Agenda and other non-trade 
    related business items.
June 18, 2008--Open Executive Session to consider S. 3227, the 
    Iran Sanctions Act of 2008; S.J. Res. 38, a joint 
    resolution waiving certain provisions of the Trade Act of 
    1974 relating to the appointment of a Deputy United States 
    Trade Representative; and the pending nomination of Deanna 
    Tanner Okun to be Deputy United States Trade Representative 
    and other non-trade related nominees. S. 3227 was ordered 
    favorably reported, as amended by the Chairman's 
    modification, by a roll call vote, 19 ayes and 2 nays, with 
    a quorum present. See Report No. 110-408. S.J. Res. 38 was 
    favorably reported, without amendment, by voice vote. The 
    nomination of Deanna Tanner Okun was ordered favorably 
    reported upon the enactment of S.J. Res. 38, by voice vote.
July 23, 2008--Open Executive Session to consider S.J. Res. 41, 
    approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in 
    the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. S.J. Res. 41 
    was ordered favorably reported without amendment, 
    unanimously by voice vote. See Report No. 110-444.

                     Full Committee Member Meetings

2007
Feb. 8, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Ambassador Susan Schwab, 
    United States Trade Representative, to discuss trade 
    issues.
Mar. 21, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Labor Secretary Elaine 
    Chao to discuss Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Apr. 17, 2007--Senators' Meeting with AFL-CIO President John 
    Sweeney and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom 
    Donohue to discuss trade policy and other issues.
Apr. 24, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Secretary of State 
    Condoleezza Rice to discuss world affairs and their impact 
    on economic policy.
Apr. 25, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Pascal Lamy, Director 
    General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to discuss 
    the state-of-play in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.
May 14, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry 
    M. Paulson, Jr. to discuss the upcoming Strategic Economic 
    Dialogue with China.
May 17, 2007--Senators' Meeting with China's Vice-Premier, 
    Madam Wu Yi, and senior Chinese government ministers, to 
    discuss key trade and economic issues between the United 
    States and China.
Oct. 23, 2007--Senators' Meeting with Secretary of State 
    Condoleezza Rice and Ambassador Susan Schwab, United States 
    Trade Representative, to discuss pending free trade 
    agreements, U.S. trade preference programs, and the 
    geopolitical aspects of trade policy.
2008
June 4, 2008--Senators' Meeting to discuss the Iran Sanctions 
    Act of 2008, and other matters.
June 19, 2008--Senators' Meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang 
    Qishan and his delegation as part of U.S.-China Strategic 
    Economic Dialogue.
July 15, 2008--Senators' Meeting with Ambassador Susan Schwab, 
    United States Trade Representative, to discuss the Doha 
    round of WTO negotiations.
July 16, 2008--Senators' Meeting to discuss Trade Adjustment 
    Assistance.
                                 HEALTH

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    Health Care Programs--During the 110th Congress, the 
committee focused its efforts to reauthorize the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), review and oversee 
Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, 
and to build the foundation for health care reform. The 
committee held multiple hearings and meetings on these issues.
    In September and October of the first session, Chairman 
Baucus and Ranking Member Charles E. Grassley along with the 
Subcommittee on Health Chair and Ranking Member John D. 
Rockefeller IV and Orrin G. Hatch worked to pass the Children's 
Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. The 
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 
2007, S. 1893, was successfully reported out of the Senate 
Finance Committee with a strong bipartisan vote of 17 to 4 on 
July 19, 2007. The full Senate debated the measure as a 
substitute to H.R. 976, and it passed the full Senate by a vote 
of 68-31. A bill resolving the differences between the House 
and the Senate was subsequently passed but was vetoed by 
President Bush on October 3, 2007. On October 18, 2007, the 
House failed to override the veto by a vote of 273 to 156 (2/3 
vote required to override). Further negotiations between the 
Senate and House resulted in a second bill to reauthorize 
SCHIP, H.R. 3963, which was introduced and passed by the House 
and the Senate. This bill too was vetoed by President Bush on 
December 12, 2007 and again the House failed to override the 
veto on January 23, 2008 by a vote of 260-152.
    The CHIP program was set to expire at the end of December 
2007 unless Congress acted and legislation was also required at 
that time to ensure the continuation of critical health care 
programs and to prevent a reduction in Medicare physician fees. 
Therefore, to ensure the continued coverage for millions of 
children enrolled in CHIP and to extend other expiring 
programs, Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley developed 
legislation in the Senate, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP 
Extension Act of 2007, which was signed into law in December 
2007. The bill eliminated a 10.1 percent cut in Medicare 
physician reimbursement scheduled to take effect in January of 
2008 and increased reimbursement for physicians by 0.5 percent 
through June 30, 2008. It also extended the voluntary quality 
reporting system for physicians and other eligible 
professionals who report quality measures and revised the 
physician assistance and quality initiative fund to assist with 
physician payments in 2008 and beyond. In addition, the 
legislation extended several expiring provisions enacted by the 
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act 
to help ensure beneficiaries' continued access to needed 
medical services. These included a provision extending the 1.0 
floor in the Work Geographic Index for any locality in which 
the Index is less than 1.0, a provision continuing direct 
payments to independent laboratories for physician pathology 
services, a provision continuing Medicare reasonable cost 
payments for lab tests in small rural hospitals, and an 
extension of payment for brachytherapy devices based on 
hospital costs. The legislation accommodated physicians ordered 
to active duty in the Armed Services by extending a provision 
that permits physicians in the armed services to engage in 
substitute billing arrangements for longer than 60 days when 
called to active duty. In addition, the legislation provided 
for a 6-month extension of the therapy cap exceptions policy 
established in the Deficit Reduction Act.
    Also during the first session, the Finance Committee marked 
up S. 3, the Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007. 
This legislation would have amended the noninterference 
provision of the Medicare prescription drug benefit statute, 
which prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from 
interfering in negotiations between pharmaceutical 
manufacturers, pharmacies and prescription drug plan (PDP) 
sponsors. The bill would have stricken the portion of this 
provision that prohibits the Secretary from interfering in 
negotiations between manufacturers, pharmacies, and PDP 
sponsors and would have retained the prohibition on the 
Secretary requiring a particular formulary of price structure 
for the reimbursement of Part D covered drugs. On April 18, 
2007, the Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to 
proceed to S. 3 by a vote of 55 to 42.
    During the second session, the committee held 10 hearings 
to build the foundation and educate the public toward health 
care reform. These hearings and member meetings included 
discussions on expanding coverage, improving quality of care, 
delivery system and insurance market reform, and an economic 
perspective to health care reform. In addition to these 
hearings and meetings, Chairman Baucus released ``Call to 
Action: Health Reform 2009'' in November 2008, laying out his 
vision for health care reform in the upcoming year. The Baucus 
white paper details policy options for consideration by the 
111th Congress. The main objectives of the Baucus plan are to 
achieve universal coverage, reduce health care costs, and 
improve the quality of care our system provides.
    Early in the second session, the committee reported the 
Indian Health Care Improvement Act to the Senate floor. This 
bill, which was substantially identical to bipartisan 
legislation considered and reported by the committee in the 
109th Congress, included provisions that bolster Medicare, 
Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program 
(SCHIP) for Native Americans. The bill was placed on the 
legislative calendar but did not see action by the full Senate.
    In July of the second session, Chairman Baucus won passage 
of, H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and 
Providers Act of 2008. The new law, based on a bill Baucus 
authored in the Senate, included several key reforms and other 
provisions developed on a bipartisan basis by Chairman Baucus 
and Ranking Member Grassley. These provisions included 
establishing an imaging accreditation requirement for 
diagnostic imaging providers, improving payment and coverage 
for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) 
and other conditions, requiring a delay and improvements to the 
competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, and 
significant reforms to the End Stage Renal Disease Program 
which require the Secretary of HHS to implement a fully bundled 
payment system for ESRD, effective January 1, 2011. Also 
included were provisions that reversed a 10.6-percent cut in 
the program's payments to physicians and provide a 1.1 percent 
update for 2009. The legislation also extends and improves the 
quality reporting system for eligible professionals through 
2010, establishes reporting requirements for group practices, 
and increases the incentive payments from 1.5 percent to 2 
percent in 2009 and 2010. It also establishes a physician 
feedback program to improve efficiency and control costs and 
requires HHS to develop a plan to transition to a value-based 
purchasing program for physicians and other practitioners. In 
addition, this legislation establishes incentives for 
physicians to adopt electronic prescribing by providing 
incentive payments for the use of a qualified e-prescribing 
system in 2011 and reduces payment for those who fail to use e-
prescribing beginning in 2012.
    Other provisions included extensions to payments impacting 
rural providers, extending the physician work geographic 
adjustment 1.0 floor, providing improved access to ambulance 
services, providing teaching anesthesiologists with full 
reimbursement and improving payments for certain rural 
hospitals.
    Finally, the legislation phased-out medical education costs 
from payments to some private Medicare plans, and beginning in 
2011 Private Fee for Service Plans operating in a geographic 
area with two or more network plans must meet network access 
standards through the establishment of networks of providers.
Child Welfare
    During 2008, the committee also considered legislation to 
reauthorize and improve the adoption assistance program and 
improve the foster care system.
    On September 16, 2008, the committee favorably reported a 
substitute to S. 3038, the Improved Adoption Incentives and 
Relative Guardianship Act of 2008, introduced by Ranking Member 
Charles E. Grassley on May 20, 2008. The committee substitute 
included a modification of legislation to provide for Indian 
Tribes to operate child welfare programs, the Tribal Foster 
Care and Adoption Access Act of 2007, introduced by Chairman 
Baucus on August 2, 2007.
    Legislation reflecting an agreement between the Senate and 
the House (H.R. 6893--Fostering Connections to Success and 
Increasing Adoption Act) was passed by unanimous consent by the 
Senate on September 22, 2008. President Bush signed the 
legislation into law on October 7, 2008.
    Key provisions of the new law:
   Improved incentives for States to increase adoptions 
        of children from foster care, especially older youth 
        and those with special needs;
   Adoption assistance for all children with special 
        needs;
   Federal resources to help support children who leave 
        foster care for legal guardianships with family 
        members;
   Equal access to Federal foster care funding for 
        tribal governments, so that American Indian and Alaskan 
        Natives can provide needed services to the children in 
        their care in their own communities;
   The option for States to continue offering foster 
        care services, and receive Federal reimbursement, for 
        young people up to age 21;
   Improved oversight of the educational progress and 
        health care needs of children in foster care; and
   A requirement for States to make reasonable efforts 
        to keep siblings together in foster care.
Elder Justice
    On September 18, 2008, the committee favorably reported a 
substitute to S. 1070, the Elder Justice Act, introduced by 
Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) and 33 cosponsors, both Democrat 
and Republican, on March 29, 2007. The bill took many steps to 
address the issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. 
It also provides incentives for training and certification of 
employees who provide direct care to long-term care facility 
residents. This legislation did not see action by the full 
Senate.
Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention
    On September 22, 2008, the committee favorably reported a 
substitute to S. 1577, the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention 
Act, introduced by Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) on June 7, 2007. 
This legislation did not see action by the full Senate.
    To ease the burden on millions of Americans during the 
economic crisis, Chairman Baucus ensured the passage of his 
Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 in November. 
The proposal provides 7 additional weeks of extended benefits 
nationwide, with an additional 13 weeks of benefits in States 
with unemployment rates above 6 percent. The legislation also 
offers temporary Federal support for the first week of extended 
benefits without requiring a waiting period.

                         Hearings and Meetings

Jan. 11, 2007--Hearing: ``Prescription Drug Pricing and 
    Negotiation: Overview and Economic Perspectives for the 
    Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.'' The hearing designed 
    an approach in which the Secretary investigates Medicare 
    drug prices and intervenes only when drug plans fail to 
    produce competitive or fair prices for seniors. Witnesses 
    included a Government Accountability Office (GAO) expert, 
    professors from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard 
    University, Yale University, and a representative from the 
    Heritage Foundation.
Feb. 1, 2007--Hearing: ``The Future of CHIP: Improving the 
    Health of America's Children.'' This hearing was the first 
    opportunity to take on the reauthorization of the State 
    Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The purpose of 
    this hearing was to review the program's history, explore 
    its successes and challenges, and consider ways to expand 
    the program to cover more children. Witnesses included a 
    Government Accountability Office (GAO) expert, Governor 
    Sunny Perdue of Georgia, representatives from Georgetown 
    University Health Policy Institute and the Iowa Department 
    of Human Services, and parents of a CHIP beneficiary.
Feb. 7, 2007--Hearing: ``President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget 
    (Medicaid and Medicare Proposals).'' This hearing focused 
    on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
    provisions in the President's 2008 budget. The witness was 
    Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt.
Mar. 1, 2007--Hearing: ``Medicare Payment for Physician 
    Services: Examining New Approaches.'' This hearing focused 
    on Medicare payment for physician services and growing 
    concerns about the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, 
    which will produce negative updates to the physician 
    payment rate for the foreseeable future. The hearing was an 
    important step in our effort to control health care 
    spending while ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries have 
    access to high quality services. The witnesses included 
    representatives from MedPAC, the Congressional Budget 
    Office (CBO), the American Medical Association (AMA), and 
    AARP.
Mar. 14, 2007--Hearing: ``Charting a Course for Health Care 
    Reform: Moving Toward Universal Coverage.'' The purpose of 
    this hearing was to begin a dialogue about health care 
    reform. It highlighted problems of the uninsured and the 
    impact our fractured health care system has on the economy. 
    The witnesses included representatives from Partners 
    HealthCare, the Lewin Group, and professors from the Heller 
    School and Harvard University.
Mar. 22, 2007--Hearing: ``Keeping America's Promise: Health 
    Care and Child Welfare Services for Native Americans.'' The 
    purpose of the hearing was to provide a forum for these 
    issues to prepare the committee to mark up the Medicare, 
    Medicaid, and SCHIP portions of the Indian Health Care 
    Improvement Act and consider further child welfare 
    legislation. The witnesses included a representative of 
    Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and members of the 
    Crow Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe, and the Standing Rock 
    Sioux Tribe.
Apr. 11, 2007--Hearing: ``Examination of the Medicare Advantage 
    Program.'' The purpose of the hearing was to take stock of 
    the Medicare Advantage program in an objective and balanced 
    manner. The witnesses included representatives from the 
    Congressional Budget Office (CBO), MedPAC, Center for 
    Studying Health System Change, and Independence Blue Cross 
    of Pennsylvania.
Apr. 12, 2007--Executive Session to consider a substitute to S. 
    3, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 
    2007.
May 2, 2007--Hearing: ``Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: 
    Monitoring Early Experiences.'' The purpose of this hearing 
    was to foster public discussion about the status of the 
    Medicare drug benefit and to identify what problems need to 
    be addressed, as well as issues related to beneficiary 
    access and pharmacy operations. The witnesses included 
    Tobey T. Schule of Sykes Pharmacy in Montana, Kris Gross of 
    the Iowa Insurance Division, and representatives from 
    American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the Center for 
    Medicare Advocacy, Inc.
May 8, 2007--Hearing: ``Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: 
    Review and Oversight.'' This hearing focused on issues 
    arising from the May 2nd hearing--specifically issues 
    related to beneficiary access and pharmacy operations. 
    Those topics included: picking a plan, enrollment, dual-
    eligible reimbursement issues, the low-income subsidy, 
    premium withholding, plan formulary changes, and low and 
    slow pharmacy reimbursement. The witnesses included 
    Government Accountability Office (GAO) experts and 
    representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
    Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration of 
    New York.
June 21, 2007--Hearing: ``Barriers to Work for Individuals 
    Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits.'' The 
    purpose of this hearing was to spotlight the significant 
    barriers Social Security disability beneficiaries face when 
    they try to enter or reenter the workforce and the policy 
    changes that could be made to help beneficiaries overcome 
    those barriers. The witnesses included a self-advocate, a 
    representative of the Social Security Administration, and 
    professors from George Washington University and Cornell 
    University.
July 25, 2007--Confirmation hearing for: Dr. Tevi David Troy, 
    to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
    Department of Health and Human Services; the Honorable 
    David H. McCormick, to be Under Secretary for International 
    Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Kerry N. Weems, 
    to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and 
    Medicaid Services; Peter B. McCarthy, to be Assistant 
    Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. 
    Department of the Treasury; and Charles E. F. Millard, to 
    be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Sept. 12, 2007--Executive Session to consider ``The Medicare, 
    Medicaid, and SCHIP Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 
    2007;'' H.J. Res. 43, ``Increasing the Statutory Limit on 
    the Public Debt;'' and revising subcommittee assignments 
    for the 110th Congress.
Sept. 25, 2007--Hearing: ``Home and Community Based Care: 
    Expanding Options for Long-Term Care.'' This hearing 
    focused on the issues around providing home and community 
    based services (HCBS) and The Community Choice Act. The 
    witnesses included Bob Liston of Montana Fair Housing, Dr. 
    Mitchell LaPlante of the University of California in San 
    Francisco, Patrick Flood of the Vermont Agency of Human 
    Services, and Kevin Concannon of the Iowa Department of 
    Human Services.
Oct. 25, 2007--Hearing: ``Small Business Health Insurance: 
    Building a Gateway to Coverage.'' This hearing focused on 
    employer-based coverage, pooling across State lines, sole 
    proprietors, refundable tax credits, and health coverage. 
    The witnesses included Joel Ario of the Pennsylvania 
    Department of Insurance and the National Association of 
    Insurance Commissioners; Alden J. Bianchi, Member, Mintz, 
    Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C.; and a 
    representative of the Urban Institute.
Dec. 13, 2007--Executive Session to consider the nominations 
    of: Christopher A. Padilla, to be Under Secretary of 
    Commerce for International Trade; Christina H. Pearson, to 
    be Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, U.S. Department 
    of Health and Human Services; Benjamin Eric Sasse, to be 
    Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. 
    Department of Health and Human Services; and Charles E. F. 
    Millard, to be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
    Corporation.
Jan. 22, 2008--Hearing: ``Strengthening America's Economy: 
    Stimulus That Makes Sense (Part 1 of 2).'' This hearing was 
    the first part of two discussions regarding fiscal 
    stimulus. The witness list included Dr. Peter Orszag, 
    director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Jan. 24, 2008--Hearing: ``Strengthening America's Economy: 
    Stimulus That Makes Sense (Part 2 of 2).'' This hearing 
    included testimony from the President and CEO of the 
    National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the 
    Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings 
    Institution, who raised the prospect of health reform as an 
    element of long-term economic recovery.
Jan. 30, 2008--Hearing: ``Private Fee for Service Plans in 
    Medicare Advantage: A Closer Look.'' The purpose of the 
    hearing was to take stock of the Medicare Advantage program 
    in an objective and balanced manner. The witnesses included 
    MedPAC; a SHIP Coordinator from Virginia; the Medical 
    Director of a clinic in Everett, Washington; a hospital 
    representative from Mississippi; and a labor leader from 
    Pennsylvania.
Feb. 6, 2008--Hearing: ``The President's Fiscal Year 2009 
    Budget Proposal for the Department of Health and Human 
    Services.'' This hearing focused on the President's FY2009 
    HHS budget. The witness was Secretary of Health and Human 
    Services Michael Leavitt.
Feb. 7, 2008--Hearing: ``Selling to Seniors: The Need for 
    Accountability and Oversight of Marketing and Sales by 
    Medicare Private Plans (Part 1).'' This hearing examined 
    the sales and marketing tactics used by Medicare Advantage 
    plans and the current Federal laws in place to protect 
    consumers and police these sales and marketing activities. 
    The hearing also focused on CMS oversight of plans' 
    marketing. The witnesses included representatives of the 
    Illinois Division of Insurance, the Salt Lake County Aging 
    Services, Humana, and a Medicare beneficiary.
Feb. 13, 2008--Hearing: ``Selling to Seniors: The Need for 
    Accountability and Oversight of Marketing and Sales by 
    Medicare Private Plans (Part 2).'' The purpose of this 
    hearing was to question whether CMS has the expertise and 
    will power to set and enforce appropriate rules for the 
    direct sales of Medicare benefits. The witness was the 
    Honorable Kerry Weems, Acting Administrator of the Centers 
    for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Feb. 26, 2008--Hearing: ``Economic and Fiscal Conditions of the 
    States.'' The purpose of this hearing was to present 
    information about the diversity of economic conditions and 
    to explore the State-Federal interaction among the various 
    Federal programs under the jurisdiction of the Finance 
    Committee. The witness was the Honorable Janet Napolitano, 
    Governor of Arizona.
May 6, 2008--Hearing: ``Seizing the New Opportunity for Health 
    Reform.'' This hearing reaffirmed the need for 
    comprehensive health reform, and that key goals of health 
    reform are the achievement of universal coverage and 
    reduced overall costs. The witnesses included two former 
    Secretaries of Health and Human Services.
June 3, 2008--Hearing: ``Rising Costs, Low Quality in Health 
    Care: The Necessity for Reform.'' The hearing discussed 
    problems in the current health care system, namely high 
    costs and low quality. The witnesses included 
    representatives from the Center for Studying Health System 
    Change, RAND, the Ford Motor Company, and the AFL-CIO.
June 10, 2008--Hearing: ``47 Million & Counting: Why the Health 
    Care Marketplace is Broken.'' This hearing provided 
    perspectives on the challenges providers face in obtaining, 
    affording, and offering health insurance coverage in the 
    private market. The witnesses included a representative 
    from Aetna Inc.; the co-founder and president/CEO of 
    Phoenix Products, Inc. in Ohio; a leading scholar in health 
    care law and policy, and a health care recipient.
July 17, 2008--Hearing: ``The Right Care at the Right Time: 
    Leveraging Innovation to Improve Health Care Quality for 
    All Americans.'' The hearing focused on the geographic 
    variations in costs and quality that exist in our health 
    care system and the two prominent proposals that have been 
    offered to address this challenge: health information 
    technology and comparative effectiveness research. The 
    witnesses included Dr. Peter Orszag, Director of the 
    Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Richard Hillestad, 
    senior principal researcher at RAND; George Halvorson, CEO 
    of Kaiser Permanente; and Gail Wilensky, senior fellow at 
    Project HOPE.
July 31, 2008--Hearing: ``Health Benefits in the Tax Code: The 
    Right Incentives.'' This hearing focused on the tax 
    treatment of current health insurance and medical benefits. 
    The witnesses included a representative of the Joint 
    Committee on Taxation and professors from the Massachusetts 
    Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
Sept. 9, 2008--Hearing: ``Improving Health Care Quality: An 
    Integral Step Toward Health Reform.'' The hearing focused 
    on public and private efforts to improve health care 
    quality, including value-based purchasing and other 
    programs to measure and pay for high quality performance in 
    health care delivery. The witnesses included 
    representatives from WellPoint Inc., Fairview Northland 
    Health Services, the American Board of Medical Specialties, 
    and the Dean of UNC School of Medicine.
Sept. 10, 2008--Executive Session to consider the following: 
    the Chairman's Mark, in the nature of a substitute, to S. 
    3038, the ``Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative 
    Guardianship Support Act of 2008;'' the Chairman's Mark, in 
    the nature of a substitute, to S. 1070, the ``Elder Justice 
    Act of 2008;'' and the Chairman's Mark, in the nature of a 
    substitute, to S. 1577, the ``Patient Safety and Abuse 
    Prevention Act of 2008.''
Sept. 16, 2008--Hearing: ``Aligning Incentives: The Case for 
    Delivery System Reform.'' The hearing focused on problems 
    facing the current health care delivery system and reforms 
    aimed at addressing these concerns. The witnesses included 
    representatives from MedPAC, Geisinger Health System, the 
    Urban Institute, and a professor from Harvard University 
    School of Medicine.
Sept. 23, 2008--Hearing: ``Covering the Uninsured: Making 
    Health Insurance Markets Work.'' This hearing provided an 
    overview of the current insurance market, discussed 
    successful State-level efforts to improve the insurance 
    market, and talked about considerations for action at the 
    Federal level. The witnesses included representatives from 
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the RAND 
    Corporation, and the Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner.
Nov. 19, 2008--Hearing: ``Health Care Reform: An Economic 
    Perspective.'' This hearing focused on the role that health 
    care plays in the economy and emphasized the need to reform 
    the health care system as part of any attempt to address 
    the state of our economy. The witnesses included 
    representatives from Verizon Communications, the Service 
    Employees International Union (SEIU), and economists from 
    Princeton University and Harvard University.

                        Summits and Conferences

June 16, 2008--Summit: ``Prepare for Launch: Health Reform 
    Summit 2008.'' Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus 
    and ranking member Chuck Grassley co-hosted a bipartisan 
    summit at the Library of Congress to discuss options for 
    health care reform in 2009. ``Prepare for Launch: Health 
    Reform Summit 2008'' was part of the Finance Committee's 
    year-long series of hearings, roundtables, and events in 
    preparation for congressional action on health reform. 
    Keynote remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on 
    health care and American economic competitiveness. Keynote 
    remarks by Dr. J. Craig Venter, genomic research pioneer, 
    on research advances and signposts for reform.

                     Full Committee Field Hearings

Apr. 4, 2007--Hearing: ``Children's Health Insurance Program in 
    Action: A State's Perspective on CHIP.'' The hearing 
    provided an opportunity to celebrate the success of CHIP in 
    Montana and to highlight efforts to extend and improve the 
    program. This hearing consisted of two panels. The first 
    panel included representatives of the Montana Department of 
    Health and Human Services and the Kaiser Family Foundation 
    Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and the mother of 
    a CHIP beneficiary. The second panel included Dr. Janice 
    Langohr of the Billings Children's Clinic; Judy Stewart, RN 
    of the Yellowstone City-County Health Department; Reverend 
    F. Vernon Wright, 5th Minister of Plymouth Congregational 
    Church; and Representative Jonathan Windy Boy, Montana 
    Legislator.
Oct. 21, 2008--Hearing: ``High Health Care Costs: A State 
    Perspective.'' This hearing focused on the impact of high 
    health care costs on small businesses and individuals in 
    Montana. Witnesses discussed how medical bills can result 
    in medical debt and bankruptcy, which is particularly 
    relevant in the current economic climate. The witnesses 
    included representatives from the Commonwealth Fund, St. 
    Patrick Hospital and Health Science Center, Blue Cross Blue 
    Shield of Montana, and local individuals representing small 
    businesses and patient perspectives.

                      Subcommittee on Health Care

Apr. 9, 2008--Subcommittee on Health Care Hearing: ``Covering 
    Uninsured Children: Impact of the August 17 CHIP 
    Directive.'' This hearing examined the impact of the August 
    17 directive on coverage for uninsured children. The 
    witnesses included representatives from the Centers for 
    Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Congressional 
    Budget Office (CBO), the Congressional Research Services 
    (CRS), the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP), 
    the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown 
    University Health Policy Institute, the Center for Health 
    Policy Studies, and a parent of a CHIP beneficiary from 
    Ohio.
                            SOCIAL SECURITY

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    During the 110th Congress, the committee held hearings on 
administrative issues facing the Social Security 
Administration; barriers to work faced by disability 
beneficiaries and preventing Social Security benefits from 
being frozen by banks. The committee also held hearings on 
long-run deficits and debt, the President's Budget Request, the 
economic squeeze on the middle-class, and the fiscal and 
budgetary situation of States. The Social Security Subcommittee 
held a hearing on policies related to pensions from work not 
covered by Social Security.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2007
February 6, 2007--Hearing: ``The President's FY 2008 Budget 
    Proposal.'' This hearing featured the testimony of the Hon. 
    Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the 
    Treasury. The hearing delved into broad themes and details 
    of the President's Budget.
May 23, 2007--Hearing: ``Funding Social Security's 
    Administrative Costs: Will the Budget meet the Mission?'' 
    This hearing featured the testimony of the Hon. Michael J. 
    Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, 
    Baltimore, MD; Nancy Shor, Executive Director, National 
    Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, 
    Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Richard E. Warsinskey, President, 
    National Council of Social Security Management 
    Associations, Inc., Washington, DC; and Charles Schimmels, 
    President, National Association of Disability Examiners, 
    Oklahoma City, OK. The testimony highlighted the 
    responsibilities being placed on the Social Security 
    Administration--including new responsibilities--and whether 
    or not the agency has adequate resources to meet these 
    responsibilities. The testimony examined the long waiting 
    times that disability applicants must endure to receive a 
    resolution of their disability applications, inadequate 
    services to the public in SSA field offices, and the role 
    of Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs). With regard to 
    CDRs, the hearing explored the fact that CDRs are not being 
    performed at an optimal level due to administrative budget 
    issues, even though CDRs save $10 for each dollar spent on 
    them.
June 21, 2007--Hearing: ``Barriers to Work for Individuals 
    Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits.'' This 
    hearing featured the testimony of Sue Suter, Associate 
    Commissioner for Employment Support Programs, Social 
    Security Administration, Baltimore, MD; Allen Jensen, 
    Senior Research Staff Scientist, Center for Health Services 
    Research and Policy, The George Washington University, 
    Washington, DC; Dr. David C. Stapleton, Director, Cornell 
    Center for Policy Research, Washington, DC; and Jim Brown, 
    SSDI Beneficiary, Independent Advocate, Billings, MT. The 
    testimony presented information on the various complex and 
    confusing policies that confront Social Security disability 
    beneficiaries who want to return to work. To better 
    understand how the complex rules affect constituents, a 
    disability beneficiary from Montana described his struggle 
    to return to work while also retaining benefits that allow 
    him the supports needed to be able to work. The hearing 
    also examined other barriers to returning to work, 
    including access to health care.
September 20, 2007--Hearing: ``Frozen Out: A Review of Bank 
    Treatment of Social Security Benefits.'' This hearing 
    featured the testimony of Waverly Taliaferro, Social 
    Security beneficiary, New York, NY; Sara Kelsey, General 
    Counsel, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Washington, 
    DC; Montrice Goddard Yakimov, Managing Director of 
    Compliance and Consumer Protection, Office of Thrift 
    Supervision, Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC; 
    Julie L. Williams, First Senior Deputy Comptroller and 
    Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 
    Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC; and Margot 
    Saunders, Counsel, National Consumer Law Center, 
    Washington, DC. The testimonies indicated that the Social 
    Security and SSI benefits of some beneficiaries have been 
    frozen and/or garnished, even though Federal law would 
    appear to prohibit such actions. The witnesses generally 
    agreed that such freezes and garnishments are undesirable 
    outcomes, but there was much disagreement and confusion 
    about the regulatory steps that would be needed to preclude 
    such outcomes.
2008
February 5, 2008--Hearing: ``The President's FY 2009 Budget 
    Proposal.'' This hearing featured the testimony of the Hon. 
    Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the 
    Treasury. The hearing delved into broad themes and details 
    of the President's Budget.
February 26, 2008--Hearing: ``Economic and Fiscal Conditions of 
    the States.'' This hearing featured the testimony of the 
    Hon. Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona. The hearing 
    focused on the negative impact of the economic downturn on 
    States, and Federal policy options to provide assistance to 
    States.
May 8, 2008--Hearing: ``More Work, Less Resources: Social 
    Security Field Offices Struggle to Deliver Services to the 
    Public.'' This hearing featured the testimony of Barbara D. 
    Bovbjerg, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income 
    Security, Government Accountability Office, Washington, 
    D.C.; Linda S. McMahon, Deputy Commissioner for Operations, 
    Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD; Richard E. 
    Warsinskey, Immediate Past President, National Council of 
    Social Security Management Associations, Washington, D.C.; 
    and Witold Skwierczynski, President, National Council of 
    Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals, 
    AFL-CIO, Baltimore, MD. This hearing presented evidence 
    from the Government Accountability Office, SSA, the AFL-
    CIO, and other experts about problems with service delivery 
    to the public in SSA's 1300 field offices. These problems 
    included inability to get through on the telephone to local 
    field offices and long waits for some individuals who visit 
    Social Security offices. The hearing considered the case 
    for providing SSA with additional resources to correct 
    these problems.
June 17, 2008--Hearing: ``Crisis in the Future: Long Run 
    Deficits and Debt.'' This hearing featured the testimony of 
    Dr. Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, 
    Washington, DC and Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC. Both 
    testimonies highlighted the fact that much--although not 
    all--of the long-term fiscal challenge facing the Federal 
    Government stems from the rapid growth rates of Medicare 
    and Medicaid costs, which are closely linked to the rapid 
    cost growth in the entire health care sector. Controlling 
    the rapid rates of per-capita health care cost growth in 
    the entire health care sector would significantly reduce 
    projected long-run Federal budget deficits. However, even 
    if such cost control would be effectuated, there would 
    still need to be some deficit reduction in the rest of the 
    budget to keep Federal long-run deficits manageable.

           Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy

November 6, 2007--Hearing: ``GPO and WEP: Policies Affecting 
    Pensions from Work Not Covered by Social Security.'' This 
    hearing featured the testimony of the Hon. Susan Collins, 
    United States Senator (R-ME); Margaret Kane, Retired 
    Teacher, Medford, MA; Barbara D. Bovbjerg, Director, 
    Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues, U.S. 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Priya 
    Mathur, Board of Administration Member of CalPERS, AFSCME 
    Local 3993, Sacramento, CA; and Lawrence Thompson, Senior 
    Fellow, Urban Institute, Washington, DC. The testimony 
    discussed how individuals who have pensions from work not 
    covered by Social Security are affected by the Social 
    Security policies related to such pensions. Options were 
    discussed to modify or repeal the Social Security policies 
    or to structure alternatives that can meet the goals of 
    current policies, but with more equitable results.
                      OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

                                Overview

    The Constitution granted to the Congress the important 
responsibility of conducting oversight of Executive Branch 
activities. Congressional authority to conduct oversight is 
both extensive and powerful. Oversight is critically important 
in helping to make government more transparent, more 
accountable, and more effective for the taxpayers, program 
participants, and beneficiaries. Taxpayers deserve transparency 
because they finance the government. Government truly is the 
people's business, and the people have a right to know what 
their government is doing and how it spends their money.
    One of the best means for achieving transparency in 
operations is through consistent congressional oversight, in 
conjunction with an aggressive and curious media, and the 
vigilance of the public and brave whistleblowers who speak up 
about the problems and abuses they see. Transparency also helps 
to ensure a high degree of ethics, morality and honesty. As 
former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis once said, 
``Sunshine is the best disinfectant.''
    Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley take their 
oversight responsibilities seriously. Both Chairman Baucus and 
Ranking Member Grassley conduct oversight jointly and 
separately. Chairman Baucus has focused on a number of critical 
areas in his oversight work: offshore tax evasion and the tax 
gap generally, border security, terrorism financing, the Social 
Security Disability program, putting in place strong oversight 
in the new TARP program, and oversight of the Medicare 
Advantage program.
    During the 110th Congress, Senator Grassley's oversight 
efforts ranged from examining certain practices of fraud and 
mismanagement at the Department of Health and Human Services 
(HHS) including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
(CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH) to the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 
and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senator Grassley 
continued working to control fraud, waste, and abuse in nursing 
homes across the country, and sought to uncover mismanagement 
at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Highlights of the 
committee's investigations ranged from targeting fraud and 
abuse in the Medicaid prescription drug program to ensuring 
that the Government has adequate resources to ensure the safety 
of pharmaceuticals produced abroad. Senator Grassley also 
continued to champion whistleblowers in government and private 
industry to come forward and expose fraud and wrongdoing for 
the public good. Senator Grassley also continued to rely 
heavily on the services and expertise of the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) and the various Offices of 
Inspector General (OIGs) throughout the government.

                                Hearings

Border Insecurity, Take Three: Open and Unmonitored
    An oversight hearing was held on September 27, 2007 
entitled, ``Border Insecurity, Take Three: Open and 
Unmonitored.'' This hearing, the third in a series of hearings 
on the topic, examined the possibility that terrorists might 
exploit vulnerabilities in our Nation's border security to gain 
access to the United States. The first hearing featured 
testimony from GAO regarding how easy it is to make fake 
documents to enter the United States. Additionally, the 
committee heard about vast areas of our border that remain 
either under-patrolled and/or unmonitored. In the second 
hearing, the GAO briefed the committee on its success in 
penetrating border checkpoints with counterfeit documents. This 
final hearing focused on the GAO's ability to cross into the 
United States with simulated nuclear materials via unmanned 
portions of the border.
    The committee heard testimony from Greg Kutz, Managing 
Director for Forensic Audit and Special Investigations, U.S. 
Government Accountability Office, from Ronald Colburn, Deputy 
Chief, Office of Border Patrol, Department of Homeland 
Security, and from Ken Luongo, Executive Director of the 
Partnership for Global Security. Mr. Kutz testified to the GAO 
investigators' success in penetrating areas of the Northern and 
Southern borders. Mr. Colburn briefed the committee on Border 
Patrol operations and how the Agency uses a mix of layered 
enforcement techniques to fulfill its mission. Finally, Mr. 
Luongo presented the sobering imperative of securing nuclear 
and radiological materials around the world and eliminating 
vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.
    Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley requested GAO to 
conduct a broad evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness 
of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. GAO has 
begun its work on that request. Chairman Baucus and Senator 
Grassley requested and received from GAO a published report of 
its findings for the entire series of three hearings.
Anti-Terrorism Financing: Progress Made and the Challenges Ahead
    On April 1, 2008, the committee convened a hearing 
entitled, ``Anti-Terrorism Financing: Progress Made and the 
Challenges Ahead.'' The focus of the hearing was to examine the 
Treasury Department's continuing efforts to understand and 
combat terrorist financing seven years after the attacks of 
September 11, 2001. At issue during the hearing was the 
reported deterioration in the U.S.-led coalition to fight 
terrorism financing and the ease with which terrorists adapt 
their techniques to circumvent regulatory progress. The 
committee also examined the exploitation of non-profit 
organizations and off-shore tax havens to funnel terrorism 
financing. The committee's investigation leading up to the 
hearing also uncovered concerns over the level of communication 
between U.S. agencies engaged in the anti-terrorism financing 
activities, and whether the Treasury Department has sufficient 
resources to adequately allocate to such activities.
    Testimony was presented by the Hon. Stuart A. Levey, Under 
Secretary, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, U.S. 
Department of Treasury. Throughout his remarks, Under Secretary 
Levey stressed the use of targeted financial measures to combat 
terrorists' abilities to exploit the world financial system. 
According to the Under Secretary, such targeted financial 
measures have garnered increased private sector and political 
support. Additionally, Under Secretary Levey provided 
investigative examples where the Treasury Department has 
succeeded in disrupting terrorist support networks, targeting 
proliferators, and combating the illicit financial conduct of 
rogue regimes and narco-traffickers. Finally, the Under 
Secretary discussed the Department's outreach efforts to 
increase transparency, strengthen international anti-money 
laundering standards, shore up systemic vulnerabilities in the 
financial system, and partner with the private sector.
Offshore Tax Evasion
    The Finance committee held two hearings on the problem of 
offshore tax evasion as part of the committee's continuing 
effort to address the tax gap. Legislation shutting down an 
offshore tax evasion practice was also enacted in the 110th 
Congress.
The Qualified Intermediary Program
    GAO testified about the Qualified Intermediary Program and 
offshore tax evasion in a May 2007 Finance Committee hearing. 
Other witnesses at the hearing included John Harrington from 
the Treasury Department, Reuven Avi-Yonah, director of the 
international tax program at the University of Michigan law 
school, and Jeffrey Owens, director of tax policy for the 
Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.
    Qualified Intermediaries are a key element of the overseas 
tax enforcement system--they are financial institutions that 
serve as our Nation's eyes and ears on the movement of U.S. 
funds overseas. GAO identified a number of flaws in the 
program. The GAO determined that foreign corporations may 
enable U.S. persons to evade U.S. income tax by hiding behind 
the corporate veil. For example, a U.S. person establishes a 
Cayman corporation that invests in a Cayman hedge fund. The 
hedge fund will assume that the Cayman corporation is a foreign 
taxpayer, and the U.S. person may decide to not report the 
income on its U.S. return. The GAO also discovered that the IRS 
does not know the destination of a significant portion of the 
gross income flowing through the qualified intermediary 
program.
    The GAO testimony also focused on almost $300 billion in 
funds being transferred out of the United States every year and 
the tax issues raised by that transfer. Within the $300 billion 
total, the committee was told that the IRS has no idea where 
$19 billion ends up once the funds are transferred overseas.
    The GAO explained in a second report presented at the 
hearing that offshore tax evasion cases pursued by the IRS take 
much longer to finish, but the return to the IRS is three times 
what is recovered in a domestic tax evasion case.
    The three main recommendations of the GAO were as follows:

  --Congress should consider extending the statute of 
        limitations for complicated offshore tax evasion cases
  --qualified intermediaries--foreign bank and other exchanges 
        that process funds entering and leaving the U.S.--need 
        to do a better job of tracking the money, and
  --the IRS needs to do a better job of tracking information 
        about foreign financial transactions.

               The Cayman Islands and Offshore Tax Issues

    In July 2008 the Finance Committee hearing focused on the 
Cayman Islands as an offshore tax haven. The General Accounting 
Office was asked at the first offshore tax evasion hearing to 
travel to the Caymans and look at the Ugland House, a five 
story building that the GAO testified has 18,587 tenants. One 
half of those tenants, around 9,000, are reportedly Americans.
    GAO reported the following findings related to the Cayman 
Islands:
   US taxpayers have reported 1,400 controlled foreign 
        corporations in the Cayman Islands to the IRS.
   732 companies trading on the US stock exchange said 
        they are incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
   The IRS has investigated 45 criminal cases with 
        Cayman Island connections over the past 5 years.
   $2 trillion of bank assets are based in the 
        Caymans--by comparison the GDP of the U.S. is $13 
        trillion.
   9,000 mutual funds--most thought to be hedge funds--
        are based in the Caymans, a hedge fund for every 7 
        people on the Island.
   80,000 companies are registered in the Caymans, 
        about 2 for every resident.
   A Cayman company can be created for less than $600, 
        and it is not required to hold annual shareholder 
        meetings.

           Legislative Action by Senate Finance Committee on
                          Offshore Tax Evasion

    The Finance Committee also acted in 2008 to shut down an 
offshore tax abuse.
    The committee found that U.S. companies, including Kellogg, 
Brown and Root (KBR), were using foreign shell corporations to 
avoid paying employment taxes. Under this scheme, the foreign 
shell ``hires'' U.S. employees to provide services on behalf of 
the U.S. parent company. Because of its foreign status, the 
shell company is not required to pay or withhold Social 
Security and Medicare taxes.
    This practice gives companies who do not play by the rules 
an undeserved competitive advantage when bidding for jobs. It 
leaves employees in the lurch at tax time because they haven't 
been paying the taxes they owe during the course of the year.
    The Finance Committee shut down this scheme in a military 
assistance bill enacted in June 2008. The law now requires that 
these foreign shells be treated as American employers. They 
must pay their full share of employment taxes just like other 
American employers. They cannot take advantage of unintended 
loopholes in the tax law to shortchange workers and the U.S. 
Treasury.
Nomination Hearing: Neil Barofsky
    On November 17, 2008, the committee heard testimony from 
Neil Barofsky, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern 
District of New York. Barofsky was nominated by the President 
to serve as Special Inspector General to the Troubled Asset 
Relief Program of the Department of the Treasury.

                              Legislation

S. 467, The Fair Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2007
    On January 31, 2007, Senator Grassley joined Senator Dodd 
in re-introducing the Fair Access to Clinical Trials Act, or 
FACT Act, to create a publicly accessible national data bank of 
clinical trial information. The comprehensive bill would 
establish a clinical trials results database and make it 
available to the public, maintain a clinical trials registry of 
ongoing trials for serious and life-threatening diseases and 
conditions, and require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
to make internal drug approval and safety reviews publicly 
available. The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act, 
Pub. L. 110-85, which became law on September 27, 2007, 
incorporates some of the provisions of the FACT Act.
S. 468, The Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2007
    On January 31, 2007, in tandem with the Fair Access to 
Clinical Trials Act of 2007, Senators Grassley and Dodd re-
introduced the Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2007. 
The proposed legislation would establish an independent Center 
within the Food and Drug Administration--the Center for 
Postmarket Evaluation and Research for Drugs and Biologics 
(CPER/Center). The Director of CPER would report directly to 
the FDA Commissioner, and would be responsible for conducting 
risk assessments for approved drugs and biological products. 
The Center would also be responsible for ensuring the safety 
and effectiveness of drugs once they are on the market. The 
Food and Drug Administration Safety Act was first introduced in 
the 108th Congress in response to concerns about FDA's ability 
to assess the risks of prescription drugs once they're on the 
market and respond to drug safety issues in a timely manner. In 
addition, because the Office of Drug Safety, now the Office of 
Surveillance and Epidemiology (OSE), served primarily a 
consultative role to the office that approves drugs for 
marketing, the Office of New Drugs, the bill was intended to 
provide OSE with greater authority and responsibility with 
respect to postmarket safety issues.
    While Congress did not establish a separate center for 
postmarket safety issues during the 110th Congress, the Food 
and Drug Administration Amendments Act, which became law in 
September 2007, requires consultation with OSE in the handling 
postmarket drug safety matters. In addition, in 2008 FDA 
announced its Safety First/Safe Use Initiative, which according 
to the Agency includes expanding the role of OSE in the 
resolution of drug-related safety issues.
S. 473, The Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act of 
        2007
    In an effort to strengthen and broaden the Nation's current 
money laundering statutes, Senator Grassley introduced The 
Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act of 2007 
in February 2007. The purpose of the legislation is to amend 
money laundering provisions of the Federal criminal code to 
redefine ``specified unlawful activity'' as: (1) any act 
constituting an offense in violation of the laws of the United 
States or any State punishable by imprisonment for a term 
exceeding 1 year; and (2) any act occurring outside of the 
United States that would constitute such an offense if 
committed within U.S. jurisdiction. Additionally, the 
legislation would, among other things: (1) increase the penalty 
for bulk cash smuggling in or out of the United States from 5 
to 10 years; (2) redefine money laundering transactions 
involving amounts greater than $10,000 to include commingling 
of funds from separate accounts and structured transactions 
designed to avoid reporting requirements; (3) prohibit illegal 
money transmitting businesses; and (4) extend the jurisdiction 
of the United States in money laundering cases to include 
activities outside of the United States that have an effect in 
the United States.
S. 1082, Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act
    In September 2007, Congress passed the Food and Drug 
Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA), which includes new 
authorities for the FDA to better protect patients from harm 
caused by prescription drugs. In particular, it provides FDA 
with the much needed authorities to require: (1) product 
labeling changes to address new safety information and (2) 
post-approval studies or clinical trials of a drug to assess 
signals of a serious risk or to identify an unexpected serious 
risk. FDAAA also expands the clinical trial registry, 
ClinicalTrials.gov, to include a clinical trials results 
database that will be publicly available.
    Congress, however, did not create a separate center for 
postmarket safety as advocated by Senator Grassley. During 
Senate consideration of FDA drug safety legislation, S. 1082, 
the Senator offered an amendment to address a fundamental 
problem at FDA--the lack of equality between the pre-approval 
and post-approval offices of the Agency, the Office of New 
Drugs (OND) and the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology 
(OSE), respectively. Although Senator Grassley believes an 
independent post-marketing safety center is still the best 
solution to the problem, he proposed joint post-marketing 
decision-making between OSE and OND to at least allow the 
office with the post-marketing safety expertise to have an 
equal say in what drug safety actions FDA would take. The 
amendment lost by one vote. Strengthening OSE will continue to 
be a central focus of Senator Grassley's effort to fix problems 
at the FDA in the 111th Congress.
    Senator Grassley also offered an amendment to S. 1082 that 
was approved by the Senate with a vote of 64 to 30. The 
amendment provided for the application of stronger civil 
monetary penalties to improve industry compliance with FDA 
directives, including labeling changes, post-approval studies 
and communicating important drug safety information. Senator 
Grassley will continue monitoring the implementation of the 
FDAAA.
S. 1402, The Hedge Fund Registration Act
    As a result of the Securities and Exchange Commission's 
handling of a major hedge fund insider trading case, Senator 
Grassley introduced the Hedge Fund Registration Act on May 15, 
2007. The bill would amend section 203(b)(3) of the Investment 
Advisers Act of 1940. It would narrow the current exemption 
from registration for certain investment advisers. This 
exemption is used by large, private pooled investment vehicles, 
commonly referred to as ``hedge funds''.
    Currently, the exemption applies to any investment adviser 
who had fewer than 15 clients in the preceding year and who 
does not hold himself out to the public as an investment 
adviser. The Hedge Fund Registration Act narrows this exemption 
and closes a loophole in the securities laws these hedge funds 
use to operate in secret and to avoid registering with the SEC.
S. 2029, The Physician Payments Sunshine Act
    In late 2007, Ranking Member Grassley and Senator Herb Kohl 
introduced The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (Sunshine Act). 
The legislation required manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs, 
devices, and biologics to disclose the amount of money they 
give to doctors for payments, gifts, honoraria, and travel. If 
passed, the Sunshine Act will require companies to report 
payments to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who 
will post the information online in a user-friendly format. By 
working with advocacy groups, physician organizations, and drug 
and device companies, Senator Grassley was able to garner the 
endorsement of groups such as the American Medical Association 
and PhRMA. Senator Grassley will continue his efforts in 
seeking passage of the legislation in the 111th Congress.
S. 2641, The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008
    In February 2008, Ranking Member Grassley introduced The 
Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008. The 
driving force behind this bill was to increase the 
accountability of owners and operators of nursing homes that 
receive billions of dollars of Medicare and Medicaid funding 
annually. The legislation requires nursing homes to disclose 
their owners, operators and financiers, as well as undergo 
annual independent audits. The bill also calls for the 
Department of Health and Human Services to monitor facilities 
with chronic poor performance and oversee corrective action. 
Additionally, the bill would create a mechanism whereby 
monetary fines could be levied upon facilities in cases of 
deficiencies of care or cause of death to residents. Senator 
Grassley will continue his efforts in seeking passage of the 
legislation in the 111th Congress.
S. 3049, Drug and Device Accountability Act
    On July 31, 2008, Senator Grassley introduced a bill with 
Senator Kennedy to improve the Food and Drug Administration's 
(FDA) oversight of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. 
This bill, known as the Drug and Device Accountability Act of 
2008, (DADAA) is part of the Senator's efforts to ensure that 
America's increasingly foreign-produced drug and device supply 
is both safe and effective.
    DADAA would enhance registration of both domestic and 
foreign drug and medical device establishments, so that the FDA 
knows how many foreign facilities are exporting to the United 
States and thus subject to inspection. It would also increase 
resources through the collection of user fees so that the FDA 
can conduct more inspections of overseas facilities. FDA 
officials estimated that the Agency inspected foreign class II 
device makers every 27 years and foreign class III device 
makers every 6 years. Class III devices are devices that 
support or sustain human life, or which present a potentially 
unreasonable risk of illness or injury, such as pacemakers and 
heart defibrillators.
    In addition to the provisions related to the registration 
and inspection of domestic and foreign drug and device 
manufacturers, DADAA includes more general authorities and 
requirements to enhance FDA's oversight of drugs and devices. 
One requirement is for senior officers in drug and device 
companies to certify to the FDA that none of the information 
and data that is submitted to the Agency is false or 
misleading. False or misleading certifications could be subject 
to civil, as well as, criminal penalties. Another provision is 
subpoena authority to facilitate FDA's investigation of safety 
violations and other violations of the Federal Food, Drug and 
Cosmetic Act.

                      ACTIVE OVERSIGHT INITIATIVES

                    Special IG for the TARP Program

    Chairman Baucus proposed, and the negotiators for the 
Troubled Asset Relief Program approved, a Special Inspector 
General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). 
Treasury's original proposal for the TARP was three pages long, 
it gave the Secretary of the Treasury unlimited power over $700 
billion allocated for the purchase of troubled assets, and it 
included virtually no oversight of the new program. The need 
for greater oversight spurred the creation of the Special IG 
position.
    Senator Grassley assisted in the development of the Special 
IG statuary language.
    The Special IG was based on the Iraqi Reconstruction 
Special Inspector General, another massive oversight challenge.
    Passed in early October 2008, the TARP law gives the 
Special IG a $50 million budget. The office will have the 
duties of inspectors general under the Inspector General Act of 
1978. It will have the responsibility of supervising and 
coordinating audits and investigations of TARP activities. The 
Special IG will have the power to appoint staff to carry out 
the activities of the office. And he or she may enter into 
contracts for audits and studies. The Finance Committee expects 
a report to the committee every 120 days on the activities of 
the TARP and the law directs the Special IG to report to 
Congress if information he requests is refused.
    President Bush nominated Neil M. Barofsky to be the Special 
Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and Mr. 
Barofsky was confirmed by the Senate in December 2008.

                      Centers for Disease Control

Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis
    Early in the 110th Congress, two individuals traveled into 
and out of the United States despite having infectious forms of 
drug-resistant tuberculosis. In both cases, the Centers for 
Disease Control (CDC) notified Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) 
in an effort to prevent the individuals from traveling and 
potentially spreading their contagions. However, in neither 
instance were officials from CBP or the CDC successful in 
preventing the individuals from entering the United States. 
Senator Grassley joined Senators Lieberman, Collins, and 
Clinton in a request to the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) to audit the two circumstances in an effort to find out 
where the process broke down, and how to prevent such a 
biological threat from occurring again. Additionally, Senator 
Grassley requested that the GAO inspect the circumstances that 
caused the CDC to initially misdiagnose one of the individuals.
    Upon their inspection, the GAO faulted a lack of 
information sharing and coordination between the Department of 
Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland 
Security, as well as a breach of policy at the border 
inspection point as the main factors for the failed Federal 
response. Senator Grassley remains concerned about the CDC's 
ability to meet its mission, and will continue to monitor the 
Agency.

               Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CERT
    Senator Grassley continued his efforts to flush out fraud, 
waste, and abuse at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services (CMS/Agency) by scrutinizing the Agency's improper 
payment rate estimates involving medical claims submitted to 
Medicare. The estimates of improper payments, which cost 
American taxpayers billions of dollars per year, are calculated 
by CMS's Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program, and 
are reported annually to Congress. In 2008, the Senator 
received allegations that CMS did not conduct appropriate 
medical record reviews when it calculated its 2006 error rate 
for claims submitted for durable medical equipment (DME). In 
response, the Senator requested the Inspector General (IG) for 
the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate CERT 
and re-examine the DME error rate.
    The results of the IG's examination were concerning. The IG 
determined that the estimated 2006 DME error rate was not 7.5 
percent, as originally reported to Congress, but instead closer 
to 30 percent. According to the report, CMS may have 
deliberately instructed its CERT contractor to undertake only a 
limited review of the available data from suppliers, and not of 
the full medical records from physicians. This deviation from 
CERT policy may have resulted in a much lower estimate of the 
error rate, specifically for DME. In response, Senator Grassley 
asked the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to expand its 
inquiry to examine the methodology used to determine the 2007 
DME error rate, and to investigate who at CMS directed the 
contractor, AdvanceMed, to deviate from the established 
policies. The Senator also requested a five-year review of all 
contracts between CMS and AdvanceMed, which allegedly received 
$5 million for their work on CERT. The OIG's audit of the 2008 
error rate is ongoing. Senator Grassley will continue to 
address issues involving the CERT program as they arise.
Home Health Agencies
    Senator Grassley has long been concerned with the quality 
of home health care. According to a 2006 report released by the 
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), spending on home 
health care grew more than 10 percent the prior year, and that 
70 percent of new home health providers were concentrated in 
Florida and Texas. Such increases in both spending and the 
number of facilities raised questions by the Senator about the 
quality of care being provided and the transparency of 
reimbursements made by Medicare and Medicaid. Accordingly, 
Senator Grassley requested that the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) conduct a review of home health care to address 
the oversight and accountability of providers, the transparency 
of Medicare reimbursements, and the extent of home health 
compliance programs. GAO's work is pending, and the Senator 
will continue to monitor developments in the home health care 
industry.
Long-Term Care Insurance
    Ranking Member Grassley has been monitoring the growth and 
administration of long term care insurance, which is an 
essential lifeline for millions of Americans in the event of an 
unexpected loss of independence. In response to allegations 
that many policyholders were facing increased difficulty 
recovering on their policies, he contacted the National 
Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Nation's top 
long-term care insurers to resolve the problem. He also 
requested a GAO study on the issues of rate-setting and claims 
settlement practices, which was released in June 2008. At this 
time, Ranking Member Grassley is continuing his oversight of 
this industry.
Quality of Care in Nursing Homes
    Ranking Member Grassley continued his vigorous oversight of 
the nursing home industry to ensure that Medicaid and Medicare 
beneficiaries receive the quality of care that they deserve. 
Ranking Member Grassley also continued to monitor the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services's (CMS) efforts to address 
fire safety issues identified by the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO). Following the Senator's involvement, CMS issued a 
new regulation requiring nursing homes to install smoke 
detectors in patient rooms and public areas of nursing homes 
that do not have sprinkler systems or hardwired smoke detection 
systems. CMS has taken additional steps to address other GAO 
recommendations. In addition, in 2006, CMS issued a new 
regulation requiring all pre-existing nursing homes to have 
sprinkler systems installed in their facilities.
    The committee will continue to monitor this issue in the 
111th Congress.
Quality Improvement Organizations--Conflicts of Interest
    In 2007 Ranking Member Grassley received information 
alleging conflicts of interest at a Quality Improvement 
Organization (QIO). These allegations included the CEO running 
private businesses out of largely taxpayer funded offices. 
After ongoing correspondence in which Senator Grassley wrote to 
the organization asking for specific answers to the 
allegations, responses provided by the QIO appeared to be 
contradictory and incomplete.
    In 2008, in response to the allegations of conflicts of 
interest, CMS withheld the QIO's 9th scope of work pending 
resolution of the claims. In September 2008 CMS conducted an 
onsite review at the QIO's headquarters. In the course of this 
review, they collected various documents that will soon be 
under review by the Ranking Member.
Quality Improvement Organizations--Effectiveness of Administration
    In 2005, the committee received a series of allegations 
concerning the integrity, effectiveness and administration of 
various State and regional Quality Improvement Organizations 
(QIO). In addition to allegations at the individual QIOs, the 
committee also received allegations concerning problems with 
the Federal officials tasked with overseeing QIOs. Chairman Max 
Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley requested 
information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services, the American Health Quality Association, and various 
State and regional QIOs on a broad range of matters. The 
Ranking Member also requested that the Government 
Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human 
Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) evaluate the 
fiscal integrity provided by beneficiary complaint process 
among other things and quality of nursing home care of QIOs.
    The HHS-OIG conducted nine audits of QIOs across the 
country, and found problems such as conflicts of interest, 
lavish severance packages, and improper travel, among others. 
Senator Grassley is currently investigating a number of the 
improper activities that the HHS-OIG identified.
    The committee will continue its oversight of the QIOs in 
the 111th Congress.
Specialty Hospitals
    Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley have been at 
the forefront of the debate over physician-owned specialty 
hospitals. The committee continued its oversight of physician-
owned specialty hospitals in the 110th Congress. This oversight 
discovered additional instances of tragic patient deaths at 
physician-owned specialty hospitals where 9-1-1 services were 
used in health emergencies.
    Chairman Baucus and Grassley requested a review of 
physician-owned specialty hospitals by the Department of Health 
and Human Services OIG. The report found that almost half of 
all such hospitals had no emergency room, that two thirds 
regularly use
9-1-1 in their emergency response procedures, and that fewer 
than one third have physicians on site at all times. 
Recommendations called for the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services (CMS) to strengthen its monitoring of 
physician-owned specialty hospitals by: (1) developing a system 
to identify and track such hospitals;
(2) enforcing the requirement that the hospitals have a nurse 
on duty and a physician on call 24 hours a day; and (3) 
ensuring that the hospitals have the ability to appraise and 
initially treat emergencies, and that they do not rely on 9-1-1 
as a substitute for such emergency services.
    Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley plan to closely 
monitor the operations of physician-owned specialty hospitals 
in the 111th Congress. Furthermore, Senator Grassley is 
currently investigating a recent death at a specialty hospital 
in Indiana, and this investigation will continue into the 111th 
Congress.
Transplants
    Ranking Member Grassley continued his longstanding 
commitment to conducting oversight of America's organ 
transplant network. Specifically, he continued oversight of the 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services's (CMS) 
responsibility over transplant centers and conducted 
investigations into allegations that physicians expedited the 
death of organ donors in order to harvest organs more rapidly.
    He also investigated reports that Japanese nationals with 
ties to organized crime improperly received organ transplants 
at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center 
(UCLA) between 2000 and 2004. The reports raised concerns that 
the foreign nationals may have made financial donations in 
exchange for advancement in the organ recipient list. In 
response, Senator Grassley sent letters to UCLA, CMS, and the 
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). UCLA responded with a 
briefing for the Senator's staff. Included in that briefing was 
a detailed discussion of how the four Japanese individuals came 
to receive organ transplants. Additionally, UCLA claimed that, 
at the time of the transplants, the hospital had no knowledge 
of allegations that the four men were tied to Japanese 
organized crime, and that ``there was no exchange of money or 
promises of money in order to be placed on the organ transplant 
list, to move up on that list, or to procure an organ outside 
of the UNOS rules.''
    Shortly after receiving the Senator's letter, CMS conducted 
a Complaint Validation Survey of the UCLA Liver Transplant 
Program. However, CMS ``found no evidence that there were any 
problems in how the hospital was selecting patients for liver 
transplants.''
    The committee also initiated an investigation of Federal 
oversight of organ transplant centers. This investigation began 
after newspaper reports relayed allegations that a Saudi 
national paid money to move to the top of the organ transplant 
waiting list at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. The 
L.A. Times subsequently identified a functionally inactive 
transplant center at the University of California Irvine 
(``UCI'') about which the committee also inquired. The 
committee completed its inquiry of the St. Vincent and UCI 
transplant centers.
    Senator Grassley plans to monitor the organ transplant 
system in the 111th Congress.

                Department of Health and Human Services

Antipsychotic Medications in Adolescents
    Ranking Member Grassley is conducting an ongoing 
investigation into the use of atypical antipsychotics on 
children. This investigation includes an inquiry into marketing 
practices, conflicts of interest in the field, and other 
issues. In the course of the investigation, the Senator 
requested information on the financial ties between promoters 
of atypical antipsychotics for children and drug companies. He 
has also been collecting information on Nation-wide trends in 
prescribing practices. This inquiry will continue into the 
111th Congress.
Dr. David Schwartz and the NIH
    Throughout 2007, Senator Grassley received information 
concerning the inappropriate expenditure of public funds and 
potential ethics violations by Dr. David Schwartz, the now 
former Director of the National Institute of Environmental 
Health Sciences (NIEHS). The NIEHS is one of the twenty-seven 
institutes and centers run by the National Institutes of Health 
(NIH). The Senator sent numerous letters to the Director of the 
NIH requesting documentation to corroborate these allegations 
regarding Dr. Schwartz. In a review of documents received from 
NIH, investigators found an NIH report on alleged mismanagement 
of funds by Dr. Schwartz for such things as a limousine ride 
and the framing of personal pictures, as well as the misuse of 
government contractors. Additionally, the Senator learned that 
Dr. Schwartz received thousands of dollars in outside income 
for testifying as an expert witness in asbestos cases. Such 
outside activity raised serious questions about Dr. Schwartz 
and possible ``conflict of interest'' and a ``conflict of 
commitment.'' The Senator's concern heightened when it was 
determined that NIEHS employees were advised by NIEHS 
management not to speak with congressional investigators, and 
that doing so could result in retaliation. In response, the 
Senator sent a letter to the NIH warning against any 
retaliation against whistleblowers.
    On August 20, 2007, Dr. Schwartz stepped aside as Director 
of NIEHS. The Senator continues to monitor the actions of the 
NIH.
Information Technology Programs
    In the 109th Congress, the GAO issued two reports requested 
by Senator Grassley on information technology at HHS. The first 
GAO audit examined concerns regarding the coordination of 
funding and oversight for information technology projects 
within HHS at the Department level. The second audit requested 
an assessment of information technology programs at CMS. 
Senator Grassley has also been concerned about FDA's Adverse 
Events Reporting System and post-marketing safety surveillance 
program for all approved drugs and biologic products. In the 
110th Congress, Senator Grassley and Chairman Baucus asked the 
HHS Office of Inspector General to examine the management and 
contracting practices of the Office of Information Technology 
within FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The 
committee will continue to address information technology 
issues at HHS as they arise.
Transfer of Medicare Administrative Appeals
    Senators Grassley and Baucus continued their oversight of 
the transfer of Medicare administrative appeals from the Social 
Security Administration (SSA) to HHS as mandated by section 931 
of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Senators Grassley and 
Baucus wrote to Secretary Leavitt and Commissioner Barnhart 
regarding concerns leading up to the July 1, 2005, transfer and 
questioned whether the increased use of telephonic and video 
conferencing along with the limited number of in-person 
hearings was in line with the intent of the MMA. HHS responded 
that it believed limited presence in the field--only four sites 
nationally--would be supplemented through the extensive use of 
video-teleconferencing. The committee continues to monitor this 
matter to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have the necessary 
access to timely and accurate appeals of any coverage denial.

                    Federal Bureau of Investigation

Firing of Elizabeth Morris
    Senator Grassley wrote a letter to Department of Justice 
Inspector General regarding the FBI's alleged violation of its 
whistleblower protection regulations. According to former 
Special Agent Elizabeth Morris, the FBI terminated her in 
retaliation for complaining to the FBI's Office of Professional 
Responsibility (FBI-OPR) of a colleague's compromising 
practices. Senator Grassley found Ms. Morris's claim very 
troubling since it followed closely the FBI's mismanagement of 
two other high-profile whistleblower cases. Senator Grassley's 
primary concerns were threefold: (1) that individuals within 
the FBI may have retaliated against Morris, resulting in her 
termination; (2) that FBI-OPR may have conducted a shoddy 
initial investigation, favoring hearsay over evidence and 
failing to interview exculpatory witnesses; and (3) that the 
OIG may have failed in its duty to provide appropriate 
notifications to Morris, and simply referred her case back to 
the very agency responsible for her complaint.
    The Inspector General responded, following an investigation 
of its own, that FBI-OPR deemed Morris to have made various 
misrepresentations under oath that warranted her termination. 
However, neither the Inspector General nor FBI-OPR offered any 
discussion of the merits of Ms. Morris's original claims. 
Senator Grassley issued another letter to the Inspector General 
requesting that a thorough investigation be initiated of Ms. 
Morris's original claim. The Senator also sent a letter to FBI-
OPR to determine whether the termination was justified, given 
the evidence available. Senator Grassley awaits a response to 
his inquiries.
Mishandling of Anthrax Investigation
    Senator Grassley has continued to follow closely the FBI 
investigation of the mailings of letters laced with anthrax to 
several targets in the United States, including members of 
Congress and the national media. Until late 2008, the 
investigation had yielded no criminal charges. Senator Grassley 
had been critical that the FBI's apparent mishandling of the 
investigation was a result of the FBI's institutional 
resistance to criticism and by the misallocation of resources 
toward protecting the FBI's image rather than protecting the 
United States. Senator Grassley also expressed dissatisfaction 
with the FBI's refusal to provide Congress with periodic 
briefings on the status of the investigation. He requested both 
a briefing on the status of the investigation and a number of 
documents and records relating to the case. The Attorney 
General responded with an initial refusal to provide either the 
requested documents or a briefing on the status of the 
investigation, citing the Department of Justice's policy 
against disclosing non-public information concerning pending 
law enforcement activities and prosecutions.
    However, following additional negotiations, the FBI 
Director provided a briefing to Judiciary Committee Chairman 
Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Arlen Specter, as well as 
Senator Grassley. The initial portion of the briefing was open 
to staff. However, the later portion of the briefing was 
Members-only.
    In July 2008, Dr. Bruce Ivins died from an apparent 
overdose of acetaminophen. Following his death, the FBI 
announced that Dr. Ivins had been their lead suspect, that they 
were soon to arrest him for the anthrax killings, and that the 
FBI would begin the process of closing the anthrax 
investigation. Since Dr. Ivins death, the FBI has provided 
several briefings for the staffs of Senator Grassley and other 
Members of Congress. However, given his misgivings about the 
FBI's handling of the case, Senator Grassley will continue to 
conduct oversight of the FBI's handling of the investigation. 
Significant questions remain unanswered about the scientific 
evidence relied upon by the FBI, why that evidence failed to 
lead them to Dr. Ivins much earlier in the investigation, how 
the FBI entrusted Dr. Ivins with samples of the attack material 
during the investigation, and when the FBI first learned of Dr. 
Ivins' mental health issues. Senator Grassley has called for an 
independent inquiry to assure the public that the FBI's 
decision to close its investigation is appropriate.
Mismanagement of Resources Available for Counterterrorism Investigation 
        and Retaliation Against FBI Whistleblower
    Senator Grassley wrote a joint letter with Senate Judiciary 
Committee Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy to FBI 
Director Robert Mueller regarding the FBI failure to utilize 
the experience and expertise of Bassem Youssef, an Arab-
American Special Agent of the FBI. After meeting with his 
superiors, Agent Youssef suffered acts of retaliation by the 
FBI, including the refusal to transfer Youssef to the Agency's 
International Terrorism Operations Section (ITOS).
    Senator Grassley testified at a House Judiciary Committee 
hearing along with Youssef in May 2008. At that hearing, 
Youssef revealed that the ITOS was staffed at only 62 percent 
of the funded staffing level. Following the hearing, Senator 
Grassley requested GAO to conduct a review of the FBI's human 
capital strategy in order to verify and explain the reasons for 
the severe understaffing of critical FBI units such as ITOS. 
The GAO is working on that assessment.
Weaknesses in FBI Linguistic Capabilities
    Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy continued to receive 
periodic information from the FBI concerning efforts to improve 
the Agency's linguistic translations capabilities and security. 
Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy first contacted the FBI in 
2002 to express their concerns over reports that the FBI was 
unable to quickly and accurately translate recorded 
conversations and documents in languages most commonly used by 
terrorists. Since 2002, the FBI has invested considerable 
effort and resources toward improving the Agency's language 
capabilities.
    Senator Grassley requested an audit by the Department of 
Justice's Inspector General (DOJ OIG) of the FBI's linguist 
division. According to the IG, the FBI has increased its 
translation personnel and is making headway in reducing its 
backlog of untranslated documents. The Senator has requested 
future updates, and will continue to monitor the FBI's language 
translation program to ensure that the Agency will be prepared 
to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks. The 
DOJ OIG is working on an update to its previous audit work on 
the FBI's Foreign Language Program.
Mueller and Use of the FBI Jet
    Senator Grassley received anonymous reports from FBI 
personnel that the FBI Director was using an executive luxury 
jet at the taxpayer's expense to attend speeches even though: 
1) the expense was originally justified as a counterterrorism 
tool to make emergency overseas flights; and 2) there are 
shorter range FBI aircraft available for senior management to 
use for domestic travel. The anonymous whistleblowers also 
alleged that the jet is routinely and unnecessarily flown to 
and from a nearby Northern Virginia airport to National Airport 
in Washington, DC rather than transporting the Director to the 
jet via helicopter or motorcade at a much lower expense.
    Senator Grassley requested the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to conduct a general audit of the FBI's aviation 
program to examine these and other potential issues. However, 
the GAO has failed to initiate work on the request and has 
expressed concerns that the FBI would deny access to flight 
logs and other documents necessary for a comprehensive audit.
National Security Letters
    On March 9, 2007, the Department of Justice, Office of 
Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled ``A Review 
of the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Use of National 
Security Letters.'' Senator Grassley found that one of the most 
disturbing problems exposed by the OIG report was the FBI's use 
of so-called ``exigent letters'' to circumvent the National 
Security Letter statutes. Under a statutory provision, phone 
companies are allowed to voluntarily provide phone records in 
an emergency situation when requested by the FBI via a National 
Security Letter. However, the OIG report highlighted that the 
exigent letters issued by the FBI did not cite that provision 
and implied that production of the records was compulsory.
    The OIG's report describes how an FBI headquarters division 
known as the Communications Analysis Unit (CAU) obtained 
information on about 3,000 telephone numbers by issuing 739 of 
these ``exigent letters.'' According to the report, the letters 
``contained factual misstatements,'' claiming that the FBI had 
submitted a subpoena to a U.S. Attorney's office when, in fact, 
no subpoena had been submitted. Moreover, the letters were 
often issued when there was no emergency and although the FBI 
promised to deliver a subpoena later, those subpoenas never 
came.
    The OIG is conducting a follow-up review jointly with the 
FBI's Inspection Division to determine who should be held 
accountable for issuing the improper exigent letters.
Sex Offender Information Sharing and Travel Restrictions
    Senator Grassley wrote a letter to the Ambassador of Canada 
to the United States to raise the concern that the government 
of Canada is not providing U.S. law enforcement officials with 
sufficient information to effectively secure our common 
national border from convicted sex offenders. According to the 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian government 
maintained a national registry of sex offenders which was 
available to Canadian law enforcement, but not to U.S. law 
enforcement. Senator Grassley expressed his concern that the 
public announcement of this fact could provide Canadian 
convicted sex offenders with strong assurance that they may 
migrate to the United States unfettered. Furthermore, this 
policy stands in contrast to that of the United States, which 
maintains a similar database that is available to the public, 
including Canadian officials. Senator Grassley asked the 
Ambassador to suggest ways that the two governments could 
cooperate so as to share information in a more equitable 
manner. The Ambassador's response noted that the RCMP would 
consider individual requests for information from U.S. 
officials for sexually related offenses, provided that there 
are reasonable grounds to believe a Canadian citizen was 
involved.
    The Senator also wrote a letter to the Secretary of State 
to make her aware of the cross-border problem. More 
specifically, the Senator wrote that he requested the 
Congressional Research Service (CRS) to prepare a memo on 
whether the Secretary of State has the discretion to require 
registered sex offenders to identify themselves on their 
passport applications. The Senator conveyed CRS's finding that 
the Department of State has the authority to do so. Thus, the 
Senator asked the Secretary of State several clarifying 
questions regarding current policy as it relates to the 
issuance of U.S. passports to convicted sex criminals. The 
Senator also asked whether, in her opinion, Congress should 
pass new legislation to tighten restrictions on convicted sex 
criminals' ability to access travel documents.
    Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley have requested that 
the GAO examine passport issuance procedures at the State 
Department to assess their effectiveness at preventing certain 
classes of passport applicants from receiving travel documents, 
including those with tax debts and sex offenders. The GAO has 
indicated that, to date, the State Department has not provided 
it with access to the data needed to conduct its audit.

                      Food and Drug Administration

Compensation Management System
    Senator Grassley continued his oversight of the Food and 
Drug Administration with an inquiry into the myriad of 
complaints that emerged about the Agency's pay and benefits 
system. The Senator's concern developed out of anecdotes from 
FDA employees of under- and overpayment of wages, 
discontinuance of insurance benefits, and accidental 
termination, among others. In late 2008, the Senator posed his 
concerns in a letter to the FDA. Additionally, the Senator 
requested an update on the FDA's mandate to hire 1,300 new 
employees. The committee has yet to hear back from the FDA, and 
is continuing to monitor this situation.
Dr. Victoria Hampshire
    In 2005, the committee received allegation about Dr. 
Victoria Hampshire. Dr. Hampshire was an FDA scientist and 
commissioned officer in the Public Health Service who was 
removed and reassigned from her post at the Food and Drug 
Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) because 
of her work cataloging adverse events on ProHeart 6. ProHeart 6 
is a heartworm drug for dogs manufactured by Wyeth's Fort Dodge 
Animal Health. Dr. Hampshire's findings regarding the safety of 
ProHeart 6 had led to the product's removal from the market. 
The committee also received allegations that the company had 
conducted an independent investigation into Dr. Hampshire in an 
alleged attempt to discredit Dr. Hampshire. In February 2008, 
Senator Grassley wrote to the FDA about his findings. The 
Senator's investigation not only showed that the company hired 
a private investigator to investigate Dr. Hampshire, but also 
that the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation conducted its 
own internal investigation. The FDA investigation resulted in a 
criminal referral to law enforcement officials in Maryland that 
contained misstatements of fact. In June 2008, the FDA 
announced the limited reintroduction of ProHeart 6 to the 
market. Senator Grassley is continuing to monitor this matter. 
In addition, he has asked the Government Accountability Office 
to examine the activities and operations of the Office of 
Criminal Investigation.
ESAs
    The developments surrounding erythropoiesis-stimulating 
agents (ESAs) underscored Senator Grassley's ongoing concern 
over the need for greater transparency in the financial 
relationships between drug makers and doctors. According to a 
government report, the Medicare system has created incentives 
for using more doses than necessary of ESAs. ESAs are used for 
the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure 
as well as chemotherapy-induced anemia in cancer patients. 
Press reports described how doctors were profiting through 
rebates and discounts they received from purchasing ESAs from 
pharmaceutical companies and then collecting payments from 
Medicare and private insurers, often above the price they paid 
for the drugs. An FDA advisory committee recommended new 
restrictions on prescribing information for ESAs and additional 
clinical trials to assess the drugs' safety in light of reports 
of increased risk of cardiovascular disease, tumor growth, and 
even death associated with higher than recommended doses of the 
drugs. As a result, the drug labeling for ESAs was revised to 
restrict their use in treating patients with cancer. In 
addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 
modified its coverage policies to limit Medicare reimbursement 
for ESAs. Congress also passed legislation requiring the costs 
of ESAs to be bundled into payments for all other dialysis-
related services rather than be reimbursed separately starting 
2011.
    As part of his inquiry, Senator Grassley sent letters to 
CMS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Amgen Inc., 
Johnson & Johnson and Ortho Biotech. In addition to requesting 
information on the payment for, and safety and use of ESAs, the 
Senator asked the FDA to identify any new tools it might need 
to gain access to necessary information from drug makers. In 
the 111th Congress, the Senator will continue to address issues 
involving these drugs should they arise.
Foreign Inspections and Heparin
    In August 2007, Senator Grassley focused attention on the 
Food and Drug Administration's ability to ensure the safety of 
foreign-manufactured pharmaceuticals, in particular the 
inadequacy of the Agency's inspections of foreign 
pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. Senator Grassley 
sought information on what inspection measures the FDA has in 
place and how it intends to improve its operations in the 
future. Based on the FDA's response, Senator Grassley learned 
of further concerning issues regarding the safety of foreign-
based manufacturing facilities. Specifically, while China 
remains the world's largest producer of active pharmaceutical 
ingredients, the FDA conducted a mere 11 inspections of Chinese 
manufacturing facilities in 2007. Meanwhile, the FDA conducted 
58 inspections of already highly-regulated Swiss, German and 
French manufacturing facilities during the same time period. 
This seeming misplacement of the FDA's limited resources led 
Senator Grassley to suggest the implementation of registration 
fees for pharmaceutical manufacturers. According to the 
Senator, such a fee, which would mimic the existing procedure 
already in place for foreign device manufacturers, would 
augment FDA's budget and help pay for more comprehensive 
foreign inspections.
    The discovery of contaminated heparin, a blood thinning 
drug, in early 2008 shined an additional spotlight on FDA's 
inspection capabilities. According to the FDA, the Chinese 
facility that produced the tainted heparin was supposed to be 
inspected, but because of ``human error, and inadequate 
information technology systems,'' it was not. Senator Grassley 
wrote a letter to the FDA to find out how such an oversight 
could have happened, and asked the U.S. heparin producer about 
its own inspection activities of their foreign counterparts.
    Further briefings with the FDA identified additional 
vulnerabilities, like its lack of foreign language speaking 
inspectors which leaves the Agency reliant on translators 
provided by the very facility being inspected. Taken as a 
whole, Senator Grassley remains troubled that the Agency 
charged with ensuring the safety and efficacy of America's 
pharmaceuticals is grossly under-resourced at a time when 
foreign production of drugs is growing at record rates.
    This concern led the Senator to join his colleagues in 
requesting the Government Accountability Office audit of the 
FDA's foreign inspections operations. The resulting report 
concluded that: 1) the FDA databases containing information on 
foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers are incomplete and 
inaccurate; 2) the FDA inspects a far smaller percentage of 
foreign facilities than it does U.S. facilities; and 3) while 
the FDA has issued notices of deficiencies to foreign 
facilities, its follow-up to determine their continued 
compliance is not always done in a timely manner. These 
findings remain troubling for the Senator, and he will continue 
to monitor the situation.
    In addition, the Senator co-sponsored a bill with Senator 
Edward M. Kennedy to enhance registration and inspection of 
domestic and foreign manufacturing facilities.
Fraud in Device Applications
    During the 110th Congress, Senator Grassley received a 
series of anonymous allegations suggesting fraud in medical 
device applications that were approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA). The allegations raised further concerns 
over the adequacy of staffing at the FDA, as well as the degree 
to which the FDA is aware of conflicts between device 
manufacturers and their clinical investigators. Senator 
Grassley requested conflict of interest information from a 
device manufacturer listed in the anonymous letters. That 
company's response satisfied the Senator's concern that results 
of conflicted clinical investigators would materially impact 
the overall test results of the device. Additionally, Senator 
Grassley wrote a letter to the Commissioner of the Food and 
Drug Administration (FDA) in an effort to notify the Agency, as 
well as determine the Agency's policies and protocol regarding 
device applications and conflicts of interest.
    As of the close of the 110th Congress, Senator Grassley had 
not received a response from the FDA. The Senator will continue 
to monitor this situation.
Off-Label Marketing
    In February 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
released draft guidance on the dissemination of scientific 
literature and reference publications on new or off-label uses 
to physicians by pharmaceutical and medical device 
manufacturers. Off-label uses are uses that have not been 
cleared by the FDA as safe and effective. Physicians can 
prescribe any drug or device approved for marketing by the FDA 
as they see fit. Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, 
however, are not allowed to promote products for off-label 
uses. Senator Grassley wrote to the Agency to express concern 
that FDA's proposal would expand the industry's ability to 
promote off-label use of drugs and devices through scientific 
literature, even while there is growing evidence of efforts to 
manipulate such literature to industry advantage.
    Senator Grassley also asked the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to examine how the FDA oversees the promotion of 
off-label uses of prescription drugs. The GAO found that the 
FDA does not have staff designated specifically to monitor 
whether companies are following the rule against marketing 
drugs for unapproved uses. It also found that the FDA had not 
acted on a 2006 GAO recommendation to track which materials it 
has reviewed. Thus, FDA still lacks a standardized tracking 
system, which impedes the Agency's efforts to identify off-
label promotion.
    The FDA has not issued final guidance on the dissemination 
of scientific literature supporting off-label uses. The Senator 
will continue to monitor this matter.
Unapproved Drugs
    Throughout the 110th Congress, Senator Grassley continued 
his inquiry into reports that thousands of prescription drugs 
sold in the United States contain active ingredients that are 
not approved by FDA. While FDA recognized its gravity, the 
situation highlighted weaknesses in communication and 
coordination between the FDA, which approves prescription drugs 
for marketing to the American public, and the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which pays billions of 
dollars per year for prescription drugs under the Medicare and 
Medicaid programs. Unapproved drugs may pose heightened risks 
to consumers because their safety, efficacy, labeling, and 
quality have not been reviewed by FDA. Furthermore, the 
continued prescribing of, and reimbursement by CMS for such 
unapproved drugs that may not be safe or effective, wastes 
taxpayer money. The Senator is concerned not only about the 
safety of these unapproved drugs, but also by the breakdown in 
communication between the agencies that may have led to 
millions in over-reimbursement by the Federal Government.
    The Senator sent several letters to CMS and FDA in his 
attempt to better understand why drugs, which have not been 
reviewed by FDA, continue to be covered by Medicare and/or 
Medicaid. He continues to ask why FDA has not compiled a 
working list of unapproved drugs that could be made available 
to the public. In addition, Senator Grassley has raised 
questions about CMS's Medicaid State drug utilization database, 
a database available for public review which summarizes drug 
use and reimbursement by States. While CMS warned that the 
database cannot be relied upon due to its dynamic nature and 
because CMS does not audit the information that is submitted by 
individual States, the database remains available to the public 
without any disclosure of its potential inaccuracies.
    Senator Grassley will continue to monitor the situation 
surrounding unapproved drugs in the 111th Congress.
Office of Criminal Investigations
    Since its creation in 1992, Terrell L. Vermillion has 
headed up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of 
Criminal Investigations (OCI). After receiving complaints 
regarding the improper removal of an FDA safety officer, 
Senator Grassley identified concerns regarding the operation 
and activities of OCI. The complaints were received from 
various sources alleging that, at times, OCI used improper 
investigative techniques, including abusive tactics.
    The Senator asked the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) to perform an audit of OCI's budget and activities and to 
review OCI's investigative standards and techniques. The GAO 
inquiry is ongoing.
Vioxx and Ghost Writing
    In 2004, Senator Grassley held a hearing of the Senate 
Committee on Finance on the withdrawal of the painkiller Vioxx 
from the U.S. market to examine the relationship between the 
drug industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to 
expose shortcomings in the drug safety system. In 2008, the 
Senator raised concerns about allegations that Merck, the 
manufacturer of Vioxx, selectively reported mortality data from 
clinical trials of Vioxx that had been conducted in patients 
with Alzheimer disease or cognitive impairment. Researchers had 
reviewed documents from recent litigation against Merck and 
published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association. According to the authors, Merck misled the FDA by 
initially submitting mortality data that minimized the 
appearance of an increased risk of death.
    The researchers also reported that Merck hired a medical 
publishing company, Scientific Therapeutics Information Inc., 
to draft manuscripts for the company's Vioxx studies and seek 
academic investigators to sign on as the primary author(s), 
even though the academic investigators may not be intimately 
familiar with the underlying data and/or relevant 
documentation. This is a practice known as ghostwriting. The 
Senator's inquiries into this practice are ongoing. Information 
in scientific journals can have a significant impact on 
doctors' prescribing behavior and, in turn, on the taxpayer 
because Medicare and Medicaid pay billions of dollars for 
prescription drugs. The Senator also is concerned that patients 
may be harmed if doctors are being misled to prescribe drugs 
that may not work and/or are unsafe.

                     National Institutes of Health

NIH Extramural Program and Payments to Doctors
    Beginning May 2007, Senator Grassley began asking questions 
about the financial disclosures filed with the University of 
Cincinnati by Dr. Melissa DelBello, a psychiatrist. The Senator 
found that Dr. DelBello received tens of thousands of dollars 
from a pharmaceutical company after doing a study finding that 
the same company's drug should be used to treat children with 
psychiatric disorders. The Senator then wrote the company and 
discovered tens of thousands of dollars in payments that Dr. 
DelBello did not report to her university, as required. In 
addition, Dr. DelBello is the primary investigator on several 
grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Senator 
Grassley notified the NIH that this failure to report outside 
payments violated NIH regulations on financial disclosure.
    Grassley's staff then sent letters to almost 20 
universities asking about the financial disclosure forms filed 
by almost 30 different doctors. Letters were also sent to 
several top drug companies asking about the payments they had 
made to these doctors. Beginning in the summer of 2008, letters 
were sent to Harvard, Stanford, the University of Texas, and 
Emory University about discrepancies in their doctors' 
financial disclosures. The NIH was also notified about these 
discrepancies and removed a Stanford professor from a grant and 
stopped a grant that was going to Emory.
    Senator Grassley is continuing his inquiry into medical-
related financial disclosures.

                      Pharmaceuticals and Devices

Avandia
    The committee initiated an investigation into the diabetes 
drug, Avandia, and the FDA's response to reports that the drug 
poses serious patient health risks. According to a study based 
on a review of 42 clinical trials and published in the New 
England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Steve Nissen of the Cleveland 
Clinic found that Avandia increases the likelihood of heart 
attacks (Nissen Study). As a result of this determination, the 
committee sent letters to the FDA and to Avandia's sponsor, 
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to determine why it did not conduct 
long-term safety studies, instead favoring small, short-term 
trials. Additionally, the committee wanted to know what the FDA 
and GSK knew about potential adverse events related to the 
drug. The FDA later hosted a safety panel on Avandia, which 
recommended that the drug remain on the market.
    The committee also investigated the unauthorized release of 
the Nissen Study to GSK by Dr. Steven Haffner. Dr. Haffner was 
contracted by the New England Journal of Medicine to peer 
review Dr. Nissen's study for quality. However, Dr. Haffner 
breached this duty, as well as his affirmative responsibility 
to maintain independence and integrity, by faxing a copy of the 
draft study to GSK weeks before its official release. Senators 
Baucus and Grassley sent a letter to GSK asking the company 
what they did once they received the study.
    The committee's work is continuing on Avandia.
Dr. Buse and Avandia
    In 1999, Dr. Buse argued in several public fora that aside 
from its benefit of controlling glucose levels in diabetics, 
Avandia may carry cardiovascular risks. Shortly thereafter, 
Avandia's manufacturer (which later merged to form 
GlaxoSmithKline, or GSK) allegedly initiated a campaign 
designed to intimidate Dr. Buse, including complaints to his 
superiors and threats of a lawsuit. After hearing of these 
allegations in 2007, the Finance Committee initiated an inquiry 
into the allegations of intimidation. At an FDA safety hearing 
on Avandia in the summer of 2007, FDA scientists presented an 
analysis estimating that Avandia caused approximately 83,000 
excess heart attacks since coming on the market. In November 
2007, the committee released a staff report on the allegations 
that GSK intimidated Dr. Buse. The report concluded that, 
despite GSK's denial of any intimidation, the company's own 
internal documents ``reveal what appears to be an orchestrated 
plan to stifle the opinion of Dr. John Buse. . . .''
Medtronic
    In September 2007, Senator Grassley initiated an 
investigation into Medtronic Inc.'s alleged payments to doctors 
to encourage the use and promotion of its products. According 
to press articles, one prominent surgeon purportedly received 
$400,000 annually from a Medtronic subsidiary in return for 
eight days of consulting work per year. Such examples continue 
to concern Senator Grassley that compensation and other 
benefits given by drug and device manufacturers distort the 
physicians' objectivity in decision-making.
    The Senator sent Medtronic a letter conveying his concern, 
and requested a briefing on the practice of payments and other 
transfers of value to physicians. Additionally, the letter 
sought information on Medtronic's transfer of funds to 
organizations such as professional societies and hospitals. 
Specifically, the Senator requested documentation on all 
payments made by Medtronic to the Medical Education & Research 
Institute (MERI) and Broadwater; two medical education service 
companies which were also recipients of their own letters from 
the Senator. The Senator also asked for payments made to 
several Medtronic consultants. This inquiry is ongoing.
Paxil
    In February of 2008, the New Scientist ran a story about an 
expert report that was recently unsealed in a court case 
against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The report alleged that GSK 
submitted inaccurate data on suicide risk in their initial 
submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This 
inaccurate data underestimated the risk of suicide from Paxil. 
Senator Grassley asked GSK to explain the allegations in the 
expert report and asked the FDA to look into the matter. This 
inquiry is ongoing and new allegations have arisen that GSK 
withheld safety data when publishing a study on Paxil in 2001, 
which is called Study 329.
Vytorin
    Following reports that Schering-Plough and Merck failed to 
release the results of a study called ENHANCE that evaluated 
its drug Vytorin, Senator Grassley sent letters to both 
companies. Vytorin is a joint venture of Merck and Schering-
Plough and the New York Times reported that the ENHANCE trial 
was completed in 2006, but had never been published. When the 
results were later published in early 2008, it was found that 
Vytorin did not appear to provide cardiac protection. The 
Senator asked for all studies published on Vytorin and for 
payments made to independent physicians who had advised the 
companies on the drug. Based on media reports that executives 
at the companies had sold large shares of stock, Grassley also 
asked when the companies had unblinded the study to examine the 
issue of insider trading.
    Grassley later sent the companies a letter discussing their 
respective internal emails which implied that officials from 
the companies may have been interfering with the ENHANCE trial, 
which was being conducted by academics in Europe. Grassley also 
pointed out that the Federal Government spent hundreds of 
millions of dollars on Vytorin during the time ENHANCE trial 
was complete but was still not published. This inquiry is 
ongoing.

                             Miscellaneous

Department of Veterans Affairs and Chantix
    In mid-2008, Ranking Member Grassley grew concerned over 
press reports alleging that the Department of Veterans Affairs 
(VA) failed to warn veterans in a timely manner of risks 
associated with the experimental anti-smoking drug Chantix. 
This case is especially alarming since combat veterans have a 
high incidence of mental illness and therefore an increased 
vulnerability to the very risks the drug is alleged to 
increase--suicidal tendency. The Senator contacted the VA to 
better understand the timeline of events and the guidelines 
governing notifications to study participants. The VA is 
currently undergoing reforms to enhance communication with its 
participants, and Senator Grassley will continue to monitor 
this issue in the 111th Congress.
Disability Insurance Review
    The Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether 
insurance companies are forcing able-bodied people to apply for 
Social Security disability benefits, worsening a severe backlog 
in the government program while increasing their own profits. 
It was reported in the press that disability insurers were 
making claimants apply for Social Security even when they did 
not qualify, and were cutting off insurance checks if the 
claimants failed to do so. Insurance companies argue that 
requiring a Social Security assessment is a standard practice 
that helps their claimants by making sure they get the best 
coverage from all possible sources.
    As part of the committee's ongoing inquiry, Ranking Member 
Grassley sent letters to nine insurers, requesting detailed 
information about their handling of disability claims. Included 
in the group of nine are: Aetna, Cigna, Hartford, Lincoln, 
MetLife, Prudential, Reliance Standard, Standard, and Unum. The 
Senator told the insurers to report on how many of their 
claimants they had compelled to apply for Social Security in 
the last five years; how many appeals they had required people 
to file; and what methods they had used to screen the people 
beforehand to ensure that they were indeed eligible for 
benefits. Additionally, Senator Grassley asked the nine 
insurers to explain how their claimants' Social Security 
applications affected their reserves and to ''describe the 
timing and financial flows resulting from these adjustments.''
    The committee's review of this matter is on-going.
Equity Ownership of Nursing Homes
    During the 110th Congress, Chairman Baucus and Ranking 
Member Grassley sent requests for information to four large 
private equity firms concerning the quality of care at nursing 
homes within their investment portfolios. According to press 
reports, the average investor-owned nursing home had fewer 
registered nurses per resident and a higher share of serious 
health deficiencies. Furthermore, investor-owned facilities 
scored below average on 12 of 14 national nursing home quality 
of care metrics, suggesting a detrimental relationship between 
quality of care and ownership by large investment companies. 
Senator Grassley was particularly concerned with the 
possibility that the investment vehicle used to operate the 
nursing homes may effectively shield investors from liability, 
thereby reducing the transparency and accountability, which is 
crucial to protecting the health and appropriate care of their 
residents.
    In their request for information, the Senators requested a 
comprehensive list of all nursing home properties and entities 
within each private equity firm's investment portfolio. 
Additionally, the Senators requested that the investment firms 
provide all contact information, provider numbers, and 
contracts or agreements for each nursing home facility. Upon 
reviewing the firms' responses, Senator Grassley requested that 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) do a comprehensive 
audit of nursing homes which are financially related to large 
investment companies. The Senator is awaiting the GAO's report, 
and will continue to monitor this issue in the 111th Congress.
Financial Crisis Oversight
    Senator Grassley took an active role in overseeing the 
various Federal responses to the economic and financial 
collapse of 2008:
    Following the failure of Bear Stearns and its subsequent 
brokered sale to Bank of America, Senators Baucus and Grassley 
sought and has received briefings by the Federal Reserve Board 
of New York (FRBNY). The Senators remain concerned about the 
value of the Maiden Lane portfolio, and that it is managed in 
the best interest of the taxpayer.
    In response to the FRBNY's bailout of American 
International Group (AIG), the Senators requested and received 
a briefing on AIG's use of Federal funds, and the status of 
their distressed mortgage-backed securities portfolio. The 
Senators will continue to monitor AIG's fiscal activities in 
the 111th Congress.
    To manage the financial fallout resulting from the mortgage 
and credit crisis, the Treasury Department unveiled the 
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In performing the 
committee's oversight function, Senator Grassley receives 
bimonthly briefings from the GAO on the state of the TARP and 
the use of its funds.
    To slow the rate of home foreclosures, the FDIC proposed a 
home loan modification program that would reduce the monthly 
mortgage payment of qualified borrowers. Senator Grassley 
expressed his concern that the FDIC program contains few 
provisions to deter fraud, and that it may unintentionally 
benefit those who fraudulently obtained mortgages. The Senator 
has requested the FDIC-OIG review a sample of eligible loans to 
determine the extent of fraud in the population of mortgages. 
The Senator will continue to monitor the FDIC's proposed plan 
in the 111th Congress.
Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals
    In August 2006, the Ravenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation 
Center (Ravenwood) located in Waterloo, Iowa, and owned by Care 
Initiatives, terminated a nursing assistant who disclosed to a 
patient's family the perceived need for that patient's 
emergency care and possible transfer to another nursing 
facility. Shortly thereafter, the Iowa Department of 
Investigations and Appeals (IDIA) conducted an inquiry into the 
handling of Ravenwood's patient and dismissal of its employee. 
Ranking Member Grassley found the results of that inquiry to be 
lackluster, as IDIA failed to conduct even one interview or 
contact the complainant. After a series of critical news 
articles regarding its Ravenwood inquiry, IDIA requested that 
the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) conduct a 
review of the investigation. The CMS report confirmed the 
Senator's finding that IDIA failed to conduct a serious and 
complete investigation into Ravenwood's patient care and 
termination of its employee. The Senator has since asked CMS to 
take action to rectify and discourage IDIA's failings. He has 
also requested that GAO investigate whether complaints are 
being adequately reviewed at the State level. He will continue 
his oversight of nursing home quality of care, as well as 
investigations of complaints, in the 111th Congress.
Legal Services Corporation
    Senators Chuck Grassley and Pete Domenici asked the Legal 
Services Corporation (LSC) to account for its spending 
practices and management of resources as the legal aid 
corporation faces a possible budget shortfall. Federal tax 
dollars provide about 99 percent of the Corporation's 
resources. A December 2007 report by the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) documented spending by the Legal 
Services Corporation (LSC) on interest-free loans for employees 
of Corporation grantees, late-fee payments on overdue accounts, 
questionable contracts for computer services and lobbyist 
registration fees. The Office of the Inspector General at the 
LSC also determined that the Corporation spent public tax 
dollars on $14 cookies, limousine rides, premium travel and 
expensive hotels for board meetings. ``Bad management and 
abusive spending is jeopardizing the ability of the Legal 
Services Corporation to provide legal assistance to people in 
need,'' Grassley said. ``Congress needs to hold the Corporation 
and its board of directors accountable on behalf of taxpayers, 
who provide most of the money to run the Legal Services 
Corporation, and for the fundamental right in our society to 
legal representation.'' Senator Grassley is actively monitoring 
the LSC and continues to hear from whistleblowers. In addition, 
the GAO will be conducting a second review of the LSC and its 
operations.
Pharmaceutical Companies' Use of Educational Grants
    Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley wrote to 18 
leading drug manufacturers and five leading biotech companies 
to inquire about grants for continuing medical education (CME). 
In recent years, there have been concerns that CME has been 
used in the promotion of off-label drugs and medical devices. 
The purpose of the request was to determine whether, and to 
what extent, educational grants are used to support off label 
promotion and if further guidance or legislation is needed. 
Educational grants were identified by the Department of Health 
and Human Services Office of Inspector General as a key risk 
area in its 2003 OIG Compliance Program Guidance for 
pharmaceutical manufacturers. Senator Grassley stated that he 
wanted to be sure that educational grants are not just a 
``backdoor way to funnel money to doctors and other individuals 
who can influence prescribing and purchasing of particular 
prescription medicines, including off-label prescriptions.'' 
Given the potential risk that off-label promotion creates 
overutilization of Federal monies, the committee is working to 
ensure that Federal monies are protected and utilized to the 
fullest extent with the lowest risk of waste and mismanagement. 
The committee released a report on its finding in April 2007 
and an inquiry into this matter is ongoing.

                    MONITORED OVERSIGHT INITIATIVES

                    Federal Bureau of Investigation

Preferential Treatment Wrongfully Being Afforded to Supervisory FBI 
        Personnel in Disciplinary Matters
    Senator Grassley wrote letters to FBI Director Robert 
Mueller concerning the decision reached by FBI officials who 
allegedly retaliated against Special Agent Cecilia Woods for 
reporting to FBI officials that her former supervisor, Torrez, 
had engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a paid 
FBI informant. Torrez was then the FBI's Legal Attache for 
Panama. After reporting the misconduct by Torrez, Agent Woods 
alleged that she was targeted by the FBI for reporting the 
misconduct and was subjected to a series of disciplinary 
actions that ultimately resulted in her early retirement from 
the Agency. Circumstances support that these actions against 
Woods were taken for the purpose of retaliating against her for 
reporting that her supervisor, Torrez, eventually admitted to 
engaging in an illicit sexual relationship with a paid FBI 
informant and was also investigated and disciplined. After 
discovering that Torrez's employment had not been terminated by 
the FBI, despite Torrez having engaged in a sexual relationship 
with a paid informant, the committee requested a copy of the 
FBI's written standards for discipline of agents involved in 
various acts of misconduct. A review of the standards revealed 
that the FBI's written standards of conduct do not mandate 
immediate dismissal from the FBI of all agents who engage in 
sexual misconduct with paid informants. The FBI refused to 
provide documents from its Office of Professional 
Responsibility regarding the investigation and discipline of 
the supervisor, citing pending EEO litigation on the part of 
Woods. Despite the end of that EEO litigation and renewed 
requests for information, the FBI has continued to withhold the 
documents, and Senator Grassley continues to await documents.

               Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Medicaid Drug Prices
    In the 108th Congress, the committee initiated its inquiry 
into the use of an exception to the best-price reporting 
requirements that applies to the Medicaid drug rebate program. 
To participate in the drug rebate program, a drug company must 
report to the government its best price, which is the lowest 
price at which its drug was sold to any purchaser in the United 
States. The committee released its findings in a letter to CMS 
in January 2007 and continues to monitor issues related to the 
Medicaid drug rebate program.
Oncology Demonstration Project
    In 2006, Ranking Member Grassley requested the HHS-OIG to 
evaluate the cost and effectiveness of the CMS oncology 
demonstration to improve the quality of care for chemotherapy 
patients. CMS estimated that Medicare and its beneficiaries 
spent $300 million under this demonstration project in 2005. 
CMS modified the demonstration project and lowered 
reimbursement for 2006. The committee will be monitoring 
implementation of the 2009 demonstration project in the 111th 
Congress.
Resolution of Audit Recommendations
    In November 2008, the HHS-OIG released a status review of 
audit recommendations for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services. In the report, the HHS-OIG found that CMS had 
resolved approximately 75 percent of its outstanding audit 
recommendations during fiscal years 2006 and 2007, but that 
over 80 percent of those recommendations were not resolved 
during the required 6-month period. Therefore, the HHS-OIG 
recommended that CMS resolve all open audit recommendations 
within the required audit resolution period. Senator Grassley 
will continue to monitor CMS's progress in implementing the 
HHS-OIG's recommendations.
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
    In 2006, Senators Baucus and Grassley sought assurances 
that the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was 
on the right track toward reversing governance problems that 
lead to allegations of serious Medicare and Medicaid fraud, 
corruption and mismanagement. Among other things, committee 
staff interviewed Dr. Vladek, the interim president of UMDNJ. 
In addition, the committee kept in contact with the U.S. 
Attorney for New Jersey, the Federal Monitor, the interim 
President of UMDNJ, and New Jersey State investigators. 
Senators Baucus and Grassley continue to monitor the progress 
being made by the medical school.

                Department of Health and Human Services

Anthrax Vaccine Stockpile
    The committee is continuing to monitor developments related 
to the stockpiling of anthrax vaccine. Senator Grassley began 
his inquiries into the adequacy of the Nation's supply of 
anthrax vaccine in the Strategic National Stockpile in 2005.

                      Food and Drug Administration

Cyberonics
    In February 2006, the committee staff issued a report to 
the Chairman and Ranking Member of the committee concerning 
their findings regarding the FDA's handling of Cyberonics, 
Inc.'s pre-market approval application to add a new 
indication--treatment-resistant depression--to Cyberonics' 
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy System, an implanted device. 
While inquiries into this specific matter have concluded, the 
committee continues to monitor FDA's oversight of medical 
devices.
Ketek
    In April 2006, Senator Grassley initiated an investigation 
into the FDA's approval and post-market surveillance of 
telithromycin (``Ketek''), an antibiotic approved by the FDA in 
April 2004. In December 2006, the committee reported on a 
portion of its findings to the Commissioner of the FDA. The 
committee reported additional findings to the Commissioner in 
December 2007. On February 12, 2007, the label for Ketek was 
updated to include a boxed warning. The new label also dropped 
two previously approved indications. Senator Grassley will 
continue to monitor developments regarding Ketek.
Medicaid Reimbursements for Adderall and Adderall XR
    In the 108th Congress, the committee examined a number of 
allegations regarding Adderall and Adderall XR. Adderall is a 
prescription amphetamine most often used to treat Attention 
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in both children and adults. The 
committee will continue to address this issue should any 
developments arise.
Pharmacy Compounding of Inhalation Drugs
    In 2006, the committee received allegations concerning the 
inappropriate compounding of inhalation drugs. While 
recognizing the various legitimate needs for compounding 
medications, Senator Grassley was concerned about the health 
and safety of the patients using these drugs as well as the 
financial impact that unsafe and/or ineffective compounded 
medications may have on the Medicare program in particular and 
the health care system generally. As of July 1, 2007, Medicare 
is no longer reimbursing providers for compounded inhalation 
drugs. The committee will continue to monitor this matter 
during the 111th Congress.
PolyHeme
    In the 109th Congress, the committee led an inquiry into 
the FDA's handling of a large clinical trial for PolyHeme, a 
synthetic blood substitute that was being tested in major 
metropolitan areas across the country. Northfield Laboratories 
Inc. presented the results of that study in 2007 and announced 
that it intends to seek FDA approval for PolyHeme. The 
committee is continuing to monitor this matter.
SFBC and Clinical Trial Oversight
    In November 2005, the committee examined the practices of 
SFBC, the largest clinical research organization (``CRO'') in 
the country, following media reports that the CRO had failed to 
adequately safeguard test subjects involved in clinical trials. 
In addition to examining this CRO, the committee also began 
looking at the entire CRO industry as well as the Department of 
Health and Human Services' oversight of the industry. Senator 
Grassley's inquiry into SFBC concluded during the 109th 
Congress, however he continues to work to ensure the proper and 
effective oversight of human subject studies.
                              NOMINATIONS

William E. Grayson, of California, to be a Member of the 
        Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term 
        expiring Sept. 14, 2010, vice Nancy Killefer, term 
        expired.
  Sept. 15, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Edwin Eck, of Montana, to be a Member of the Internal Revenue 
        Service Oversight Board for a term expiring Sept. 14, 
        2013. (Reappointment)
  Sept. 15, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Oct. 2, 2008--Senate Committee on Finance discharged by 
        Unanimous Consent.
  Oct. 2, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Anthony W. Ryan, of Massachusetts, to be an Under Secretary of 
        the Treasury, vice Robert K. Steel, resigned.
  July 31, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Richard A. Anderson, of Georgia, to be a Member of the Internal 
        Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring 
        Sept. 14, 2013, vice Paul Jones, term expiring.
  June 26, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Jason J. Fichtner, of Virginia, to be Deputy Commissioner of 
        Social Security for the term expiring Jan. 19, 2013, 
        vice Andrew G. Biggs, resigned.
  June 25, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

J. V. Schwan, of Virginia, to be a Member of the United States 
        International Trade Commission for a term expiring June 
        16, 2017, vice Deanna Tanner Okun, term expired.
  June 18, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

A. Ellen Terpstra, of New York, to be Chief Agricultural 
        Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade 
        Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, vice 
        Richard T. Crowder.
  Mar. 31, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Kenneth E. Carfine, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Internal 
        Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring 
        Sept. 21, 2010, vice Robert M. Tobias, term expired.
  Feb. 26, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Edwin Eck, of Montana, to be a Member of the Internal Revenue 
        Service Oversight Board for a term expiring Sept. 14, 
        2008, vice Karen Hastie Williams, term expired.
  Feb. 26, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  June 18, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  June 18, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 636. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  July 7, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Elizabeth Crewson Paris, of the District of Columbia, to be a 
        Judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of 15 
        years, vice Joel Gerber, retired.
  Feb. 14, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  June 18, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  June 18, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 635. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  July 7, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

David Gustafson, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice Carolyn 
        P. Chiechi, term expired.
  Feb. 14, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  June 18, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  June 18, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 634. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  July 7, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.
Jeffrey Robert Brown, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board 
        of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical 
        Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years, vice Thomas 
        R. Saving.
  Feb. 14, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Jeffrey Robert Brown, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board 
        of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 
        Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability 
        Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years, vice Thomas 
        R. Saving.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Jeffrey Robert Brown, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board 
        of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust 
        Fund for a term of 4 years, vice Thomas R. Saving.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Deanna Tanner Okun, of Idaho, to be a Deputy United States 
        Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, vice 
        Karan K. Bhatia.
  Dec. 19, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.

Douglas H. Shulman, of the District of Columbia, to be 
        Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the term 
        prescribed by law, vice Mark W. Everson.
  Dec. 11, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 29, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Mar. 6, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Mar. 6, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Mar. 6, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 480. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Mar. 13, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Richard T. Morrison, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice Carolyn 
        Miller Parr, term expired.
  Nov. 15, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  June 18, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  June 18, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 633. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  July 7, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Eric M. Thorson, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, 
        Department of the Treasury, vice Harold Damelin, 
        resigned.
  Nov. 15, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance; when reported by Committee on 
        Finance to be sequentially referred to the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for not to 
        exceed 20 calendar days under authority of the order of 
        the Senate of Jan. 9, 2007.
  Apr. 17, 2008--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-415.
  June 18, 2008--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  June 18, 2008--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  June 18, 2008--Referred sequentially to the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for not to 
        exceed 20 days pursuant to the order of Jan. 9, 2007.
  July 8, 2008--Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs discharged pursuant to an order of 
        Jan. 9, 2007.
  July 8, 2008--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 691. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Aug. 1, 2008--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Christina H. Pearson, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services, vice Suzanne C. 
        DeFrancis, resigned.
  Sept. 25, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Nov. 1, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 409. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Dec. 19, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Christopher A. Padilla, of the District of Columbia, to be 
        Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, 
        vice Franklin L. Lavin, resigned.
  Sept. 4, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Sept. 20, 2007--By unanimous consent agreement, Joint 
        referral to Committees on Finance and Banking, Housing 
        and Urban Affairs.
  Sept. 20, 2007--Referred to the Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs by unanimous consent 
        agreement of Sept. 20, 2007 stating that the nomination 
        be jointly referred to the Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs and to the Committee on 
        Finance.
  Nov. 1, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Dec. 19, 2007--Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs discharged Unanimous Consent.
  Dec. 19, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Benjamin Eric Sasse, of Nebraska, to be an Assistant Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services, vice Michael O'Grady, 
        resigned.
  July 26, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Nov. 1, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 408. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Dec. 19, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Diane D. Rath, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary for Family 
        Support, Department of Health and Human Services, vice 
        Wade F. Horn, resigned.
  July 11, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

David H. McCormick, of Pennsylvania, to be an Under Secretary 
        of the Treasury, vice Timothy D. Adams.
  June 4, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  July 25, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 26, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  July 26, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  July 26, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 254. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Aug. 1, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Andrew G. Biggs, of New York, to be Deputy Commissioner of 
        Social Security for a term expiring Jan. 19, 2013, vice 
        James B. Lockhart III, to which position he was 
        appointed during the last recess of the Senate.
  May 16, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 23, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Kerry N. Weems, of New Mexico, to be Administrator of the 
        Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, vice Mark 
        B. McClellan.
  May 3, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  July 25, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

Tevi David Troy, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, vice Alex Azar II.
  May 3, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  July 25, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Aug. 3, 2007--Senate Committee on Finance discharged by 
        Unanimous Consent.
  Aug. 3, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Charles E. F. Millard, of New York, to be Director of the 
        Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. (New Position)
  May 3, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred jointly to 
        the Committee on Finance; Health, Education, Labor, and 
        Pensions pursuant to Sec. 411(c) of Pub. L. 109-280.
  Sept. 6, 2007--Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
        Pensions. Hearings held.
  Nov. 14, 2007--Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
        Pensions. Ordered to be reported favorably.
  July 25, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  Nov. 14, 2007--Reported by Senator Kennedy, Committee on 
        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, without printed 
        report.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Dec. 13, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 410. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Dec. 14, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Peter B. McCarthy, of Wisconsin, to be an Assistant Secretary 
        of the Treasury, vice Sandra L. Pack.
  Apr. 10, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  July 25, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 26, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  July 26, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  July 26, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 253. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Aug. 1, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.
Michael J. Astrue, of Massachusetts, to be Commissioner of 
        Social Security for a term expiring Jan. 19, 2013, vice 
        Jo Anne Barnhart.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 24, 2007--Committee on Finance. Hearings held. Hearings 
        printed: S.Hrg. 110-222.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 13. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Feb. 1, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Andrew G. Biggs, of New York, to be Deputy Commissioner of 
        Social Security for the term expiring Jan. 19, 2013, 
        vice James B. Lockhart III.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 23, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Peter E. Cianchette, of Maine, to be a Member of the Internal 
        Revenue Service Oversight Board for a term expiring 
        Sept. 14, 2010, vice Nancy Killefer, term expired.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 26, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Daniel Meron, of Maryland, to be General Counsel of the 
        Department of Health and Human Services, vice Alex Azar 
        II.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.

Thomas R. Saving, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
        Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
        Fund for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Thomas R. Saving, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund 
        for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.
Thomas R. Saving, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance 
        Trust Fund for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Dean A. Pinkert, of Virginia, to be a Member of the United 
        States International Trade Commission for the term 
        expiring Dec. 16, 2015, vice Jennifer Anne Hillman, 
        term expired.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 12. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Feb. 1, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

John L. Palmer, of New York, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
        Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
        Fund for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

Catherine G. West, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member 
        of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board for a 
        term expiring Sept. 14, 2008, vice Karen Hastie 
        Williams, term expired.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 26, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.
Irving A. Williamson, of New York, to be a Member of the United 
        States International Trade Commission for the term 
        expiring June 16, 2014, vice Stephen Koplan, term 
        expired.
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
        favorably.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Reported by Senator Baucus, Committee on 
        Finance, without printed report.
  Jan. 31, 2007--Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
        No. 11. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond to 
        requests to appear and testify before any duly 
        constituted committee of the Senate.
  Feb. 1, 2007--Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

John L. Palmer, of New York, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund 
        for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.

John L. Palmer, of New York, to be a Member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance 
        Trust Fund for a term of 4 years. (Reappointment)
  Jan. 9, 2007--Received in the Senate and referred to the 
        Committee on Finance.
  Feb. 12, 2008--Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
        from the President.
                     BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS REFERRED
                            TO THE COMMITTEE

    There were 797 Senate bills and 19 House bills referred to 
the committee for consideration during the 110th Congress. In 
addition, 16 Senate and House resolutions (joint, concurrent or 
simple resolutions) were referred to the committee.
                      REPORTS, PRINTS, AND STUDIES

    During the 110th Congress, the committee and supporting 
Joint Committees, prepared and issued 19 reports, special 
prints, and studies on the following topics:
          

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Title                  Senate Report       To accompany
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PATIENT SAFETY AND ABUSE          110-474...........  S. 1577
 PREVENTION ACT.

ELDER JUSTICE ACT...............  110-470...........  S. 1070

IMPROVED ADOPTION INCENTIVES AND  110-467...........  S. 3038
 RELATIVE GUARDIANSHIP SUPPORT
 ACT OF 2008.

APPROVING THE RENEWAL OF IMPORT   110-444...........  S.J. Res. 41
 RESTRICTIONS CONTAINED IN THE
 BURMESE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY
 ACT OF 2003.

IRAN SANCTIONS ACT OF 2008......  110-408...........  S. 3227

MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND SCHIP     110-255...........  S. 2532
 INDIAN HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT
 ACT OF 2007 FILED, UNDER
 AUTHORITY OF THE ORDER OF THE
 SENATE OF DECEMBER 19, 2007.

UNITED STATES-PERU TRADE          110-249...........  S. 2113
 PROMOTION AGREEMENT
 IMPLEMENTATION ACT.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE OVERSIGHT  110-248...........  S. 1607
 REFORM ACT OF 2007.

AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE           110-228...........  S. 2345
 INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT
 OF 2007.

HEARTLAND, HABITAT, HARVEST, AND  110-206...........  S. 2242
 HORTICULTURE ACT OF 2007.

HABITAT AND LAND CONSERVATION     110-205...........  S. 2223
 ACT OF 2007.

INCREASING THE STATUTORY LIMIT    110-184...........  H.J. Res. 43
 ON THE PUBLIC DEBT.

APPROVING THE RENEWAL OF IMPORT   110-146...........  S.J. Res. 16
 RESTRICTIONS CONTAINED IN THE
 BURMESE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY
 ACT OF 2003 FILED, UNDER
 AUTHORITY OF THE ORDER OF THE
 SENATE OF AUGUST 3, 2007.

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE   110-41............  ..................
 COMMITTEE ON FINANCE OF THE
 UNITED STATES SENATE DURING THE
 109TH CONGRESS PURSUANT TO RULE
 XXVI OF THE STANDING RULES OF
 THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

SMALL BUSINESS AND WORK           110-1.............  S. 349
 OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2007.

RULES OF PROCEDURE, SENATE        S.Prt. 110-37.....  ..................
 COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.

THE FIRING OF AN SEC ATTORNEY     S.Prt. 110-28.....  ..................
 AND THE INVESTIGATION OF PEQUOT
 CAPITAL MANAGEMENT.

USE OF EDUCATIONAL GRANTS BY      S.Prt. 110-21.....  ..................
 PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS.

TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY         S.Prt. 110-10.....  ..................
 ANNOTATED.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS

    During the 110th Congress, a total of 882 official 
communications were submitted to the committee. Of these, 9 
were Presidential Messages; 801 were Executive Communications--
these communications include reports to advise and inform the 
Congress, required annual or semi-annual agency budget and 
activities summaries, and requests for legislative action. The 
committee also received 72 Petitions and Memorials.
