[Senate Report 117-9]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress  }                                            {   Report
                                 SENATE                          
1st Session     }                                            {    117-9
_______________________________________________________________________


                              R E P O R T

                           ON THE ACTIVITIES

                                 of the

                          COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

                                 of the

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                               during the

                             116th CONGRESS

                              pursuant to

                    Rule XXVI of the Standing Rules

                                 of the

                          UNITED STATES SENATE




                 April 13, 2021.--Ordered to be printed
                 
                 
                 
                             ______

             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 19-010                WASHINGTON : 2021                  


                 [116th Congress--Committee Membership]

                          COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

                     CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa, Chairman

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho                    RON WYDEN, Oregon
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas                  DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
JOHN CORNYN, Texas                   ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina         BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia\1\           SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania      ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
TIM SCOTT, South Carolina            MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
STEVE DAINES, Montana                CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana
BEN SASSE, Nebraska\2\

             Kolan Davis, Staff Director and Chief Counsel

              Joshua Sheinkman, Democratic Staff Director

                             SUBCOMMITTEES

                              HEALTH CARE

               PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania, Chairman

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa                 DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas\3\               MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming\4\          ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina         BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia\1\           SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
TIM SCOTT, South Carolina            ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
STEVE DAINES, Montana                MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
BEN SASSE, Nebraska\5\

                                 ______

        INTERNATIONAL TRADE, CUSTOMS, AND GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

                      JOHN CORNYN, Texas, Chairman

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho                    ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas\3\               RON WYDEN, Oregon
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia\1\           MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania      BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
TIM SCOTT, South Carolina            SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
STEVE DAINES, Montana                CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana
BEN SASSE, Nebraska\5\

                                  (ii)


             ENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND INFRASTRUCTURE

                  TIM SCOTT, South Carolina, Chairman

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa                 MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
MIKE CRAPO, Idaho                    RON WYDEN, Oregon
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas\3\               MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming\4\          THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JOHN CORNYN, Texas                   SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina         MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
STEVE DAINES, Montana

                                 ______

              SOCIAL SECURITY, PENSIONS, AND FAMILY POLICY

                      ROB PORTMAN, Ohio, Chairman

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa                 SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada

                                 ______

                       TAXATION AND IRS OVERSIGHT

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho                    MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming\4\          ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
JOHN CORNYN, Texas                   THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina         BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia\1\           MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma\6\

                                 ______

               FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

                   BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana, Chairman

TIM SCOTT, South Carolina            MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma\7\          RON WYDEN, Oregon
BEN SASSE, Nebraska\5\

----------
\1\Left the committee December 31, 2019.
\2\Joined the committee January 6, 2020.
\3\Left the subcommittee January 6, 2020.
\4\Left the subcommittee January 6, 2020.
\5\Joined the subcommittee January 6, 2020.
\6\Joined the subcommittee January 6, 2020.
\7\Left the subcommittee January 6, 2020.

                                 (iii)



                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       U.S. Senate,
                                      Committee on Finance,
                                    Washington, DC, April 13, 2021.
Honorable Sonceria ``Ann'' Berry,
Secretary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Secretary: 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 116th 
Congress.

            Sincerely,
                                               Ron Wyden, Chairman.
      

                                  (v)

                                     



                            C O N T E N T S

                               __________
                                                                   Page

116th Congress--Committee Membership.............................    II
Letter of Transmittal............................................     V
Committee Jurisdiction...........................................     1
Rules of Procedure...............................................     2
Tax--Summary of Activities.......................................     5
    Full Committee Hearings......................................     6
    Full Committee Member Meeting................................     7
    Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth....     7
    Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy.     7
Trade--Summary of Activities.....................................     9
    Full Committee Hearings......................................     9
    Full Committee Open Executive Session........................    11
    Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global 
      Competitiveness............................................    11
    SAGON Meetings...............................................    11
Health--Summary of Activities....................................    13
    Full Committee Hearings......................................    14
    Full Committee Open Executive Session........................    15
    Subcommittee on Health Care..................................    15
Human Services--Summary of Activities............................    17
    Full Committee Hearing.......................................    18
    Full Committee Member Meeting................................    18
Special Projects--Summary of Activities..........................    19
    Full Committee Hearings......................................    23
    Full Committee Member Meeting................................    24
        Bi-Partisan Working Group on Paid Family Leave...........    24
Oversight and Investigations--Summary of Activities..............    25
    Full Committee Hearings......................................    36
    Full Committee Classified Briefing...........................    37
Nominations......................................................    39
Bills and Resolutions Referred to the Committee..................    51
Reports, Prints, and Studies.....................................    53
Official Communications..........................................    55

                                 (vii)
                                 

  
117th Congress    }                                            {   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session      }                                            {    117-9

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



 
 REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE DURING THE 116TH 
                                CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

                 April 13, 2021.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                                 REPORT

    This report reviews the legislative and oversight 
activities of the Committee on Finance during the 116th 
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) 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.
      (f) Any member of the committee may attend hearings held by any 
subcommittee and question witnesses testifying before that 
subcommittee.
      (g) Subcommittee meeting times shall be coordinated by the staff 
director to ensure 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.
      (h) All nominations shall be considered by the full committee.
      (i) 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.
    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

    In the 116th Congress, the Senate Finance Committee was 
responsible for the enactment of significant legislation 
including expansion of retirement savings, improvements to tax 
administration, extension of expiring provisions, and tax 
relief to address the individual and economic effects of the 
Coronavirus pandemic.
    During the first session, the Finance Committee focused on 
completing several pieces of unfinished business from the 115th 
Congress. This included finalizing legislation to improve tax 
administration and compliance with a focus on improving 
taxpayer service, strengthening taxpayer rights, and 
modernizing the Internal Revenue Service. The legislation was 
ultimately enacted as the Taxpayer First Act (Pub. L. No. 116-
25), in July 2019. The committee also completed work that began 
in the 114th Congress to enhance retirement saving in the 
Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) 
Act of 2019, which was enacted as part of the Further 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub. L. No. 116-94) in 
December 2019.
    The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 also 
extended numerous expired and expiring provisions, known as 
``extenders,'' generally through 2020. The Finance Committee 
formed five member-led task forces to examine and report on the 
expiring provisions, which served as a foundation for the 
extenders legislation. A sixth task force focused on disaster 
assistance and contributed to the tax relief included in the 
Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 for individuals 
and businesses affected by recent natural disasters.
    The committee's work in the second session was dominated by 
the Coronavirus pandemic and its far-reaching effects on the 
health and safety of individuals, families, and businesses 
across the Nation. The committee played a leading role in 
providing tax relief to help Americans during the pandemic 
response and assist businesses to continue their operations and 
keep employees on payroll to the greatest extent possible, 
which was included in the Families First Coronavirus Response 
Act (Pub. L. No. 116-127) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 
Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. No. 116-136) enacted in 
March 2020. The committee worked closely with the Treasury 
Department and the Internal Revenue Service to ensure that 
individual relief, in particular the Economic Impact Payments, 
and the business and employment provisions, were implemented as 
quickly as possible. The committee also worked throughout the 
remainder of the year to develop additional legislation to 
provide tax relief to help families and to help employers 
rehire workers and resume operations, significant portions of 
which were enacted on December 27, 2020, in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-260).
    Building on the work from the first session, the committee 
developed legislation to address the tax extenders expiring at 
the end of 2020. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 
included the committee's legislation making a number of 
provisions permanent, extending some for 5 years, and 
continuing others through 2021. The Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2021 also included tax relief for victims of the natural 
disasters that occurred across the country in 2020.
    Throughout both sessions, the committee continued its 
consultations with the Treasury Department on the 
implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Pub. L. 
No. 115-97). Additionally, the committee continued to engage 
with the Treasury Department and other stakeholders regarding 
the ongoing discussions of the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development and its efforts to develop consensus 
proposals regarding the taxation of digital services, global 
profit allocation, nexus, and anti-tax base erosion proposals.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2019
March 14, 2019--``President's Fiscal Year 2020 Budget.'' The 
    hearing covered the President's 2020 budget as well as the 
    operations of the Department of the Treasury and various 
    issues concerning implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
    Act of 2017. Testimony was heard from the Honorable Steven 
    T. Mnuchin, Secretary, Department of the Treasury, 
    Washington, DC.
April 10, 2019--``The 2019 Tax Filing Season and the 21st-
    Century IRS.'' The hearing examined issues related to the 
    2019 tax filing season and modernization of the Internal 
    Revenue Service, including IRS performance, customer 
    service challenges, and information technology. Testimony 
    was heard from the Honorable Charles P. Rettig, 
    Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC.
May 14, 2019--``Challenges in the Retirement System.'' The 
    hearing focused on current challenges in the U.S. 
    retirement system and reviewed current legislation, 
    including the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act 
    (RESA), additional policy ideas to improve retirement 
    savings, and State programs to increase access to tax-
    preferred retirement savings plans. Testimony was heard 
    from Joni Tibbetts, vice president, retirement and income 
    solutions, The Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, IA; 
    the Honorable Tobias Read, Oregon State Treasurer, Salem, 
    OR; Joan Ruff, board chair, AARP, Washington, DC; and Lynn 
    D. Dudley, senior vice president, global retirement and 
    compensation policy, American Benefits Council, Washington, 
    DC.
2020
February 12, 2020--``President's Fiscal Year 2021 Budget.'' The 
    hearing covered the President's 2021 budget and the 
    operations of the Department of the Treasury. Testimony was 
    heard from the Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary, 
    Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC.
June 30, 2020--``2020 Filing Season and IRS COVID-19 
    Recovery.'' The hearing examined issues related to the 2020 
    tax filing season and the Internal Revenue Service's 
    efforts to implement the provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, 
    Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and recover from 
    the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown requirements. Testimony was 
    heard from the Honorable Charles P. Rettig, Commissioner, 
    Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC.

                     Full Committee Member Meeting

December 11, 2019--Full Committee Member Meeting to review 
    options available to address the financial challenges 
    facing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the 
    multiemployer pension system. The meeting focused on the 
    current state of the multiemployer pension system and plans 
    in the most critical condition. Panelists focused on 
    features of the Grassley-Alexander multiemployer pension 
    relief proposal, including financial relief to failing 
    plans and the need for funding and other reforms to protect 
    participant and retiree benefits and to ensure the long-
    term stability of the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
    Corporation's insurance fund. The briefing panel included 
    the Honorable Gordon Hartogensis, Director, Pension Benefit 
    Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC; Thomas Barthold, 
    Chief of Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation, Washington, 
    DC; and Sheila Dacey, Chief, Income Security and Education 
    Cost Estimates Unit, Congressional Budget Office, 
    Washington, DC.

       Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth

2020
October 7, 2020--``The Fiscal Outlook.'' Testimony was heard 
    from the Honorable Phillip L. Swagel, Ph.D., Director, 
    Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC; and the 
    Honorable Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United 
    States, Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC.

              Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, 
                           and Family Policy

2020
December 9, 2020--``Investigating Challenges to American 
    Retirement Security.'' Testimony was heard from Scott Barr, 
    AAMS, financial advisor, Edward Jones, Zanesville, OH; Eric 
    Stevenson, president, retirement plans, Nationwide, 
    Columbus, OH; Michael P. Kreps, principal, Groom Law Group, 
    Washington, DC; and Joshua Luskin, president, National 
    Association of Government Defined Contribution 
    Administrators, Lexington, KY.

                                 TRADE

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    In the 116th Congress, the Senate Finance Committee sought 
to enact policies to expand trade and investment-related 
opportunities for American businesses, farmers, and workers, 
including through oversight of how the administration conducted 
trade policy. Notably, the committee guided passage of landmark 
legislation approving and implementing the United States-
Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the modernized successor to 
the North American Free Trade Agreement. This modernized 
agreement will enhance opportunities for Americans with two of 
our most important trading partners, Canada and Mexico.
    The committee also advised and conducted oversight of 
ongoing trade agreement negotiations being conducted pursuant 
to Trade Promotion Authority, including those with the European 
Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Kenya, as well as other 
trade-
related negotiations including those that culminated in the 
phase 1 deal with China. The committee ensured the 
administration remained abreast of committee priorities as 
those negotiations advanced.
    The committee held several hearings to examine the U.S. 
trade policies and to assess opportunities to improve and 
increase trade. Of particular importance, the committee held 
two hearings regarding the World Trade Organization (WTO). 
Those hearings provided an opportunity for members to consider 
how U.S. trade policy could help reform this critically 
important institution.
    Outside of hearings, the committee also examined a number 
of the administration's trade actions, including investigations 
that the Department of Commerce undertook pursuant to section 
232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the U.S. Trade 
Representative pursuant to section 301 of the Trade Act of 
1974. The committee also requested that the U.S. International 
Trade Commission conduct investigations pursuant to section 332 
of the Tariff Act of 1930 to identify and understand the trade 
in goods related to addressing the coronavirus pandemic, as 
well as an investigation into how foreign censorship practices 
adversely affect American trade interests.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2019
March 12, 2019--``Approaching 25: The Road Ahead for the World 
    Trade Organization.'' The committee examined the 
    administration's approach to reform at the World Trade 
    Organization, particularly with regard to the Appellate 
    Body's operation and how to move forward with new WTO rules 
    to address China's unfair trade practices. Testimony was 
    heard from the Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer, United 
    States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the 
    President, Washington, DC.
June 18, 2019--``The President's 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and 
    the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.'' The committee 
    examined the President's trade priorities for 2019, 
    particularly the push to replace NAFTA with the USMCA. The 
    hearing also featured discussions on enforcement of U.S. 
    trade laws to address trade irritants; pursuing trade 
    agreements with the European Union, Japan, and the United 
    Kingdom; negotiations with China to resolve a broad range 
    of trade issues; and WTO reform. Testimony was heard from 
    the Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade 
    Representative, Executive Office of the President, 
    Washington, DC.
July 30, 2019--``The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.'' 
    The committee examined the provisions in the USMCA and 
    emphasized the benefits the updated agreement would bring 
    to American businesses, families, and workers. Testimony 
    was heard from Paula Barnett, owner, designer, maker, Paula 
    Elaine Barnett Jewelry, Brownsville, OR; the Honorable Matt 
    Blunt, president, American Automotive Policy Council, 
    Washington, DC; James C. Collins, Jr., chief executive 
    officer, Corteva Agriscience, Wilmington, DE; Derek 
    Leathers, president and chief executive officer, Werner 
    Enterprises, Inc., Omaha, NE; the Honorable Thomas J. 
    Vilsack, president and chief executive officer, U.S. Dairy 
    Export Council, Arlington, VA; and Michael Wessel, staff 
    chair, Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and 
    Trade Policy, and president, The Wessel Group, Washington, 
    DC.
2020
June 17, 2020--``The President's 2020 Trade Policy Agenda.'' 
    The committee examined the President's trade priorities for 
    2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee 
    examined implementation of the USMCA and China phase 1 
    deal, trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya, 
    WTO reform, and digital services taxes implemented by U.S. 
    trading partners. Testimony was heard from the Honorable 
    Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative, 
    Executive Office of the President, Washington, DC.
July 29, 2020--``WTO Reform: Making Global Rules Work for 
    Global Challenges.'' The committee examined longstanding 
    issues at the WTO and the need for a strong WTO reform 
    agenda. The committee highlighted the importance of the WTO 
    to U.S. interests, particularly in regard to confronting 
    China. Testimony was heard from Jennifer A. Hillman, senior 
    fellow for trade and international political economy, 
    Council on Foreign Relations, and professor, Georgetown 
    University Law Center, Washington, DC; Thomas R. Graham, 
    partner, Cassidy Levy Kent, Washington, DC; Laura J. Lane, 
    chief corporate affairs and communications officer, UPS, 
    Washington, DC; Joseph W. Glauber, Ph.D., senior research 
    fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, 
    Washington, DC; and Michele Kuruc, vice president, ocean 
    policy, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC.

                 Full Committee Open Executive Session

January 7, 2020--Open Executive Session to consider the United 
    States-Mexico-Canada Implementation Act and to favorably 
    report the bill to the floor.

             Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, 
                       and Global Competitiveness

2019
June 12, 2019--``China's Belt and Road Initiative.'' The 
    subcommittee examined China's Belt and Road Initiative and 
    expressed concerns over China using this initiative to 
    exert influence over recipient countries. Testimony was 
    heard from Carolyn Bartholomew, Chairman, U.S.-China 
    Economic and Security Review Commission, Washington, DC; 
    Roy D. Kamphausen, Commissioner, U.S.-China Economic and 
    Security Review Commission; Daniel Kliman, Ph.D., senior 
    fellow and director, Asia-
    Pacific Security Program, Center for a New American 
    Security, Washington, DC; and Derek Scissors, Ph.D., 
    resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute, 
    Washington, DC.
2020
June 30, 2020--``Censorship as a Non-Tariff Barrier to Trade.'' 
    The subcommittee met to highlight the economic harm Chinese 
    censorship imposes on U.S. companies. Testimony was heard 
    from Richard Gere, chairman, International Campaign for 
    Tibet, Washington, DC; Nigel Cory, associate director, 
    trade policy, Information Technology and Innovation 
    Foundation, Washington, DC; Beth Baltzan, fellow, Open 
    Markets Institute, Washington, DC; and Clete R. Willems, 
    partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld LLP, 
    Washington, DC.

                             SAGON Meetings

February 6, 2019--Meeting of the Senate Advisory Group on 
    Negotiations, as required by section 104(c)(1) of the 
    Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 
    Accountability Act of 2015, to discuss congressional 
    priorities for trade negotiations and agreements during the 
    116th Congress. The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer, United 
    States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the 
    President, Washington, DC, testified.
March 12, 2020--Meeting of the Senate Advisory Group on 
    Negotiations to discuss potential trade negotiations with 
    Kenya. The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer, United States 
    Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, 
    Washington, DC, testified.

                                 HEALTH

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    In the 116th Congress, the committee focused on improving 
Medicare and Medicaid programs for individuals, providers, and 
taxpayers.
    In July of 2019, the committee reported the Prescription 
Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) in a bipartisan vote of 19-
9. PDPRA, which is based on information gathered in a three-
part hearing series, would lower patient's costs, address 
manufacturer price increases, increase transparency, reduce 
Federal spending, and lower commercial drug costs.
    The committee played a key role in passing Medicaid and 
Medicare improvements into law. In April of 2019, Congress 
passed and the President signed the Medicaid Services 
Investment and Accountability Act of 2019, which helps ensure 
medically complex children receive coordinated care in the 
Medicaid program, and prevents drug makers from misclassifying 
drugs to avoid paying Medicaid rebates. In December of 2019, 
the committee crafted policies that were signed into law in the 
Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 that ensure 
Medicare beneficiaries have access to vital services and items, 
including stem cell transplants, laboratory tests, and complex 
wheelchair equipment.
    The committee also authored several policies included in 
legislation to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably 
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 
that the Congress passed and the President signed into law in 
March of 2020. Examples of CARES Act policies that help 
patients and providers include: expanded Medicare telehealth 
flexibilities; Medicare coverage of COVID-19 vaccines with no 
beneficiary cost-
sharing; loans to hospitals and other providers in the form of 
an advance on future Medicare payments, and expanded patient 
use of Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts.
    In March of 2020, the committee issued a bipartisan 
stakeholder request for information on how to tackle poor 
maternal health outcomes, a crisis that disproportionately 
affects women of color and women living in rural areas. The 
committee undertook a process to identify bipartisan policy 
ideas to improve maternal health outcomes in Medicaid and the 
Children's Health Insurance Program recommended by stakeholders 
and individual Senators.
    The committee authored several provisions that were 
included in H.R. 133, the vehicle for government funding, 
health extenders, COVID-19 relief, and other matters that 
Congress passed and the President signed into law in December 
2020. The bill includes policies that extend expiring Medicare, 
Medicaid, and Human Services programs for 3 years and provide 
other support to patients and providers, including by 
strengthening rural health care infrastructure and permanently 
expanding access to mental health services via telehealth.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2019
January 29, 2019--``Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for 
    Change, Part I.'' Testimony was heard from Kathy Sego, 
    mother of a child with insulin-dependent diabetes, Madison, 
    IN; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ph.D., president, American Action 
    Forum, Washington, DC; Mark Miller, Ph.D., executive vice 
    president of health care, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, 
    Houston, TX; and Peter B. Bach, M.D., director, Center for 
    Health Policy and Outcomes, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer 
    Center, New York, NY.
February 26, 2019--``Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription 
    for Change, Part II.'' Testimony was heard from Richard A. 
    Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer, AbbVie 
    Inc., North Chicago, IL; Pascal Soriot, chief executive 
    officer, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE; Giovanni Caforio, 
    M.D., chairman of the board and chief executive officer, 
    Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company, New York, NY; Jennifer 
    Taubert, executive vice president, worldwide chairman, 
    Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, 
    NJ; Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive 
    officer, Merck and Company, Inc., Kenilworth, NJ; Albert 
    Bourla, DVM, Ph.D., chief executive officer, Pfizer, New 
    York, NY; and Olivier Brandicourt, M.D., chief executive 
    officer, Sanofi, Bridgewater, NJ.
March 14, 2019--``President's Fiscal Year 2020 Health Care 
    Proposals.'' Testimony was heard from the Honorable Alex M. 
    Azar II, Secretary, Department of Health and Human 
    Services, Washington, DC.
April 9, 2019--``Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for 
    Change, Part III.'' Testimony was heard from Steve Miller, 
    M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer, 
    Cigna Corporation, Bloomfield, CT; Derica Rice, executive 
    vice president, CVS Health, and president, CVS Caremark, 
    Woonsocket, RI; William K. Fleming, Pharm.D., segment 
    president, healthcare services, Humana, Inc., Louisville, 
    KY; John M. Prince, chief executive officer, OptumRx, 
    Minnetonka, MN; and Mike Kolar, interim president and CEO, 
    Prime Therapeutics, LLC, Eagan, MN.
May 8, 2019--``Medicare Physician Payment Reform After Two 
    Years: Examining MACRA Implementation and the Road Ahead.'' 
    Testimony was heard from Barbara L. McAneny, M.D., 
    president, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL; John 
    Cullen, M.D., FAAFP, president, American Academy of Family 
    Physicians, Leawood, KS; Frank Opelka, M.D., FACS, medical 
    director for quality and health policy, American College of 
    Surgeons, Chicago, IL; Scott Hines, M.D., director, 
    American Medical Group Association, Alexandria, VA; and 
    Matthew Fiedler, Ph.D., fellow, USC-Brookings Schaeffer 
    Initiative for Health Policy, Brookings Institution, 
    Washington, DC.
2020
February 13, 2020--``President's Fiscal Year 2021 Health Care 
    Proposals.'' Testimony was heard from the Honorable Alex M. 
    Azar II, Secretary, Department of Health and Human 
    Services, Washington, DC.

                 Full Committee Open Executive Session

July 25, 2019--Open Executive Session to consider an original 
    bill entitled ``The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act 
    of 2019.''

                      Subcommittee on Health Care

2019
October 30, 2019--``Medicaid: Compliance With Eligibility 
    Requirements.'' Testimony was heard from Brian P. Ritchie, 
    Assistant Inspector General for Audit Services, Office of 
    Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services, 
    Washington, DC; Carolyn L. Yocom, Director, Health Care, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Daryl G. 
    Purpera, CPA, CFE, Legislative Auditor, State of Louisiana, 
    Baton Rouge, LA; and Judith Solomon, senior fellow, Center 
    on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC.
November 20, 2019--``Alzheimer's Awareness: Barriers to 
    Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care Coordination.'' Testimony 
    was heard from Jason Karlawish, M.D., professor of 
    medicine, medical ethics and health policy, and neurology, 
    and co-director, Penn Memory Center, University of 
    Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Janet Tomcavage, R.N., MSN, 
    chief nursing executive, Geisinger, Winfield, PA; Marc A. 
    Cohen, Ph.D., clinical professor of gerontology, McCormack 
    Graduate School, and co-director, LeadingAge LTSS Center, 
    University of Massachusetts Boston, and research director, 
    Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation, 
    Community Catalyst, Newton, MA; and Lauren Kovach, 
    Alzheimer's advocate, Brighton, MI.
2020
December 16, 2020--``The Alzheimer's Crisis: Examining Testing 
    and Treatment Pipelines and Fiscal Implications.'' 
    Testimony was heard from Nikolay Dokholyan, Ph.D., M.S., G. 
    Thomas Passananti professor and vice chair for research, 
    Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA; 
    Randall J. Bateman, M.D., Charles F. and Joanne Knight 
    distinguished professor of neurology, and director, 
    Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network (DIAN), DIAN 
    Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), Washington University School of 
    Medicine, St. Louis, MO; Richard C. Mohs, Ph.D., chief 
    scientific officer, Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation, 
    Chicago, IL; and Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., chief science 
    officer, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, IL.

                             HUMAN SERVICES

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    In the 116th Congress, the Senate Finance Committee was 
responsible for the enactment of significant legislation 
including child welfare support, extension of expiring human 
services programs, unemployment insurance, and relief to 
support children and families in the child welfare system in 
relation to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    On December 20, 2020, the Family First Transition Act was 
enacted as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2020 (Pub. L. No. 116-94). This law helps States transform 
their child welfare systems to keep more children safely at 
home with their families. It builds upon foster care reforms 
made by the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) 
and helps jurisdictions have the resources to successfully 
transition to FFPSA implementation. The committee also authored 
the Emergency Aid for Returning Americans Affected by 
Coronavirus Act (Pub. L. No. 116-148), which became law on July 
13, 2020. This law temporarily raised the cap for the 
Department of Health and Human Services repatriation program 
from $1 million to $10 million for fiscal year 2020 to help 
individuals brought back to the U.S. as a result of the COVID-
19 pandemic, while ensuring that individuals engaged directly 
with those repatriated have proper training and protective 
equipment.
    The committee also authored several human services policies 
included in legislation to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Most notably, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 
Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. No. 116-136), which became law on 
March 27, 2020, included substantial funding for unemployment 
insurance (UI) programs to address the needs of millions who 
lost jobs or who were otherwise unable to work as a result of 
COVID-19. The committee held a hearing to review the 
implementation of the UI policies and to discuss the role of UI 
in responding to the economic effects of the pandemic.
    The committee authored several human services provisions 
that became law on December 27, 2020, as part of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-260). 
The bill includes policies that extend expiring Human Services 
programs through the end of fiscal year 2021 and in select 
cases extends programs for 3 years. It also provided enhanced 
UI benefits and included the Supporting Foster Youth and 
Families through the Pandemic Act that provided additional 
support to children and families in the foster care system, 
including transition-age youth impacted by the COVID-19 
pandemic.

                         Full Committee Hearing

June 9, 2020--``Unemployment Insurance During COVID-19: The 
    CARES Act and the Role of Unemployment Insurance During The 
    Pandemic.'' Testimony was heard from the Honorable Eugene 
    Scalia, Secretary, Department of Labor, Washington, DC; 
    Scott B. Sanders, executive director, National Association 
    of State Workforce Agencies, Washington, DC; Beth Townsend, 
    Director, Iowa Workforce Development, Des Moines, IA; Jose 
    Javier Rodriguez, State Senator, Florida Senate, Miami, FL; 
    Les Neilly, president, Neilly Canvas Goods Company, 
    Pittsburgh, PA; and Michele Evermore, senior researcher and 
    policy analyst, National Employment Law Project, 
    Washington, DC.

                     Full Committee Member Meeting

July 30, 2019--Meeting to review the status of the Temporary 
    Assistance for Needy Families program and opportunities for 
    reform. The briefing panel included: Clarence Carter, 
    Director, Office of Family Assistance, Department of Health 
    and Human Services, Washington, DC; Gene Falk, Specialist 
    in Social Policy, Congressional Research Service, 
    Washington, DC; Donna Pavetti, vice president for family 
    income support, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 
    Washington, DC; and Michelle Derr, senior researcher, 
    Mathematica, Washington, DC.

                            SPECIAL PROJECTS

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

    During the 116th Congress, the committee focused on child 
care challenges facing working parents by convening a 
bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group.\1\ After convening 
a members' roundtable on this topic during the coronavirus 
pandemic, the committee also supported enactment of emergency 
relief legislation to address the paid family leave needs of 
working parents during the national emergency period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\See website of Senator Grassley, ``Grassley, Wyden Convene 
Finance Committee Paid Family Leave Working Group'' (May 22, 2019), 
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-wyden-
convene-finance-committee-paid-family-leave-working-group.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Also during the 116th Congress, the committee focused on 
significant challenges confronting the elderly and other 
vulnerable populations. In 2019, for example, the committee 
held two hearings to explore the adequacy of reporting and 
investigation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in long-term 
care facilities that participate in Federal financing programs 
within the committee's jurisdiction.
    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which 
was invited to participate in the first of these two hearings, 
announced the same week that the agency would begin making 
reforms to the agency's Nursing Home Compare website, effective 
the following month.\2\ (The following year, CMS announced that 
it would phase out its original Nursing Home Compare tools in 
favor of a new, unified Care Compare site, launched in 
September 2020. The chairman, by letter dated February 3, 2021, 
then called for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
to conduct a review of Care Compare to ensure that this new 
site as well as CMS's nursing home rating system fully 
addresses any previously identified deficiencies.) At the 
second hearing, the Finance Committee received additional 
testimony from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and 
others on the need for reforms to promote the detection and 
reporting of neglect or abuse and thereby enhance the safety of 
elderly residents of long-term care facilities. Weeks later, 
CMS announced additional sweeping changes to strengthen the 
agency's oversight of nursing home inspections.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Website of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 
``CMS Improving Nursing Home Compare in April 2019; Changes offer 
greater support to consumers looking to compare quality of nursing 
homes'' (March 5, 2019), https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/
cms-improving-nursing-home-compare-april-2019.
    \3\CMS website, ``Trump Administration Strengthens Oversight of 
Nursing Home Inspections to Keep Patients and Residents Safe; CMS 
announces enhanced oversight of State inspectors and the inspection 
process, responding to growing concerns about consistency and 
timeliness of inspections'' (October 17, 2019), https://www.cms.gov/
newsroom/press-releases/trump-administration-strengthens-oversight-
nursing-home-inspections-keep-patients-and-residents-safe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2020, committee leaders, joined by Ways and Means 
Committee leaders in the other chamber, requested an 
evaluation, by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of psychotropic 
prescription use in nursing homes.\4\ This bipartisan, 
bicameral request was motivated by concerns about whether 
adequate safeguards exist to protect against these drugs' 
unnecessary use in the facilities that participate in financing 
programs within the committee's jurisdiction. (The last 
examination of this topic, a 2011 report by the HHS OIG that 
followed a request from the chairman, indicated that 14 percent 
of American nursing home residents had Medicare claims for 
these drugs to treat behavioral symptoms commonly associated 
with dementia.\5\ This 2011 report also found that at least 
half the Medicare claims for these drugs were erroneous, 
leading to $116 million in inappropriate Medicare 
reimbursements.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Letter from Senate Finance Committee (SFC) Chairman Grassley and 
Ranking Member Wyden et al. to Acting Inspector General Christi Grimm, 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (April 3, 2020), 
available at https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020-04-
06%20CEG,%20RW,%20et%20al%20to%20HHS%20OIG%20(Psychotropic%20Drugs%20
in%20Nursing%20Facilities).pdf.
    \5\Report by HHS Office of Inspector General, ``Medicare Atypical 
Antipsychotic Drug Claims for Elderly Nursing Home Residents'' (May 
2011), available at https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-08-
00150.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    During the coronavirus pandemic, the committee chairman 
again championed the interests of the mostly frail and elderly 
residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. 
Recognizing that these residents were particularly susceptible 
to the worst effects of this virus, the chairman voiced 
concerns to HHS and CMS officials about COVID-19 testing 
capacity, inconsistencies in data tracking, and a lack of 
personal protective equipment in nursing homes, among other 
issues.\6\ The chairman also encouraged issuance of Federal 
guidelines for States, to promote uniformity in tracking and 
reporting COVID-19 cases in nursing homes. CMS responded 3 days 
later by publicly announcing a commitment to address most of 
the concerns outlined in the chairman's letter of April 17, 
2019.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Letter from Senator Grassley to CMS Administrator Seema Verma 
(April 17, 2020), available at https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/
media/doc/HHSCOVIDLetter17Apr2020Final.pdf (citing factors, such as the 
high death toll and infection control failure rate in some nursing 
homes, which underscore the importance of ``encouraging coronavirus 
testing and compliance with CDC guidelines for reducing COVID-19 
transmission in these facilities'' and ensuring ``that any Medicaid- 
and Medicare-funded facilities accepting COVID-19 patients have 
adequate staffing, equipment, and other necessary safeguards in 
place'').
    \7\See website of Senator Grassley, ``Grassley Welcomes CMS Action 
to Require Coronavirus Reporting in Nursing Homes'' (April 20, 2020), 
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-welcomes-
cms-action-require-coronavirus-reporting-nursing-homes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Committee leaders later called for the issuance by the HHS 
OIG of public alerts to ensure that Medicaid recipients who 
reside in nursing facilities are not required to hand over, to 
the facilities in which they reside, any Economic Impact 
Payments that these residents received under legislation 
adopted by Congress in response to the coronavirus pandemic.\8\ 
In September 2020, the majority staff of the committee also 
issued a comprehensive report detailing the factors that may 
have fueled the virus's early transmission in nursing homes and 
led to an especially high case and fatality rate among nursing 
home residents.\9\ This majority staff report also highlighted 
best practices adopted by some nursing homes to limit the 
spread of COVID-19 among the personnel and residents of these 
facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden to 
Acting Inspector General Christi Grimm (June 8, 2020), available at 
https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/
doc/2020-06-
08%20CEG,%20Wyden%20to%20HHSOIG%20(Stimulus%20Checks%20in%20
Nursing%20Homes).pdf.
    \9\Report of SFC Majority Staff, ``COVID-19 in Nursing Homes: What 
Went Wrong and Next Steps'' (September 2020), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SFC
NursingHomesCOVIDMajorityStaffSFCReport23Sep2020FINAL.pdf. See also 
website of Senator Grassley, ``Finance Committee Releases Report on 
Performance of Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities During the 
COVID-19 Pandemic'' (last visited October 2020), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/finance-committee-releases-
report-on-performance-of-nursing-homes-and-long-term-care-facilities-
during-the-covid-19-pandemic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Also in 2020, the Finance Committee chairman unveiled a 
proposal to make resources available for strike teams to 
support nursing homes that were overwhelmed by the pandemic and 
extend Elder Justice Act programs. The chairman later led a 
group of colleagues in calling on Senate leaders to make 
resources available for these same programs (as well as related 
initiatives to reduce social isolation among nursing home 
residents) as part of a year-end coronavirus relief 
package.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley, Senator Daines, et al. to 
Senate Leaders McConnell and Schumer (December 18, 2020), available at 
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12-
18%20CEG%20et%20al%20to%20McConnell%2C%20Schumer%20-%20Televisita
tion.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The committee also explored challenges facing those 
struggling with addiction, for example, by conducting a Finance 
Committee hearing on the 1-year anniversary of the enactment of 
the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. At this hearing, 
the Surgeon General described ongoing efforts to implement the 
statute's provisions to combat the national opioid crisis, 
while other witnesses testified to instances of addiction 
treatment fraud in a growing number of States. In a letter to 
senior officials at HHS and CMS, the committee chairman also 
pressed for full implementation of strategies recommended by 
the Government Accountability Office to prevent opioid misuse 
and abuse in programs within the committee's jurisdiction.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley to HHS Secretary Alex Azar 
and CMS Administrator Seema Verma (June 6, 2019), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019-06-
06%20CEG%20to%20HHS,%20CMS%20(Opioid%20Misuse%20Strategy).pdf. See also 
website of Senator Grassley, ``Grassley Presses HHS, CMS on Federal 
Strategies to Combat Opioid Abuse'' (June 6, 2019), https://
www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-presses-hhs-cms-
federal-strategies-combat-opioid-abuse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In another letter to these same HHS and CMS officials, the 
committee chairman requested information on why other 
recommended reforms to improve the accountability of certain 
mental health grant programs had yet to be implemented.\12\ 
(This September 2019 letter from the chairman followed the 
issuance by GAO of two reports that cited deficiencies in 
tracking and evaluating the use of grant funding.) Among other 
requests, the chairman sought a list of the Department's crisis 
intervention programs designed to prevent acts of violence as 
well as each program's purpose and the amount of funding each 
receives. This letter also requested that the Department 
describe metrics used to evaluate certain grantees' performance 
and provide additional information on the Department's process 
for evaluating program performance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley to HHS Secretary Alex Azar 
(September 3, 2019), available at https://www.grassley.senate.gov/
sites/default/files/documents/2018-09-03%20CEG
%20to%20HHS%20-%20SAMHSA%20Grant%20Oversight.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The chairman also made it a priority, during the 116th 
Congress, to champion initiatives to promote the accountability 
of, and thereby prevent waste, fraud, or abuse in, Federal 
programs that serve vulnerable populations within the 
committee's jurisdiction. For example, in 2019 the chairman 
revived the committee's 2004 efforts to identify misspent 
Medicaid dollars (an area of longstanding concern, because 
every misspent dollar weakens this program for the tens of 
millions of low-income individuals and persons with 
disabilities who rely on Medicaid for preventive care, 
lifesaving health services, and other services to promote 
independent living). The majority staff of the committee 
unearthed government audits that cited recurring instances of 
improper Medicaid payments for deceased beneficiaries--in some 
cases, for as long as 2 years after the beneficiary's death.
    After finding that multiple State agencies charged with 
distributing Medicaid dollars have yet to fully institute an 
adequate mechanism to prevent Federal benefits from flowing on 
behalf of deceased Medicaid beneficiaries, the chairman called 
on the CMS Administrator to exercise greater leadership in this 
area, by instituting ``reforms to prevent, rather than simply 
recoup, wasteful Medicaid payments.''\13\ As noted in the 
chairman's October 2019 letter:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley to CMS Administrator Seema 
Verma (October 1, 2019), available at https://www.finance.senate.gov/
imo/media/doc/MedicaidOversightLetter1Oct.2019
SpecProjects%20-%20FINAL%20430PM.pdf.

        For example, CMS should revisit and possibly upgrade 
        its existing tools for preventing Medicaid fraud, 
        waste, and abuse. The agency should identify new tools, 
        in addition to its most recent informational bulletin, 
        to help States identify providers or managed care 
        organizations that submit high numbers of improper 
        Medicaid claims that received managed care payments 
        from States for the deceased. CMS also should promote 
        the adoption of protocols or policies to ensure that 
        State Medicaid agencies can quickly and efficiently 
        compare Medicaid payment claims against death records 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        kept by other State or Federal agencies.

    Restoring fiscal integrity to this and other Federal 
programs under the committee's jurisdiction is a continuing and 
vitally important task for the committee to fulfill, in the 
effort to safeguard Americans' hard-earned tax dollars and 
ensure the effective implementation of government programs.
    Early in 2019, the committee chairman also led a group of 
over 20 Senators in questioning the adequacy of a new national 
process for allocating human livers that are donated for 
transplant.\14\ The chairman later expanded his efforts in this 
area, focusing attention not only on organ allocation, but also 
on organ donation and procurement. The committee ultimately 
launched a comprehensive review of the entire organ procurement 
and transplantation system. This bipartisan effort, led by the 
chairman with other committee members, has focused on the 
adequacy of efforts by the government's contractor, known as 
the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), to oversee and 
ensure the accountability of the Nation's organ donation and 
procurement process, which is led by 58 organ procurement 
organizations (OPOs) across the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley, Senator Blunt, et al. to HHS 
Secretary Azar (January 19, 2019), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CEG%20Liver%20Letter
%20Signed%20FINAL.pdf. See also website of Senate Finance Committee 
(last visited December 30, 2020), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/grassley-blunt-20-senate-
colleagues-demand-answers-on-changes-to-national-liver-distribution-
policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The chairman in December 2019 requested that the HHS OIG, 
which had conducted audits of selected OPOs, provide the 
committee with additional details relating to its audit report 
findings. (These HHS OIG audit reports cited unallowable and 
inappropriate uses of Medicare funds for certain OPO 
expenses.)\15\ Committee leaders in February 2020 also sent an 
initial letter to UNOS requesting information and documents on 
UNOS activities.\16\ The committee later determined that 
issuance of a subpoena compelling production of UNOS documents 
related to the committee's investigation was necessary, and on 
February 3, 2021, the chairman issued such a subpoena to UNOS 
with the support of the committee's ranking member. UNOS has 
indicated that it will comply with the subpoena. This 
investigation is ongoing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley and Senator Young to HHS 
Acting Inspector General Christi Grimm (December 18, 2019), available 
at https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
CEG.Young%20to%20HHSOIG%20(OPO%20Oversight)%20Dec.18.2019.pdf.
    \16\Letter from SFC Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Wyden, et 
al., to Brian Shepard, Chief Executive Officer of United Network for 
Organ Sharing (February 10, 2020), available at https://
www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020-02-
10%20Grassley,%20Wyden,%20Young,
%20Cardin%20to%20UNOS%20(Information%20Request%20on%20Organ%20Transplant
%20Sy
stem).pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    During consideration of H.R. 133, an omnibus spending 
package enacted in December 2020, this committee's leaders 
worked with Ways and Means Committee leaders in the other 
chamber to champion the inclusion of $100 million in emergency 
funding for elder justice initiatives. Committee leaders in 
both chambers also pushed for inclusion, in a December 2020 
continuing resolution, of legislation that will promote 
transparency in government, by requiring CMS to furnish 
information, upon request, to certain non-group health plans 
(e.g., liability insurers), about whether an individual was 
enrolled in Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or the Medicare 
prescription drug benefit during the preceding 3-year period.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2019
March 6, 2019--``Not Forgotten: Protecting Americans From Abuse 
    and Neglect in Nursing Homes.'' Testimony was heard from 
    Patricia Blank, daughter of nursing home neglect victim, 
    Shell Rock, IA; Maya Fischer, daughter of nursing home 
    abuse victim, Seminole, FL; David Grabowski, Ph.D., 
    professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; David 
    Gifford, M.D., MPH, senior vice president, quality and 
    regulatory affairs, American Health Care Association, 
    Washington, DC; Kate Goodrich, M.D., Director, Center for 
    Clinical Standards and Quality, and Chief Medical Officer, 
    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD; 
    Antoinette Bacon, Associate Deputy Attorney General and 
    National Elder Justice Coordinator, Office of the Deputy 
    Attorney General, Department of Justice, Washington, DC; 
    and Keesha Mitchell, Director, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, 
    Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, OH.
July 23, 2019--``Promoting Elder Justice: A Call for Reform.'' 
    Testimony was heard from Megan H. Tinker, Senior Advisor 
    for Legal Affairs, Office of Counsel to the Inspector 
    General, Department of Health and Human Services, 
    Washington, DC; John E. Dicken, Director, Health Care, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Robert B. 
    Blancato, national coordinator, Elder Justice Coalition, 
    Washington, DC; the Honorable Mark Parkinson, president and 
    chief executive officer, American Health Care Association, 
    Washington, DC; and Lori Smetanka, executive director, 
    National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, 
    Washington, DC.
October 24, 2019--``Treating Substance Misuse in America: 
    Scams, Shortfalls, and Solutions.'' Testimony was heard 
    from the Honorable Jerome M. Adams, M.D., MPH, Surgeon 
    General, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and 
    Human Services, Washington, DC; Mary Denigan-Macauley, 
    Ph.D., Director, Health Care, Government Accountability 
    Office, Washington, DC; Gary Cantrell, Deputy Inspector 
    General for Investigations, Office of Inspector General, 
    Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC; 
    and Gary Mendell, founder and chief executive officer, 
    Shatterproof, New York, NY.

                     Full Committee Member Meeting

             Bi-Partisan Working Group on Paid Family Leave

June 18, 2020--Roundtable on ``Paid Leave Proposals in the 
    COVID Era.''

                      OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

                         SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

Health Care

    In 2019, the committee held a series of oversight hearings 
focused on drug pricing in America. The committee invited 
patients, parents, pharmaceutical company executives, and 
pharmacy benefit managers to identify reforms that will help 
drive down the high cost of prescription drugs.
    Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden have long raised 
concerns about the lack of transparency in the pharmaceutical 
industry. In the past, their oversight work led to the 
revelation that Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, 
misclassified its popular anti-allergy medication as a generic 
instead of a brand name and took advantage of a loophole in 
Medicaid to overcharge taxpayers for the drug by as much as 
$1.27 billion over 10 years. In 2019, Chairman Grassley and 
Ranking Member Wyden introduced the Right Rebate Act to close 
the loophole. The legislation also provided the Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) with additional authorities to 
monitor drug manufacturers, imposed reporting and transparency 
requirements on the government to show how its authorities are 
used, and allowed the Secretary of HHS to reclassify drugs and 
impose civil monetary penalties when drugs are knowingly 
misclassified. The legislation was signed into law in April 
2019.
    Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden partnered on a 
bipartisan investigation into insulin prices. In February 2019, 
they sent letters to leading insulin manufacturers, Sanofi, 
Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly, seeking information regarding 
recent price increases of up to 500 percent or more for 
insulin, a treatment available for diabetes for nearly 100 
years. The letter requested information about list price 
increases, changes in the net price (i.e., the price 
pharmaceutical companies received after negotiating rebates and 
discounts), copies of internal memoranda, correspondence, and 
rebate agreements with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). In 
April 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden also 
sent letters to the three largest PBMs, CVS Caremark, OptumRx, 
and Express Scripts, inquiring about their role in the U.S.'s 
drug pricing system and how their pricing practices contribute 
to the rising cost of insulin. The letter focused on rebates 
and other contracting practices used by PBMs and health 
insurers because these terms are not transparent to patients, 
payers, or Congress. The chairman and ranking member issued 
their report and findings in January 2021.
    In April 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden 
also jointly began investigations of companies in their home 
States that provide services to adults with intellectual and 
developmental disabilities (I/DD). In December 2020, they 
released two investigative reports regarding the performance 
and efficacy of providers REM Iowa and MENTOR Oregon, which 
receive significant Federal funding through Medicaid to provide 
care for individuals with
I/DD. The committee's review of REM Iowa found that the company 
has had and continues to face problems, including failures to 
report abuse or neglect, failures to follow an individual's 
particular care plan, and failures to adhere to clients' 
medication schedules. The committee's report made three 
specific recommendations to REM Iowa: improve training 
practices for employees, improve access to data, and establish 
a process to track and monitor critical incidents using 
electronic databases. The committee's report also recommended 
that the Federal and State Governments improve oversight, 
outreach, and support for facilities facing systemic issues.
    The MENTOR Oregon report highlighted the fact that despite 
years of regulatory attention, the company has not turned the 
corner regarding the level of care provided to its clients. 
Insufficient staff training, failure to complete incident 
reports, substantiated acts of neglect, not meeting clients' 
medical needs, and poor facility conditions have forced the 
Oregon Department of Human Services--and county-level 
entities--to take increased measures.
    The Finance Committee also conducted an investigation of 
nonprofit hospitals. In 2019, Chairman Grassley requested 
specific information from the IRS regarding its oversight of 
nonprofit hospitals, after media reports emerged on this 
subject questioning whether these hospitals met the criteria 
for tax-exempt status, whether they served their communities 
appropriately, and whether they served individuals in need 
regardless of ability to pay. Grassley later sent letters to 
the University of Virginia Health System and Methodist Le 
Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, TN, requesting information about 
their billing and debt-collection practices with respect to 
low-income patients. On December 2, 2020, Chairman Grassley 
wrote a letter to every member of the Senate Finance and 
Judiciary Committees about the need for new attention to the 
tax laws governing non-profit hospitals.

Taxes

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden opened 
an investigation into syndicated conservation-easement 
transactions, which are transactions that may abuse charitable 
conservation tax incentives in order to facilitate tax 
shelters.
    In August 2020, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden 
concluded their investigation and released a report, finding 
such syndicated transactions are ``nothing more than retail tax 
shelters that let taxpayers buy tax deductions at the end of 
any given year, . . . which thousands of taxpayers used to game 
the tax code and deprive the Federal Government of billions of 
dollars in revenue.'' It concluded that ``the IRS has strong 
reason for taking enforcement action against syndicated 
conservation-easement transactions as it has to date'' and 
called on Congress, the IRS, and the Department of the Treasury 
to take further action to preserve the integrity of the 
conservation-easement tax deduction.
    To that end, Chairman Grassley joined Senators Steve Daines 
(R-Mont.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in reintroducing the 
Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act, which 
will protect conservation easements from abuse, save taxpayers 
billions of dollars, and promote conservation around the 
country. In December 2020, Senator Grassley and Senator Daines 
joined Senator Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senator Stabenow (D-Mich.) in 
introducing similar legislation that would serve the same 
conservation purposes.

Trade

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden 
partnered on a bipartisan investigation into counterfeit goods 
sold online and then issued a report, ``The Fight Against 
Fakes,'' which detailed five findings and two legislative 
recommendations. Their report outlined the harm posed to 
consumers by counterfeits and discussed statutory barriers that 
prevent information sharing between the Federal Government and 
its private industry partners with respect to counterfeit goods 
seized and/or detained at U.S. ports of entry.

Tax-Exempts

    In June 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden 
conducted an investigation into the financial relationship 
between opioid manufacturers and tax-exempt organizations. They 
sent letters to 10 tax-exempt organizations, seeking to 
understand how pharmaceutical manufacturers' donations to these 
organizations affected their advocacy for specific pain 
treatment strategies. In December 2020, the chairman and 
ranking member released a letter to colleagues and a report 
detailing their findings.
    Based on financial data collected for this investigation, 
the report found that, between 1997 and 2019, opioid 
manufacturers paid over $65 million dollars to tax-exempt 
organizations as part of a strategy to market and sell their 
opioids products. The report also created case studies for 
three organizations, including the American Chronic Pain 
Association, Americans for Patient Access, and the 
International Association for the Study of Pain. These 
organizations, their officers, and their board members received 
millions of dollars from manufacturers of opioids and opioid-
related products while promoting increased use of their donor's 
products. Many of these board members also serve on Federal 
advisory boards and make recommendations to the public and 
policy-makers on opioids and opioids prescribing practices.
    Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden urged their 
colleagues to consider expanding the Open Payments database to 
require opioid manufacturers to report payments made to non-
profit organizations as well as to increase transparency in 
Federal advisory boards.
    In 2019, Ranking Member Wyden issued a staff report after 
an 18-month investigation into the National Rifle Association 
that revealed NRA leaders inappropriately leveraged the 
organization's resources and political connections in pursuit 
of lucrative overseas personal business deals. In its 2019 990 
tax filing, the NRA acknowledged that its officers had engaged 
in at least $1.4 million in prohibited excess benefit 
transactions with the true total unknown, pending the outcome 
of lawsuits against the organization by the Attorneys General 
of New York and the District of Columbia.
    Chairman Grassley issued an accompanying majority staff 
report, which found no wrongdoing by the NRA or its officials 
for having traveled to Russia in December 2015 that would 
reasonably call into question the NRA's tax-exempt status, 
based on the documents provided to the committee. The majority 
staff found that a handful of NRA officials may have turned a 
goodwill trip to Russia into multipurpose travel, tending to 
both an invitation by Russians to NRA personnel as well as 
their own professional matters during the same trip. The 
majority staff also concluded there is nothing wrong with 
taking a trip with two purposes in mind, even if one of those 
purposes involves a tax-exempt organization.

Pandemic Relief

    The coronavirus pandemic that spread throughout the United 
States in 2020 created a pressing need for oversight. In 
February 2020, Chairman Grassley's staff received a classified 
briefing from the HHS Office of National Security (ONS) 
regarding the coronavirus threat and the status of U.S. 
Government efforts to combat the spread of the deadly virus. On 
June 2, 2020, the committee held a hearing titled, ``COVID-19 
and Beyond: Oversight of the FDA's Foreign Drug Manufacturing 
Inspection Process.'' The hearing was based on Chairman 
Grassley's oversight work on the FDA's foreign drug 
manufacturing facility inspection process and highlighted the 
risks associated with drugs manufactured in foreign countries, 
especially China, and imported to the United States. At the 
hearing, Chairman Grassley introduced into the committee record 
thousands of pages of records that he acquired during his FDA 
investigation relating to China- and India-based drug 
manufacturing facilities.
    In order to help protect against waste, fraud, and abuse 
during the pandemic, Chairman Grassley wrote to the U.S. 
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) 
encouraging the IRS watchdog to engage in a public awareness 
and education campaign informing Americans of scams and frauds 
related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the Federal 
Government's response. Chairman Grassley also partnered with 
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in calling on the Department of 
Justice (DOJ) to take vigorous action to protect consumers from 
price-gouging during the pandemic and help prevent the hoarding 
of essential medical supplies.
    On May 24, 2020, Chairman Grassley urged the U.S. 
intelligence community to further incorporate and provide 
intelligence access to the Department of Health and Human 
Services Office of National Security (ONS) to strengthen the 
governmental response to the COVID-19 public health crisis and 
future health concerns. In response, the Intelligence Community 
committed to ensuring better cooperation.
    In 2020, Chairman Grassley and a bipartisan group of 
Senators also introduced legislation to ensure families of 
public safety officers lost to COVID-19 could quickly access 
survivor benefits. The Safeguarding America's First Responders 
Act (SAFR), which was referred to the Judiciary Committee, 
clarified the certification requirements for survivor benefits 
under the Public Safety Officers Benefits Program to account 
for the unique challenges presented by the pandemic. In August 
2020, President Trump signed the bill into law.
    Chairman Grassley also led a bipartisan group of Senators 
in introducing legislation to boost oversight of billions in 
taxpayer-
funded pandemic relief. Referred to the Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs Committee, The Special Inspector General for 
Pandemic Recovery Expedited Hiring Authority Act, which was 
modelled on laws that granted expedited hiring authority to 
special IGs in the past, would provide the SIGPR temporary 
hiring authority to bypass the normally lengthy government 
hiring process, quickly staff his office, and begin timely 
oversight operations.

National Security

    On June 5, 2019, the Finance Committee held a hearing on 
foreign threats to taxpayer-funded research titled ``Foreign 
Threats to Taxpayer-Funded Research: Oversight Opportunities 
and Policy Solutions.'' That same day, Chairman Grassley held a 
classified
member-level briefing on the same subject. In addition to his 
inquiries to DoD, Chairman Grassley also pressed the National 
Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Health and 
Human Services Inspector General, Justice Department, and 
Government Accountability Office on foreign threats to 
taxpayer-
funded research. Chairman Grassley also worked to get the 
Office of National Security, located within HHS, access to 
additional government databases necessary to track and counter 
these threats. ONS gained access to some additional classified 
databases as a result of those oversight efforts.
    On June 10, 2019, Senator Grassley and Senator Marco Rubio 
(R-Fla.) wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services 
Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) to request a review of 
whether CMS made payments for genetic testing to U.S. entities 
with ties to the Chinese Government. The letter also asked 
about whether CMS considers national security risks when 
determining whether payments to entities linked to the Chinese 
Government are permissible. The HHS OIG agreed to perform a 
review of whether CMS considers national security risks before 
certifying laboratories that conduct genomic testing.

Human Services

    The Finance Committee conducted an investigation of the HHS 
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to examine serious 
allegations of misconduct and abuse by federally funded 
grantees operating facilities that house unaccompanied migrant 
children. On May 9, 2019, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member 
Wyden wrote a letter to Assistant Secretary Lynn Johnson 
raising concerns about the severity and systemic nature of 
allegations against these taxpayer-funded grantees and whether 
ORR was meeting its responsibility to hold its grantees 
accountable and ensure the health and safety of children in 
their care.

LIn addition, Senator Grassley undertook several additional oversight 
                    efforts, as follows:

Defense

    During the 116th Congress, Chairman Grassley also 
investigated wasteful spending by the Department of Defense 
(DoD). In May 2019, Chairman Grassley sent a letter to then-
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan seeking details 
about how the DoD contracts with businesses and other entities 
with respect to overpricing, specifically citing TransDigm 
Group Inc. (Transdigm). Additionally, Chairman Grassley asked 
about the DoD's ability to collect cost data from those 
entities and how Congress can help DoD stop price-gouging 
practices. In October 2019, the Chairman sent a follow-up 
letter to Ellen M. Lord, Under Secretary of Defense for 
Acquisition and Sustainment, seeking an update on how DoD was 
confronting TransDigm's costly price-gouging schemes. Committee 
staff then continued to work with DoD IG throughout 2020 to 
make sure the DoD IG's second audit of TransDigm contracts was 
rigorous and thorough.
    Chairman Grassley also conducted oversight of DoD's Office 
of Net Assessment (ONA). In a July 2019 letter, Chairman 
Grassley pressed ONA for information regarding allegations that 
contracts granted to Professor Stefan Halper were used to 
support potential partisan political or other improper or 
wasteful activities. A DoD Inspector General audit revealed 
significant flaws in ONA's contract management practices.
    Additional documents reviewed by Chairman Grassley called 
into question ONA's stewardship of taxpayer dollars as well as 
its contract management and internal controls. The Pentagon 
issued a corrective action plan for ONA in August 2020. On 
December 18, 2020, Chairman Grassley sent a letter urging DoD 
IG to expand its review of ONA to determine why the office has 
not performed it's statutorily mandated duty to perform a 
formal net assessment since 2007 and whether the office is 
still necessary in light of these revelations.
    Separately, on January 23, 2020, Chairman Grassley sought 
an Inspector General investigation into the manufacturing 
practices of Lockheed Martin's C-130J aircraft after 
whistleblower reports stated that an apparent lack of oversight 
by the Department of Defense resulted in significant health and 
safety concerns. On October 8, 2020, Chairman Grassley sought 
additional information from the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA) regarding the manufacturing practices of 
Lockheed Martin's C-130J after learning of discrepancies in the 
initial investigation.
    In 2020, Chairman Grassley also pressed the DoD on the new 
Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program 
regarding alleged conflicts of interest pertaining to those 
charged with creating its bid and reported disputes between 
bidders and the Department. This came after the DoD Inspector 
General completed a review and provided recommendations in 
response to Chairman Grassley and members of Congress raising 
concerns about the JEDI program.
    In 2020, Chairman Grassley and others sent a letter to the 
House and Senate Armed Services Committees, urging them to 
include in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 
fiscal year 2021 certain provisions that would make progress 
towards a clean audit, including more detailed reporting to 
Congress on DoD financial management systems. Both of the 
provisions were ultimately included in the final version of the 
NDAA passed in December 2020.
    In 2020, Chairman Grassley also made inquiries into 
potential wasteful and inappropriate travel spending at the 
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), specifically 
seeking full and complete answers to prior questions he had 
raised about multiple unnecessary trips by DoDEA personnel to 
Hawaii.

Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation

    Throughout the 116th Congress, Chairman Grassley and 
Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who chaired the Senate Homeland 
Security Committee, engaged in oversight activity with respect 
to Crossfire Hurricane and its origins. The DOJ Inspector 
General conducted an investigation into portions of Crossfire 
Hurricane and issued a nearly 500-page report. The report 
determined the dossier to be central and essential to the 
Justice Department's and FBI's efforts to obtain Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications with 
one FBI General Counsel Unit Chief stating that with respect to 
finding probable cause the dossier ``pushed it over'' the line. 
The Inspector General determined that the FBI's FISA 
applications included at least 17 errors and omissions. After 
further reviewing the DOJ OIG report on Crossfire Hurricane, 
Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson then sent Barr a
follow-up letter requesting the declassification of four 
footnotes in the classified version of the Inspector General 
report. Those footnotes were later declassified. On April 2, 
2020, Chairmen Grassley and Johnson requested that the Director 
of National Intelligence, Ambassador Richard Grenell, 
declassify additional footnotes from the classified version of 
the report. Additional footnotes were later declassified.
    On April 25, 2019, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson 
wrote to the DOJ about allegations the FBI may have improperly 
used a counterintelligence briefing to conduct surveillance on 
the Trump transition team during Crossfire Hurricane. The 
Senators' letter inquired about the extent of the FBI's 
surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition staff. 
Subsequently, in its review of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane 
Investigation, the DOJ OIG found that an FBI Supervisory 
Special Agent did attend certain counterintelligence briefings 
for 2016 presidential candidates and that at least one briefing 
was used for investigative purposes. The OIG found that DOJ and 
FBI did not have a policy with respect to using candidate 
counterintelligence briefings for investigative purposes; 
however, after the report issued, the FBI established new 
protocols that prohibited those briefings from being used for 
investigative purposes.
    In October 2019, Chairman Grassley again joined Chairman 
Johnson in sending a letter to Attorney General Barr, calling 
for transparency in the reported DOJ criminal inquiry into the 
origins of the Russia investigation. On October 2, 2019, 
Chairman Grassley also sent a letter to the Intelligence 
Community Inspector General (IC IG) regarding a number of leaks 
of highly sensitive information relating to the Russia 
investigation, as well as a whistleblower complaint that led to 
Trump's impeachment.
    As part of his effort to bring transparency to the events 
surrounding the FBI's investigation and surveillance of the 
Trump campaign and transition, on May 12, 2020, Chairman 
Grassley and Chairman Johnson requested a list of Obama-era 
officials who unmasked Lieutenant General Michael Flynn's name 
in classified intelligence documents where it had previously 
been redacted. In response, the Intelligence Community provided 
a list that identified nearly two dozen senior government 
officials, including then-Vice President Biden, who requested 
to unmask Flynn. News reports have indicated that the DOJ's 
unmasking review found no wrongdoing; however, DOJ has not 
formally communicated its findings to Congress.
    On October 14, 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson 
sent another letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and 
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe seeking an 
unredacted version of a spreadsheet created by the FBI to 
attempt to corroborate allegations made in the Steele Dossier.
    In October 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson 
also released a majority staff report raising concerns about 
how the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Office sought 
and received access to the records of Donald J. Trump's 
presidential transition team, Trump for America, Inc.
    In September 2020, Chairman Grassley pressed DOJ for 
details on steps taken to recover material deleted from mobile 
devices assigned to Mueller's team and investigate potential 
violations of Federal record-keeping laws.
    In November 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson 
received a partially declassified version of briefing notes for 
then-Director James Comey summarizing the FBI's investigative 
efforts regarding Crossfire Hurricane. After receipt, the 
chairmen sent a follow-up letter to Barr requesting full 
declassification.
    On December 3, 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson 
released over 400 pages of records acquired from the DOJ, FBI, 
and State Department during their investigation into the FBI's 
handling of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
    On December 17, 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman 
Johnson released declassified messages from former FBI agent 
Peter Strzok related to Crossfire Hurricane.
    Chairman Grassley also conducted oversight of DOJ's 
enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). On 
June 18, 2019, Chairman Grassley and other Senators wrote to 
DOJ to ask why it had not required Al Jazeera to register as a 
foreign agent under FARA. In November 2020, Chairman Grassley 
asked the Justice Department to evaluate whether Hunter and 
James Biden should have registered as foreign agents for their 
business arrangements with the Chinese Government-backed energy 
company, CEFC China Energy, in compliance with FARA.
    During 2019 and 2020, Chairman Grassley and Senator Mark 
Warner (D-Va.) continued to investigate the fatal shooting of 
Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police in 2017. In June 2019, 
Grassley and Warner decried the opaque and drawn-out nature of 
the review in letters to both the FBI and National Park Service 
(NPS). The DOJ then announced its decision not to pursue action 
against the U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed 
Ghaisar. Throughout 2020, Chairman Grassley continued to press 
the DOJ to provide details on specific reforms being 
implemented to improve investigations of fatal shootings.

Education

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley sent letters to the presidents 
of Duke University, Harvard University, Sarah Lawrence College, 
and Villanova University, seeking information on the current 
culture of academic freedom on campus. In October 2020, 
Chairman Grassley followed up by sending a letter to his 
colleagues discussing the responses of those colleges and 
universities.
    Chairman Grassley also conducted extensive oversight work 
relating to the Chinese Government-backed Confucius Institutes 
and urged colleges and universities around the country to 
request FBI briefings to fully understand the academic research 
and national security threats posed by the organizations 
operating on campuses. In addition, Chairman Grassley was a co-
sponsor and strong supporter of the Concerns Over Nations 
Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States 
(CONFUCIUS) Act, which passed the Senate in July 2020.

Good Government and Transparency

    In 2019, following complaints from dozens of 
whistleblowers, Chairman Grassley began investigating 
whistleblower allegations of low morale, low productivity, and 
staff departures at the Department of Commerce Office of 
Inspector General. During the investigation, which also 
included the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, as well as the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs, dozens of current and former 
staff for the Department of Commerce Office of the Inspector 
General spoke with committee staff. Chairman Grassley wrote 
multiple public letters which brought public attention to the 
IG's significant management challenges.
    In the spring of 2020, Chairman Grassley objected to the 
removals of the Intelligence Community Inspector General and 
the State Department Inspector General, after President Trump 
removed each without providing substantive reasons to Congress 
as required by statute. Chairman Grassley introduced bipartisan 
legislation, the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 
2020, referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs Committee, to amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 
to provide that the President or certain agency heads may 
remove an Inspector General, or place an Inspector General on 
non-duty status, only if certain conditions are satisfied.
    On April 14, 2020, Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member 
Wyden wrote to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael 
Horowitz, in his role as Chair of the Council of Inspectors 
General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), regarding CIGIE's 
role in the Inspector General nominating process. They inquired 
about the CIGIE recommendation process, the consistency of its 
advice to the White House, the rate at which its advice is 
taken by the White House, and how often CIGIE has expressed 
concerns about IG vacancies.
    Additionally, Chairman Grassley partnered with Senator 
Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) to introduce bipartisan legislation to 
increase transparency and accountability within the Federal 
Government. The Oversight.gov Authorization Act, referred to 
the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, would 
formally authorize the establishment and maintenance of a 
website to help the public more easily access reports that have 
been generated by the independent work of Inspectors General.
    On August 14, 2019, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson, 
who chaired the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, publicly released a Majority Staff Memo 
and all supporting documentation regarding an investigation 
into whether China hacked Hillary Clinton's non-government 
server.
    The committee also conducted an investigation into 
potential conflicts of interest involving the Biden family. 
Chairman Grassley wrote a letter to the Department of Treasury 
on August 14, 2019, regarding potential conflicts of interest 
with respect to Obama administration policy relating to the 
Henniges transaction. During the Obama administration, the 
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved a 
transaction that gave control over Henniges, an American maker 
of anti-vibration technologies with military applications, to a 
Chinese Government-owned aviation company and a China-based 
investment firm with established ties to the Chinese 
Government. One of the companies involved in the transaction is 
linked to Hunter Biden. Then, on November 6, 2019, Chairman 
Grassley and Chairman Johnson wrote to the State Department 
regarding actual or apparent conflicts of interest between 
then-Vice President Biden and U.S. foreign policy toward 
Ukraine in light of Hunter Biden's position on the board of 
directors of a Ukrainian natural gas firm that was under 
investigation for corruption while then-Vice President Biden 
was the public face of the Obama administration's Ukraine 
policy. As part of the investigation, Chairman Grassley sent 
numerous requests for information to the Department of State 
and the National Archives, among other agencies, and conducted 
several transcribed interviews of relevant witnesses. The 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also 
served a subpoena for records on Blue Star Strategies, a 
consulting firm representing Burisma, which that committee 
authorized. On September 23, 2020, Chairman Grassley and 
Chairman Johnson released a report on that investigation, 
titled ``Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on 
U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns,'' summarizing its 
findings. On the same day, the minority issued a staff report, 
titled ``Election Interference: Majority Investigation 
Amplifies Russian Attack on 2020 Election.'' On September 29, 
2020, Chairman Grassley gave a floor speech disputing the 
minority's characterization of his oversight work. On November 
18, 2020, Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson released a 
supplemental report based on additional information that came 
to light on this topic.

Housing

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley requested information from the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about 
oversight of Federal spending by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) 
and delays in implementing reforms that HUD has pledged to 
implement. Over 3,300 PHAs across the country receive millions 
of dollars in the annual congressional appropriations process. 
These funds are appropriated to support housing for low-income 
households. Chairman Grassley raised concerns that many PHAs--
including the country's largest--use a portion of those funds 
to cover ``fees'' for property management and other services to 
the housing projects they operate.

Immigration

    During the 116th Congress, Chairman Grassley also continued 
his oversight of the Department of Homeland Security's 
implementation of the Nation's immigration laws. Chairman 
Grassley continued his oversight of F-1 visa fraud in 2020 by 
pressing DHS about the steps it is taking to crack down on 
fraudulent companies providing fake employment offers to 
foreign students seeking to extend their F-1 visas and remain 
in the U.S. after graduation.

Law Enforcement

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley introduced the Protecting 
America's First Responders Act, referred to the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, which would update the definition of 
disability to ensure that officers who are permanently unable 
to secure meaningful gainful employment following a 
catastrophic injury in the line of duty remain eligible for 
benefits. This bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and 
also passed the full Senate. Grassley had previously sent a 
letter to Attorney General Barr raising concerns about this 
program.

Human Rights

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley wrote to the World Bank to 
request a briefing on a $50-million loan provided to an 
organization associated with the forcible internment of Chinese 
Uighur Muslims, a population that has experienced grave human 
rights violations at the hands of the communist Chinese 
Government.

Whistleblower Protections

    In 2019, Chairman Grassley sent a letter to DoD Secretary 
Mark Esper, urging action on DoD Office of Inspector General 
(OIG) recommendations regarding cases of whistleblower 
retaliation. Chairman Grassley also joined his colleagues, 
Chairman Johnson and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) in sending a 
letter to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, 
Michael Atkinson, to push for answers related to the 
intelligence community's decision to change requirements for 
whistleblowers seeking to report ``urgent concerns'' to 
Congress.
    In 2019, Chairman Grassley also introduced the 
Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act of 2019, referred to the 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. This 
legislation is a response to the Supreme Court's decision in 
Digital Realty v. Somers, in which the Court ruled that a 
whistleblower who reports violations of the Nation's securities 
laws is protected from retaliation only when he or she 
discloses wrongdoing directly to the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC). The bill makes clear that internal 
disclosures should be protected under the SEC program and 
strengthened other whistleblower protections for whistleblowers 
working in a variety of key sectors, including the securities 
and commodities industries and the Foreign Service.
    In 2020, Chairman Grassley introduced the CFTC Fund 
Management Act, referred to the Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry Committee. This legislation includes important updates 
to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's highly successful 
whistleblower program, including an increase to the statutory 
cap for the fund used to pay whistleblower awards and new audit 
requirements designed to increase transparency.
    To honor the critical role played by whistleblowers in 
promoting good governance and effective oversight, Chairman 
Grassley also introduced resolutions designating July 30, 2019, 
and July 30, 2020, as ``National Whistleblower Appreciation 
Day.'' Both resolutions passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

                        Full Committee Hearings

2019
June 5, 2019--``Foreign Threats to Taxpayer-Funded Research: 
    Oversight Opportunities and Policy Solutions.'' Testimony 
    was heard from Captain Michael Schmoyer, Ph.D., Assistant 
    Deputy Secretary for National Security and Director, Office 
    of National Security, Department of Health and Human 
    Services, Washington, DC; Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., 
    Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health, 
    Bethesda, MD; Leslie W. Hollie, Chef of Investigative 
    Operations, Office of Inspector General, Department of 
    Health and Human Services, Washington, DC; Louis A. Rodi 
    III, Deputy Assistant Director, National Security 
    Investigations Division, Immigration and Customs 
    Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, 
    DC; and Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., Gordon Moore chair of 
    biomedical engineering and associate director for 
    biophysical oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon 
    Health and Science University, Portland, OR.
2020
June 2, 2020--``COVID-19 and Beyond: Oversight of the FDA's 
    Foreign Drug Manufacturing Inspection Process.'' Testimony 
    was heard from Mark Abdoo, Associate Commissioner for 
    Global Policy and Strategy, Food and Drug Administration, 
    Department of Health and Human Services, Silver Spring, MD; 
    Judith McMeekin, Pharm.D., Associate Commissioner for 
    Regulatory Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, 
    Department of Health and Human Services, Silver Spring, MD; 
    Mary Denigan-Macauley, Ph.D., Director, Health Care, 
    Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC; Douglas 
    C. Throckmorton, M.D., Deputy Director for Regulatory 
    Programs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and 
    Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human 
    Services, Silver Spring, MD; David Light, founder and CEO, 
    Valisure, New Haven, CT; and Martin VanTrieste, president 
    and CEO, CivicaRx, Inc., Lehi, UT.
July 28, 2020--``Part 1: Protecting the Reliability of the U.S. 
    Medical Supply Chain During the COVID-19 Pandemic.'' 
    Testimony was heard from Soraya Correa, Chief Procurement 
    Officer, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC; 
    Thomas F. Overacker, Executive Director, Cargo and 
    Conveyance Security, Customs and Border Protection, 
    Washington, DC; and Steve Francis, Assistant Director, 
    Global Trade Investigations Division, and Director, 
    National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, 
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland 
    Security,Washington, DC.
July 30, 2020--``Part 2: Protecting the Reliability of the U.S. 
    Medical Supply Chain During the COVID-19 Pandemic.'' 
    Testimony was heard from Cathy Denning, R.N., MSN, group 
    senior vice president, Sourcing Operations, Analytics, and 
    Center of Excellence, Vizient, Irving, TX; Robert J. Wiehe, 
    senior vice president, chief supply chain and logistics 
    officer, UC Health, Cincinnati, OH; Charles Johnson, 
    president, International Safety Equipment Association, 
    Arlington, VA; and Ernest Grant, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, 
    president, American Nurses Association, Silver Spring, MD.

                   Full Committee Classified Briefing

June 5, 2019--``Foreign Threats to Taxpayer-Funded Research: 
    Oversight Opportunities and Policy Solutions.'' Testimony 
    was heard from Captain Michael Schmoyer, Ph.D., Assistant 
    Deputy Secretary for National Security and Director, Office 
    of National Security, Department of Health and Human 
    Services, Washington, DC; Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., 
    Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health, 
    Bethesda, MD; Leslie W. Hollie, Chef of Investigative 
    Operations, Office of Inspector General, Department of 
    Health and Human Services, Washington, DC; and Louis A. 
    Rodi III, Deputy Assistant Director, National Security 
    Investigations Division, Immigration and Customs 
    Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, 
    DC.

                              Nominations

Michael N. Nemelka, of Utah, to be a Deputy United States Trade 
        Representative (Investment, Services, Labor, 
        Environment, Africa, China, and the Western 
        Hemisphere), with the rank of Ambassador, vice C.J. 
        Mahoney.
  May 4, 2020: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 21, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  August 3, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  August 3, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  August 3, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 819. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Christian N. Weiler, of Louisiana, to be a judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice Albert G. 
        Lauber, term expiring.
  November 19, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 21, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  August 3, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  August 3, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  August 3, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 818. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Alina I. Marshall, of Virginia, to be a judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice L. Paige 
        Marvel, term expiring.
  November 19, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 21, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  August 3, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  August 3, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  August 3, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 817. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  August 13, 2020: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Sarah C. Arbes, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services, vice Matthew Bassett, 
        resigned.
  October 30, 2019: Received in the Senate.
  October 30, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
  February 5, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  March 10, 2020: Referred to the Committee on Finance as 
            requested by Senator Grassley.
  March 11, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 11, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  March 11, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 595. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  March 21, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  March 21, 2020: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Kipp Kranbuhl, of Ohio, to be an Assistant Secretary of the 
        Treasury, vice Matthew S. Rutherford, resigned.
  October 15, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  February 5, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  March 11, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 11, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  March 11, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 594. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  January 3, 2021: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
Amy Karpel, of Washington, to be a member of the United States 
        International Trade Commission for a term expiring June 
        16, 2023, vice Irving A. Williamson, term expired.
  June 5, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  June 11, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  June 11, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  August 1, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Confirmed in Senate by voice vote.
Brent James McIntosh, of Michigan, to be an Under Secretary of 
        the Treasury, vice David Malpass, resigned.
  May 23, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 24, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 31, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  July 31, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  July 31, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 419. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  September 12, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  September 12, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  September 16, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate 
            September 17, 2019.
  September 17, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 54-40.
  September 17, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 17, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate.
  September 18, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 18, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            54-38.
Brian Callanan, of New Jersey, to be General Counsel for the 
        Department of the Treasury, vice Brent James McIntosh.
  May 23, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 24, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 31, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  July 31, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  July 31, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 418. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  September 12, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  September 12, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  September 9, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  September 16, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate 
            September 17, 2019.
  September 17, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 55-37.
  September 17, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 18, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 18, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            55-39.
Brian McGuire, of New York, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of 
        the Treasury, vice Andrew K. Maloney, resigned.
  February 25, 2019: Received in the Senate.
  February 25, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
  July 24, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 30, 2019: Referred to the Committee on Finance as 
            requested by Senator Grassley.
  July 31, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  July 31, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  July 31, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 417. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  September 18, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  September 18, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  September 18, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate 
            September 19, 2019.
  September 19, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 23, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 23, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 82-6.
  September 23, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate 
            and vote September 24, 2019.
  September 24, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 24, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            88-6. Record vote number: 298.
Emin Toro, of Virginia, to be a judge of the United States Tax 
        Court for a term of 15 years, vice Joseph Robert Goeke, 
        term expired.
  February 6, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  May 9, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  May 25, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  May 25, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  May 25, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 293. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Courtney Dunbar Jones, of Virginia, to be a judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, vice John O. 
        Colvin, retired.
  February 6, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  March 26, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 26, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  March 26, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 158. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Mark Van Dyke Holmes, of New York, to be a judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years 
        (reappointment).
  February 6, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2020: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
Mark Van Dyke Holmes, of New York, to be a judge of the United 
        States Tax Court for a term of 15 years 
        (reappointment).
  December 10, 2020: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2021: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
Travis Greaves, of the District of Columbia, to be a judge of 
        the United States Tax Court for a term of 15 years, 
        vice Juan F. Vasquez, term expired.
  February 6, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  July 24, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  July 31, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  July 31, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  July 31, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 416. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  February 13, 2020: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  February 13, 2020: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  February 13, 2020: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  February 24, 2020: By unanimous consent agreement, debate and 
            vote February 25, 2020.
  February 25, 2020: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            91-5.
  February 25, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  February 25, 2020: By unanimous consent agreement, debate and 
            vote February 27, 2020.
  February 27, 2020: Considered by Senate.
  February 27, 2020: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            85-3.
Gordon Hartogensis, of Connecticut, to be Director of the 
        Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for a term of 5 
        years, vice W. Thomas Reeder, Jr., resigned.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred jointly 
            to the Committees on Finance and Health, Education, 
            Labor, and Pensions pursuant to section 411(c) of 
            Pub. L. 109-280.
  March 26, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 26, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  April 9, 2019: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
            Pensions. Ordered to be reported favorably.
  April 9, 2019: Reported by Senator Alexander, Committee on 
            Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, without 
            printed report.
  April 9, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 214. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  April 11, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  April 11, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  April 11, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  April 30, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            72-27.
  April 30, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  April 30, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate April 
            30, 2019.
  April 30, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 72-
            27.
Randolph J. Stayin, of Virginia, to be a member of the United 
        States International Trade Commission for a term 
        expiring June 16, 2026, vice Meredith M. Broadbent, 
        term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  June 11, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  June 11, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  June 11, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 296. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Andrew M. Saul, of New York, to be Commissioner of Social 
        Security for the term expiring January 19, 2025 
        (reappointment).
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  March 26, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 26, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  March 26, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 157. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  May 23, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  May 23, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  May 23, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  June 3, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 74-
            17.
  June 3, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  June 3, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate and vote 
            June 4, 2019.
  June 4, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  June 4, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 77-16.
Andrew M. Saul, of New York, to be Commissioner of Social 
        Security for the term expiring January 19, 2019, vice 
        Michael J. Astrue, resigned.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2020: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
Jeffrey Kessler, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
        Commerce, vice Paul Piquado, resigned.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  February 5, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be 
            reported favorably.
  February 5, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  February 5, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. 
            Calendar No. 8.
  April 1, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  April 1, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  April 2, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate April 
            2, 2019.
  April 3, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  April 3, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 95-
            3.
  April 3, 2019: Point of order by Senator McConnell that the 
            post-cloture time under Rule XXII for all executive 
            branch nominations other than a position at level I 
            of the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of 
            title 5, U.S.C. is 2 hours in Senate.
  April 3, 2019: Ruling of the chair that the point of order 
            raised by Senator McConnell with respect to the 
            post-cloture time under Rule XXII was not 
            sustained.
  April 3, 2019: Motion by Senator McConnell to appeal the 
            ruling of the chair agreed to, the question being, 
            ``Shall the decision of the chair stand as the 
            judgment of the Senate?''; determined by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 48-51.
  April 3, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Amy Karpel, of Washington, to be a member of the United States 
        International Trade Commission for the remainder of the 
        term expiring June 16, 2020, vice F. Scott Kieff, 
        resigned.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  June 5, 2019: Received message of withdrawal of nomination 
            from the President.
Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary 
        of the Treasury, vice Karen Dynan.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  February 5, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be 
            reported favorably.
  February 5, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  February 5, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. 
            Calendar No. 7.
  August 1, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  August 1, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.
Michael J. Desmond, of California, to be Chief Counsel for the 
        Internal Revenue Service and an Assistant General 
        Counsel in the Department of the Treasury, vice William 
        J. Wilkins.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  February 5, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  February 5, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. 
            Calendar No. 6.
  February 14, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination in Senate by voice 
            vote.
  February 14, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  February 14, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  February 26, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            84-15.
  February 26, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  February 26, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate and 
            vote February 27, 2019.
  February 27, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  February 27, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            83-15.
Elizabeth Darling, of Texas, to be Commissioner on Children, 
        Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human 
        Services, vice Rafael J. Lopez.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate.
  January 16, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  February 4, 2019: Referred to the Committee on Finance as 
            requested by Senator Grassley.
  February 5, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be 
            reported favorably.
  February 5, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  February 5, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. 
            Calendar No. 5.
  August 1, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  August 1, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  August 1, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  September 9, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate and 
            vote September 10, 2019.
  September 10, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 57-37.
  September 10, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 10, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            57-37.
David Fabian Black, of North Dakota, to be Deputy Commissioner 
        of Social Security for a term expiring January 19, 2025 
        (reappointment).
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  May 9, 2019: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  May 23, 2019: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  May 23, 2019: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  May 23, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 292. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
  September 19, 2019: Motion to proceed to executive session to 
            consideration of nomination agreed to in Senate by 
            voice vote.
  September 19, 2019: Cloture motion presented in Senate.
  September 19, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, mandatory 
            quorum required under Rule XXII waived.
  September 23, 2019: By unanimous consent agreement, debate 
            and vote September 24, 2019.
  September 24, 2019: Cloture invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay 
            vote, 66-25. Record vote number: 297.
  September 24, 2019: Considered by Senate.
  September 24, 2019: Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay vote, 
            68-26. Record vote number: 301.
David Fabian Black, of North Dakota, to be Deputy Commissioner 
        of Social Security for the term expiring January 19, 
        2019, vice Carolyn W. Colvin, term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2020: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
Jason J. Fichtner, of the District of Columbia, to be a member 
        of the Social Security Advisory Board for a term 
        expiring September 30, 2024, vice Lanhee J. Chen, term 
        expired.
  January 16, 2020: Received in the Senate.
  January 16, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
  February 5, 2020: Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
  March 10, 2020: Referred to the Committee on Finance as 
            requested by Senator Grassley.
  March 11, 2020: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported 
            favorably.
  March 11, 2020: Reported by Senator Grassley, Committee on 
            Finance, without printed report.
  March 11, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar 
            No. 593. Subject to nominee's commitment to respond 
            to requests to appear and testify before any duly 
            constituted committee of the Senate.
Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto, of California, to be Deputy 
        Under Secretary of the Treasury, vice Ramin Toloui.
  January 9, 2019: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2020: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.
William G. Dauster, of Maryland, 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 Robert D. Reischauer, 
        term expired.
  February 12, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
William G. Dauster, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund 
        for a term of 4 years, vice Robert D. Reischauer, term 
        expired.
  February 12, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
William G. Dauster, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance 
        Trust Fund for a term of 4 years, vice Robert D. 
        Reischauer, term expired.
  February 12, 2020: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
James B. Lockhart III, of Connecticut, to be a member of the 
        Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance 
        Trust Fund for a term of 4 years, vice Charles P. 
        Blahous III, term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
James B. Lockhart III, of Connecticut, 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 
        Charles P. Blahous III, term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
James B. Lockhart III, of Connecticut, to be a member of the 
        Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical 
        Insurance Trust Fund for a term of 4 years, vice 
        Charles P. Blahous III, term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
Michael J. Astrue, of Massachusetts, to be a member of the 
        Social Security Advisory Board for a term expiring 
        September 30, 2022, vice Alan L. Cohen, term expired.
  January 16, 2019: Received in the Senate.
  January 16, 2019: Placed on Senate Executive Calendar in the 
            Privileged Nominations section with nominee 
            information requested by the Committee on Finance, 
            pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress.
  September 9, 2019: Received message of withdrawal of 
            nomination from the President.
William Patrick Joseph Kimmitt, of Virginia, to be a member of 
        the United States International Trade Commission for a 
        term expiring June 16, 2029, vice F. Scott Kieff, term 
        expired.
  December 2, 2020: Received in the Senate and referred to the 
            Committee on Finance.
  January 3, 2021: Returned to the President under the 
            provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the 
            Standing Rules of the Senate.

                     BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS REFERRED
                            TO THE COMMITTEE

    There were 918 Senate bills and 12 House bills referred to 
the committee for consideration during the 116th Congress. In 
addition, 12 Senate and House resolutions (joint, concurrent, 
or simple resolutions) were referred to the committee.

                      REPORTS, PRINTS, AND STUDIES

    During the 116th Congress, the committee and supporting 
joint committees prepared and issued 6 reports, special prints, 
and studies on the following topics:
          

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Title                  Document no.        To accompany
------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States-Mexico-Canada       116-283...........  H.R. 5430
 Agreement Implementation Act.
The Prescription Drug Pricing     116-120...........  S. 2543
 Reduction Act of 2019.
Insulin: Examining the Factors    116-51............  ..................
 Driving the Rising Cost of a
 Century Old Drug.
Syndicated Conservation-Easement  116-44............  ..................
 Transactions.
Report on the Activities of the   116-19............  ..................
 Committee on Finance of the
 United States Senate During the
 115th Congress.
Rules of Procedure of the         116-2.............  ..................
 Committee on Finance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                        OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS

    During the 116th Congress, a total of 472 official 
communications were submitted to the committee. Of these, 4 
were Presidential Messages; 420 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 48 Petitions and Memorials.