Chronology of Committee Work

Investigation Finds Loopholes in Gun Background Checks

At the request of Rep. Waxman, the Special Investigations Division and GAO examined the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). As part of this investigation, GAO agents used off-the-shelf software to make counterfeit drivers licenses and then used these false IDs to buy guns in five states: Virginia, West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona. The agents were successful in all five states. As part of the investigation, GAO issued its own report concluding that the instant background check system cannot ensure that prospective purchasers are not felons or others ineligible to buy guns.

Poor Enforcement of Nursing Home Protections in New York

A report prepared by the Special Investigations Division for Reps. Louise Slaughter and Carolyn Maloney found that the New York State Department of Health has done a poor job of protecting New York's nursing home residents. According to federal inspectors, state inspectors, who are responsible for enforcing federal nursing home standards, committed "egregious omissions" and missed "overwhelming evidence of widespread quality of care problems." Report found that state inspectors often missed disturbing violations, such as the failure to provide proper pain medication or the use of unnecessary physical restraints.

Child Tobacco Use Prevention Act and FDA Tobacco Jurisdiction Act

Reps. Waxman, James Hansen, and Marty Meehan introduced the Child Tobacco Use Prevention Act of 2001 (H.R. 1044). This comprehensive legislation to reduce tobacco use by children provides FDA the authority to regulate tobacco, establishes performance-based standards to give individual tobacco companies economic incentives to reduce the numbers of children that smoke, creates national requirements for smoke-free environments, and funds a new nationwide public education campaign. Reps. Waxman, Hansen, and Meehan also introduced the FDA Tobacco Jurisdiction Act of 2001 (H.R. 1043). This legislation authorizes the FDA to regulate tobacco products, validates FDA’s tobacco rule, and incorporates some key additional requirements, such as the elimination of the Marlboro Man and other human figures in advertising.

Medicaid Drug Price Manipulation

At Rep. Waxman's request, the Inspector General of HHS and the Special Investigations Division have examined allegiations allegations that drug companies have circumvented the requirement that they provide the Medicaid program with rebates based on their “best” or lowest drug prices.

Statistics on the Campaign Finance Investigation

During the course of the campaign finance investigation, Rep. Burton issued over 900 unilateral subpoenas, 99% of which targeted Democrats. He also interviewed or deposed hundreds of witnesses and received over a million pages of documents. These – and other – statistics on the investigation have been compiled by the minority staff.

Safety of Drugs for Women

At the request of Rep. Waxman and Senators Tom Harkin, Barbara Mikulski, and Olympia Snowe, GAO reviewed drug products withdrawn from the U.S. market since January 1, 1997. This review revealed that eight of ten prescription drugs withdrawn posed greater risk for women than for men.

Minority Views on the Department of Justice Investigation

The majority’s December 13, 2000, report on the Department of Justice is based on unfounded allegations, unfairly smears numerous individuals, and is highly partisan. The minority views respond to the majority’s claims and describe the Committee’s unfortunate recent pattern of improperly injecting itself into prosecutorial decisions. Several individuals named in the majority report or who represent individuals named in the majority report have written the Committee to register concern about the majority’s report.

Minority Views on the E-mail Report

Throughout the e-mail investigation, the majority has made a number of unsupported, inflammatory, and highly speculative allegations. The majority has repeatedly compared the investigation to Watergate, and has accused a number of past and present government officials of wrongdoing. The minority views respond to these and other allegations made in the majority’s October 2000 e-mail report.

Minority Views on the Waco Investigation Report

As detailed in the minority views, the Committee’s 13-month investigation of Waco was unnecessary, expensive, and fruitless. Although the majority report spans 100 pages and includes nearly 1,400 pages of documentary exhibits, it contributes virtually nothing to the public’s understanding of Waco. Many of the report’s findings duplicate those of Senator Danforth’s investigation. In an interim report issued July 21, 2000, as well as in a final report issued November 8, 2000, Senator Danforth concluded that government agents did not cause or contribute to the fire that consumed the Branch Davidian compound on April 19, 1993, did not direct gunfire at the Branch Davidians on April 19, 1993, and did not unlawfully employ U.S. armed forces at any time during the standoff. To the extent the majority report deviates from Senator Danforth’s findings, it consists largely of unsupported allegations of wrongdoing by the Attorney General and Justice Department officials.

Loopholes in the Drug Reimportation Bill

Congress enacted legislation as part of the Agriculture Appropriations bill (Pub. L. No. 106-387) that purports to address prescription drug price discrimination by allowing the importation of lower priced foreign drugs. In reality, however, the drug reimportation provisions contain numerous loopholes that will prevent the law from reducing drug prices for seniors and other U.S. customers. One of the loopholes in the reimportation provisions creates a labeling “Catch 22” under which drugs cannot be imported into the United States unless the drug manufacturer consents to the importation by authorizing the importer to use the FDA-approved label. Because of the loopholes in the legislation, former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala determined that the law could not be successfully implemented.

Breast Cancer Drugs Are More Expensive on Long Island than in Foreign Countries

This report for Rep. McCarthy is an example of the reports prepared by the Special Investigations Division that compare breast cancer drug prices in the United States with prices in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It found that breast cancer patients in Long Island pay much more for drugs than consumers in these four industrialized countries.

Committee Hearings on White House E-mails

The Committee held five days of hearings in 2000 on the topic of White House e-mails. Rep. Waxman’s opening statements have attempted to put some of the issues explored at these hearings into their proper context, while rebutting many of the unsubstantiated allegations that have been made by the majority and others during the investigation.

Prescription Drug Coverage

A report for Rep. Waxman by the Special Investigations Division found that over one-third of California seniors lack prescription drug coverage. In addition, the report found that many seniors in the state skip or reduce dosages of medications because they cannot afford to follow their doctors’ prescriptions; that the number of uninsured seniors in California is increasing; and that even seniors in the state who have drug insurance encounter difficulty affording their medicine.

Campaign Finance Correspondence

Throughout the campaign finance investigation, Rep. Waxman regularly documented abuses and improper conduct by the majority through correspondence with Rep. Burton. In the 105th Congress, for example, Rep. Waxman wrote 146 letters to Rep. Burton about the conduct of the investigation.

Investigating Class Size

At the request of members of Congress, the Special Investigations Division of the minority staff has conducted investigations into class sizes in grades K-3 in various cities and localities across the country.

Statements on the Campaign Finance Investigation

Rep. Waxman’s opening statements provide a window into many mistakes and unsubstantiated allegations that characterize the majority’s campaign finance investigation.

Legislation Relating to Fifty Caliber Rifles

At the urging of Reps. Blagojevich and Waxman and other members, Congress enacted one important piece of legislation in 1999 relating to fifty caliber sniper weapons as part of the Department of Defense appropriations bill (Pub. L. No. 106-259). This law prohibits the Department of Defense from selling armor-piercing ammunition for fifty caliber weapons to civilians through its demilitarization program. Other Important Pieces of Legislationrelating to fifty caliber sniper weapons have been introduced by Reps. Blagojevich and Waxman, but not enacted into law. In 1999, Reps. Blagojevich and Waxman introduced the Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act (H.R. 2127) to regulate these weapons under the restrictive standards utilized for machine guns and other dangerous weapons. In 1999, Reps. Blagojevich and Waxman also introduced the Law Enforcement Official Protection and Officer John C. Knight Memorial Act (H.R. 2421) to regulate the sale and manufacture of armor piercing and incendiary ammunition.

Committee Hearings Highlight Allegations on Vaccine Safety

The Committee held four hearings on childhood immunizations in the 106th Congress. These hearings highlighted allegations regarding the safety of some vaccines and conflicts of interest in the vaccine approval process. In one hearing in April 2000, witnesses alleged that autism may be caused by the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, a theory that has been contradicted by several epidemiological studies. At the request of Mr. Waxman and Chairman Burton, HHS contracted with the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine to analyze all the available science on this theory. The IOM issued its report which found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Concerned that parents may be needlessly frightened about vaccine safety and as a result may stop vaccinating their children, Rep. Waxman wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times explaining that this remains an unproven hypothesis. Other allegations about vaccines made during the course of these hearings have never been proved as well. Rep. Waxman’s hearing statements explain the need for sound research into these questions while emphasizing that parents should not be unnecessarily scared from giving their children safe and effective vaccines against known, debilitating, and deadly diseases.

Medicare’s Failure to Cover Kidney Medication Costs Taxpayers Millions

At the request of Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, the Special Investigations Division investigated Medicare’s coverage of prescription drugs for kidney dialysis patients.

Many Companies Fail to Implement Sound Medical Privacy Policies

Millions of Americans participate in health plans provided by large employers. In April 2000, Rep. Waxman released a report by the Special Investigations Division that evaluates whether these major employers have medical privacy policies that comply with the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other privacy experts. The report found that many companies have failed to implement sound privacy policies.

Committee Hearings on DOD Anthrax Immunization Program

Chairman Burton held two full Committee hearings in the 106th Congress on the Department of Defense’s Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program. This program has been fraught with logistical and production problems. Minority views acknowledge the problems with the production and distribution of the vaccine and encourage measures to enhance the protective program. The minority views also note that the Food and Drug Administration testified numerous times that the vaccine is safe and effective for individuals at high risk of exposure to anthrax when used in accordance with the approved labeling.

Pricing of Breast Cancer Drugs on Long Island: Breast Cancer Victims Face Discriminatory Prices

This report for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island, New York, is an example of the reports prepared by the Special Investigations Division that compare breast cancer drug prices. It found that breast cancer patients are forced to pay twice as much for lifesaving medicines as drug companies’ favored U.S. customers, such as HMOs and the federal government.

Medicaid Drug Price Manipulation

At the request of Rep. Waxman, the HHS Inspector General and the Special Investigations Division investigated whether drug manufacturers are circumventing the law that requires them to provide drugs to the Medicaid program at the same low prices available to favored private sector purchasers.

Drug Manufacturer Prices Are Higher for Humans than for Animals

This report for Rep. Tom Allen is an example of the reports prepared by the Special Investigations Division that compare human and animal drug prices. It finds that drug manufacturers charge twice as much for drugs when they are used to treat humans than they charge when the same drugs are used to treat animals.

FDA Approval of Rezulin

A new diabetes medication has been linked to at least 33 deaths since it was approved in 1996. According to the Los Angeles Times, the government's top diabetes researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was a paid consultant to Rezulin's manufacturer, Warner-Lambert, while he oversaw the selection and use of the drug in a major government diabetes prevention study. Rep. Waxman wrote NIH Director Dr. Harold Varmus to resolve questions about the safety of Rezulin and the potential conflicts of interest.

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