On January 4, 2007, Rep. Henry A. Waxman was officially elected Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee by members of the 110th Congress.
As part of President Bush's revised strategy for Iraq, he appears likely to propose giving large sums of U.S. taxpayer dollars to decrepit and possibly corrupt state-owned Iraqi companies. In a letter to his colleagues, Chairman Waxman proposes that Congress answer several key questions regarding the President's new spending proposal.
Rep. Waxman's floor statement supporting H.R. 3, on stem cell research.
Representative Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced the appointment of the Democratic members of the committee for the 110th Congress.
On Thursday, January 18, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will meet to organize and to approve the committee’s rules of procedures for the 110th Congress.
For two years, EPA repeatedly stated that an energy facility off of the California coast needed to meet Ventura County’s clean air rules. Chairman Waxman requests the EPA analysis that formed the basis for the reversal of that position in June 2005.
Following a meeting of the Democratic members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Waxman announces the subcommittee chairmen and Democratic membership.
Rep. Waxman has requested the testimony of L. Paul Bremer, Stuart Bowen, and Timothy Carney at an Oversight Committee hearing on waste, fraud, and abuse, which will focus on Iraq reconstruction. The hearing will be held the week of February 6th.
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee held an organizational meeting adopting the rules of the committee for the 110th Congress, as well as establishing subcommittee jurisdictions and approving member assignments.
Chairman Waxman writes to GSA Administrator Lurita A. Doan and others inquiring about GSA procurement issues.
Chairman Waxman reiterates a request to CEQ Chairman James Connaughton for documents related to CEQ's actions related to editing scientific reports on global warming.
Chairman Waxman requests documents related to the use of private security contractors in Iraq.
Chairman Waxman's response to the State of the Union address.
On Tuesday, January 30, 2007, the Committee held an oversight hearing on allegations of political interference with government climate change science. At the hearing, the Committee heard about numerous instances of political interference with the work of climate scientists under the Bush Administration.
From February 6-9, the Oversight Committee will hold four hearings on waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. The hearings focus on Iraqi reconstruction, Homeland Security contracting, and prescription drug pricing.
Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, testified on management of U.S. funds in Iraq. Questions were raised about an audit report issued in 2005 by Mr. Bowen that concluded that more than $8.8 billion in cash was disbursed without adequate financial controls.
Family members of four Blackwater employees killed in Fallujah testified about what they view as profiteering by Blackwater USA, including the company’s alleged failure to provide armored vehicles and other critical safety equipment. The Committee examined the costs of Blackwater’s security operations to the taxpayer and the adequacy of federal oversight of Blackwater and other security contractors.
As the result of an investigation by Chairman Waxman, the Army discovered significant violations involving the use of private security services. At one of the Committee’s first fraud, waste, and abuse hearings this Congress, the Army announced today that it was reducing payments to KBR by $19.6 million.
The hearing focused on the Department of Homeland Security’s management of large contracts that rely on private contractors as “system integrators.” The Committee focused on two examples of multi-billion dollar contracts: the Deepwater program to develop new ships for the Coast Guard and the Secure Border Initiative to integrate technology and personnel to defend the nation’s borders.
The goal of the hearing is to examine whether there are fraudulent, abusive, or wasteful pharmaceutical pricing practices that affect federal health programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the Public Health Service “340B” program that should be the subject of additional congressional oversight.
Chairman Waxman sent a letter to the chief executives of twelve Medicare insurers requesting Part D prescription drug pricing information, including profits and administrative costs associated with Medicare Part D coverage.
Chairman Waxman introduced two bills to increase government transparency and encourage the discovery of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money. The hearing provided an opportunity for the Committee to focus on the issues of lobbying and ethics reform in the executive branch. The Committee heard from noted experts and academics on these issues.
On February 12, 2007, Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Ranking Minority Member Tom Davis introduced H.R. 984, the Executive Branch Reform Act, which would enact landmark “good government” reform.
H.R. 985, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007, was introduced by Reps. Waxman, Platts, Van Hollen, and T. Davis on February 12, 2007.
Displaying Items 1 to 25 of 275:
[1] • [2] • [3] • [4] • [5] • [6] • [7] • [8] • [9] • [10] • [11] • [12]