Sponsor: Rep Stearns, Cliff [FL-6] (introduced 1/7/2003) Cosponsors: 20 Latest Major Action: 7/17/2003 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Rep. Waxman joined with 32 California Democratic colleagues to ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to substantially increase the refund to California proposed by a FERC judge for energy company overcharges. The judge had found that California was due $1.8 billion in refunds, but owed energy suppliers $3 billion. Some energy companies have admitted that they manipulated energy markets during the 2000-2001 energy crisis, and evidence has consistently indicated that California consumers have been gouged tens of billions of dollars by the energy industry.
Rep. Waxman and other members have expressed concern about the Justice Department's failure to prosecute the French bank Credit Lyonnais for its fraudulent takeover of Executive Life Insurance Company in 1991.
Rep. Waxman asks the Commerce Department's Inspector General to investigate a private reception paid for by wireless industry lobbyists in honor of Assistant Secretary of Commerce Nancy Victory, the Administration's top official on telecommunications issues. Soon after the reception, Ms. Victory wrote to the FCC to urge the adoption of a position advocated by the wireless industry.
Rep. Waxman urges Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to recommend federal intervention in an action against government contractor Lockheed Martin for alleged illegal activities at a plant in Paducah, Kentucky that have resulted in a public health and environmental catastrophe.
A report released by Rep. Waxman found that the vast majority of nursing homes in Los Angeles County continue to violate federal health standards.
The General Accounting Office announced that it would not appeal a Dec. 9, 2002, ruling that dismissed its lawsuit seeking records of Vice President Cheney’s energy task force.
The World Health Organization has estimated that 4.9 million people will die this year from diseases caused by tobacco products, a massive death toll that will soon eclipse that of any single disease. Instead of leading international efforts to reduce tobacco use, the Bush Administration has taken a string of actions to promote the sale of U.S. cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products abroad.
Rep. Waxman gave remarks about the serious implications of GAO's decision to abandon its efforts to obtain Cheney task force records.
The Jewish Journal has published Rep. Waxman's op-ed "Justice Delayed and Justice Denied: Greater oversight needed on Holocaust-era insurance claims panel."
Rep. Waxman and 33 other members write HHS Secretary Thompson to protest a string of actions by the Administration to promote its unproven 'abstinence-only' policies on international HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.
In the wake of the tragic death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, Rep. Waxman writes the commissioners of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League, as well as the Major League Baseball Players Association to ask why they have not acted to protect their players by prohibiting the use of ephedra-containing dietary supplements. Medical experts have linked these products to heatstroke, heart attacks, stroke, and seizures. The NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee already prohibit their use by athletes.
In letters to EPA Administrator Whitman and OMB official John Graham, Rep. Waxman and other members of Congress ask why EPA has failed to warn homeowners and workers nationwide about the risks from asbestos-contaminated Zonolite, an insulation used in up to 35 million homes.
Rep. Waxman, Sen. Durbin, and Rep. Doggett write President Bush to protest a confidential U.S. communiqué to Saudi Arabia that asks for Saudi support in weakening the global tobacco treaty. The letter also discloses an internal Philip Morris analysis that says that even Philip Morris is "to the left" of the Bush Administration on the international agreement.
Rep. Waxman writes Secret Service Director Ralph Basham to ask why Sami Al-Arian, a suspected terrorist leader, was allowed to visit the White House complex while at the same time the subject of an FBI investigation. Al-Arian has since been indicted on 50 counts of conspiring to finance terrorist attacks and as serving as a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Rep. Waxman sent HHS Secretary Thompson a report showing that federal maternal and child health programs do not set high standards for the reduction of smoking by parents and pregnant women.
Rep. Waxman, along with Sen. Durbin, Rep. DeLauro, Rep. Kaptur, and Rep. Brown, reveal that ConAgra Beef Company knew its meat was testing positive for the deadly bacteria E. coli O157:H7 weeks before last summer's outbreak.
The Committee on Government Reform held a hearing on children's access and exposure to pornography through Internet file-sharing programs. A GAO report and a staff report on the issue were released at the hearing.
One week after Rep. Waxman and 15 other members of Congress called on HHS to update its web site to reflect expert views, NCI has posted a new fact sheet stating "having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer."
In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Waxman writes that a key part of the U.S. case against Iraq – evidence that indicated that Iraq sought to obtain nuclear materials from the African country of Niger – was not regarded as credible by the CIA.
In a letter to CMS Administrator Tom Scully, Rep. Waxman and Sen. Grassley identify a serious flaw in the HHS Nursing Home Compare website: states are failing to report nursing home violations in a timely fashion.
In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, Rep. Waxman asks why the Administration has entered into a new multi-million dollar contract with Kellogg Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, for extinguishing oil fires in Iraq without any competition or notice to Congress.
Rep. Waxman, joined by 51 Members of Congress, filed an amicus brief supporting the State of California in American Insurance Association et. al. v. Garamendi.
In a letter to Swift & Company, formerly ConAgra, Rep. Waxman, along with Sen. Durbin, Rep. DeLauro, Rep. Kaptur, Rep. Brown, and Rep. DeGette ask the company to explain who knew about key results before the outbreak began last summer
Reps. Waxman and John Dingell ask GAO to investigate Defense Department contracts awarded to Halliburton over the past two years and to review the process by which the Administration has signed or intends to sign contracts with private firms for development work in Iraq.
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