ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

Chairman Rangel Announces a Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel today announced the Committee will hold a hearing on President Bush's budget proposals for fiscal year 2008 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 8, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be limited to the invited witness, the Honorable Michael Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

On February 5, 2007, President George W. Bush will submit his fiscal year 2008 budget to Congress. The budget will detail his tax, spending and policy proposals for the coming year, including his proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services. Many of the Department's programs B such as Medicare, efforts to assist those who lack health insurance, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other income security efforts B are within the Committee's jurisdiction.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Rangel said, "Congress and the Administration must work together to improve access to affordable, reliable health care and ensure income security for all Americans. I welcome Secretary Leavitt before the Committee and look forward to his views on these critical issues."

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms. From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “110th Congress” from the menu entitled, “Committee Hearings” (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=18). Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.” Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking “submit” on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record. You MUST REPLY to the email and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Thursday, February 22, 2007. Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721.

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each witness.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.

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