Chronology of Committee Work

Domestic Policy Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Predatory Lending

The Domestic Policy Subcommittee held a hearing on predatory mortgages, payday loans, and foreclosures that plague inner-city America. This was be the first in a series of hearings Subcommittee Chairman Kucinich plans to hold looking at various issues afflicting urban America.

Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing on Taxpayer Financed Stadiums, Convention Centers, and Hotels

The public justification for public financing, including construction financing with tax exempt bonds, is that this is an investment that brings jobs and consumers to a city’s downtown. Academic research on the value to economic development, however, has universally concluded that sports stadiums, convention centers and hotels do not increase economic activity in downtown areas.

Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing Examines Controversial Provision Within Energy Policy Act

Subcommittee Chairman Kucinich held a hearing on Section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This provision could preempt state and local decision makers with regard to the siting of high-voltage electric transmission lines. It would also give energy companies the power of federal eminent domain in order to construct power lines over the objections of private land owners.

Oversight Adequacy of the Pediatric Dental Program for Medicaid Eligible Children

This hearing will examine the adequacy of CMS oversight mechanisms used to evaluate the ability of Medicaid programs to ensure children’s access to dental health. Although infallible oversight will not redress the inadequacy of Medicaid administered dental care, achieving such redress is elusive without adequate oversight.

Alterations to the Guide to Children's Dental Care in Medicaid

A Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday revealed that in 2001, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a contract to update a twenty-year-old guide to Medicaid and pediatric dentistry. Between the draft in late 2001 and the guide's publication in 2004, the document was significantly changed, with major portions deleted.

Lethal Loopholes: Deficiencies in State and Federal Gun Purchase Laws

On Thursday, May 10, the Domestic Policy Subcommittee evaluated incompleteness in the federal database used for checking the criminal and mental health records of gun purchasers, as well as the inconsistencies in state compliance with federal gun purchase laws.

Bill Will Improve Children's Dental Care Under Medicaid

Rep. Cummings, along with Subcommittee Chairman Kucinich, introduced “Deamonte’s Law,” a bill to increase children’s access to necessary dental services. The bill is named after 12-year-old Deamonte Driver, who died when an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. In addition, Reps. Cummings and Kucinich wrote to CMS and HHS asking for documents related to children’s dental care in Medicaid.

Hearing on Adequacy of Labor Law Enforcement in New Orleans

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, breaking levees and flooding New Orleans with more than 100 billion gallons of water. The flooding killed at least 1,400 people in Louisiana, half of whom were from New Orleans, and left hundreds of thousands of others homeless.

“After Blackstone: Should Small Investors be Exposed to Risks of Hedge Funds?”

The Domestic Policy Subcommittee, which has oversight jurisdiction over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will hold a hearing to examine the possible risks presented to ordinary investors by the recent Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone LP”) and similar upcoming initial public offerings (“IPOs”) of the management entities of hedge funds and private equity funds. The hearing will examine whether the SEC’s Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “’40 Act”) determination is likely to be accepted by the courts, whether existing investor protections are sufficient to protect ordinary investors from new risks, and whether new regulation is necessary.

ExxonMobil and Shell Answer Questions About Hot Fuels

Senior executives from two of the largest oil companies with operations in both the U.S. and Canada will testify at a Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing on “hot fuels” and what appears to be a double standard in the way they measure gasoline.

Will NIEHS’ New Priorities Protect Public Health?

The Domestic Policy Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine the impact on public health of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS) new research direction and priorities. A new emphasis on treating disease has come at the expense of preventive research, education and outreach.

Combating Drug Abuse and Drug-related Crime: What Is Working in Baltimore

After a period of improvement, lethal and non-lethal violent crime in Baltimore is on the rise. The Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing will examine innovative approaches to combating drug abuse, drug-related violence, and gang activity in Baltimore. The focus of the hearing will be on evaluating practical alternatives to incarceration to prevent drug use and drug-related violence. 

Professional Sport Stadiums: Do They Divert Public Funds From Critical Public Infrastructure?

This hearing will examine whether or not public subsidies for professional sports stadiums divert funds and attention away from America’s public infrastructure. This is the subcommittee’s second hearing on the topic. On March 29, 2007, the Domestic Policy Subcommittee held a hearing that looked at the promises of economic prosperity that are made to cities which finance professional sports stadiums. The first hearing revealed that no evidence has been found to suggest that professional sports stadiums create jobs, raise incomes, or raise local tax revenues.

UnitedHealth Group Concedes Nearly 11,000 Medicaid Children Enrolled With The Company In Maryland Have Not Seen A Dentist In 4+ Years; Few Dentists in Company’s Network Actually Serve Children

After publicly disputing a Congressional Committee’s finding of thousands of Medicaid enrolled children in Maryland who were not getting dental care to which they were entitled, UnitedHealth Group conceded the accuracy of that and other findings made by the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in a letter the company sent to Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).

Upholding the Spirit of the CRA: Do CRA Ratings Accurately Reflect Bank Practices?

This hearing will expose and explain how Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) exams may not reflect discriminatory practices by regulated banks, including the problems associated with regulatory discretion and new bank structures that were prohibited when Congress enacted the CRA. It will also analyze the detrimental affect of non-disclosure of fair lending exams on community participation and CRA enforcement.

Evaluating The Labor Department In New Orleans: DOL’s Performance In Investigating and Prosecuting Wage and Hour Violations And Protecting Guest Workers

This hearing continues an investigation that began earlier this year into the adequacy of labor law enforcement in New Orleans during the period following Hurricane Katrina. The field hearing will take a closer look at the performance of the New Orleans District Office of the US Department of Labor since the hurricane.

Environmental Risks Of And Regulatory Response To Mercury Dental Fillings

This hearing will examine the environmental risks of mercury in dental fillings (known as dental mercury amalgam) and the government’s regulatory response to it.

Chairman Kucinich Initiates Congressional Oversight Of The Perry Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown And NRC Response

In response to the emergency closure of FirstEnergy’s Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today requesting a briefing on the findings of its special inspection of the facility.

What the October Wildfires Reveal About Preparedness In Southern California

On October 21, a wildfire began in Witch Creek, a rural area in the foothills of San Diego. At the height of the disaster, 23 fires were burning. By the time all the fires were contained, 368,000 acres of land had been burned; 1,700 homes were destroyed; and 10 people died.

Assessing The Environmental Risks of the Water Bottling Industry’s Extraction of Groundwater

This hearing will examine the environmental issues presented when water bottling plants extract groundwater and spring water from water sources in rural communities.

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