The effort to make permanent the repeal of the estate tax would enrich a small group of wealthy Americans, while worsening the existing federal budget deficit. Among the beneficiaries of a permanent repeal are members of President Bush's cabinet, former officers of Enron, and key executives of other troubled companies. This small group of wealthy individuals would receive over $1 billion in potential tax savings.
Rep. Waxman writes EPA Administrator Whitman to urge that the EPA not undermine diesel emissions requirements by allowing manufacturers to trade emission reduction credits between off-road and highway engines. Rep. Waxman also expresses concern that EPA would be collaborating with the Office of Management and Budget in developing this new proposal.
In a letter to Chairman Burton, Rep. Waxman asks if the Committee will be investigating the apparent use of government time and resources by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, two senior White House officials, to develop a partisan analysis of Republican prospects in key House and Senate races.
In his opening statement at a hearing on vaccine safety, Rep. Waxman states that, with this series of hearings, Chairman Burton has repeatedly provided a forum for unsubstantiated allegations about vaccine safety that have alarmed and confused parents. Rep. Waxman also urges Chairman Burton drop his threats to subpoena patient information from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) project, a national database for monitoring vaccine safety, and instead accept the CDC's solution of working with the HMOs to create a process for allowing independent researchers access to the data.
White House Office of Homeland Security Director Ridge testifies at a Committee hearing on "The Department of Homeland Security: An Overview of the President's Proposal."
Rep. Waxman re-evaluates claims about the causes of the energy crisis in light of the facts as they are now known a year after the California energy crisis.
Rep. Waxman and Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, along with leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus, write to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to protest HHS actions that contradict the Institute of Medicine's expert recommendations on how to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.
The conference between the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on energy legislation began today. Rep. Waxman released a detailed section-by-section analysis of H.R. 4, the House energy bill, which shows that H.R. 4 is not a coherent national energy policy but is instead a collection of special interest giveaways to large energy industry campaign contributors.
JPMorgan Chase responds to Rep. Waxman's June 3 request for more information on the company's transactions with Enron involving a special-purpose entity named Sequoia.
The minority members of the Committee on Government Reform ask Director of Homeland Security Ridge for a comprehensive national homeland security strategy so that they may gauge whether the Administration's reorganization proposal best serves the nation's security goals.
This report for Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas is an example of the reports prepared by the Special Investigations Division that compare international drug prices to prices in the United States. It finds that seniors are forced to pay up to twice as much for drugs as consumers in Canada, Europe, and Japan.
Rep. Waxman released a report that shows dramatic price difference between what an average senior on the Westside of Los Angeles pays for prescription drugs compared to the price paid by seniors in other countries. Said Rep. Waxman, "A grandmother on the Westside has to pay more than twice as much for her drugs as a grandmother in France, in Canada, in Germany, in Italy, and in the United Kingdom. And for some drugs, seniors in Los Angeles are paying over three times more than seniors in other countries. This unconscionable gouging is unacceptable and has to end."
GAO files its reply to the Justice Department's motion to dismiss.
Sen. Harry Reid files an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief urging the court to decide the case in favor of GAO.
Rep. Waxman and Rep. Obey, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, wrote Director Of Homeland Security Ridge to address ten areas where questions have arisen over the details of the President's Department of Homeland Security proposal. These areas include the lack of a mechanism for coordinating a unified security strategy across the government and the many responsibilities given to the Department that have nothing to do with homeland security.
In a letter to Majority Leader Armey and Democratic Whip Pelosi, Rep. Waxman released a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate that finds that the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security will cost about $3 billion over the next four years. The CBO estimate counters Administration claims that the creation of the new Department "would not 'grow' government."
The Government Reform Committee held a meeting to consider H.R. 5005, the President's proposal for a new Department of Homeland Security. The Committee held a one-day markup in which approximately 50 amendments were offered and 35 were adopted. The reported bill is over 200 pages long, four times the length of H.R. 5005 as introduced.
In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Waxman calls on the President to consider donating to charity all or some of the profits from his sale of $848,560 worth of Harken Energy Company stock.
At a Subcommittee hearing on elevating the Environmental Protection Agency to a cabinet-level Department, Rep. Waxman details EPA's retreat from its core missions over the past year-and-a-half.
Six members wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson with questions on the Administration's proposed changes to the medical privacy rule, including the creation of a broad loophole through which drug companies could access patient health records without patient permission.
Six members write Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson with questions on the Administration's proposed changes to the medical privacy rule, including the creation of a broad loophole through which drug companies could access patient health records without patient permission.
A new report by the Special Investigations Division for Rep. Waxman finds that energy interests that gave millions of dollars in campaign contributions will receive billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies.
The Government Reform Committee minority staff released a summary of the major deficiencies in the legislation creating a new Department of Homeland Security, as well as other provisions affecting the jurisdiction of the Committee.
Rep. Waxman and Senator Barbara Boxer ask Army Secretary Thomas White whether the Enron stock he divested more than 90 days after his appointment was held in an illiquid private equity fund, as he has previously stated, and if it was not, than to explain why he waited more than 90 days to divest these holdings. Rep. Waxman and Senator Boxer also ask Secretary White about news accounts that Enron Energy Services (EES) set up a fake trading floor to mislead visiting analysts while Secretary White was EES vice chairman.
The Justice Department files a brief with the court responding to GAO's latest brief regarding a motion to dismiss.
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