Today we are going to hear about a number of Medicare provider payments that will soon expire unless Congress intervenes. But just because Congress must act, does not mean it should do so blindly. This hearing offers us, and more importantly the American people, a chance to consider whether Congress should spend more than $2 billion to reauthorize these additional payments for another year. Just as importantly, it affords interested parties the opportunity to make their case as to whether or not... Read more

In 1996 I was a part of the historic reform of our welfare system as were some of the members to my left and right here on the dais. So, I’ve seen what Congress can do when we work together across party lines to accomplish goals for the greater good, and the child welfare legislation before us today is no different. I’d like to thank Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Doggett for their leadership on this issue. They’ve held numerous hearings on these issues and this m... Read more

The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act continues this Committee’s tradition of bipartisanship in crafting child welfare legislation. The bill we are considering today reauthorizes two important child welfare programs, incorporating a series of improvements developed during hearings held by the Subcommittee on Human Resources over the past few months. This bill is the result of collaboration between House Republicans and Democrats, as well as our colleagues from both parties... Read more

Today we are going to hear from a panel of witnesses regarding consolidation in the health care industry. Consolidation among hospitals, doctors, and insurance plans has occurred for some time. I recognize that, at least in theory, consolidation can lead to greater efficiencies and improved outcomes. Unfortunately, research has shown that higher prices are more often the result. Consolidation allows providers to command higher private insurance payment rates. As one official at an Ohio hospital ... Read more

Co-chairmen Hensarling and Murray, fellow members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, The problem we face is obvious: there is too much government spending and too much federal debt, which are impeding the economy’s ability to grow. As a result, too few private sector jobs are being created. We know it, and the American people know it. A quick look at the facts shows this Committee has its work cut out for it: There were zero net jobs created in the month of August. Roughly 14 mi... Read more

Today we will review ideas for reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Since it replaced the New Deal-era AFDC program in 1996, TANF has been successful at cutting welfare caseloads by 57 percent through last year. Even more importantly, by promoting work among single parents who are the most common welfare recipients, it has helped reduce child poverty in female-headed families by 10 percent, even with the deep recession. But despite such progress, TANF can and... Read more

Back in November 1936, the U.S. Postal Service first began issuing Social Security cards to workers. Even though Social Security numbers were created to track earnings for determining Social Security benefits, today these numbers are widely used as personal identifiers. Some uses of Social Security numbers are mandated, for example for income and tax-related reporting to the IRS by employers, banks and insurance companies. Countless other businesses use this 9-digit number as a default identifie... Read more

Good morning. I’d like to welcome everyone to this morning’s hearing on the new IRS paid tax return preparer initiative. In recent years, the increasing complexity of the Internal Revenue Code has led more and more Americans to rely on paid tax return preparers to fulfill their tax return filing obligations. Paid tax return preparers prepared an estimated 60 percent of all federal returns filed. At a Subcommittee hearing earlier this year, even the Commissioner of the IRS testified that he relie... Read more

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. Today is the ninth hearing that we have held on comprehensive tax reform, not counting the roundtable discussion held by the Joint Committee on Taxation where we were joined by key architects of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. During our very first hearing of the year – which was also our first hearing on tax reform – we discussed the need to transform our tax code so that it would encourage, rather than inhibit, job creation. Six months later, as we ... Read more

Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning. According to the Congressional Research Service, the last time both the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committees met together for a joint hearing on tax issues was 1940 – more than 70 years ago – to discuss a war profits tax. And while I have said that I have been looking forward to our two committees working closely together on tax reform – I hope that you all know that I did not necessarily mean in such tight quarters. I wa... Read more