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CD160: Equifax Breach Oct 30, 2017

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If you are an American adult, there is a good chance that criminals now have the ability to match your name and social security number, greatly increasing your risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud. In this episode, hear highlights from Congressional hearings about the Equifax breach that exposed the personal information of 145.5 million Americans as we explore the key role that credit reporting companies play in our society. Please Support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Bills H.J.Res.111: Providing for congresional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule... H.R. 624: Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 H.R. 2622 (108th): Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 Additional Reading Blog Post: The USS senate is preventing companies like Equifax being held accountable for major screw-ups by Tim Fernholz, Quartz Media, October 24, 2017. Article: The IRS gave Equifax a $7.25 million contract, and a congressman thought it was a joke from The Onion by Aaron Mark, Slate, October 4, 2017. Article: Equifax suffered a hack almost five months earlier than the date it disclosed by Michael Ray, Anita Sharpe, & Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg Technology, September 19, 2017. Article: The Equifax data breach: What to do by Seena Gressin, Federal Trade Commission, September 8, 2017. Article: Wells Fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts by Matt Egan, CNN Money, August 31, 2017. Article: Wells Fargo forced unwanted auto insurance on borrowers by Gretchen Morenson, The New York Times, July 27, 2017. Blog Post: U.S. cities with the best & worst credit scores by Mike Brown, Lend EDU, April 12, 2017. Article: Two major credit reporting agencies have been lying to consumers by Gillian B. White, The Atlantic, January 4, 2017. Report: CFPB orders TransUnion and Equifax to pay for deceiving consumers in marketing credit cores and credit products, CFPB, January 3, 2017. Article: Class-action suits target Experian over T-Mobile breach by Andrew Blake, The Washington Times, November 11, 2015. Article: The long, twisted history of your credit score by Sean Trainor, Time, July 22, 2015. Publication: Data point: Credit invisibles by Kenneth P. Brevoort, Philipp Grimm, & Michelle Kambara, CPFB, May 2015. Blog Post: 4 things to do when your credit score reaches 'good' or 'excellent' by Simple.Thrifty.Living, Huffpost, April 14, 2015 Article: What's the difference between a fraud alert, credit freeze, & credit lock? by STAFF, Lexington Law, January 26, 2015. Article: Revealed: One in four of the UK's top companies pay no tax while we give them millions in credits by Alex Hawkes and Simon Watkins, The Mail, March 2, 2013. Article: The high cost of a 'free credit report' by Stephanie Clifford, The New York Times, August 4, 2008. Article: Credit scores - what you should know about your own by Malgorzata Wozniacka & Snigdha Sen, Frontline, November 23, 2004. Publication: An overview and history of credit reporting by Mark Furletti, Discussion Paper, June 2002. Article: Witness says credit bureaus invade privacy and asks curb by Roy Reed, New York Times, March 13, 1968. References Bill Actions Tracking: H.J.Res.111 Credit Report Website: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action Experian: ChoiceScore Info FTC Consumer Response Center: A summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act Identity Theft Website: https://identitytheft.gov/ Open Secrets: Experian Client Profile Summary Open Secrets: Trans Union Corp Client Profile Summary Senate Vote Summary: H.J.Res.111 Sound Clip Sources Senate Session: US senate approves disaster relief bill; Senate; October 24, 2017. 3:57:20 Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH): Studies show that Wall Street and other big companies win 93 percent of the time in arbitration. Ninety-three percent of the time in arbitration the companies win. No wonder they are fighting like hell. No wonder they have lobbied this place like we have never seen. No wonder every Wall Street firm is down here begging their Senators to stand strong with Wall Street and pass this CRA, pass this resolution to undo the rule stopping forced arbitration. 4:05:00 Sen. Mike Crapo (ID): The real issue is whether we will try to force the resolution of disputes in financial resolution into class action lawsuits. This is a question about whether we should force dispute resolution mechanisms into class actions. In fact, let me read the actual language of the rule that we are debating. It doesn't say anything about forced arbitration clauses. In fact, the rule doesn't stop arbitration clauses in contracts. It stops protections in arbitration clauses against class action litigation. Let's read what the actual rule says: The CFPB rule prohibits a company from relying in any way on a predispute arbitration agreement with respect to any aspect of a class action that concerns any consumer financial product or service. In other words, the entire purpose of this rule is to promote class action litigation and to stop arbitration resolution when there is a dispute. Hearing: Equifax Sen Banking Hearing; Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law; October 4, 2017. Witness: Richard Smith: Former Chairman & CEO of Equifax 27:20 Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA): Additionally, we must appreciate that fact that not all data breaches are the same. The information and risk of harm can greatly vary from one breach to another. For example, the past breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus, which this committee held a hearing to examine, involved financial information such as credit and debit cards. Of course, this is information that absolutely must be protected and secured. If it falls in the wrong hands, it can create a lot of problems for individuals. But in the Equifax data breach, I think that's different. It's important that consumers and policymakers recognize this distinction because the threat landscape has changed. The information hackers obtained or gained access to in the Equifax breach is the most sensitive personal information used by thieves to commit identity theft. So, we should let that sink in very definitely. A credit card number or bank account information can be changed with a phone call, but you can't change your social security number and your date of birth. Anyone who's ever applied for a loan, a credit card, a job, or opened a bank account knows you have to provide a social security number, date of birth to verify your identity. Thus, if someone has this information they can do the same and take over your identity. They can become you. And you won't know it happened until it's too late. 38:30 Sen. Jeff Flake (AZ): In your testimony before the House yesterday, you stated that Equifax's "traditional business model is with companies, not with 400 million consumers." What portion of Equifax's business is consumer facing? Richard Smith: Mr. Chairman, roughly 10% of our revenues around the world come from what we call B to C—business to consumer. Flake: That's 10%. Then, what is the main source of Equifax's revenue stream? Smith: The vast majority, the remaining, is largely doing analytics, insights, and providing solutions to banks, telecommunications companies, credit card issuers, insurance companies, and the like around the world. Flake: So, if only 10% of the revenue is consumer facing, what is the company's incentive for keeping consumer data secure when it has no meaningful interaction or limited meaningful interaction with the accountability of consumers? Smith: We are clearly viewed as a trusted steward of that information, and losing that information violates the trust and confidence not only of the consumer but also of the companies we do business with as well. 1:01:52 Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT): You spent a lot of money lobbying against as consumer-protection act that might require you to notify consumers immediately in such breaches. Are you still going to fight and still spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop that kind of a consumer-protection bill from going through? Richard Smith: Senator, I can tell you as a company we do have a government-relations team. In the scheme of things, it's relatively small. We're a company with expenses of well over $2 billion. I think our entire lobbying budget, which includes association fees, is a million dollars or less. Leahy: I could care less what your budget is for lobbying. The fact is you opposed legislation that might require notifying consumers, might actually give consumers the ability to respond when they've been hurt. Are you going to—is Equifax going to continue to fight consumers' right to know? Smith: One, I'm unaware of that particular lobbying effort you're referring to. I can talk to the company, but I'm unaware of that particular lobbying effort. Leahy: It was in your report that you have to file on your lobbying expenses. 1:03:30 Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI): Do consumers have the right to find out what kind of information data brokers like Equifax has on them? Richard Smith: Do they have the right? Hirono: Yeah, yes. Can they call Equifax up and say, what do you have on me? Smith: Every consumer has the right to a free credit report from us, from the industry, and that credit report would detail all the information that the credit file would have on them. Hirono: But that's just their credit, but you have a lot of other information on everybody besides just their credit information, do you not? Smith: Yes, we do. Hirono: So, if—and my understanding is that you get all this information free. You don't pay anybody for the information you gather on 145 million people, which is more than one out of three people in our entire country. Smith: It's largely free. There are exceptions, obviously, but this business, as you know, we're 118 years old. We're part of a federally regulated ecosystem that enables consumers to get access to credit. Hirono: Yes. Smith: So that data's there, and it's used at their consent, by the way. Regardless of the type of data we have—if it's your employment data or your income data or your credit data—that data can only be accessed if you as a consumer give the consent for someone to access that. Hirono: How does one give consent— Smith: If you— Hirono: —if you're selling the information that you have on them? Smith: So, if you as a consumer go to your bank and want to get a credit card, for example, when you sign a contract with the bank for the credit card, you're allowing the bank the access to approve your credit, in this particular case, to give you the best rate and the best line. 1:17:52 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT): Can you guarantee this committee that no consumer will ever be required to go to arbitration? Richard Smith: I cannot, sir. Blumenthal: Why? Smith: Well, one, I'm no longer with the company. I can talk to the management team. Blumenthal: Well, that's what I mean by the designated fall guy. You know, you're here, you can't speak for the company. I'm interested in looking forward. How will consumers be protected? Will arbitration be required of them? Will they be compensated for the sense of security that has been lost? Will there be a compensation fund? Will there be insurance against that kind of loss? And I'm talking about a compensation fund that applies to them because of that loss of privacy. These kinds of questions, which you're unable to answer because you're no longer with the company, are as profound and important as any investigative effort looking back, and I recognize you're here without the authority to make these decisions, but I think someone from the company has to make them. Hearing: Equifax Senate Banking; Senate Banking Committee; October 4, 2017 Witness: Richard Smith: Former Chairman & CEO of Equifax 6:03 Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH): But security doesn't generate short-term profits. Protecting consumers apparently isn't important to your business model, so you gather more and more information, you peddled it to more and more buyers. For example, you bought a company called TALX so you could get access to detailed payroll information—the hours people worked, how much they were paid, even where they lived—7,000 businesses. You were hacked there, too, exposing the workers of one proud Ohio company—400,000 workers at Kroger—and an unknown number of people's information to criminals who used it to commit tax fraud. 26:35 Sen. Ben Sasse (NE): Your organization has committed to providing identity-monitoring services for the next year, but I'm curious about whether or not Equifax and your board have deliberated. Do you think your responsibility ends in one year, in two years, in five years, in 10 years; and if you think it ends at some point, have you tried to think about the goodwill and balance sheet impact of all this? How can you explain to an American whose identity might be stolen later because of this breach why your responsibility would ever end? Does it end? Richard Smith: I understand the question. And it extends well beyond a year, Senator. The first step we took was the five services we mentioned to the chairman a minute ago, which gets the consumer through one year. The ultimate control for security for a consumer is going to the lifetime lock. The ability for a consumer to lock down his or her file, determine who they want to have access for life— Sasse: But isn't this—just to interrupt—isn't that about people who might be breached in the future. I'm talking about the 145 million whose data has already been stolen. Does your responsibility end, or what do you think your legal obligations are to them? Smith: I think the combination of the five services we're offering combined with the lifetime lock is a good combination of services. Sasse: I actually think the innovation of some of the stuff you proposed for the big three going forward is quite interesting, but why does any of that five really do much for the data that's already been stolen? Smith: Senator, again, the combination of the five offerings today plus the lifetime lock we think is the best offering for the consumer. Sasse: Okay, I don't think you've really answered the question about whether or not you're exposure legally ends for the 145 million. 29:13 Sen. Ben Sasse (NE): I want to open, at least, the allegations that Equifax executives engaged in insider trading relating to knowledge of this cyber breach. One of the clearest times in definitions of insider trading occurs when a business executive trades their company stock because of confidential knowledge that they have gained from their job. I'm sure you can imagine why Americans are very mad about the possibility that this occurred here. While insider trading is going to be discussed a lot more later in this hearing, I wish you could just very quickly give us a timeline of the first steps. When did Equifax first learn of the May 2017 breach, and when did you inform the FBI of that breach? Richard Smith: Thank you. I'll answer as quickly as I can. We notified the FBI cybersecurity forensic team and outside global law firm on August 2. At that time, all we saw was suspicious activity. We had no indication, as I said in my oral testimony, of a breach at that time. You might recall that the three individuals sold stock on August 1 and 2. We did not have an indication of a breach until mid- to late August. Sasse: So…

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CD159: Crisis Management Oct 16, 2017

Show notes

Natural disasters: They just keep coming. In this episode, learn about the disaster relief bill that will soon be law, get an update from Puerto Rico from a member of the Coast Guard, and look into a few new laws that included disaster relief provisions with special guests Jessica Rhodes and Margy Feldhuhn. Also, get the scoop on the existential crisis that Congressional Dish has been experiencing and get a preview of exciting new changes coming soon to your favorite Congress-focused podcast. Please support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD128: Crisis in Puerto Rico CD147: Controlling Puerto Rico Bills Outline H.R. 3823: Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 Title I: Federal Aviation Programs & Title II: Aviation Revenue Provisions Authorizes funding for Federal Aviation Administration projects and operations through March 31, 2018 Title III: Expiring Health Provisions Funds public and private teaching health centers that provide graduate medical education programs and a diabetes program for Indians until March 31 Extends a Medicare program providing in-home treatment of immune diseases until the end of 2020 Cuts the Medicare Improvement Fund, by $50 million per year. Title V: Tax Relief for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria If people affected by the hurricanes want to withdraw up to $100,000 before January 1, 2019 from their retirement accounts, the 10% tax on early withdrawals from retirement plans will not apply. The money can be repaid within 3 years People with employer plans can get loans from the retirement funds for up to $100,000 (double the usual amount) until December 31, 2018. They will get an extra year to pay it back. Allows employers whose employees were affected by the hurricanes to get a 40% tax credit for wages paid to employees who couldn't work up to $6,000 per person Current law allows tax deductions for charitable contributions to churches, private organizations, hospitals, & other organizations as long as these don't make up more than 50% of that person's charitable donations for the year. This is waived until the end of 2017 for donations made for Harvey, Irma, and Maria relief. This will not be waived if the donation is to a private foundation or to a new fund Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico The Secretary of the Treasury will give the US Virgin Islands money equal to their revenue losses from the hurricane. The government of the US Virgin Islands will determine the amount Puerto Rico will be given money based on estimates made by the Secretary of the Treasury for what Puerto Rico would have been given if they had the same tax code. Puerto Rico will not be given the money until Puerto Rico submits a plan that is approved by the Secretary of the Treasury for distributing the payments to the residents. S. 1866: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria Education Relief Act of 2017 Waives Federal matching requirements for universities & higher education schools that were affected by the hurricanes or have students affected by the hurricanes. Gives Project SERV money (Project School Emergency Response to Violence, which helps schools recover from traumatic events) on a equitable basis to private schools H.R. 2266: Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (and the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act of 2017) Division A: Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act of 2017 Appropriates $18.67 billion to the DHS and FEMA for their disaster relief fund $4.9 billion will be for loans to local governments to provide essential services needed as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria Appropriates $526.5 million to the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service for fire suppression Cancels $16 billion of National Flood Insurance Program debt Appropriates $1.27 billion for food for Puerto Rico Division B: Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 Changes how bankruptcy court judges are appointed and raises some fees. Passed the House of Representatives on October 12, 2017 by a vote of 353-69 Additional Reading Article: For Puerto Rico's sake, scrap the Jones Act by The Editors, Bloomberg, October 13, 2017. Article: Hurricane-battered flood insurance program in need of funding by christopher Flavelle, Insurance Journal, October 13, 2017. Article: House passes $36.5 billion disaster relief package by Niv Elis and Cristina Marcos, The Hill, October 12, 2017 Article: Congress members demand to know the true death toll in Puerto Rico by Alexa Liautaud, Vice News, October 12, 2017. Article: House republican accuses media of inventing Puerto Rico crisis by Aaron Rupar, ThinkProgress, October 12, 2017. Article: Puerto Rico Relief Bill Cancels $16 Billion in Debt - But Not for Puerto Rico by David Dayen, The Intercept, October 11, 2017. Article: Abbott: Texas may be about to get 'rolled' on Harvey aid package by Mike Ward and Kevin Diaz, Houston Chronicle, October 11, 2017. Article: Outlining Provisions in the 2017 Disaster Tax Relief Bill by Catherine E. Murray, AccountingWeb, October 11, 2017. Article: Bethenny Frankel charters 4 planes to aid Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico: 'It is a war zone' by Aurelie Corinthios and Liz McNeil, People, October 6, 2017. Article: Bethenny Frankel sends 10 planes to Puerto Rico filled with hurricane relief supplies, Fox News, October 5, 2017. Commentary: Senate acts to ease pressure on bankruptcy courts and increase bankruptcy fees by Peter Morrison, Lexocology, October 3, 2017. Commentary: Steve Mnuchin, foreclosure king, now runs your US Treasury by Mary Plotkin, The Hill, January 17, 2017. Article: Trump Treasury Pick Mnuchin is much richer than most people thought by Jen Wieczner, Fortune, January 11, 2017. Commentary: Wilbur Ross and Steve Mnuchin - Profiteers of the Great Foreclosure Machine - Go to Washington by David Dayen, New Republic, November 30, 2016. Article: Donald Trump's Finance Chair is Anti-Populist from Hell by David Dayen, New Republic, May 9, 2016. Article: What the Clinton Foundation is costing Hilary by Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, February 26, 2015. Article: Genome-wide scan demonstrates significant linkage for male sexual orientation by A.R. Sanders, E.R. Martin, G.W. Beecham, S. Guo, Cambridge University Press, November 17, 2014. References Bethenny Frankel's Disaster Relief Site: BStrong Broad Defense: Podcast Feed iab Tech Lab: Podcast Measurement Guidelines Twitter: Trump's Puerto Rico tweet and responses Young Turks Appearance: Trump: This could be the calm before the storm Young Turks Appearance: Who is Trump replacing Tillerson with? Young Turks Appearance: Man gives up guns after Vegas tragedy, now getting death threats Young Turks Appearance: Roy Moore wants to be a Confederate senator Young Turks Appearance: New Orleans braces for Hurricane Nate Sound Clip Sources Interview: House Republican accuses media of inventing Puerto Rico crisis, October 12, 2017. Press Briefing: Trump contrasts Puerto Rico death toll to 'a real catastrophe like Katrina', CNN Politics, October 3, 2017. Podcast: 105 Stats Follow Up and Apple Podcasts Feed Tags, Libsyn's The Feed, September 30, 2017. Press Briefing: President Trump Remarks on Health Care and Tax Cuts, September 27, 2017. YouTube Live Stream: 9.27.17-Demand Immediate Assistance for Puerto Rico, The Broad-Cast, September 27, 2017. Song: The Apprentice Theme Song, For the Love of Money, lyrics by The Ojays. Music Presented in this Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations

CD158: Rapid DNA Act Sep 23, 2017

Show notes

Since 1994, the FBI has maintained a database with samples of DNA taken from convicted criminals in order to match those samples with DNA collected at crime scenes. However, over the course of the last two decades, the DNA database has expanded to include many more people. In this episode, we explore the expansion of DNA collection and storage by law enforcement and examine a new law that will further that trend. Later in the episode, get an update on Congress's progress in meeting their multiple September 30th deadlines. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD098: USA Freedom Act: Privatization of the Patriot Act CD128: Crisis in Puerto Rico CD147: Controlling Puerto Rico CD152: Air Traffic Control Privatization Bills Outline H.R. 510: Rapid DNA Act of 2017 Orders the FBI Director to create standards and procedures for the use of Rapid DNA machines and the DNA analyses they create. Expands the DNA samples allowed to be stored to include those prepared by any criminal justice agency using Rapid DNA machines that are approved by the FBI. H.R. 601: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 Division A: Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development Act Official U.S. policy is now to partner with developing countries and "donors, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and nongovernmental and civil society organizations, including faith-based organizations" to promote education programs and activities to prepare individuals to be "productive members of society and the workforce" "Assistance provided under this section to support programs and activities under this subsection shall be aligned with and advance United States foreign policy and economic interests." Division B: Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 Appropriates $7.4 billion for disaster relief, as long as President Trump officially approves it. Authorizes the Small Business Administration to lend $450 million for disaster rebuilding but half of that is allowed to be for administrative expenses Appropriates and additional $7.4 billion for housing and infrastructure in disaster zones Includes a provision that says the recipients of funds "may adopt, without review or public comment, any environmental review, approval, or permit performed by a Federal agency, and such adoption shall satisfy the responsibilities of the recipient with respect to such environmental review, approval or permit." Division C: Temporary Extension of Public Debt Relief Suspends the debt ceiling until December 8, 2017. Division D: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 Extends and cuts by .6791% the funding and provisions from the 2017 funding law until December 8, 2017. The .6791% cut will not apply to War on Terror funding Additional Reading Article: How the Graham-Cassidy bill compares with past Republican health care repeal efforts by Meridith McGraw and Maryalice Parks, ABC News, September 20, 2017. Article: GOP lawmaker urges colleagues to support short-term aviation bill by Melanie Zanona, The Hill, September 20, 2017. Commentary: Graham-Cassidy Is the Worst Obamacare Repeal Bill Yet by Thomas Huelskoetter, Fortune, September 20, 2017. Article: Hatch leads bipartisan CHIP reauthorization bill to continue children's health coverage, Ripon Advance News Service, September 20, 2017. Transcript: Why The Government Sells Flood Insurance, NPR, September 16, 2017. Article: Congress May Need to Throw a Lifeline to Flood Insurance Program by Greg Tourial, Roll Call, September 15, 2017. Article: Congress just crossed three big things off its to-do list by Amber Phillips and Kim Soffen, The Washington Post, September 8, 2017. Article: Trump sides with Democrats on fiscal issues, throwing Republican plans into chaos by Mike DeBonis, Kelsey Snell, Philip Rucker and Elise Viebeck, The Washington Post, September 7, 2017. Article: Law enforcement can now scan your DNA in 90 minutes, but should they? by Annie Sciacca, Mercury News, August 25, 2017. Press Release: IntegenX Applauds the Passage of the Rapid DNA Act of 2017, IntegenX, August 21, 2017. Article: Despite Privacy Concerns, Miami Beach Police Testing "Rapid DNA" Scans on Suspects by Jerry Iannelli, Miami New Times, August 16, 2017. Transcript: Wray Confirmed as FBI Director as Questions Swirl over His Past Record & Close Ties to Big Business, Democracy Now, August 2, 2017. Article: Congress should consider taking another look at Christopher Wray, President Trump's pick to head up the FBI by James S. Henry, The American Interest, July 28, 2017. Article: NetBio Announces its DNAscan System is the First and Only Rapid DNA Product to Earn NDIS Approval from the FBI, Business Wire, April 7, 2016. Article: The Trouble Rising of Rapid DNA Testing by Ava Kofman, New Republic, February 24, 2016. Article: The FBI Is Very Excited About This Machine That Can Scan Your DNA in 90 Minutes by Shane Bauer, Mother Jones, November 20, 2014. Article: Supreme Court upholds Maryland law, says police may take DNA samples from arrestees by Robert Barnes, The Washington Post, June 3, 2013. Press Release: Life Technologies Offers New Rapid DNA Platform, Cision PR Newswire, April 1, 2013. Article: Life Tech to distribute rapid DNA tester by Bradley J. Fikes, San Diego Union Tribune, April 1, 2013. Article: Rapid DNA: Coming Soon to a Police Department or Immigration Office Near You by Jennifer Lynch, Eff, January 6, 2013. Audit Report: Combined DNA Index System Operational and Laboratory Vulnerabilities, Office of the Inspector General, May 2006. References Cornell Law School: Maryland v. King Cornell Law School: § 28.12 Collection of DNA samples Electronic Privacy Information Center: Maryland v. King - Concerning the Constitutionality of Mandatory DNA Collection Pre-Conviction GovTrack: H.R. 601: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 GovTrack: H.R. 510: Rapid DNA Act of 2017 FBI: FAQ on Rapid DNA Analysis FBI: FAQ on CODIS and NDIS FBI: Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) EFF: DNA Collection Federal Register: Regulations Under the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 NCSL: DNA Arrestee Laws OpenSecrets: Clients lobbying on H.R.320: Rapid DNA Act of 2015 OpenSecrets: Clients lobbying on S.2348: Rapid DNA Act of 2016 OpenSecrets: Clients lobbying on H.R.510: Rapid DNA Act of 2017 OpenSecrets: IntegenX: Bills lobbied, 2015 OpenSecrets: IntegenX: Bills lobbied, 2016 OpenSecrets: IntegenX: Bills lobbied, 2017 Integenx: RapidHIT System YouTube: Watch Demo of Rapid DNA Analysis Machine YouTube: Forensic DNA Mixups | Greg Hampikian | TEDxBoise YouTube: How is DNA fingerprinting used to identify a criminal? YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel on Bill Cassidy's Health "Care" Bill YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel Fights Back Against Bill Cassidy, Lindsey Graham & Chris Christie Listener Dee Bradley's Blog: World Political History Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Federal Bureau of Investigation Oversight, Senate Judiciary Committee, December 9, 2015. Witness: James Comey - Director, FBI Timestamps & Transcripts 5:07:58 Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT): Last week I introduced bipartisan legislation with Senators Feinstein, Lee, and Gillibrand to update our nation's laws to take account of this exciting new technology. Now, Rapid DNA devices—they're self-contained, they're fully automated instruments that can be placed in booking stations, and they can both develop a DNA profile from a cheek swab and compare the results against existing profiles in less than two hours. Now, my bill, the Rapid DNA Act of 2015, would allow law enforcement officials using FBI-approved Rapid DNA instruments to upload profiles generated by such devices to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System and perform database comparisons. Director Comey, you've spoken in the past about Rapid DNA and how this technology will help law enforcement. Do you believe that Rapid DNA technology is important, how will it impact law enforcement, and do you believe Congress should pass legislation authorizing its use within standards and guidelines promulgated by your agency? Director James Comey: Yeah, that authority that's in your bill would help us change the world in a very, very exciting way, that allow us, in booking stations around the country, if someone's arrested, to know instantly, or near instantly, whether that person is the rapist who's been on the loose in a particular community before they're released on bail and get away, or to clear somebody, to show that they're not the person. It's very, very exciting. We are very grateful that we're going to have the statutory authorization if that passes to connect those Rapid DNA technologies to the national DNA database. Hatch: Well, thank you. My bill, the Rapid DNA Act, will not affect when or under what circumstances law enforcement collects DNA samples. These decisions would be governed by state or other federal law. What it will do is affect where samples are processed and how quickly they're processed. Now, Mr. Director, what would you say to individuals who may be concerned that Rapid DNA technology will raise privacy concerns, and what would you say to individuals who may be concerned that this technology could affect the integrity of FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS? And I would note that my bill restricts access to CODIS to FBI-approved Rapid DNA instruments operated in accordance with FBI-issued standards and procedures. Comey: The first—you said it well, Senator: folks need to understand this isn't about collecting DNA from more people. It's about the DNA that's collected when someone is arrested, being able to be analyzed much more quickly, that can show us in some cases this is the wrong person or can show us in some cases this is someone we have to be very worried about. That is good for our justice system as a whole. And you're exactly right. The national database, the CODIS database, is the gold standard. This legislation does not make it any—water down the standards that are applied before a DNA result can be pressed against that database. We're still going to have high standards. We're still going to require that this is the gold standard for identification in the United States. Hearing: H.R. 320, the "Rapid DNA Act", House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, June 18, 2015. PDF Version Witnesses: Amy Hess - Executive Director of Science & Technology at the FBI Jody Wolf - President of the American Society of Criminal Laboratory Directors Natasha Alexenko - Founder of Natasha's Justice Project Timestamps & Transcripts 6:05 Amy Hess: All 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Laboratory, and the FBI contribute DNA records to and participate in NDIS, which contains almost 14 million offender or arrestee DNA records and over 630,000 forensic or crime scene DNA records. 11:06 Jody Wolf: Currently, these devices are best suited for use with single-source, high-quantity biological samples such as referenced standards of blood or saliva from known individuals, thus limiting its usefulness for complex crime scene samples of more than one person. These instruments also currently can't analyze trace amounts of DNA. Consequently, these instruments are not designed for the routine testing of evidence types found in rape kits and will not help with the reduction of rape kit backlogs. 22:03 Rep. Bob Goodlatte (VA): Would this legislation help speed this up a lot? Jody Wolf: Well, comparing 90 samples utilizing Rapid DNA would take almost 27 hours. Using the—processing it using a traditional existing technology would take 7 to 8 hours. So the limitation with the Rapid DNA is that you can only run 5 samples at a time, whereas on current technology, we can run 24 samples at a time. To process 90 samples utilizing Rapid would take 27 hours. Using existing technology would take 7 to 8. Same result. Goodlatte: So do you think that this is a good thing for people to have the option here, or not? Wolf: It depends on your goal. The advantage that Rapid DNA has is that you have that answer while the person is still in the booking station. With traditional databasing, there's a delay because you have to transport the sample from point of collection to a laboratory for analysis. Supreme Court Argument: Maryland v. King, February 26, 2013. Audio Part 1 Audio Part 2 Witnesses Katherine Winfree - Chief Deputy Attorney General of Baltimore, MD Michael Dreeben - Deputy Solicitor General of the Department of Justice Timestamps & Transcripts Part 1 3:24 Katherine Winfree: The cornerstone of our argument is that when an individual is taken into custody, an individual is arrested on a probable cause—a probable-cause arrest—that person, by virtue of being in that class of individuals whose conduct has led the police to arrest him on—based on probable cause, surrenders a substantial amount of liberty and privacy. Justice Elena Kagan: But, Ms. Winfree, that can't be quite right, can it? I mean, such a person—assume you've been arrested for something, the state doesn't have the right to go search your house for evidence of unrelated crimes. Unknown Speaker: Justice Kagan. Kagan: Isn't that correct? Winfree: That's correct, Justice Kagan. Kagan: Doesn't have the right to go search your car for evidence of unrelated crimes. Winfree: That's correct. Kagan: Just because you've been arrested doesn't mean that you lose the privacy expectations and things you have that aren't related to the offense that you've been arrested for. Winfree: That's correct, but what we're seizing here is not evidence of crime. What it is, is information related to that person's DNA profile. Those 26 numbers— Kagan: Well—and if there were a real identification purpose for this, then I understand that argument. But if it's just to solve cold cases, which is the way you started, then it's just like searching your house to see what's in your house that could help to solve a cold case. Winfree: Well, I would say there's a very real distinction between the police generally rummaging in your home to look for evidence that might relate to your personal papers and your thoughts. It's a very real difference there than swabbing the inside of an arrestee's cheek to determine what that person's CODIS DNA profile is. It's looking only at 26 numbers that tell us nothing more about that individual. Kagan: Well, but, if that's what you're basing it on, then you're not basing it on an arrestee. I mean, then the chief justice is right: it could be any arrestee, no matter how minor the offense. It could be just any old person in the street. Why don't we do this for everybody who comes in for a driver's license because it's very effective? Part 2 0:20 Katherine Winfree: Since 2009, when Maryland began to collect DNA samples from arrestees charged with violent crimes and burglary, there have been 225 matches, 75 prosecutions, and 42 convictions, including that of Respondent King. Justice Antonin Scalia: Well, that's really good. I'll bet you, if you conducted a lot of unreasonable searches and seizures, you'd get more convictions, too. That proves absolutely nothing. Press Briefing: DNA Use in Law Enforcement,…

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CD157: Failure to Repeal Sep 11, 2017

Show notes

Process: It matters. During the first seven months of the 115th Congress, the Republicans tried - in multiple ways - to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act. We already know what they were trying to do; in this episode, hear the full story of how they tried to get their bills passed into law. Later in the episode, we also do a quick summary of what to expect in September as deadlines related to flood insurance, government funding, marijuana, and many other topics loom. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD048: The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) CD123: Health or Profits CD146: Repeal & Replace CD151: AHCA - The House Version (American Health Care Act) Additional Reading Article: 861,000 high-risk South Florida homes don't have flood insurance by Jackie Wattles and Chris Isidore, CNN Money, September 8, 2017. Article: Homeowners (and Taxpayers) Face Billions in Losses From Harvey Flooding by Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times, August 28, 2017. Article: The night John McCain killed the GOP's health-care fight by Ed O'Keefe, The Washington Post, July 28, 2017. Article: Collins, McCain, Murkowski vote to kill 'skinny' Obamacare repeal by Juliet Eilperin, Kelsey Snell, and Sean Sullivan, Bangor Daily News, July 28, 2017. PDF: Read the Senate 'Skinny Repeal' Bill, The New York Times, July 27, 2017. Article: Senate releases 'skinny' Obamacare repeal bill by Rachel Roubein, The Hill, July 27, 2017. Article: The Senate Health-Care Vote-o-rama: A Guide For the Perplexed by John Cassidy, The New Yorker, July 27, 2017. Article: Vote-a-rama: Here's what to know about the Senate practice by Jessica Estepa, USA Today, July 27, 2017. Article: The Skinny Repeal Gets a Score by Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, July 27, 2017. Article: Making Sense of the Obamacare Repeal Process by Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, July 26, 2017. Article: Senate Republicans Clear Key Health-Care Hurdle by Russell Berman, The Atlantic, July 25, 2017. Article: Senate votes to begin Obamacare repeal debate by Peter Sullivan, The Hill, July 25, 2017. Article: Senate Parliamentarian Challenges Key Provisions of Health Bill by Robert Pear and Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times, July 21, 2017. Article: How Rand Paul tried to lead an eye doctors' rebellion by David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post, February 1, 2015. Article: The History of Regulation, NaturalGas.org, September 20, 2013. Article: What to Know About the New Flood Insurance Program by Lori Widmer, Insurance Journal, July 31, 2012. References Consider This! Podcast: Episode 190: How Subverting the Free Market Brings Us Corporate Behemoths Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: CBO Cost Estimate, July 20, 2017 Healthcare Freedom Act of 2017: CBO Cost Estimate BCRA: Senate Version 2, July 13, 2017 BCRA: Senate Version 1, June 22, 2017 GovTrack: Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Amdt. No. 270, July 25, 2017 GovTrack: Motion to Proceed on HR 1628: American Health Care Act of 2017, July 25, 2017 GovTrack: S. Amdt. 271 (Paul) to HR 1628 GovTrack: S. Amdt. 667 (McConnell) to HR 1628 Vote Summary GovTrack: Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 National Weather Service: Hurricane Harvey YouTube: You're Dead Norma Tanega 1966 Sound Clip Sources Briefing: House Speaker Weekly Briefing, July 27, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts Senate Session: Senate Leaders Speak Ahead of Health Care Vote, July 25, 2017. Part 1 Part 2 Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Chuck Schumer (NY): Many of us on this side of the aisle have waited for years for this opportunity and thought it would probably never come. Some of us were a little surprised by the election last year, but with a surprise election comes great opportunities to do things we thought were never possible. So all we have to do today is to have the courage to begin the debate with an open amendment process and let the voting take us where it will. Senator John McCain (AZ): Our system doesn't depend on our nobility. It accounts for our imperfections and gives us an order to our individual strivings that has helped make ours the most powerful and prosperous society on Earth. It is our responsibility to preserve that, and even when it requires us to do something less satisfying than winning, even when we must give a little to get a little, even when our efforts managed just 3 yards in a cloud of dust while critics on both sides denounced us for timidity, for our failure to triumph. I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and, by so doing, better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don't want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood. Let's trust each other. Let's return to regular order. We have been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That's an approach that's been employed by both sides: mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary maneuvers that it requires. We are getting nothing done, my friends. We're getting nothing done. And all we've really done this year is confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Our healthcare insurance system is a mess. We all know it—those who support Obamacare and those who oppose it. Something has to be done. We Republicans have looked for a way to end it and replace it with something else without paying a terrible political price. We haven't found it yet, and I'm not sure we will. All we've managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn't very popular when we started trying to get rid of it. I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments to be offered. I will not vote for this bill as it is today. It's a shell of a bill right now. We all know that. Senator Dick Durbin (IL): But there was an interesting thing happened at the end of this. At the very last moment, the very last vote that was cast was cast by Senator John McCain. Everybody knows that John is diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. He made it back from Arizona here to cast his vote, and he asked for 15 minutes after the roll call to make a speech. I don't think many, if any, senators left the Chamber. Democrats and Republicans stuck around to hear his speech after the vote. Can I tell you that's unusual in the Senate? Most of us race for the doors and go up to our offices and watch on television and may catch a piece of that speech and a piece of the other speech, but we sat and we listened because of our respect for John McCain. Senator Ron Wyden (OR): Mr. President, the pitch to Republican Senators this afternoon before the first vote was that it was nothing but a little bit of throat clearing — just a first step to get the conversation started. Let's be clear, nobody can pretend the stakes aren't real now. In a few minutes, the Senate will be voting on yet another version of the Senate TrumpCare bill. I call it the BCRA 3.0. It features a special gut punch to consumer protection offered by Senator Cruz. Senator Ron Wyden (OR): There was no hearing in the finance committee, no hearing in the HELP committee. Senators are flying in the dark, and as far as I can tell, the proposal is going to be before us without having been scored by the CBO. Senator Ted Cruz (TX): And the Consumer Freedom Amendment was designed to bring together and serve as a compromise for those who support the mandates in Title One. The Consumer FreedomAmendment says that insurance companies, if they offer plans that meet those Title One mandates—all the protections for preexisting conditions—they can also sell any other plan that consumers desire. Senate Session: Debate on American Health Care Act, July 26, 2017. Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Rand Paul (KY): Today we will vote on a bill we voted on many times. The Senate itself voted on this two years ago. It's the identical bill. We're going to vote on a bill we voted two years ago, and I hope everybody that voted for it before will vote for it again. It's what we call a clean repeal. It's not cluttered with insurance-company bailouts, it's not cluttered with this and that and new federal regulations; it is just trying to peel back Obamacare. Now while it is a clean repeal, it is only a partial repeal. Why? It's only a partial repeal because we have these arcane Senate rules that say we can't repeal the whole thing. Because we're only repealing part of it, Obamacare will remain. Senator Rand Paul (KY): My government shouldn't be telling what I can buy and what I cannot buy. My government should not tell me which doctor I can choose and which doctor I have to leave behind. The government should not be involved in my healthcare business. I want to be left alone. The right to privacy, the right to be left alone, is a fundamental right of Americans. That's what this is about. Senator Rand Paul (KY): So, are we going to have some government involvement? Yes. But because government is so pitiful at anything they do, we should minimize government's involvement in any industry. Senator John Cornyn (TX): People keep talking about a secret process. Well, this is about as open and transparent as it gets, and everybody will have an opportunity to offer an amendment, to discuss what's in the amendment, and to vote on it. Senate Session: Resumed Debate on American Health Care Act, July 27, 2017. Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Chuck Schumer (NY): Mr. President, it is likely, at some point today, we will finally see the majority leader's final health care bill, the bill he intends to either pass or fail. Thus far, we have been going through a pretense, defeating Republican bills that never had enough support even within their own caucus to pass. Repeal and replace has failed. Repeal without replace has failed. Now we are waiting to see what the majority leader intends for the Republican plan on health care. If the reports in the media are true, the majority leader will offer a skinny repeal as his final proposal. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations

CD156: Sanctions – Russia, North Korea & Iran Aug 21, 2017

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On August 2nd, President Trump signed a new law that passed Congress with the overwhelming support of both political parties, which imposes sanctions on three countries: Russia, North Korea, and Iran. In this episode, we examine the new sanctions and the big-picture motivations behind them. In the process, we jump down the rabbit hole of the U.S. involvement in the 2014 regime change in Ukraine. Executive Producers: Joseph Clerici and Anonymous Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD041: Why Attack Syria? CD067: What Do We Want In Ukraine? CD068: Ukraine Aid Bill CD108: Regime Change CD150: Pivot to North Korea Episode Outline H.R. 3364: Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act Title I: Iran Sanctions Gives the Executive Branch additional power to block property or exclude from the United States both companies and people who materially contribute to Iran's ballistic missile program. Orders the President to enact sanctions that block property and financial transactions for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Corps Quds Force and it's affiliates starting 90 days after enactment, which is November 1, 2017. Orders the President to block property and prohibit from the United States any person or company that materially contributes to the transfer to Iran any battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, combat planes, attack helicopters, warships, missiles, or parts of those items. Sanctions prohibiting travel to the United States and financial transactions are exempted for humanitarian purposes. The President can waive the sanctions for two 180-day periods by notifying Congress. Title II: Russia Sanctions Subtitle A: Sanction related to terrorism and illicit financing Sense of Congress "It is the sense of Congress that the President should continue to uphold and seek unity with European and other key partners on sanctions implemented against the Russian Federation, which have been effective and instrumental in countering Russian aggression in Ukraine" Part 1: Trump Report Orders the President to submit reports outlining his reasons to Congress before terminating or waiving sanctions relating to Russia, Ukraine, and Syria The President can not terminate or waive the sanctions on Russia, Ukraine, and Syria within 30 days of submitting his report unless a branch of Congress passes a resolution to allow it. Part 2: Sanctions on Russia Makes state-owned companies in the rail, metals, and mining sectors subject to sanctions. Limits financial loans to Russian industries. Prohibits the transfer of goods & services (except banking) that support new Russian deepwater oil drilling, Arctic offshore drilling, or shale projects. Russians need to be have a 33% share or more in the company for the sanctions to apply. Forces the President to enact sanctions in situations when it was previously optional. Gives the President the option to enact sanctions on companies and individuals who provide materials to Russia for energy export pipelines valued at $1 million or more. Forces the President to block property and deny visas to anyone who provides the government of Syria financial, material, or technical support for getting almost any kind of weapon. The sanctions do not apply to products for Russia that are for space launches. Subtitle B: Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Appropriates $250 million for a "Countering Russian Influence Fund" which will be used for "protecting critical infrastructure and electoral mechanisms" for members of NATO, the European Union, and "countries that are participating in the enlargement process of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the European Union, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Kosovo, Serbia, and Ukraine." The money can also be used to information distribution. There is a list of nongovernmental & international organizations eligible to receive the money. The Secretary of State will work with the Ukrainian government to increase the amount of energy produced in Ukraine. This will "include strategies for market liberalization" including survey work need to "help attract qualified investment into exploration and development of areas with untapped resources in Ukraine." The plan will also support the implementation of a new gas law "including pricing, tariff structure, and legal regulatory implementation." and "privatization of government owned energy companies." American tax money is contributing $50 million for this effort from the 2014 Ukraine aid law and $30 million more from this law. The money will be available until August 2022. Title III: North Korea Sanctions Subtitle A: Sanctions to enforce and implement United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea Expands existing mandatory sanctions to include anyone who provides North Korea with any weapons or war service, aviation fuel, or insurance or registration for aircraft or vessels. Also expands sanctions to include anyone who gets minerals, including gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore, copper, silver, nickel, zinc, or rare earth minerals from North Korea. Expand optional sanctions to include anyone who purchases above-the-U.N.-limited amounts of coal, iron, textiles, money, metals, gems, oil, gas, food, or fishing rights from North Korea. Also sanctions anyone who hires North Korean workers, conducts transactions for the North Korean transportation, mining, energy, or banking industries, or participates in online commerce, including online gambling, provided by the government of North Korea. Prohibits North Korean ships from entering US waters. Additional Reading Article: Iran could quit nuclear deal in 'hours' if new U.S. sanctions imposed: Rouhani, Reuters, August 15, 2017. Article: The Nation is reviewing a story casting doubt on Russian hack of DNC by Erik Wemple, The Washington Post, August 15, 2017. Article: Iranian Parliament, Facing U.S. Sanctions, Votes to Raise Military Spending by Thomas Erdbrink, The New York Times, August 13, 2017. Article: A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year's DNC Hack by Patrick Lawrence, The Nation, August 9, 2017. Article: North Korea's missile tests by Joshua Berlinger, CNN, August 7, 2017. Article: Iran Says New U.S. Sanctions Violate Nuclear Deal by Rick Gladstone, The New York Times, August 1, 2017. Article: Iran Reports Successful Launch of Missile as U.S. Considers New Sanctions by Thomas Erdbrink, The New York Times, July 27, 2017. Article: Trump Ends Covert Aid to Syrian Rebels Trying to Topple Assad by David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt and Ben Hubbard, The New York Times, July 19, 2017. Article: Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, but Only Reluctantly by Peter Baker, The New York Times, July 17, 2017. Article: Russians targeted election systems in 21 states, but didn't change any results, officials say by Joseph Tanfani, Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2017. Article: Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election by Matthew Cole, Richard Esposito, Sam Biddle and Ryan Grim, The Intercept, June 5, 2017. Article: The $110 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia is fake news by Bruce Riedel, Brookings, June 5, 2017. Article: Iran Nuclear Deal Will Remain for Now, White House Signals by Gardiner Harris and David E. Sanger, The New York Times, May 17, 2017. Report: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections, National Intelligence Council, January 6, 2017. Article: Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking by David E. Sanger, The New York Times, December 29, 2016. Article: Murphy leads CT delegation in official overseas travel by Ana Radelat, The CT Mirror, March 13, 2015. Article: Major Study Finds The US Is An Oligarchy by Zachary Davies Boren, Business Insider, April 16, 2014. Article: Ukraine wins IMF lifeline as Russia faces growth slump by Natalia Zinets and Elizabeth Piper, Reuters, March 27, 2014. Article: Ukraine orders Crimea troop withdrawal as Russia seizes naval base by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Victoria Butenko, CNN, March 25, 2014. Article: Defense Ministry: 50% Of Ukrainian Troops in Crimea Defect to Russia, Ukrainian News Agency, March 24, 2014. Article: European Union signs landmark association agreement with Ukraine by Adrian Croft, Reuters, March 21, 2014. Article: Crimea applies to be part of Russian Federation after vote to leave Ukraine by Luke Harding and Shaun Walker, The Guardian, March 17, 2014. Article: The February Revolution, The Economist, February 27, 2014. Article: Ukrainian MPs vote to oust President Yanukovych, BBC News, February 22, 2014. Article: Ukraine: Yulila Tymoshenko released as country lurches towards split by Conal Urquhart, The Guardian, February 22, 2014. Transcript: Ukraine Crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call, BBC, February 7, 2014. Article: Putin: Russia to buy $15 billion in Ukraine bonds by Vladimir Isachenkov and Maria Danilova, USA Today, December 17, 2013. Article: EU suspends trade talks with Ukraine, crowds rally against govt, Reuters, December 15, 2013. Article: Senators McCain, Murphy join massive Ukraine anti-government protest, threaten sanctions, Fox News, December 15, 2013. Article: Ukraine parliament rejects proposed laws to release Tymoshenko by Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk, Reuters, November 21, 2013. Article: Ukraine suspends talks on EU trade pact as Putin wins tug of war by Ian Traynor and Oksana Grytsenko, The Guardian, November 21, 2013. Article: Ukraine signs $10 billion shale gas deal with Chevron by Pavel Polityuk and Richard Balmforth, Reuters, November 5, 2013. Article: Exclusive - EU, IMF coordinate on Ukraine as Russia threat looms by Luke Baker and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters, October 31, 2013. Press Release: Statement by IMF Mission to Ukraine, International Monetary Fund, October 31, 2013. Article: Ukraine's EU trade deal will be catastrophic, says Russia by Shaun Walker, The Guardian, September 22, 2013. Article: U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans by John Hudson, ForeignPolicy.com, July 14, 2013. Article: Ukrainian tycoon Firtash takes over bank Nadra, Reuters, May 4, 2011. References GovTrack: H.R. 3364: Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act Overview House Vote Senate Vote GovTrack: H.R. 4152: Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014 Overview GovTrack: H.R. 5859: Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 IMF Report: Ukraine 2012 Article IV Consultation CSPAN Video: Iran's Response to U.S. Sanctions, July 18, 2017. CSPAN Video: British Prime Minister Camerson Question Time, December 18, 2013. CSPAN: Victoria Nuland Profile CSPAN: Anne W. Patterson Profile Executive Orders Executive Order 13757: Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities, December 28, 2016 Annex to Executive Order 13757 Executive Order 13694: Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities, April 1, 2015 Executive Order 13685: Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region in Ukraine, December 19, 2014 Executive Order 13662: Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine, March 20, 2014 Executive Order 13661: Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine, March 16, 2014 Executive Order 13660: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine, March 6, 2014 Visual References Image source Sound Clip Sources House Debate: House Debate on Russia, Iran and North Korea Sanctions, July 25, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts 1500 Rep. Pete Sessions (TX): The bill that was passed by the Senate risked giving Russian energy firms a competitive advantage across the globe by inadvertently denying American companies access to neutral third-party energy markets where there would simply be a small or diminished Russian presence. The bill before us today prevents Russia from being able to weaponize these sanctions against U.S. energy firms. And I want to thank Chairman Royce for his hard work on this issue. I also want to ensure that we have an understanding of the definition of the word controlling in Section 223(d) of H.R. 3364. For purposes of clarification and legislative intent, the term controlling means the power to direct, determine, or resolve fundamental, operational, and financial decisions of an oil project through the ownership of a majority of the voting interests of the oil project. 1515 Rep. Tim Ryan (OH): What's happening with these sanctions here in the targeting of Russian gas pipelines—their number one export—I think is entirely appropriate. The Nord Stream 2, which carries gas from Russia through the Baltics to Germany—and I know Germany isn't happy about it, but this is something that we have to do. And the point I want to make is we have to address this issue in a comprehensive way. We must continue to focus on how we get our gas here in the United States, our natural gas, to Europe, to our allies, so they're not so dependent on Russia. We've got to have the sanctions, but we've also got to be shipping liquid natural gas to some of these allies of ours so they're not so dependent on the Russians, which is part and parcel of this entire approach. Senate Session: "Skinny Repeal" vote down, July 27, 2017. Transcript Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY): Mr. President, and last year we know the United States was victim of an attack by a foreign power on the very foundation of this dear democracy: the right of the people to a free and fair election. The consensus view of 17 agencies is that Mr. Putin interfered in the 2016 election. Hearing: North Korea Policy, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cyber Security, July 25, 2017. Witnesses Bruce Klingner: Senior Research Fellow of the Heritage Foundation Leon Sigal: Director of Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council (SSRSC) Susan Thornton: Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Screenshot: No other Senators in the room Timestamps & Transcripts 3:48 Sen. Cory Gardner (CO): Last Congress, I lead the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to nothing. This legislation was the first stand-alone legislation in Congress regarding North Korea to impose mandatory sanctions on the regime's proliferation activities, human-rights violations, and malicious cyber behavior. According to recent analysis from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, North Korea's sanctions have more than doubled since that legislation came into effect on February 18, 2016. Prior to that date, North Korea ranked 8th behind Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Syria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Even with the 130% sanctions increase after the legislation passed this Congress, North Korea is today still only the 5th most sanctioned country by the United States. 21:22 Sen. Cory Gardner: Could you talk a little bit about the timing of the travel ban? Susan Thornton: Yeah. So, we believe that within the coming week we will publish a notice in the Federal Register, outlining the period of consultation and what we're proposing, which is a general travel restriction, that will be in the Federal Register for a 30-day comment…

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CD155: FirstNet Empowers AT&T Aug 07, 2017

Show notes

In 2012, Congress created a new government agency called FirstNet and tasked it with building a high-speed wireless network that would allow all first responders in the United States to communicate with each other daily and in times of emergencies. In July, FirstNet awarded AT&T with a 25 year contract to do the actual work. In this episode, hear highlights from a recent hearing about this new network as we examine the wisdom of contracting such an important part of our public safety infrastructure to the private sector. Please visit Podchaser.com to nominate your favorite Congressional Dish episode. Password: Patreon Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Additional Reading Article: PayPal, GoFundMe, And Patreon Banned A Bunch Of People Associated With The Alt-Right. Here's Why. by Blake Montgomery, Buzzfeed News, August 2, 2017. Article: U.S. Virgin Islands becomes first territory to 'opt-in' to FirstNet by Donny Jackson, Urgent Communications, August 1, 2017. Article: New Mexico becomes eighth state to 'opt in' to FirstNet by Donny Jackson, Urgent Communications, August 1, 2017. Article: FirstNet Becoming a Reality as the Number of States Opting in Grows to Seven by Adam Stone, GovTech, July 27, 2017. Interview: Executive Spotlight: Interview with Mike Leff, VP for Strategy and Operations for AT&T Global Public Sector by Andy Reed, Executive Biz, July 27, 2017. Article: AT&T in Early Talks With U.S. Officials for Time Warner Approval by David McLaughlin, Gerry Smith and Scott Moritz, Bloomberg, July 24, 2017. Article: FirstNet Gets its Teeth: Implications for Turf, Tech, and Tower Vendors by Daniel Vitulich, Wireless Week, July 21, 2017. Article: National Cell Network For First Responders Could Mean Better Coverage For Vermonters by Amy Kolb Noyes, VPR, July 14, 2017. Article: Some may be kept in the dark on future of public safety telecom by Dave Gram, VTDigger, July 9, 2017. Article: States Deserve A Complete Picture In Evaluating FirstNet/AT&T Coverage Plans by Al Catalano, Keller and Heckman LLP, Lexology, June 29, 2017. Article: Leidos and AT&T to Implement Software Defined Networking for the Defense Information Systems Agency by Leidos, PR Newswire, June 26, 2017. Article: State, Territory Plans and Next Step in FirstNet Build-Out Arrive Ahead of Schedule by Theo Douglas, GovTech, June 19, 2017. Report: FirstNet Has Made Progress Establishing the Network, but Should Address Stakeholder Concerns and Workforce Planning, U.S. Government Accountability Office, June 2017. Article: AT&T and Maxwell Air Force Base Pilot IoT Connected "Smart Base", AT&T Newsroom, April 4, 2017. Article: FirstNet Taps Telecom Giant AT&T for First Responder Network Buildout by News Staff, GovTech, March 30, 2017. Article: Incident Management Teams and FirstNet: A Perspective on the Future by Lesia Dickson, GovTech, January 26, 2017. Article: AT&T Powers NASA's Deep Space Network, AT&T Newsroom, December 14, 2016. Article: Wilbur Ross: From 'king of bankruptcy' to face of American business by Paul Davidson, USA Today, November 30, 2016. Article: AT&T and NASA Collaborate on Drone Traffic Management System, AT&T Newsroom, November 10, 2016. Article: AT&T Agrees to Buy Time Warner for $85.4 Billion by Michael J. de la Merced, The New York Times, October 22, 2016. Article: FirstNet Makes Progress, But Cost and Quality Concerns Remain by Colin Wood, GovTech, May 18, 2016. Website: AT&T's History of Invention and Breakups, The New York Times, February 13, 2016. Article: AT&T Completes Acquisition of DIRECTV, AT&T Newsroom, July 24, 2015. Article: FirstNet: Is Opting Out an Option? by Adam Stone, GovTech, November 17, 2014. Article: FirstNet Hires Friends, Skirts Competitive Bidding by Greg Gordon, McClatchy News Service, GovTech, September 26, 2014. Article: Millions in federal emergency communications funding lost, diverted by Greg Gordon, McClatchy DC Bureau, July 14, 2014. Article: How AT&T got busted up and pieced back together by Jose Pagliery, CNN, May 20, 2014. Article: FirstNet Explained by Tod Newcombie, GovTech, April 17, 2014. Article: FirstNet: Anwsers to Key Questions by David Raths, GovTech, October 10, 2012. Article: FirstNet Board Filled by Public Safety Officials, Telecom Execs by Sarah Rich, GovTech, August 20, 2012. Article: Communications Giant: The Deal; With Cable Deal, AT&T Makes Move to Regain Empire by Seth Schiesel, The New York Times, June 25, 1998. Article: Communications Bill Signed, And the Battles Begin Anew by Edmund Andrews, The New York Times, February 9, 1996. Article: Company News; AT&T Completes Deal To Buy NcCaw Cellular by Edmund Andrews, The New York Times, September 20, 1994. Article: AT&T Buying Computer Maker In Stock Deal Worth $7.4 Billion by Eben Shapiro, The New York Times, May 7, 1991. Article: U.S. Settles Phone Suit, Drops I.B.M. Case; AT&T to Split Up, Transforming Industry by Ernest Holsendolph, The New York Times, January 9, 1982. Article: No. 1 U.S. Utility Is Investor Favorite by Gene Smith, The New York Times, November 21, 1974. References Website: FirstNet FirstNet Board Members Website: National Telecommunications & Information Administration Offices GovTrack: H.R. 3630 (112th): Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 House Vote Senate Vote Document: FirstNet Partnership Factsheet Infoplease: Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank YouTube: Patreon CEO on Content Policy, Lauren Southern, and IGD YouTube: Lauren Southern: Patreon Banned My Account?? Visual References Image Source Image Source Image Source Sound Clip Sources Hearing: National Public Safety Network; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications; July 20, 2017. Witnesses: Curtis Brown: Virginia Deputy Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security Dr. Damon Darsey: University of Mississippi Medical Center Professor Mark Goldstein: GAO Physical Infrastructure Issues Director Chris Sambar: AT&T FirstNet, Senior Vice President Michael Poth: FirstNet CEO Timestamps & Transcripts 1:10 Sen. Roger Wicker (MS): In 2012 Congress created the First Responder Network Authority to lead the development of a nationwide interoperable public-safety broadband network in the United States. Following the communication's failures that plagued recovery efforts during 9/11 and other national emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina, there was and still is a clear need for a reliable communications network to support the essential work of our public-safety officials. Such a network would improve coordination among first responders across multiple jurisdictions and enhance the ability of first responders to provide lifesaving emergency services quickly. 6:37 Sen. Brian Schatz (HI): With FirstNet, firefighters will be able to download the blueprint of a burning building before they enter; a police officer arriving at a scene can run a background check or get pictures of a suspect by accessing a federal law enforcement database; most importantly, emergency personnel will not be competing with commercial users for bandwidth. They will have priority on this network, which will be built and hardened to public-safety specifications. It will have rugged eyes and competitive devices and specify public-safety applications. 9:40 Curtis Brown: Last week the governor was proud to announce that Virginia was the first state in the nation to opt in to FirstNet. Virginia opted in to provide current AT&T public-safety subscribers with the benefit of priority services now at no cost to the Commonwealth, as well as the green light to build out of Virginia's portion of the national public-safety broadband network. We believe that decision to opt in will promote competition within the public-safety communications marketplace, that will reduce costs and drive innovation across all carriers. Opting out was _____(00:31-verily) considered, but the unknown cost and risk associated with deploying and operating a network was not feasible. 19:45 Mark Goldstein: In March 2017 FirstNet awarded a 25-year contract to AT&T to build, operate, and maintain the network. FirstNet's oversight of AT&T's performance is very important, given the scope of the network and the duration of the contract. Among GAO's findings in the report are the following: first, FirstNet has conducted key efforts to establish the network, namely releasing the requests for proposal for the network and awarding the network contract to AT&T. As the contractor, AT&T will be responsible for the overall design, development, production, operation, and evolution of the network. 24:35 Chris Sambar: The AT&T team that I lead is dedicated exclusively to FirstNet. I expect this group to grow to several-hundred employees by this year's end as we hire people across the country with a broad range of skill sets to help us ramp up our network build out. Overall, AT&T expects to spend $40 billion over the lifetime of this contract and to build an operating unique, nationwide, interoperable, IP-based, high-speed mobile network, encrypted at its core, that will provide first responders priority, primary users with preemption and all other users during times of emergency and network congestion. The First Responder Network will be connected to and leverage off AT&T's world-class telecommunications platform, valued at nearly $180 billion, including a wireless network that reaches 99.6% of the U.S. population. In addition, AT&T will support first responders 24 by 7 by 365 with a dedicated security-operation center and help desk. We will provide first responders with a highly secure application ecosystem as well as a highly competitive flexible pricing on equipment and services that they select for their unique needs. One of the most important resources that AT&T brings to bear on the new First Responder Network is our best-in-class national disaster-recovery team. We have spent more than a 130,000 working hours on field exercises and disaster-recovery deployments over the last two decades. This team combines network infrastructure, support trailers, recovery engineering-software applications, and boots on the ground filled by full-time and volunteer AT&T disaster-response team members. In order to support the First Responder Network, AT&T will increase its disaster-recovery fleet by adding 72 new custom-designed vehicles, just for the FirstNet mission. 26:55 Chris Sambar: Possibilities include near real-time information on traffic conditions, which can help determine the best route to an emergency for a first responder; wearable sensors and cameras for police and firefighters to help give them better situational awareness and camera-equipped drones and robots that will be able to deliver real-time imagery. Our FirstNet efforts are expected to create 10,000 U.S. jobs over the next two years as well as significant public-private infrastructure investment. 30:25 Michael Poth: We've created and delivered state plans on June 19 to 50 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia three months ahead of schedule, and as mentioned, the five governors from five great states have already opted in. None of this could be possible, though, without the public-private framework that Congress established for the FirstNet network, by leveraging private-sector resources, infrastructure, cost savings, public-private partner synergies to deploy, operate, and maintain the system. FirstNet can be now deployed quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively. 36:10 Sen. Roger Wicker (MS): Dr. Darsey mentioned that the Mississsippi wireless communications commission has expressed concerns about FirstNet's commitment to hardening the network. You mentioned this in your testimony, the need for FirstNet infrastructure to be hardened. Can you discuss why that's important, and is it more important in the rural areas, and also, in your experience, how do broadband needs differ between urban and rural communities with respect to providing emergency medical services? Dr. Damon Darsey: Sure. Thanks for the question. I'll give you an example. Couple years ago we had a tornado, as you well remember, that took out a hospital in the northeast part of our state. And the medical center has got a pretty robust program to respond to that, and we did. The challenge in that was it took out a couple of commercial towers, but it did not, after a fairly close hit, take out one of our hardened public-safety communication towers. What that did for us is we lost all ability to communicate data out of that area, which was vital in moving and evacuating the hospital, nursing home, and recovering the people that were there. That's the piece that is the concern that I think we share, all of us here, of how do we make that as hardened as possible. In terms of rural and urban, from a medical perspective we can do a lot more, as our team is showing in Mississippi and other states, if we know about the patient well before they get close to a hospital. If we can reach out and touch the stroke patient in the middle of the Mississippi Delta, we can dramatically increase their chances of survival and meaningful use after arrival to the hospital. Currently, we're doing that over radio, and it's working really well, but now imagine that in the rural areas. In urban areas, it's vital in the medical world, but here we're five minutes from multiple hospitals. Now take that as a 45 or 50 minutes away, and what we can do with broadband data in that time is truly life saving and saving of healthcare dollars. There's a nexus here that FirstNet can combine both of those. 41:00 Michael Poth: Numerous bids were in, and they were analyzed with a great level of detail, and through that process that the Department of Interior assisted us with as the acquisition experts, AT&T came out as the prevailing solution and prevailing company provider. Sen. Bill Nelson (FL): The question is why. Poth: Well, the value that they're bringing with their existing infrastructure, their ability and size, their financial sustainability to be able to take on something of this nature, and their lowest-risk approach to implementing this in the shortest time was truly some of the value propositions that made them more competitive than some of the other bids that were analyzed. 42:13 Chris Sambar: The initial RFP that FirstNet released contemplated building out a public-safety broadband network using just band class 14, and we responded accordingly. But through discussions, we decided we would extend it beyond just the band class 14, which is the spectrum that was allocated for first responders in 2012. We said we would open up all of the spectrum bands within AT&T. So, essentially, what that means is the day that a state opts in, they have immediate access to AT&T's entire network, all spectrum bands, and they will see the benefits of FirstNet on all spectrum bands, all wireless towers, from AT&T that are LTE enabled. So I think that's a tremendous benefit that FirstNet was not expecting when they contemplated the original RFP. But when we brought that, I think they were very pleased with that, and that helped us. Sen. Bill Nelson (FL): So, you're going to have a level playing field for all device manufacturers. Sambar: Absolutely, sir. 43:15 Sen. Bill Nelson (FL): There must have been some folks in Virginia that suggested that you opt out of the network and chart your own path…

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CD154: The OTHER Health Care Bills Jul 24, 2017

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We've paid a lot of attention this year to the bill that would "Repeal and Replace" the Affordable Care Act but that is not the only bill related to health care that is moving through Congress. In this episode, learn about the other health care bills that have made it just as far as the Repeal and Replace bill, including one that is already law. Also in this episode, we laugh at the Senate for inventing holidays and doing so in the dumbest way possible. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD123: Health or Profits CD145: Price of Health Care CD151: AHCA - The House Version Bills Outline Laws H.J. Res. 430: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating to compliance with title X requirements by project recipients in selecting subrecipients. Overturns a rule finalized by the Obama Administration that would have prevented States from cutting off Federal funds for "family-planning services". Bills In Progress H.R. 372: Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2017 Repeals an antitrust exemption that currently applies to health and dental insurance Allows antitrust exemptions for life insurance, and property or casualty insurance H.R. 1101: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2017 Orders the Executive Branch to use regulations to create a procedure for certifying Association Health Plans (AHPs), which are not regulated like the state small group health insurance markets. Association Health Plans and the insurance companies that provide coverage will select the services included and their decisions are exempt from State laws. Creates a fund that will pay insurers to continue coverage if the plans disappears. The fund can be raided by the Executive Branch to pay for other things "whenever the Secretary determines that the moneys of the fund are in excess of current needs." A working group would be created to write the regulations. The applications for plans will include the States in which the plan intends to do business. If the association plan becomes insolvent, the government will become the trustee and can try to fix the plan, cancel the plan entirely, and can invest the plans assets. Would become effective one year after being signed into law and enactment regulations would be created by the Secretary of Labor. H.R. 1215: Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 Enacts a statue of limitations on filing health care lawsuits which would be one year after the injury is discovered but never more than three years after the malpractice occurred The states can make the statue of limitations shorter Limits non-economic damages (such as pain, suffering, physical impairment, disfigurement, and mental anguish) to $250,000, "regardless of the number of parties against whom the action is brought or the number of separate claims or actions brought with respect to the same injury." "The jury shall note be informed about the maximum award for noneconomic damages." States will have the ability to adjust this number, up or down. Actual economic losses (such as medical expenses, past and future earnings losses, and loss of employment) in health care lawsuits will remain unlimited. Each guilty party in a health care lawsuit will only be held liable for the percentage of the damages in direct proportion to that party's percentage of responsibility. Doctors who prescribe a medicine that has been approved by the FDA can't be sued along with manufacturers, distributors, or sellers in product liability lawsuits Any statements or conduct expressing "fault" (along with apology, sympathy, etc.) made by a health care provider in regards to an unexpected medical outcome "shall be inadmissible" for any purpose as evidence of an admission of liability. States are allowed to make other communications inadmissible too. The statute of limitations would be effective immediately upon enactment and the limits on damages will be for all lawsuits started after the law is signed. Additional Reading Document: H.R. 1628 Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 Cost Estimate, Congressional Budget Office, July 19, 2017. Article: The Washington Post's New Social Media Policy Forbids Disparaging Advertisers by Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian, June 27, 2017. Document: H.R. 1628 Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 Cost Estimate, Congressional Budget Office, June 26, 2017. Document: H.R. 1628 American Health Care Act of 2017 Cost Estimate, Congressional Budget Office, May 24, 2017. Article: Examining The Final Market Stabilization Rule: What's There, What's Not, And How Might It Work? by Timothy Jost, Health Affairs Blog, April 14, 2017. Document: Guidance to States on Review of Qualified Health Plan Certification Standards in Federally-facilitated Marketplaces for Plan Years 2018 and Later, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, April 13, 2017. Article: Treasury Inspector General Assesses ACA-Related Tax Issues by Timothy Jost, Health Affairs Blog, April 11, 2017. Document: Compliance With Title X Requirements by Project Recipients in Selecting Subrecipients by Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Register, Vol. 81, No. 243, December 19, 2016. Article: Is the ACA the GOP health care plan from 1993? by Jon Greenberg, Politifact, November 15, 2013. References American Civil Liberties Union: Public Funding for Abortion GovTrack: Health Bills Tracker Cornell Law School: 15 U.S. Code § 1013 Kevin McCarthy Majority Leader website: Health Care Phase 3: The Small Business Health Fairness Act ConsumersUnion: Letter to the House Opposing the Small Business Health Fairness Act OpenSecrets: Clients lobbying on H.R. 1215 American Medical Association: Support for House-Passed Bill on Medical Liability Google: UnitedHealth Group Stock US Senate Financial Disclosure: James Inhofe Stock Purchases American Health Insurance Plans: Letter to President Trump Dept of Health and Human Services: Letter to Governor regarding Medicaid Medicaid: About Section 1115 Demonstrations Washington Post: About WP Brandstudio Videos CSPAN: Pres. Trump Remarks on Senate Republican Health Care Bill YouTube: Hell to the Nah! Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Rules Committee Hearing, House of Representatives Committee on Rules, February 14, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts 6:40 Rep. Jim McGovern (MA): I'll make the point I continue to make about the process. Both of these rules, or protections, went through a long process, and whether you agree with them or not, there was a process. Here we are; the committees with jurisdiction did no hearings on this, have basically—there'll be no opportunity for review. We know what the outcome is going to be: two more closed rules. So it's kind of this whole hearing is kind of pointless because, again, the process is going to be the most restrictive that it can be. 9:40 Rep. Tim Walberg (MI): As you know, Title X is the only domestic federal program that provides grants for family-planning services. Grants go directly to states and non-governmental organizations, which then distribute money among healthcare providers. Over half of the grantees are state and local governmental agencies, which serve as intermediaries to distribute funding to subgrantees. Prior to this rule, states were free to direct their Title X funds to healthcare providers that did not participate in abortion. When states had this freedom, they were able to choose to invest in women's health care instead of abortion. The new rule blocks states from restricting grants to potential recipients for reasons other than the ability to provide Title X services. Under this rule, states are prevented from establishing criteria that would eliminate abortion providers from receiving Title X grant money. Hearing: H.R. 372, the "Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2017", House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, February 16, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts 10:15 Rep. John Conyers (MI): I am pleased that the subcommittee's first hearing of this new Congress is on H.R. 372, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2017, which repeals the antitrust exemption in the McCarran-Ferguson Act for the health insurance business. For many years I've advocated for such a repeal, so I'm heartened to see the bipartisan nature of the support for this position. 11:50 Rep. John Conyers (MI): Congress passed McCarran-Ferguson Act in response to a 1944 Supreme Court decision, finding that antitrust laws applied to the business of insurance, like everything else. Both insurance companies and the states expressed concern about that decision. Insurance companies worried that it would jeopardize certain collective practices like joint-rate setting and a pooling of historical data, and the states were concerned about losing their authority to regulate and tax the business of insurance. To address these concerns, McCarran-Ferguson provided the federal antitrust laws apply to the business of insurance only to the extent that it is not regulated by state law, which has resulted in a broad antitrust exemption. Industry and state revenue concerns, rather than the key goals of protecting competition and consumers, were the primary drivers of the Act. In passing McCarran-Ferguson, Congress, however, initially intended to provide only a temporary exemption and, unfortunately, gave little to consideration to ensuring competition. 26:15 Rep. Austin Scott (GA): Be definition, health care and health insurance are not the same thing. But when one insurance company controls such significant portions of the cash flow of all of the providers in a region, no provider can stay in business without a contract with that carrier. Therefore, the insurance company gets to determine who is and who is not able to provide health care: sign a contract with a competing carrier, and we'll cancel your contract. Accept the lower reimbursement, or we'll cancel your contract. It's closer to extortion than negotiation. Hearing: Legislative Proposals to Improve Health Care Coverage, House Committee on Education and Workforce, March 1, 2017. Witnesses Allison Klausner: American Benefits Council, which represents Fortune 500 companies Lydia Mitts: Associate Director of Affordability at Families USA, a consumer advocate org. Jay Ritchie: Executive VP of Toko Marine HCC-Stop Loss Group & Chairman of the Self-Insurance Institute of America Jon Hurst: President of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Timestamps & Transcripts 25:50 Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC): Ultimately, they are fighting to maintain government control—government control over the kind of health insurance you can buy, government control over the kind of health insurance employers can and cannot offer workers, government control over the doctors you can see and the doctors you can't see, and government control over certain healthcare benefits that many individuals may not need. Yet despite the cost and pain inflicted on so many Americans by Obamacare, the answer for some is still more government control. 47:35 Lydia Mitts: The second bill I would like to speak to is the Small Business Health Fairness Act. This bill would exempt association health plans from adhering to critical state and federal requirements for small-group coverage. These requirements have benefited small employers and their workers alike. They include protections that prevent plans from charging small employers exorbitantly higher premiums because their employees have poor health, are older, or are disproportionately women. They also include requirements that plans cover comprehensive benefits that meet the needs of a diverse workforce. By allowing association health plans to ignore these key protections, this bill would increase premiums and threaten stable access to comprehensive coverage for many small employers and their workers. Employers with a young workforce that is in pristine health may be able to get lower premiums. However, the rest of small businesses would see coverage become less affordable, whether they sought it through an association or the existing small-group market. On top of this, employees move to association plans would be at risk of facing skimpier coverage that doesn't cover the care they need. 1:41:20 Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR): Ms. Mitts, the ACA included, as we know, unprecedented new consumer protections for patients, such as eliminating annual and lifetime limits, preventing insurers from dropping people when they get sick, charging women higher premiums. What will happen to these protections in association health plans? Lydia Mitts: Under the bill put forth to you today, those association health plans would no longer have to comply with so many of those rating protections that have been a huge benefit to many small businesses that prior before the Affordable Care Act actually had a really hard time finding affordable coverage for their employees because they employed employees who actually had healthcare needs, who were maybe older, and the market didn't work for them before. And so we would move back to a situation where we'd have a segmented market, and people who are healthy, in pristine health, could move into an association health plan. I think the thing that's important to keep in mind is that that doesn't mean that association health plan would always be there and work for that small employer. If their workforce got older, claims went up, they might find that that association health plan charges them more, and it's not a viable option for them anymore. Bonamici: Can you address—I know there've been some solvency concerns about some of the association health plans. Can you address that concern as well? Mitts: Yeah, there's historically been concerns about association health plans not having adequate solvency funds. They have leaner, less rigid requirements than typical health insurance coverage. Partially state oversight was added to that to help address some of these problems, bigger problems, where they were just under ERISA. And when an association plan goes insolvent, their employers and their workers are still left with all of those unpaid medical claims and then on the hook for them. And if the plans are not under state jurisdiction, they won't be able to benefit from state guaranty funds that help pay those claims, so they'll be left on the hook for them. Hearing: H.R. 1215 Hearing-Part 1, House Committee on the Judiciary, February 28, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts 44:20 Rep. Steve King (IA): One of the drivers of higher healthcare spending is defensive medicine. It's a very real phenomenon confirmed by countless studies in which healthcare workers conduct many additional costly tests and procedures with no medical value that are charged to the federal taxpayers and to other consumers simply to avoid excessive litigation costs. 45:25 Rep. Steve King (IA): They include the following: a bedside sonogram with an "official sonogram" because it's easier to defend yourself to a jury if you've ordered the second sonogram; a CT scan for every child who bumped his head, or her head, to rule out things that can be diagnosed just fine by observation; x-rays that do not guide treatment such as for a simple broken arm; or CT scans for suspected appendicitis that has been perfectly well diagnosed without it. In fact, I have an orthopedic surgeon who has said to me that when he has a knee in…

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CD153: Save the Post Office! Jun 25, 2017

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The post office is in trouble. Faced with an enormous debt and a legal obligation to serve every single American, the United States Postal Service needs Congress to make some changes in order to prevent service cuts and financial ruin. In this episode we analyze the plan currently moving through Congress. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Bill Outline H.R. 756: Postal Service Reform Act of 2017 Title I: Postal Service Benefits Reform Postal employees will be enrolled in Medicare Cancels the requirements for the USPS to pre-fund employee retirement health benefits. Title II: Postal Service Operations Reform Creates a Board of Governors, which will have power over the Postmaster General and determine the strategic direction and pricing of the post office products. Stops the requirement for door delivery to new addresses starting the day the bill is enacted. Businesses will get "centralized delivery, curbside delivery, or sidewalk delivery" with all of them converted by September 30, 2023. Residences will be able to convert voluntarily starting on October 1, 2018 and will have shared delivery points for up to 50 units each. We will be informed in writing if our homes have been selected by the end of March 2019 and we can sign a "conversion consent form" to agree. New residents will automatically be converted to the centralized delivery Gives the Postal Regulatory Committee more flexibility in setting postal rates Allows the post office to provide State and local government services Allows the post office to reinstate half of the rate surcharge that was in effect in April 2016. Title III: Postal Service Personnel Creates a Chief Innovation Officer position Title IV: Postal Contracting Reform Allows the post office to issue non-competitive contracts, with notification requirements if they are over $250,000 Additional Reading Article: House panel displays bipartisan unity over bill to save Postal Service from financial ruin by Joe Davidson, The Washington Post, February 7, 2017. Article: Federal agencies turning to UPS, Fed Ex instead of USPS for delivery needs by Mary Lou Byrd, The Washington Times, June 11, 2013. Article: How Healthcare Expenses Cost Us Saturday Postal Delivery by Josh Sanbum, TIME, February 7, 2013. References Document: H.R. 1628: Senate Health Care Bill Twitter: Who Drafted Secret Health Care Bill USPS: USO Executive Summary USPS: Mail & Shipping Prices National Association of Letter Carriers: About NALC GovTrack: H.R. 756: Postal Service Reform Act of 2017 GovTrack: H.R. 760: Postal Service Financial Improvement Act of 2017 GovTrack: H.R. 5714 (114th): Postal Service Reform Act of 2016 CBO: H.R. 5714 CBO Score GovTrack: H.R. 6407 (109th): Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act CBO: H.R. 6407 CBO Score White House: President Bush's Statement on H.R. 6407 Video Clips YouTube: Kathleen Madigan - Post Office YouTube: Jerry Seinfeld - Post Office Bit YouTube: Seinfeld clip - Because the mail never stops YouTube: Tom Papa - Post Office Bit Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Accomplishing Postal Reform in the 115th Congress - H.R. 756, The Postal Service Reform Act of 2017, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, February 7, 2017. Watch on CSPAN Witnesses Megan J Brennan: Postmaster General Robert Taub: Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission Lori Rectanus: Direction or Physical Infrastructure issues at the US Gov't Accountability Office Arthur Sackler: Manager at the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service Fredric Rolando: President of the National Association of Letter Carriers 5:19 Rep. Jason Chaffetz: Last July I was proud to see our committee favorably report the bill by a voice vote. Unfortunately, it didn't make it across the finish line before the end of the Congress, but we did make a lot of progress, particularly with getting the CBO—the Congressional Budget Office—to come in and score the bill. 6:10 Rep. Jason Chaffetz: In an era of partisan politics, this legislation represents a significant bipartisan compromise. The bill gives the Postal Service the freedom it needs to successfully meet the business realities the agency faces. To do this, the bill allows the Postal Service to fully integrate its healthcare plans with Medicare. With such integration, the Postal Service can virtually wipe out its 52-billion-dollar retiree healthcare unfunded liability. Further, the bill achieves real savings by moving to more-efficient mail delivery, saving the Postal Service more than $200 a year for each address that can be converted from the door-to-door delivery to centralized delivery. The bill also helps the agency more accurately evaluate its cost structure and reforms key governance matters. 8:10 Rep. Elijah Cummings: The other thing I thank you for, Mr. Chairman, is so often what happens is that when a lot of work has been done in one term, it's just tossed away, and then you have to start all over again. But I thank you for picking up where we left off. 10:40 Rep. Elijah Cummings: The total volume of mail handled by the Postal Service has fallen by more than 25% since 2006, and continued declines are expected. The cost of the Postal Service's operations have also risen, in part because the Postal Service is required to provide universal delivery service to every address in the United States. Every year, about 900,000 new addresses are created in this country; and a network of postal facilities, letter carriers, and workers must expand to deliver to every new address—900,000; that's a lot. The Postal Service is burdened by a 2006 statutory requirement imposed by Congress to fully pre-fund its liabilities for retiree healthcare costs, a requirement that no other federal agency or private-sector company faces. These liabilities, combined with the Postal Service's unfunded pension liabilities, currently total about $125 billion, which is almost double its annual revenues. Even as it fixed costs continued to grow, the exigent rate increase that had been approved to enable the Postal Service to recoup some of the losses incurred because of a 2008 recession's permanent impact on mail volume expired. Since 2006 the Postal Service has implemented significant cost-saving measures, including reducing positions and work hours, and consolidating facilities and delivery routes. 14:08 Rep. Elijah Cummings: Taking all these requirements and trends together, the Postal Service reported a net loss of $5.3 billion for fiscal year 2016, which represents a 10th consecutive year of net losses. We have repeatedly discussed the deteriorating financial condition at the Postal Service in this committee, but the situation is now worsened by unprecedented lack of any Senate-confirmed members on the Postal Service's Board of Governors. Because many key management decisions are reserved by statute to the Senate-confirmed board members, there are many actions, such as establishing rates, class, and fees for products, that the Postal Service simply cannot take now. The need for postal reform is as urgent as it ever was. Fortunately, we also may be closer than ever to enacting reform. We must press ahead—all of us. 18:50 Rep. Gerald Connolly: I want to commend Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings for their leadership in holding together this coalition—not easy—and it's a bipartisan coalition that helped write this bill. And especially Chairman Chaffetz could have yielded to the temptation, in light of the circumstances of 2017, to start all over again, and he didn't do that. We worked together, we held it together, and I want to thank all the stakeholders represented in this room and those not in this room for understanding we can't let perfect be the enemy of the good. 24:25 Megan Brennan: The Postal Service is self-funded. We pay for our operations through the sale of postal products and services and do not receive tax revenues to support our business. Over the past decade, total mail volume declined by 28%. First-class mail, which makes the greatest contribution to covering the cost of our networks, declined by 36%. In response, we have streamlined our operations, restructured our networks, reduced the size of our workforce, and improved productivity. As a result of these efforts, we've achieved annual cost savings of approximately $14 billion. We also successfully stabilized marketing-mail revenues and grew our package business, which together drive e-commerce growth. However, given the constraints imposed by law, all of those actions cannot offset the negative impacts caused by the consistent decline in the use of first-class mail. The Postal Service is required to maintain an extensive network necessary to fulfill our universal service obligation to deliver the mail to every address six days a week, regardless of volume. The cost of the network continues to grow as approximately one million new delivery points are added each year. However, less volume, limited pricing flexibility, and increasing costs means that there is less revenue to pay for our growing delivery network and to fund other legally mandated costs. Since 2012 the Postal Service has been forced to default on $33.9 billion in mandated payments for retiree health benefits. Without these defaults, the deferral of critical capital investments, and aggressive management actions, we would not have been able to pay our employees and suppliers, or deliver the mail. Despite our achievements in growing revenue and improving operational efficiency, we cannot overcome systemic financial imbalances caused by business-model constraints. 26:40 Megan Brennan: We believe there is broad support for the core provisions of the bill you have introduced. By enacting this urgently needed legislation, which includes those provisions, the Postal Service can achieve an estimated $26 billion in combined cost reductions and new revenue over five years. Enactment of these provisions, favorable resolution of the Postal Regulatory Commission's pricing-review system, and continued aggressive management actions will return the Postal Service to financial stability. Medicare integration is the cornerstone of your bill. The civilian federal government is not required to pre-fund retiree health benefits, but that obligation is imposed on the Postal Service. We are merely asking to be treated like any business that offers health benefits to its retirees and has to fund them. Full integration with Medicare is a universally accepted best practice in private sector. Requiring full Medicare integration for Postal Service retirees would essentially eliminate our unfunded liability for retiree health benefits. It is simply a matter of fairness to enable the Postal Service and our employees to fully utilize the benefits for which we have paid. We also strongly endorse the provision of the bill that would restore half of the exigent rate increase as a permanent part of our rate base. That provision will help us pay for the infrastructure necessary to fulfill our universal service obligation. 28:20 Megan Brennan: H.R. 756 is fiscally responsible and enables the Postal Service to invest in the future and to continue to provide affordable, reliable, and secure delivery service to every business and home in America. 30:30 Robert Taub: H.R. 756 is specifically designed to put the Postal Service on sound financial footing. 33:43 Lori Rectanus: The continued deterioration of the Postal Service's financial condition is simply a truth that revenues are not keeping up with expenses, a trend since 2007. This means that over the last decade the Postal Service has had a net loss of over $60 billion. While much of this loss was in fact due to the nonpayment of retiree health pre-funding payments, the Postal Service still lost over $10 billion outside of this requirement and other requirements. The revenue-expense gap occurs because first-class mail, the most profitable mail, continues to decline and is now down to 1981 levels. The Postal Service has made significant efforts to grow revenue in other ways, such as with package services. In the meantime, however, expenses continue to grow, largely because of compensation and benefit payments for employees. This is due to salary increases, as well as a larger workforce, in the past several years to support the more labor-intensive package business. In fact, over the past three years, the workforce has actually increased by over 20,000 people, contrasting sharply with prior years when its size decreased greatly. 38:15 Arthur Sackler: We support this bill and urge its approval as promptly as possible. 41:26 Arthur Sackler: H.R. 756 provides an elegant solution to this profound financial problem, integrating postal annuitants into Medicare will save the Postal Service billions each year and follow the best practices of the private sector. Companies that offer health insurance to employees and retirees generally require them to join Medicare at age 65. 42:06 Arthur Sackler: The implications of this bleak financial situation are near existential for Postal Service in its current form, so we support H.R. 756 notwithstanding its one-time market-dominant postal rate increase of 2.15%. We accept this increase in this unique set of circumstances only as necessary to achieve this bill and stabilize the Postal Service. Congress has wisely delegated rate setting to the postal agencies, but with respect, the industry will be compelled to oppose any effort to regard this bill as a precedent for other legislated rate increases. The industry has long supported the self-sustaining postal system, funded entirely by postage. That remains the best course from our perspective. And that is the beauty of your bill. It vastly improves the Postal Service's financial stability, keeps the Postal Service self-sustaining, and wards off any prospect of a taxpayer bailout, as you noted, Mr. Chairman. 44:25 Fredric Rolando: The bill has broad support across the mailing industry, including business and labor, and is based on best practices in the private sector. 45:30 Fredric Rolando: Over the past decade, postal employees have worked diligently to restructure operations, cut costs, and sharply increase productivity, in response to technological change and the Great Recession. Despite the loss of more than 200,000 jobs, we've managed to preserve our networks and to maintain our capacity to serve the nation. But only Congress can address our biggest financial challenge: the unique and unsustainable burden to pre-fund future retiree health benefits decades in advance. No other enterprise in the country faces such a burden, which was imposed by legislation in 2006. The expense of this mandate has accounted for nearly 90% of the Postal Service's reported losses since 2007. Without a change in the law, the mandate will cost $6 billion this year alone. H.R. 756 would maximize the integration of Medicare and our federal health program for Medicare-eligible postal annuitants, most of whom have already voluntarily enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. The proposal would also give us access to low-cost prescription drugs and other benefits provided to private-employer plans by the Medicare Modernization Act. The savings would help to reduce all of our premium costs and, therefore, pre-funding costs. This approach adopts a standard practice of large private companies that provide retiree health insurance. It would effectively resolve the pre-funding burden that undermines the health of the Postal Service while only raising Medicare spending by one-tenth of one percent over 10 years. H.R. 756 also addresse…

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CD152: Air Traffic Control Privatization Jun 11, 2017

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Air traffic controllers in the United States are a part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) but Congress is seriously considering changing that. In this episode, we examine a plan being developed to transfer control of the nation's air traffic to a new non-profit corporation. Also, with former FBI Directory Jim Comey's testimony to Congress dominating the news cycle, we take a trip down memory lane to the Bush years when Jim Comey testified before Congress in one of the most riveting moments in Congressional hearing history. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Additional Reading Article: So What's the Deal with Air Traffic Control Reform? by Aarian Marshall, Wired, June 6, 2017. Article: Inspector General Reports on FAA's Efforts to Modernize the NAS by Rob Mark, Flying Mag, May 25, 2017. Article: The Wait for ATC Privatization is Over as White House Budget Emerges by Rob Mark, Flying Mag, March 16, 2017. Article: Shuster admits relationship with airline lobbyist by John Bresnahan, Anna Palmer, and Jake Sherman, Politico, April 16, 2015. Article: FAA seeks new air traffic controllers - no experience needed by Tanita Gaither, Hawaii News Now, 2014. Article: The Real Battle Over Air Traffic Control by Robert Poole and Dorothy Robyn, Reason Foundation, November 3, 2003. References Boston University: Dorothy Robyn Bio Hartzell Prop: Joseph W. Brown Bio Office of Inspector General: Calvin L. Scovel III Bio NATCA: Paul Rinaldi Bio Reason Foundation: Company FAQs Reason Foundation: Robert Poole Bio GovTrack: H.R. 4441 Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act Overview GovTrack: H.R. 4441 - Supporters vs Opponents GovTrack: H.R. 4441 - Text OpenSecrets: Rep. Bill Shuster OpenSecrets: Rep. Bill Shuster - Campaign Finance OpenSecrets: Airlines for America YouTube: James Comey testifies about Gonzales pressuring Ashcroft to OK spying Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Air Traffic Control Reform, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, May 17, 2017. Watch on CSPAN Witnesses The Honorable Calvin Scovel, III, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation Joseph W. Brown, President, Hartzell Propeller, Inc. Mr. Robert W. Poole, Jr., Director of Transportation Policy, Reason Foundation Mr. Paul M. Rinaldi, President, National Air Traffic Controllers Assocation Ms. Dorothy Robyn, Independent Policy Analyst Timestamps & Transcripts 3:33 Chairman Bill Shuster: Today we'll focus on the need for air traffic control reform, divesting the high-tech service, 24/7 service business, from government and shifting it to an independent not-for-profit entity. 4:20 Chairman Bill Shuster: Everyone should be reminded of what happens if we choose the status quo. It means our system will be subject to more budget constraints, sequestration, and threats of government shutdowns. Sequestration isn't gone. In 2013 sequestration led to furloughs and reduced operations, controlled our hiring, and training suffered, and the FAA bureaucrats tried to shut down contract towers. Fiscal constraints continue to be tight, as so in the federal budget, and that's not going to change anytime soon, and it may get worse. We continue to rely on the unstable, dysfunctional, annual appropriations cycle. We have had no stand-alone transportation appropriations bill since 2006, and over that time period, Congress has passed 42 continuing resolutions to keep government doors open. The FAA also relies on authorizing legislation, and it took Congress 23 short-term extensions over five years before it passed previous long-term FAA authorization bill. Under these conditions, the FAA bureaucracy has been trying to undertake a high-tech modernization of air traffic control system for over three decades. It's not working, and it's never going to work. 5:52 Chairman Bill Shuster: Some argue that the latest attempt to modernize NextGen is showing some signs of progress, but we all know any progress is incremental at best and only in locations where the FAA partnered with the private sector. And let's remember the name NextGen was really just a rebranding of the FAA's ongoing failed efforts to modernize the system. NextGen is just a marketing term, not an actual technology or innovation, but it sounds catchier so Congress will fund it year after year. But the bottom line is there should be far more progress by now. Money has never been the problem; Congress has provided more than $7.4 billion for NextGen since 2004. Results of the problem: according to the FAA's own calculation, the return on the taxpayers' 7.4 billion invested has only been about 2 billion in benefits. And we've still got a long way to go. According to the DOT inspector general in 2014, the projected initial cost for NextGen was $40 billion, but they've said it could double or triple and be delayed another decade. Over the years, the FAA has described NextGen as transformation of America's air transportation network. They also said it will forever redefine how we manage the system. But in 2015 the National Research Council confirmed what was already becoming painfully clear. According to the NRC, the original version of NextGen is not what was being implemented. It is not broadly transformational and is not fundamental change in the way the FAA handles air traffic. Only in the federal government would such a dismal record be considered a success. 7:40 Chairman Bill Shuster: Some have proposed targeting reforms to fix the FAA's problems, but that's an approach we've already tried many, many times, starting in the 1980s. Since 1995, Congress has passed various reforms to allow the FAA to run more like a business. Procurement reform in 1995 for the FAA to develop a more flexible acquisition-management system. Additional reforms in 1995 exempt the FAA from most federal personnel rules and allow the FAA to be able to implement more flexible rules for hiring, training, compensating, and assigning personnel. Procurement reforms in 1996 developed a cost accounting system. Additional personnel reforms in 1996 allowed FAA to negotiate pay. Organizational reforms in 2000 to establish a COO position, additional forms to allow greater pay so the FAA could recruit good candidates, particularly for a COO position. Additional reform in 2000 by the executive order to create the Air Traffic Organization. Organizational reforms in 2003 to establish the Joint Planning and Development Office to better coordinate NextGen. Reforms in 2012 to establish a chief NextGen officer. Property management reforms in 2012 to allow a better process for realignment and consolidation of facilities. All have failed to result in the FAA being run more like a business. The FAA has always performed like a massive bureaucracy and will continue to. 9:33 Chairman Bill Shuster: Last year's bill that passed out of committee will serve as a framework for new legislation, but we are open to change. We want to talk to people and get their ideas, and that's what we hope to hear today. 9:45 Chairman Bill Shuster: Our air traffic control reform proposal will be based on the following principles: create an independent not-for-profit corporation to provide air traffic services; fund the new service provider by fees assessed for air traffic service; free the new service provider from governmental dysfunction, political interference, and the uncertainty of the federal-budget process; create a governance structure that is right sized and balanced; and a board with sole fiduciary responsibility to the organization—and I need to repeat that—fiduciary responsibility. That's a legal term. If you're on a board of directors in the United States and you have the fiduciary responsibility, it's not to who appointed you to the board; it's to the board, it's to that organization is who you're responsible for, and that's the law. That's just not some pie in the sky. People can be removed and be prosecuted if they're not doing their fiduciary responsibilities. 11:47 Chairman Bill Shuster: Give the new service provider the ability to access financial markets, leverage private funding for multi-year capital projects needed to modernize the system. 12:35 Chairman Bill Shuster: The only way to realize these benefits is to get the government out of the way. As President Ronald Regan said, government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem. And we see all over the world people turning to the private sector—whether it's Europe or it's Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada—look around the world: countries, governments, are looking to partner with the private sector because they see they do it better. 13:01 Chairman Bill Shuster: Since the introduction of the Air Act over a year ago, this has been an ongoing process of education and discussion. We've held over 130 meetings with stakeholders, including both supporters and opponents of the Air Act. We've had numerous meetings with members of the House, the Senate, the White House, and other committees. These meetings have been extremely productive and give us new ideas to improve the legislation. 14:20 Chairman Bill Shuster: Air traffic control is not an inherently governmental function; it's a 24/7 technology service. For those who worry that the system is too complex, I would say this: the most complex thing in the air space is not the air traffic control system, it's the airplane. It's the people at Boeing and Airbus and Cessna and the people that build these aircraft—that's the most complicated thing in the system. And the FAA already oversees those highly sophisticated private-sector aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, and flight operations at arm's length. We don't build airplanes today, the government does, and that's the most complex thing in the system. 16:26 Rep Peter DeFazio: We are now on the cusp of a 21st century system that will be the envy of the world. And other experts—MITRE Corporation, others—say a massive change now, where you cleave the FAA into parts, you leave the most vital thing to our manufacturers—certification, subject to appropriations, sequestrations, and shutdowns—you leave the most vital thing that is important to the American public, which is safety and oversight of safety, subject to sequestration, shutdowns, and political meddling. The only thing that gets moved is the ATO, and the ATO would be moved and essentially effectively controlled by the airlines. I know that the airlines aren't here today, perhaps because they haven't looked so great recently in public, and I'd also note that the airlines themselves have had outages 36 times—major outages—36 times since 2015. I'm not aware that the national air traffic control system has had a major disruption, with exception of deliberate sabotage by a contractor who knew how to get the system and the backup system. But the airlines, on their own, with no sabotage, have managed to melt down their dispatch and their reservation systems 36 times, stranding millions of people, so they can do it better, right? 18:15 Rep Peter DeFazio: In terms of funding, the FAA has currently projected, over the next decade, to be 97% self-funded. Unfortunately, the way our colleagues around here and the budget process works, despite the fact they're self-funded, they can be sequestered or shut down. That's a simple, simple fix. Take it off budget, make it into a trust-funded program. They are raising the revenues. That's a simple fix. No, we're going to cleave it in half, put vital functions over here—still subject to sequestration shutdown—and take this one part and put it over here and say somehow they're going to self-fund. Now, the question, of course, is, how are they going to self-fund? The airlines have told me time and time again, they hate the ticket tax, they hate the ticket tax; they say, that's our money. I say, no, it's not your money; I buy a ticket, I pay the tax, the tax goes to the government; it's not your money. They say, no, no, that affects the price of the ticket and competition and everything else; it's a horrible thing. So, if they do away with the ticket tax, there goes 70% of the revenues. Well, what are they going to put in its place? Oh, it's going to be a per-operation charge or something; we don't know. Congress will have no say over this. 22:11 Rep Peter DeFazio: See all that yellow? That's the U.S. That is going to be totally ADS-B, satellite-based, in 2020, with an exception—the airlines that petitioned and been given permission from the FAA for exceptions because many of their older planes do not have modern-enough GPS systems to use the new ADS-B. The airlines again have petitioned that they have a number more years before those planes would be able to use the ADS-B system. Not the FAA, the airlines themselves. 28:38 Rep Peter DeFazio: They can set user fees. User fees, I consider to be taxes. I consider the ticket tax to be a user fee, but we can argue semantics over that. But they are going to determine how the system is funded, which is tantamount to taxation without review by the Ways and Means committee or Congress. 37:00 Joseph Brown: Now, as a pilot, 4 to 500 hours a year, my office is the cockpit; and when I fly, I find a modern system, a high-functioning system, and I've seen it evolve over time, right before my eyes. I find controllers that do their job well, I find easy access, and powerful technology. I can file a flight plan from my smartphone and get my proposed route back, before I get to the airport, in a text. When I take off, I have GPS navigation systems on board that allow me to fly point to point all over this country. Couple months ago, I took off out of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and got cleared direct to Burlington, Vermont, 1300 miles ahead. And while I'm flying, I have the veil of safety brought to you by ADS-B, which is in fact deployed, giving me traffic callouts and separation cues and weather in my route of flight. And when I come in for landing, I can pick from 3,000 precision approaches, brought to me by a NextGen feature called WAAS, including at my home airport, which I value tremendously on foul-weather days. So, the bottom line for me is, NextGen is working—it works for me every day—and it's getting stronger all the time. And from a technology standpoint, I believe we're on the right track. 43:30 Robert Poole: Business Roundtable group began in 2011, made an initial presentation to A4A in the spring of 2012. We got a pretty cool, if not negative, reception at that point. No one wanted to restart the battles that had raged over this issue in previous decades. Everything changed in the spring of 2013, thanks to the sequester. Controller furloughs closed FAA Academy; threatened closure of 189 contract towers got everybody's attention. In response, A4A, NATCA, and AOPA all requested new conversations with the BRT working group. And in May 2013, all three groups in the conference room at Business Roundtable agreed that an air traffic control corporation, converting the ATO into a corporation, self-funded, and out of the federal budget was the best approach. After this happened, that fall, Governor Engler and several others briefed Chairman Shuster on the proposal. This was not coming from the airlines. BRT group included a former FAA administrator, a former chief operating officer of the ATO, two former senior officials of USDOT and several consultants. Our governing model, as…

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CD151: AHCA – The House Version (American Health Care Act) May 28, 2017

Show notes

The American Health Care Act, the Republican plan for a new health care system, passed the House of Representatives at lightning speed. In this episode, get the backstory on the reckless process used to pass the bill, learn how it changed from the original version, and find out how the Congressional Budget Office expects the bill would affect you. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD146: Repeal & Replace Bill Outline H.R. 1628: American Health Care Act of 2017 Bill Outline Title I: Energy and Commerce Subtitle A: Patient Access to Public Health Programs Section 101: Repeals the Prevention and Public Health Fund at the end of 2018 Section 103: Prohibits any Federal funding for any non-profit that performs abortions for a year Subtitle B: Medicaid Program Enhancement Section 111 : Reduces Medicaid funding Section 112: Ends the Medicaid expansion... For people under 65 years old whose income is less than 133% of the poverty line at the end of 2019 Ends the States' option to cover these people's families at the end of 2017 People in this category who have Medicaid on December 31, 2019 will be grandfathered in and will keep their insurance as long as they never go off of Medicaid for more than one month The Federal funding increase for states covering grandfathered individuals will only apply for people enrolled as of March 1, 2017 and is capped at 80% reimbursement rate Repeals the requirement that Medicaid cover "essential health benefits" as of January 1, 2020. Section 114: Prevents Medicaid for lottery winners Section 115: Gives $10 billion extra over five years to the "non-expansion States" Section 116: Forces States to verify Medicaid eligibility every six months and gives them more enforcement money Section 117: Allows States deny people Medicaid if they are not participating in "work activities" The State decides how long the person has to work for in order to get Medicaid The State can't deny Medicaid to... Pregnant women or to women who have had a baby within the last 60 days Kids under age 19 Only parents with kids under the age of 6 or a disabled child Gives the States more money for enforcement Subtitle C – Per Capita Allotment for Medical Assistance Section 121: Caps Medicaid funding on a per capita basis. States that spend too much one year will have their Medicaid cut the following year States will be allowed to get 10 year block grants instead Subtitle D: Patient Relief and Health Insurance Market Stability Section 131: Repeals the lower out-of-pocket limits for low-income people effective in 2020 Section 132: Creates a "Patient and State Stability Fund" to be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give money to the States until the end of 2026. Funds can be used for: Helping "high-risk individuals" buy insurance if they don't get coverage through their employer Giving money to insurance companies ("incentives") so they will lower premiums Taxpayers will pay insurance companies 75% of the claims made between $50,000 and $350,000 "Promoting access" to preventative care, including dental and vision Maternity & newborn care Mental health care and substance abuse treatment Reduction of out-of-pocket costs for people enrolled in health insurance in the State The fund is appropriated with $15 billion per year until 2020 and $10 billion per year until 2026. There will be an extra $8 billion a year put into the fund from 2018-2023 to pay for increased premiums and out-of-pocket costs of people in States that get a waiver In order to receive money from the Federal fund, States will have to match an increasing percentage, starting with 7% in 2020 increasing to 50% by 2026 An extra $15 billion "Federal Invisible Risk Sharing Program" will go directly to health insurance companies. The rules in terms of whose claims will be paid for, the percentage of their premiums that would be paid, and the dollar amount at which the government will starting covering the insurance companies' costs will be determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Section 133: Starting in 2019, people who purchase insurance after a coverage gap of 63 days will be charged a 30% penalty for a year. The insurance companies get to keep all the extra money. Section 134: The requirements that bronze, silver, gold, platinum level plans exist and must cover certain percentages of expenses and "essential health benefits" are repealed effective January 1, 2020. Section 135: Allows insurance companies to charge older people five times more than younger people (they're currently allowed to charge three times more) Section 136: Starting in 2018, States can apply for a waiver for the individual and small group insurance plans from the national "essential health benefits" requirements and instead allow States to determine what essential health benefits need to be covered by insurance companies. Waiver applications from States are automatically approved after 60 days Waivers will be granted if the State says that doing so would do at least one of the following: Reduce premiums Increase enrollment Stabilize the insurance market Increase the number of health plans offered. Waivers will be valid for 10 years and continuation requests will be automatically approved Starting in 2019, states can also get waivers that would allow insurers to charge different rates based on people's health status ("pre-existing conditions") if they did not have coverage for at least 63 days in lieu of the 30% surcharge. States can get this waiver as long as that state participates in the high-risk funds to help pay for individuals and insurance companies' costs. Insurance companies could limit coverage during the "enforcement period", not permanently. Section 137: Health insurers can't set rates based on gender and "Nothing in this act shall be construed as permitting health insurance issuers to limit access to health coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions." Title I: Committee on Ways and Means Subtitle A: Repeal and Replace of Health-Related Tax Policy Section 201: Starting in 2018, the limits on the amount of advanced-paid tax credits that can be taken back from low income people will be repealed. Section 202: Allows tax credits to be used on "catastrophic-only" health insurance plans that are not listed on the exchanges and prohibits tax credits for any plan that covers abortions. Section 203: Repeals the tax credit for employers with fewer than 25 employees who want to provide health benefits to their employees starting in 2020 and prohibits tax credits for any health plan that covers abortion. Section 204: Reduces the tax penalties for failing to purchase insurance to $0 and back dates it to be effective in 2016. Section 205: Reduces the tax penalties for employers who fail to provide health benefits to their employees to $0 and back dates it to be effective in 2016. Section 206: Delays the start of a tax on insurance companies which charges a 40% excise tax on "Cadillac plans", which charge premiums more than $10,200/year ($850/month) for individuals until 2026. The 40% is only on the extra premiums charges above the cap. Section 207: Starting in 2017, over-the-counter drugs can be purchased with Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Section 208: Starting in 2017, taxes on money from health savings accounts that is not used for medical expenses will be cut in half (from 20% to 10%) Section 209: Starting in 2017, the $2,500 limit on the amount that can be taken out of an employee's paycheck for employer health plans that use "flexible savings accounts" is repealed. Section 210: Starting in 2017, repeals a 2.3% tax, paid by manufacturers or importer, on sales of medical devices that are not generally purchased by the general public at retail stores. Section 211: Beginning in 2017, businesses who provide retiree prescription drug benefits that are at least as valuable as Medicare Part D can get a federal drug subsidy. This provision will allow those businesses to deduct the entire cost of providing that coverage even though a portion of the drug coverage is offset by the subsidy they receive. Section 212: People can get a tax deduction for medical care that is not paid for by insurance if those expenses exceed 10% of their gross income; this provision reduces that to 5.8 % starting in 2017. Section 213: No changes are actually made because the text of the new paragraphs are exactly the same as current law. Section 214: Starting in 2020, this bill creates a new tax credit structure tied to age instead of income for people making under $75,000 per year (the credits gradually reduce the more you make over $75,000) Credit amounts: Under age 30: $2,000/yr Ages 30-40: $2,500/yr Ages 40-49: $3,000/yr Ages 50-59: $3,500/yr Over age 60: $4,000/yr The credits are capped at $14,000 per family for the five oldest individuals People can only get the tax credits if they are ineligible for employer-provided plans Credits can't be used to buy insurance that covers abortions Married couples are forced to file jointly if they want the health coverage tax credits There are exceptions for couples who don't live together & domestic abuse victims Section 215: Starting in 2018, increases the amount than can be put in Health Savings Accounts Individual contribution limit raised from $2,250 to $5,000 per year. Family contribution limit raised from $4,500 to $10,000. Section 216: Starting in 2018, married couples over the age of 55 with high deductible plans will be able to contribute more to joint health savings accounts Section 217: Starting in 2018, if a health savings account is opened within 60 days of a person getting coverage with a high deductible, medical expenses for those 60 days will be eligible for payment from the HSA Subtitle B: Repeal of Certain Consumer Taxes Section 221: "Repeal of tax on prescription medications" Starting in 2017, a fee paid by pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors will be repealed Section 222: "Repeal of health insurance tax" Starting in 2017, a fee on large health insurance companies, which is tied to and increases with premium growth rates, would be repealed. Subtitle C: Repeal of Tanning Tax Section 231: Starting on July 1, 2017, the 10% tax on indoor tanning is repealed. Subtitle D: Remuneration from Certain Insurers Section 241: Starting in 2017, insurance companies can get tax deductions on employee pay between $500,000 and $1 million. Subtitle E: Repeal of Net Investment Income Tax Section 251: Starting in 2017, a 3.8% tax on net income from stock market investments over $200,000 will be repealed. H.R. 2192 - To amend the Public Health Service Act to eliminate the non-application of certain State waiver Additional Reading Article: The most important part of the Republican health bill is mostly getting ignored by Matthew Yglesias, Vox, May 9, 2017. Article: GOP Health Bill Leaves Many 'Pre-Existing Condition' Protections Up To States by Bram Sable-Smith, NPR, May 8, 2017. Article: The 4 Big Changes To Health Care In The Latest GOP Bill by Anna Maria Barry-Jester, FiveThirtyEight, May 2, 2017. Article: The MacArthur Amendment Language Race in the Federal Exchange and Risk Adjustment Coefficients, Health Affairs, April 25, 2017. Article: Gripes About Obamacare Aside, Health Insurers Are in a Profit Spiral by Jeff Sommer, The New York Times, March 18, 2017. Article: Health insurance industry rakes in billions while blaming Obamacare for losses by Amy Martyn, Consumer Affairs, November 1, 2016. Report: Health Care Legislation Eliminates Tax Deduction Related to Medicare Part D Subsidy - Potential Accounting Impact This Quarter, Deloitte, March 31, 2010. Article: More Americans Went Uninsured in 2009 Than in 2008 by Elizabeth Mendes, Gallup, January 8, 2010. References CBO Cost Estimate: H.R. 1628 American Health Care Act of 2017 Life of the bill in the Rules Committee: H.R. 1628 - American Health Care Act of 2017 HealthCare.gov: Federal Poverty Level GovTrack: American Health Care Act of 2017 Votes OpenSecrets: Thomas MacArthur OpenSecrets: Rep. David Schweikert - Top Industries OpenSecrets: Rep. Gary Palmer Sound Clip Sources Hearing: House Rules Committee Meeting on Republican Health Care Bill Amendment, House of Representatives, April 6, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts 03:48 Rep Jim McGovern: We're meeting on an amendment affecting millions of people's healthcare, that came out of a backroom about an hour ago, with no vetting at all. I think the amendment, it was—the text was stamped, I think at 11:24 a.m. We were noticed for this meeting at 11:52. We waived the traditional hour so we can kind of move on with it, but there was no vetting at all, no process whatsoever, just a couple of good old boys with a typewriter, saying maybe this will work. 8:00 Rep Jim McGovern: If you guys want to deal with healthcare, introduce a bill; get co-sponsors on the bill; have the relevant committees—committees like Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce—do hearings, that's a radical idea; invite people who know something about this issue—invite patients and patient-advocate groups and doctors and heads of hospitals, and invite some of your friends in the insurance industry—to come up and weigh in on your proposal; then you could do markups. Then get a CBO estimate, and after you get a CBO estimate and it's marked up, then you come to Rules Committee, and you advance a bill to the floor. 13:40 Rep David Schweikert: If we were to actually have just sort of the top-line math question and say, let's strip away some of the rhetoric and ideology and just sort of say "math," when we look at our healthcare-utilization data, it's functionally a hockey stick. Fifty percent of our population, the healthiest 50 percent, only use about three percent of healthcare costs, but our least healthy—our folks with chronic conditions, our brothers and sisters who really do suffer out there or have multiple issues laddered up—they represent five percent of that population, represents 50 percent of our spending. So you have this situation where we as a society, as a community, we've decided that guaranteed issue is out there, so now how do we find premium efficiency, rate efficiency? And as long as we've made this decision over here as a society, the fastest, most efficient thing we could do is actually sort of laddering some of that risk at that very top end. Last thing, and this may require a little more diving into it, and looking around, this is a smart committee, so you understand these things, if you were the actuaries building your rate profile, the ability to say we believe providing coverage for this population is going to cost this, you always have to design in a shock absorber because you wake up tomorrow and some people sign up for this coverage who have a chronic condition. The beauty of this type of risk-sharing model is that shock absorber that you have to build into your rate model can be substantially less because your top-end exposure is actually mitigated. So this was an occasion of, was there something we could do for lowering and making much more predictable the rate environment for that individual market, and this, I think, was the most elegant, simple way to get there. 38:55 Rep Alcee Hastings: In the brief time I've had to review it, the measure will provide $15 billion for the high-risk pools. I…

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