WASHINGTON — An area lawmaker grilled a government official during a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing last week.
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana: On Wednesday, Jordan questioned IRS Commissioner John Koskinen as the committee discussed articles of impeachment against him. During his questioning, Jordan touched on false statements Koskinen made under oath, which the commissioner acknowledge, according to a release from Jordan’s office.
“You come in to clean up the mess, and under your watch documents are destroyed, false statements are made, 422 backup tapes are erased,” Jordan told Koskinen during the hearing. “You should’ve been gone a long time ago.”
Rep. Robert Latta, R-Bowling Green: On Tuesday, Latta issued a statement criticizing the Department of Homeland Security after a report revealed that 858 immigrants with pending deportation orders were mistakenly granted citizenship.
“Mistakenly granting citizenship to immigrants poised for deportation puts American citizens at risk and shows a lack of attention to critical details at DHS,” Latta said. “This oversight means that more than 800 people are now citizens despite the government not knowing their true identities. The agency needs to take immediate action to ensure that this mistake does not threaten the safety of Americans and must also make the necessary changes to agency procedure to prevent critical lapses like this one from happening again.”
On Wednesday, Latta helped pass the REVIEW Act, aimed to prevent high-impact regulations from taking effect until any legal challenges would be settled in court. According to Latta’s office, federal agencies have prepared more than 30 rules during the last 15 years that fit this definition.
“Too often the executive branch is proposing and implementing regulations they know are on shaky legal ground,” Latta said. “By the time a court overturns an expensive new rule, it’s often too late to recover the cost imposed on our economy — including the loss of jobs. The REVIEW Act makes sure that states and businesses won’t be forced to implement a new major regulation until after the matter has been settled by the courts.”
On Friday, Latta voted to prohibit future payments to Iran, calling for increased transparency on any future settlements. Earlier this year, the Obama administration made a $400 million payment to Iran immediately after the release of American hostages, according to Latta’s office, part of what Latta described as $1.7 billion in untraceable cash payments to Iran.
“Ransom payments put Americans at risk because it encourages the Iranians to continue their behavior,” Latta said. “Even worse, this money may end up in the hands of terrorists that wish to do harm to the United States and our allies.”
U.S. Senate
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio: On Wednesday, Brown spoke with reporters about the Senate-passed Water Resources Development Act, which includes legislation to aid communities in paying for updates to combined sewage overflow systems. The legislation requires the Environmental Protection Agency to consider local economic trends, such as employment rates, to increase flexibility in CSO compliance deadlines, while also providing $1.8 billion in competitive grants during the next five years to aid communities in modifications.
“Whether it’s eliminating harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie or flooded basements in Cincinnati, we know that our state’s water infrastructure needs billions in investment,” Brown said. “Not only will this new investment protect local customers from high water bills and lead to cleaner water, it will also create jobs and promote economic development.”
That same day, Brown announced that the Miners Pension Act cleared the Senate Finance Committee, allowing the bill to be voted on by the full Senate. The bill aims to address underfunding in the United Mine Workers of America pension plan.
“Our miners have powered this country — performing dangerous, backbreaking work to provide for their families and build a nest egg to retire with dignity,” Brown said. “They were promised retirement security and health benefits — security they sacrificed pay raises and their own health for. They descended into our nation’s mines every day to hold up their end of that bargain — now we’ve got to hold up ours.”
Fellow Sen. Rob Portman has also called for passage of the Miners Protection Act.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio: On Tuesday, Portman received an award from the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdoses for his work to fight the prescription drug and heroin epidemic.
“I’m honored to receive this award,” Portman said. “The heroin and prescription drug epidemic is a crisis and it requires all hands on deck. I’m pleased that, thanks to CARA, the federal government will now treat addiction like a disease. I’m urging the Obama administration to implement CARA as quickly as possible so we can get people the help they need.”
On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee passed the Portman-authored Retirement Security Preservation Act, legislation that aims to fix outdated pension rules and provide greater security for workers’ pensions.
“There is strong bipartisan support for this measure in both the House and Senate, and I will continue my efforts to ensure it gets signed into law,” Portman said.
On Friday, both Portman and Brown called on IRS Commissioner Koskinen to block proposed regulations that jeopardize tax-exempt financing for port authorities, sewer districts and airport authorities.
“[T]hese regulations will deny access to tax-exempt financing for special districts, authorities, commissions, and other state and local government entities that were not the intended targets of this new rule,” Portman and Brown wrote in a letter sent to Koskinen. “The ensuing loss of tax-exempt financing will increase borrowing costs for these entities and complicate community’s attempts to pursue economic development strategies in our state.”
