Subpoenas issued by U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Fred Upton (R-MI) on Tuesday seek information from the Department of Health and Human Services about $1.3 billion in reported unlawful payments. Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Read more…
Republican legislative leaders voiced bipartisan support on Tuesday for efforts to combat the nation’s drug epidemic after President Barack Obama addressed the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit. Obama said that the epidemic required a bipartisan approach that goes Read more…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) led a panel discussion on Wednesday that focused on childhood diseases and efforts to find cures. U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ), the ranking member of the committee, and Read more…
The EPA’s $8.267 billion budget request for fiscal year 2017 was the topic of a joint subcommittee hearing held on Tuesday by the chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, and Subcommittee on Environment and Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation on Tuesday that was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from regulating broadband rates. The No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act, H.R. Read more…
U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) headed a bipartisan effort on Friday to avert proposed cuts to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued advance notice of a 3-4 percent cut to MA employer Read more…
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions’ bipartisan biomedical innovation agenda, if implemented, could “be the most important bill signed into law this year,” Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said on Wednesday. “I do not know of another Read more…
The Task Force on Reducing Regulatory Burdens released a mission statement on Tuesday ahead of the group’s first idea forum. U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Lamar Smith (R-TX), the chairman of Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bipartisan bill on Thursday authored by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) to shield small businesses from FCC transparency requirements. The Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, H.R. 4596, would protect small businesses from Read more…
A nonpartisan report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Tuesday concluded that the data hub and federal exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – lack oversight and have insufficient eligibility controls. U.S. Reps. Fred Upton Read more…
The House of Representatives approved legislation on Friday that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to simplify FDA labeling rules. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, H.R. 2017, aims to bring clarity to the FDA’s nearly 400-page Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology approved three bills on Thursday, including two measures introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, would instruct the FCC to adopt rules that Read more…
The Child Nicotine Prevent Act – S. 142 – which serves as companion legislation to H.R. 3242, was signed by President Barack Obama on Thursday to require child-resistant packaging for e-liquid products containing nicotine. H.R. 3242 was authored by U.S. Read more…
Letters were sent to both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) last week by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA) calling Read more…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued a subpoena this week to Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew following more than a year of seeking information about Read more…
Friday’s announcement of a collaboration between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and leading automakers to increase safety was lauded by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Michael C. Burgess Read more…
Republican leaders from the House Energy and Commerce Committee called on the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday to examine the role of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in assisting states transitioning from a state-based information technology system Read more…
Companion legislation to U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Elizabeth Esty’s (D-CT) Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015 to protect children from exposure to e-liquids containing nicotine was approved by the House on Monday. “Ben Franklin famously said ‘an Read more…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) welcomed President Barack Obama’s entry into discussions on how to reform the nation’s mental health policies on Tuesday. Upton and the House Energy and Commerce Committee have long worked to address Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) recently released his “2015: The Year in Review and a Look Ahead” report, outlining legislative priorities from 2015 and looking ahead to 2016. “We had a busy year working to move the ball down the Read more…
Legislation was signed into law on Monday to phase out the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products. H.R. 1321, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, was signed by President Barack Obama on Monday. The legislation was introduced earlier Read more…
In a letter to the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA) questioned if basic safeguards are in place for Read more…
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) announced on Tuesday that the committee will undertake a broad review of concussions and their implications in the coming year. “We often hear about concussions in the context of service members and Read more…
A Friday letter from bipartisan leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the comptroller general at the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) called on the GAO to examine issues about activities in foreign drug inspections and foreign offices Read more…
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) was joined by House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) on Wednesday in expressing disappointment over a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision that fails to provide permanent protection for small businesses. Read more…
President Barack Obama signed into law bipartisan legislation this week to aid rural and small communities in complying with federal “safe drinking water” regulations. U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced the Grassroots Rural and Small Community Read more…
Bipartisan legislation cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Frank Pauline (D-NJ) that would ban the use of microbeads in rinse-off cosmetic products was unanimously passed by the House this week. “These microbeads are tiny plastic, but make for Read more…
Debate on a landmark energy bill to modernize America’s dated energy laws and ensure that the U.S. maximizes its energy potential began on Tuesday, led by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “It has been nearly a decade Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) joined his House Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues on Wednesday in a bipartisan vote against microbead products that are polluting the Great Lakes. Upton is an original cosponsor of the bipartisan H.R. 1321 – the Read more…
The Energy and Commerce Committee has added to its bipartisan #RecordOfSuccess campaign with the Monday House approval of three new public health bills that will bolster mental health care, provide consistency for pharmaceutical reviews while protecting manufacturing jobs, and combat Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, joined two other lawmakers on Monday in asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to examine the implementation of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke out in favor of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee’s Broadband Conduit Deployment Act, or Dig-Once bill, on Friday. The measure would require states that receive federal Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Heath advanced seven bills on Wednesday concerning mental health, menu labeling, Medicaid reforms, Social Security and pharmaceutical regulations. The following bills now go to the full committee: Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act, Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) said on Wednesday that he has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2015. The bill aims to protect the Great Lakes by authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman of the Finance Committee, sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) acting Administrator Andy Slavitt on Tuesday Read more…
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, held a hearing today titled “Update on Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) Disposal Issues.” The hearing examined issues related to the bill, which Read more…
The leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittees recently sent letters to 17 health exchanges nationwide concerning the committee’s probe into the federal government’s oversight of state health exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act. For the past Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade released several draft proposals recently as part of the committee’s goal of creating legislation to improve road and highway safety. To review and discuss these drafts, the subcommittee will Read more…
A bipartisan team of legislators, led by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), recently urged U.S. officials to quickly work with European leaders on implementing a successor to the Safe Harbor Agreement, allowing for the secure trans-Atlantic transfer of data. In Read more…
The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade released several draft proposals on Wednesday as part of an effort to create legislation to improve safety for families on U.S. roads and highways. The Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold a Read more…
During a recent House Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) compared the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan to Democrats’ failed attempt to pass a cap-and-trade bill to reduce emissions Part Read more…
The leadership of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee voiced concern after a European Union court invalidated the safe harbors agreement — which allowed for data transfers between the United States and the European Union — on Tuesday. The Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), along with his fellow members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, moved the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act to the House floor last week, following a full committee vote of 32-20. If signed Read more…
U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) is infuriated by recent allegations that Volkswagen deliberately programmed its vehicles to emit lower emissions during official testing. “The very notion of a carmaker intentionally violating our environmental laws Read more…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) plan to hold a subcommittee hearing to review Volkswagen’s diesel engine emission issues. U.S. regulators last week said Volkswagen diesel engines in models Read more…
Since it was unanimously passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May, the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Initiative, co-authored by Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), remains an active and important segment of the ongoing legislative agenda. The 21st Century Read more…
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, (R-MI) received the Champion of Children Award from the Michigan members of Fight Crime, Invest in Kids, Ready Nation and Shepherding the Next Generation earlier this week. The award honors state and federal lawmakers who helped pass Read more…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), held a markup session on Wednesday to consider the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015 and additional legislation to lift the ban on crude oil Read more…
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power and the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a joint hearing this week to discuss oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The efficiency of the commission is of particular importance to the Read more…
In conjunction with the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s bipartisan “Record of Success” campaign, the U.S. House passed five bills this week that include important provisions that protect consumers and children, and improve the conditions of public health. “With five Read more…