Dear Attorney General Holder: The attached National Relations Board (NLRB) Inspector General’s (IG) report makes serious allegations that Acting General Lafe Solomon engaged in ethical and criminal misconduct while serving on the NLRB. I respectfully request you investigate these charges fully. Under 18 USC 208, with some exceptions, “whoever, being an officer or employee…of any independent agenc... Read more »
Dear Acting Director Zients: Regulatory uncertainty plays a significant role in perpetuating a persistently weak economy and labor market. It undermines the ability of employers and entrepreneurs to hire new workers, plan for the future, and invest in growing their businesses. To help get the economy back on track and support job growth, the American people and their elected representatives must ... Read more »
Dear Secretary Geithner and Director Gotbaum: The Committee on Education and the Workforce remains committed to overseeing the federal government’s restructuring of the General Motors Company (GM), and its consequences for the pension benefits of workers at the Delphi Corporation, a former subsidiary of GM. Given recent media reports alleging conflicts of interest and efforts by the Treasury Depa... Read more »
It’s only Tuesday, but it’s already shaping up to be a tough week for the Obama administration. Just after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported yesterday the 2012 budget deficit hit $1.17 trillion in August, major defense contractors confirmed they will send layoff notices to tens of thousands of workers this November as a result of the president’s own sequestration cuts. And now a... Read more »
Courtesy of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and the Workforce. BACKGROUND: Sixteen years ago, a Republican-led Congress worked with a Democratic president to fix a broken welfare system. President Bill Clinton rallied the nation to “end welfare as we know it” and his call to action was well founded. Under the old system, 65 percent of families were dependent on welfare for an avera... Read more »
Dear Secretary Sebelius: The Head Start Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure the designation renewal system (DRS) put in place in 2007 to increase program accountability is “fair, consistent, and transparent.” However, the department has refused to release any information, including basic facts and figures, during the implementation of the process, falling far ... Read more »
Dear Secretary Solis: We remain concerned about the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor's (the department) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Recently, OFCCP proposed a number of requirements relating to the collection of compensation data from federal contractors. At the same time OCFFP proposed these requirements, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) studie... Read more »
Dear Mr. Dodaro: The Promise Neighborhoods program aims to improve educational and developmental outcomes for students in some of the country's most distressed urban, rural, and tribal neighborhoods by providing cradle-to-career support services. In 2012, the first year of the grant, the Department of Education dedicated $10 million to this program through the Fund for the Improvement of Educatio... Read more »
Nonpartisan budget experts have warned the country could plunge into another recession if steps aren’t taken to prevent massive tax increases and restore spending discipline in Washington, D.C. House Republicans have taken action to stop looming tax hikes, reduce regulatory uncertainty, and help get our fiscal house in order. In stark contrast, President Obama and his Democrat allies continue to h... Read more »
Dear Secretary Duncan: On October 29, 2010, the Department of Education finalized its program integrity rules, which significantly expanded the department's authority to require institutions of higher education offering programs leading to gainful employment to obtain approval of new academic programs before awarding Title IV funds to students enrolled in those programs. Under the new regulations... Read more »
