|
Hearing on Ways to Improve Safety of Imported Goods
In the past two months there have been over 50 recalls of imported products. Too many Americans have been exposed to unsafe imported food and products. Because of my concerns, I called a joint hearing of the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, which I chair, along with the Trade Subcommittee to examine how the United States can better ensure the safety of products imported into our country.
A consumer should be able to easily go to a single source to learn exactly what toys are safe for their children, what food is safe to eat, what beds are safe to sleep in, and what medicine won’t kill them. We need to return to being proactive, not reactive. Inspecting and stopping harmful products at the border is just common sense. It saves us the headache of tracking defective products that are already in stores, in our homes, and that may have already caused harm.
I will be working with other members of Congress to develop a way to effectively stop dangerous imports from entering the United States and to develop a one-stop shop for consumers to track recalled products.
Congressman Lewis introduces Legislation to Remove the Earnings Penalty for Blind Social Security Beneficiaries
Monday, October 15, was White Cane Safety Day, a day set aside by the President to recognize the progress of blind and visually impaired people. It was a day to re-commit ourselves to ensuring that blind and visually impaired Americans can live and work independently. For this reason I chose Monday to introduce the Blind Persons Fairness Act, which will remove a draconian earnings penalty for Blind Americans so that they can more fully participate in the workforce without the fear of losing their Social Security disability benefits.
Blind Persons are a unique population of disabled Americans who rely on Social Security Disability Insurance to partially replace income lost due to their disability. Under current law, there is an all-or-nothing penalty. A blind person immediately loses the entire sum of their benefits until retirement age if they earn even one dollar more than $1,500 a month ($18,000 per year). For blind heads of households in particular, this is a powerful disincentive to work. With an estimated 74% unemployment rate for the blind, an overwhelming majority of working-age blind people already receive Social Security disability benefits. This legislation will give blind people a meaningful incentive to work and become taxpayers as well.
This is an inequity that must be rectified and I am proud to have introduced this legislation.
House Passes Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007
Owning a home is part of the American dream. But it can become a nightmare for homeowners facing foreclosure. In Metro Atlanta we have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country - one in every 54 households. Families in Georgia are being forced out of their homes due to changes in the housing market and predatory lending practices, oftentimes after losing a job or while dealing with an illness.
For families struggling to pay their mortgage, it is in the best interest of the loan providers and the family to find an alternative to foreclosure, since lenders actually lose money when they have to foreclose on a property. That is one reason why some institutions will even forgive a portion of a borrower’s mortgage loan debt, to help them stay in their home. Unfortunately, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will assess taxes on forgiven debt as if it was income. There are also situations where a family actually loses their home to foreclosure and is then hit with a tax bill.
Last week the House passed a bill written by the Ways and Means Committee called the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. As a member of the Committee, I was an early supporter of this bill. It is designed to change the tax code by preventing the IRS from taxing cancelled mortgage debt. This will protect people who are losing their home from also paying a large tax penalty. Cancelled debt is not income, and treating it like a paycheck adds insult to injury.
I am proud to help Georgians keep their homes and improve the chances that they can find ways to pay their mortgages without being overburdened by IRS. This is the kind of tax break that makes sense. It is just a small part of what Americans need from the government during these tough times and I will continue to fight for better housing laws so that others can own a home.
Ending Private Collection of Overdue Taxes
I have long been opposed to outsourcing the authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and allowing private companies to contact taxpayers to collect overdue taxes. Unfortunately, in 2004, a law was passed that made this possible. It gave the IRS the ability to hire private debt collection agencies to pursue individuals who owe taxes. The private debt collection program is an insult to the American taxpayer, it is a waste of government resources and it is a violation of the public trust. As a Member of the Ways and Means Committee and Chairman of our Subcommittee on Oversight, I am working to put an end to this practice.
On Wednesday, October 10, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a bill called the Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007. This bill reverses the 2004 law. It says that Americans will not be harassed by private companies looking to profit from the collection of taxes owed and paid to the government. As Senior Chief Deputy Whip, I was proud to sign my name in support of this bill and bring it to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.
The collection of Federal income taxes is - and it always should be - the job of IRS employees and the government. Taxpayers trust the IRS to protect their Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information and they do not expect that information to be turned over to private debt collectors. Taxpayers have been harassed by these debt collectors and they have targeted low income taxpayers. They have even gone after nursing home residents and military personnel serving in Iraq. Furthermore, these companies are paid a huge bounty, up to 25% of ever dollar they collect. This is a waste of resources for a job that could be done more efficiently by IRS employees and without the threat of harassment and the fear of identity theft.
I believe the Senate will recognize that the use of private contractors to collect Federal tax debt violates the trust between taxpayers and their government. I will keep working until this common sense legislation becomes law.
Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing on Medicare Advantage Plans
As Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee of Ways and Means, I held a hearing with the Health Subcommittee to address audits of Medicare Advantage plans which are required by law. Medicare Advantage plans are health plans run by private companies that are offered to Medicare beneficiaries. We heard from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on its recent report entitled “Medicare Advantage: Required Audits of Limited Value.”
The GAO report concludes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the government entity that oversees Medicare, has not complied with auditing requirements and that when CMS found irregularities with these private plans, they did not require the private plans to return the overpayments to the beneficiaries or the government. A CMS contractor estimated that, for 2003, bid errors cost beneficiaries a net loss of $59 million in additional benefits, lower co-payments, or lower premiums.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Service Academy Day - October 20th
10:30 – 12:30 AM – Georgia Power Auditorium
Congressman Lewis will host Service Academy Day at the Georgia Power Auditorium and representatives from each of the five military service academies will be available to meet with prospective applicants and answer questions. For students who plan to apply to one of the five military service academies, attendance is not mandatory but it is highly encouraged. Contact Congressman Lewis’ District Office at (404) 659 – 0116 for more information.
|
