McCaskill Bill Would Require Use of E-Verify

Following her years-long effort to mandate the use of the Electronic Verification (E-Verify) system, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill introduced the E-Verify System Act of 2018 this week, which would require all employers to use the E-Verify system to ensure that newly hired employees are either United States citizens or foreign nationals authorized to work in the U.S. legally.

“Creating a system that allows employers to verify the work status of their employees is a commonsense step and something that we can and should come together to address,” said McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “The fact that the current system is voluntarily and haphazardly enforced creates more incentive for illegal immigration and allows too many businesses to easily skirt the law.”

The murder of Brooklyn (IA) girl Mollie Tibbetts by an immigrant worker prompted the renewal of calls to push for tighter verification standards. The case reignited the immigration debate; there was question over whether the suspect, Christhian Bahena Rivera (24) was in the country legally. His attorney, Allen Richards, says he was and is seeking a gag order in the case, fearing the poisoning of potential jurors. The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his employer say he was not. He is being held on $5 million bond.

Under current law, employers are required to examine documents presented by new hires to verify their identity and work authorization, but the current process is broken and often people fall through the cracks. The bill, which McCaskill introduced with Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), would allow employers to electronically verify the identity and work eligibility of new employees by comparing information from workers’ work eligibility documents (such as Social Security cards or drivers’ licenses) to information in Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records for that individual. While it is currently unlawful to hire an individual without proper work status, the current E-Verify system is voluntary and enforcement is haphazard.

McCaskill’s bill makes the use of the E-Verify system mandatory for all employers, strengthens the program by using a facial photo and other information specific to an individual, and includes additional robust protections to address privacy and information security.

Study: Rural Post Offices Still Essential

(Senator McCaskill’s Office) – A top watchdog study completed at the request of U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, found that the Postal Service remains essential to rural communities, regardless of whether those communities have access to rural broadband services.

“This study shows what we already know to be true—that the Postal Service remains essential to Missouri’s rural communities, regardless of their access to other technologies,” said McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service. “There’s simply no substitute for the vital service our post offices provide— even as we continue to make important advances in rural broadband—and we’ve got to preserve and improve that service for the folks who rely on it most.”

“For North Dakotans in rural communities—whether they have access to high-speed internet or not—reliable mail service is a key ingredient to a successful business and staying connected,” said Heitkamp. “But too often, that high-quality service is not delivered—and that’s exactly what Senator McCaskill and I are working to improve. Today, we received the results of a Government Accountability Office study we requested which affirmed what folks in rural states have long known—that communities and businesses in rural areas depend on mail service regardless of their internet connection. By providing more clarity, we can make sure dependable mail service is prioritized in the rural communities where it is needed the most.”

The Government Accountability Office report examined the relationship between broadband access and use of the Postal Service in rural and urban communities. The report found that rural households without broadband access continue to rely on the Postal Service for more transaction and correspondence mail—and value this service for a variety of reasons, including fewer retail alternatives and a high level of trust in USPS services. The study also found that when rural households get broadband access, they do not reduce their use of the Postal Service.

McCaskill and Heitkamp are leading sponsors of the Rural Postal Act, a bill that aims to improve postal service, delivery times, and standards in rural communities that have been disproportionately affected by cuts to the Postal Service. The bill—also backed by Senator Jon Tester of Montana—would restore overnight delivery, return a faster First-Class mail standard, make six-day delivery permanent, and enact strict criteria the Postal Service would have to meet before closing a post office to ensure that rural communities are still able to easily access the mail system.

Stewartsville, Three Other NWMO Post Offices Targeted for Closure

(Senator McCaskill’s Office) – Four St. Joseph-area post offices and 35 other Missouri post offices would be protected from indefinite “emergency closure” under new bipartisan legislation from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a longtime champion of rural postal service. The bill would prevent the U.S. Postal Service from using its emergency suspension process—meant to be temporary—to indefinitely close post offices without notice to the community, opportunity to appeal, or a timeframe for either reopening or permanently closing the facility.

In the St. Joseph region, these include the Olive Street and 10th Street locations in St. Joseph, and the Amity and Stewartsville Post Offices.

Since 2011, 650 postal facilities across the country were “temporarily” closed under emergency suspension. Of those closures, 511 remain closed today, and the Postal Service has not told those communities if—or when—those post offices might reopen. McCaskill introduced the legislation with Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas.

“Missourians in rural communities rely on the Postal Service, and shouldn’t be left in limbo without knowing if the temporary closure of their post office will be a permanent one,” said McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service. “These post offices are part of the lifeblood of our communities—a source of employment and a lifeline for commerce—and we can’t allow the Postal Service to balance its books on the backs of small communities by shuttering post offices where they’re often most needed, with little transparency or explanation.”

“This bipartisan legislation improves the transparency and accountability of the postal services provided throughout the country, but particularly to rural America,” said Anthony D. Leonardi, National President, National Association of Postmasters of the United States. “Many times, Postmasters, workers and communities have been surprised by abrupt and unexpected post office suspensions with little notice and no timetable for their reopening, if they reopen at all. That’s why Senator McCaskill’s Postal Closure Accountability Act is critical—it would help end these unexpected closures, and ensure that communities are informed about the status of their community post offices.”

McCaskill, a longtime advocate for postal service in rural communities, is widely credited with having waged a successful campaign over several years to save rural post offices and maintain delivery standards. Earlier this year, she called out the Postal Service for its use of these “emergency suspension” authority to close down Missouri post offices, potentially circumventing the standard process that requires input from communities that would feel the effects of a closure and notifications to Congress.

In January, McCaskill demanded answers from the Postal Service on how it will protect mail delivery for rural Missourians and efficiently manage the cost-sharing benefits with competitors to carry mail the “last mile,” especially in rural areas, saying: “I think it’s really important we get a handle on [rural delivery times]. Those of us who are really pushing to protect rural delivery…think it’s important we know what we’re working with from a data-driven basis.”

And McCaskill is a leading sponsor of the Rural Postal Act, a bill that aims to improve postal service, delivery times, and standards in rural communities that have been disproportionately affected by cuts to the Postal Service. The bill—also backed by Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Jon Tester of Montana—would restore overnight delivery, return a faster First-Class mail standard, make six-day delivery permanent, and enact strict criteria the Postal Service would have to meet before closing a post office to ensure that rural communities are still able to easily access the mail system.

After EpiPen Increases Prices by 480%, Senators Collins, McCaskill Request Information on Mylan’s Decision-Making Process

In response to the skyrocketing price of EpiPen® and news reports that this price increase is limiting patient access to this life saving anecdote for allergic reactions, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Claire McCaskill, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee, sent a letter to Heather Bresch, the CEO of Mylan, to request answers and information about the company's drastic price increase of EpiPen® by 480% since 2008. The Senators also requested any analysis used by Mylan relating to the pricing or market share of EpiPen® since 2007, along with any information reviewed or generated by Mylan’s Board of Directors relating to the drug over the same period.

In their letter, Chairman Collins and Ranking Member McCaskill wrote that, “For much of its product life, EpiPen® was an affordable solution to a matter of life and death—it allowed countless Americans to save the lives of individuals suffering from allergic reactions that kill in a matter of minutes (a timeframe often too short to allow for trained medical intervention). But since Mylan acquired EpiPen® in 2007, it has implemented a cumulative 480-percent price increase.”

“We are concerned that these drastic price increases could have a serious effect on the health and well-being of every day Americans.  There have been numerous accounts of individuals who are simply unable to afford this lifesaving medication and as a consequence have gone without, risked using an expired product, or resorted to uncertain (but less expensive) treatments… As leaders of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, we are particularly concerned that seniors have access to EpiPen® because, according to Mylan’s website, older Americans ‘may be at an increased risk of having a more severe anaphylactic reaction if they are exposed to biting and stinging insects.’”

The Senators’ letter requested that the briefing occur “at a mutually convenient time no later than two weeks from today.”

McCaskill Wins Fight for Missouri Manufacturers Against Foreign Trade Practices

After urging from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill on behalf of Missouri manufacturers Bull Moose Tube Company and EXLTUBE, the International Trade Commission voted 4-2 to level the playing field for Missouri and U.S. manufacturers by finalizing duties against foreign steel pipe and tubing producers found to be illegally dumping in the international market.

Click HERE for photos from Claire’s recent meeting with Missouri Steel Pipe and Tube Manufacturers.

Keeping up her fight to protect American manufacturers’ ability to compete fairly, McCaskill last month submitted testimony on behalf of Bull Moose, which has 85 employees in the St. Louis area and 80 in Gerald, Mo., and EXLTUBE, which employs 103 in their North Kansas City pipe and tube mill. These companies provide quality pipe and tube products which are used in building applications that are essential to the construction industry.

“Companies in Missouri and across America that manufacture critical infrastructure for use at home and abroad should have a level playing field to complete in the global market,” said McCaskill, a member of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “The Commission’s decision helps prevent further harm to companies that have already been penalized by the dumping of pipe and tube products from foreign countries—and is a welcome step in giving folks at companies like Bull Moose and EXLTUBE the certainty they need for their employees and their bottom line.”

“Bull Moose and our employees in Missouri and throughout the country rely on the enforcement of the trade laws and that is why we are seeking relief from unfairly traded imports of steel tubing products from Korea, Mexico and Turkey,” said Michael Blatz, President of Bull Moose Tube, when McCaskill submitted testimony. “We certainly appreciate the support that Senator McCaskill has provided to the industry and workers on this important matter.”

“Our company and its employees in N. Kansas City are ready to compete in the global trade environment, but we need to ensure that trade is conducted fairly in the ongoing investigation on imports of structural tubing from the subject countries,” said Bill Snyder, President of EXLTUBE, when McCaskill submitted testimony. “Having the support of Senator McCaskill and others in Congress is instrumental in ensuring that trade laws are enforced and that relief is provided to the industry and its workers.”

The International Trade Commission had preliminarily acknowledged that dumping was occurring. The allegations brought before the Commission by U.S. manufacturers claimed that Korean companies are selling to the U.S. at below the cost to produce. The Department of Commerce has found that Korean, Mexican, and Turkish companies are selling to the U.S. at dumped prices and that Turkish producers receive government subsidies. Now that the International Trade Commission has made an affirmative determination that these imports are causing material injury to the U.S. producers, the Department of Commerce can issue final orders implementing duties on the illegally subsidized foreign imports.

McCaskill has consistently advocated for a trade system that empowers U.S. manufacturers to compete abroad and holds foreign competitors accountable for gaming the system. She supported the Leveling the Playing Field Act, legislation signed into law in June 2015, which gives the Commerce Department clear discretion to use adverse facts available in its trade investigations as a trade remedy measure. In 2010 and 2012, McCaskill testified before the Commission in support of Missouri companies, endorsing trade policies that protect jobs in Missouri auto part manufacturing facilities, and in 2013 she introduced a proposal to target foreign companies that smuggle products into the U.S. to avoid paying import fees. Last year she introduced the bipartisan, Duty Suspension Process Act, now law, which would simplify trade processes for America’s manufacturers.

Seniors Can Now Access Social Security Accounts Online Without Cell Phones

Following efforts from U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Claire McCaskill, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee, seniors will once again be able to access their Social Security accounts online without needing to have a cell phone. Senators Collins and McCaskill sent a letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA) last week urging immediate action to roll back a new policy that required text message authentication for seniors to access their “my Social Security” account online.

While noting the need for enhanced security, Senators Collins and McCaskill were concerned that using text message authentication as the only means of guaranteeing an individual’s access to their account put an undue burden on seniors, many of whom do not own a cell phone. Following the letter from Collins and McCaskill, as well as feedback from customers around the country, the SSA announced it is rolling back the policy that would have limited access for some users. 

“I am pleased that the Social Security Administration listened to the concerns we raised in our letter and reversed its decision to use text message authentication as the only means of guaranteeing individuals’ access to their online accounts,” said Senator Collins. “As Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, I was troubled that the policy would have placed a high burden on seniors, many of whom do not own a cell phone. While the Social Security Administration should develop ways to enhance security to prevent fraud, they must take into account the needs of seniors and ensure that they have easy access to their accounts.”

“Protecting our seniors and the retirement security they’ve earned is one of my top priorities as a Senator,” McCaskill said. “We’ve got to ensure seniors have easy and secure access to their accounts without having to jump through advanced technological hoops, so I’m encouraged by the agency’s responsiveness in addressing this issue and look forward to working with them as they implement this new policy.”

To prevent seniors across our country from being unable to access their accounts, the letter U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Claire McCaskill sent to SSA Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin called on the agency to “consider the effect of this policy on the beneficiaries SSA is intended to serve” and asked “that [they] provide, as quickly as possible, additional authentication options” to “allow all seniors to have safe and speedy access to their own accounts.”

McCaskill Requests Information on Veterans Exposed to Nuclear Material

After her year-long effort to reverse 70 years of mistreatment for World-War II-era veterans intentionally exposed to mustard gas, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today requested information on another group of veterans whose decades-long fight for acknowledgement and benefits has been unsuccessful.

A recent New York Times report detailed a 1966 nuclear accident in which 1,600 veterans were deployed to clean up radiation contamination from a nuclear accident in Spain in 1966. McCaskill is requesting briefings from the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs to find out how—in light of the numerous medical problems reported by these veterans—the government has addressed the needs of these veterans.

“The work I’ve done over the past year has made it clear that the obstacles placed in front of some of these mistreated veterans make it impossible for them to receive the treatment and benefits they’re entitled to,” said McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran. “In this case we’re talking about an incident that occurred 50 years ago. We have to act to acknowledge their sacrifice before it’s too late.”

According to the article, high percentages of these troops have developed serious cancers and other illnesses since the cleanup, but the VA has not provided them with healthcare benefits.

“After many months my office has spent investigating the VA’s failure to provide healthcare and benefits to its veterans who were purposefully exposed to mustard gas by the U.S. Military, I find it extremely troubling to hear reports of yet another failure by the VA to carry out its duty to care for this country’s veterans,” McCaskill’s letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald reads.

A copy of McCaskill’s letter to the Department of Defense is available online HERE. A copy of McCaskill’s letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs is available online HERE. 

McCaskill Seeks Drug Pricing Information on Opioid Overdose Reversal Drugs as Prices Skyrocket

Continuing her focus on reversing our nation’s opioid and heroin epidemic, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week wrote to five companies regarding recent price increases that have limited the accessibility of the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone.

“At the same time this epidemic is killing tens of thousands of Americans a year, we’re seeing the price of Naloxone go up by 1000 percent or more,” McCaskill said. “Maybe there’s a great reason for the price increases, but given the heart-breaking gravity of this epidemic and the need for this drug, I think we have to demand some answers.”

McCaskill, the top Democrat on the Senate Special Committee on Aging—which has held a series of hearings discussing ways to combat opioid abuse—teamed up with Republican Chairman Susan Collins to ask drug manufacturers for an explanation on recent price increases and what steps are being taken to ensure the availability of Naloxone.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 27,000 overdose deaths involving prescription opioid medications, heroin, or both in 2014,” the Senators wrote.  “This troubling statistic might have been even higher if not for the use of Naloxone, a critically important drug that has been used to reverse opioid overdoses for the last 45 years…Naloxone alone will not solve our addiction crisis, but remains critical during emergencies.”

A recent Politico article noted that the price of at least one version of Naloxone reportedly rose 17-fold in the last two years. In addition, a Healthline article indicated that hospitals have reported difficulty obtaining sufficient quantities of the drug.

The five companies the Senators have requested information from include: Amphaster Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Pfizer, Inc.; Adapt Pharmaceuticals; Kaléo Pharma; and Mylan Inc..

McCaskill last year traveled to Jefferson City, Mo. to hold a field hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and highlight the national epidemic of increased opioid addiction, abuse, and overdose deaths.

McCaskill Demands Answers on TSA Performance Bonuses

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today demanded answers from the Transportation Security Administration in light of the recent resignation of a top administrator who had received nearly $100,000 in bonus payments spread out over more than a year to avoid detection.

“Is there any connection on bonuses to where the agency is succeeding?” asked McCaskill, a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “You know in the private sector bonuses change according to how the company did—and that’s not been the way in government. I don’t think anyone looking objectively at TSA over the last couple of years would say that the bonus pool should be really big.”

The agency has come under criticism recently for a number of highly publicized failures. Reports of multi-hour delays at major airport hubs throughout the United States have been common—delays which have resulted in missed flights for consumers and delayed flights for airlines. Last year, Transportation Security Administration agents failed to detect 67 out of 70 weapons, improvised explosive devices or other prohibited objects brought through security by Department of Homeland Security Inspector General officers in undercover tests. Despite these failures, the agency’s former assistant administrator for the Office of Security Operations, Kelly Hoggan, received $90,000 in bonus payments which were spread over 13 months to evade scrutiny and exceed the 20 percent cap on bonuses.

McCaskill gave credit to the current Administrator, Peter Neffenger, for instituting reforms at the agency, but stressed that broader reform is needed, and asked the committee Chairman to look into the issues.  

Hearing witnesses included Peter Neffenger, Administrator, TSA; John Roth, Inspector General, DHS; and Jennifer Grover, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office.

McCaskill -- One Missourian's Story of Sacrifice and Silence

It’s never too late to correct an injustice.

That’s been a driving principle for me over the past few months, as I’ve investigated a stunning failure on the part of our government, and have worked to address that failure on behalf of one Missouri veteran.

During World War II, 60,000 U.S. servicemen were forced to participate in experiments in which they were intentionally exposed to the chemical agent mustard gas. Four thousand of those men received the highest levels of exposure in “chamber” tests.

One of those who endured this horrific experience was 18-year-old private Arla Harrell at Camp Crowder in Neosho, Missouri. Harrell had joined the military after both of his parents had died, in order to provide for his younger siblings.

Since the testing over 70 years ago, Harrell has suffered from multiple chronic ailments, including several that have been medically linked to his exposure to mustard gas. However, because the experiments were highly classified, he was forced to take an oath of secrecy that prevented him from discussing his experience with his family, or even his doctor, for decades. 

By the early 1990s the experiments had been declassified, the oath of secrecy had been lifted, and the Department of Veterans Affairs had set up a system to provide healthcare and benefits to servicemen who had been exposed. While that should have been a new beginning, to turn the corner on this mistreatment for Arla Harrell and thousands of others, what I’ve discovered after a year-long investigation is that the veterans who applied for this care were caught in a broken system for decades—and the vast majority of them died without ever having received the recognition and resources they needed.

Over the past fifteen years, 90 percent of these veterans’ applications for benefits were denied. Of the 1,500 benefit claims the VA received in the last 15 years, only 40 veterans total are receiving any medical care or compensation.

Arla Harrell trained at a Missouri facility where strong evidence indicates that mustard gas experiments took place. He also suffers from several chronic conditions that result from mustard gas exposure. But despite multiple applications for care and benefits, he has been repeatedly denied.

I’ve led dozens of investigations to hold government and corporations accountable to Missourians—but I’ve never seen a group that was more mistreated than these brave men.

We have to act now before it’s too late. That’s why I’ve introduced the Arla Harrell Act—legislation that would mandate a quick review of previously denied claims, lower the near-impossible bar these servicemen and their families had to clear in order to get care they need, and establish the simple acknowledgement from our government of the horror they were forced to endure.

I won’t rest until Arla Harrell and the servicemen who sacrificed alongside him get the recognition and care they deserve.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is the daughter of a World War II veteran, and a senior member of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee.

McCaskill Takes Wind out of Flimsy Arguments for Loosening Robocall Restrictions

The Worth County Sheriff's Department routinely gets calls from people who got called by phone scammers. Now, certain multinational corporations want to make even more robocalls to people. Senator Claire McCaskill is seeking to fight these efforts.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today used a Senate hearing to continue her fight to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls, and push back against those who want to make it easier for unwanted calls to reach consumers.   “This is not that complicated,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Commerce Committee, addressing claims that a variety of businesses, including hospitals, are facing lawsuits from people receiving unsolicited robocalls. “All you have to have is the permission of the person you're calling. I mean you guys make this sound like it’s an impossible thing to do… you have somebody who leaves your hospital and you guys can’t manage to get their permission to follow up with them by phone? Why is that so economically difficult for you?... You guys need to understand this. This is the biggest consumer problem in the country. No bigger problem… and you all are in here whining about these poor businesses and [saying] consumers really want them—they don’t want them. They don’t want them.”

 McCaskill continued: “We know from hearings we’ve had in this committee that the technology is available that the carriers could adopt. And it’s been clarified by the [Federal Communications Commission] that there is no duty to connect calls that prohibits them from adopting this technology. They can adopt the technology and make it available to the consumers that allows the consumers to opt out, without having to take these calls. And what we’re really trying to do here—we’re not trying to punish people with litigation—we’re trying to put power in the hands of the consumer.”

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, signed into law in 1991, prohibits automated calls and text messages to consumers’ cell phones without express consent of the recipient. Violators are subject to fines ranging from $500 to $1,500 per violation, and some companies have faced large fines and lawsuits in recent years. A number of business groups are seeking changes to the law that would make it easier to place robocalls to cell phones.   McCaskill has introduced legislation, the Robocall and Call Spoofing Enforcement Improvements Act, to increase fines and penalties on robocall violators, streamline enforcement, expand the statute of limitations on violators, and enforce anti-spoofing provisions against violators outside the U.S. who target consumers inside the U.S.   McCaskill—an outspoken critic of a provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that rolled back the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by allowing callers collecting federal debts to make robocalls—recently announced her support for a bill that would repeal this provision. The legislation is backed by several prominent consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of American and Consumers Union.

After years of sustained pressure from McCaskill, the nation’s top telecom regulator last year voted 4-1 to clarify that phone companies can legally offer to their customers technology already available in other countries to block robocalls and other unwanted calls. McCaskill has strongly encouraged companies to adopt this technology;helped lead a Senate hearing on robocalls, call spoofing, and other phone scams; and introduced bipartisan legislation, along with Republican Senator Susan Collins, to prevent scam artists from using phone technology to target victims.   In the lead-up to tax day, McCaskill recently urged the Internal Revenue Service to combat fraudulent robocalls from scam artists pretending to be government tax agents.

Last year, when Congress authorized the use of robocalls for government debt collection. McCaskill opposed these efforts, out of concern that such calls would confuse consumers and muddy the agency’s message that the IRS never calls individuals. The agency’s messaging efforts were partly spurred by a McCaskill investigation last year.

McCaskill Alleges Valeant Pharmaceuticals Buys Up Competitors, Drives Up Prices

 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill sharply questioned officials and investors of Valeant Pharmaceuticals about the company’s business strategy—which relied upon aggressive corporate acquisitions and price hikes. The hearing also included testimony from individuals and experts who explained the negative impact for individuals caught in Valeant’s ‘price-gouging’ practices.

“You can try to dress up this business model with good sounding phrases but (the model) is simple...give the companies that develop a drug that has little to no competition a healthy profit, fire the scientists, and jack up the prices as high as you think you can get away with,” McCaskill said. “It’s using patients as hostages. It's immoral. It hurts real people. It makes Americans very very angry. In case you haven't noticed that has real ramifications in our political process and could lead to an instability of our government, our economy, and our standing in the world. Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. It's time to slaughter some hogs.”

Valeant consistently acquired pharmaceutical companies that were the only producer of off-patent drugs, often then slashing the research and development spending for those companies and raising the prices on their recently-acquired drugs by hundreds or thousands of percentage points. Valeant’s entire research and development budget was consistently below 5 percent of their total sales—dramatically lower than most other companies in the pharmaceutical industry.

One of the witnesses Berna Heyman, who had lost access to the drug Syrine, which is used to treat Wilson’s disease after a dramatic and sudden price increase said, “I’m very proud to see this (hearing) in action. That the committee agreed to look at this issue is doing something for so many of us.”

Today’s hearing was the third in the Senate Special Committee on Aging’s investigation into pharmaceutical drug pricing. TheCommittee’s first hearing of the series, in December 2015, examined the effect dramatic and sudden price increases of prescription drugs has on patients and providers. The second hearing, held on March 17, took an in-depth look inside the monopoly business models of Turing and Retrophin, both formerly headed by Martin Shkreli.

This year alone, Americans are expected to spend more than $328 billion on prescription drugs.  Of this amount, individuals will pay about $50 billion out-of-pocket.  The federal government will pick up another $110 billion in payments through Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, and other programs.
 
Witnesses for the hearing included: Berna Heyman, Wilson Disease patient, and retired Associate Dean of Libraries, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; Dr. Frederick K. Askari, M.D. PhD., Associate Professor, and Director, Wilson Disease Center of Excellence, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Dr. Richard Fogel, M.D., FACC, FHRS, Chief Clinical Officer, St. Vincent, Indianapolis, Indiana; J. Michael Pearson, Chief Executive Officer, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Bridgewater, New Jersey; Howard Schiller, Current Director, former Chief Financial Officer, and former Interim Chief Executive Officer, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Bridgewater, New Jersey; Bill Ackman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pershing Square Capital Management LP, New York, New York; Director, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Bridgewater, New Jersey.

McCaskill: $86 Million for Failed Aerial Counternarcotics Surveillance Effort in Afghanistan ‘an inexcusable waste of taxpayer money’

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is demanding answers from the Drug Enforcement Agency on a failed joint program to modify a large aircraft to conduct counternarcotics surveillance efforts in Afghanistan. At a cost to taxpayers of more than $86 million, the aircraft remains inoperable.  

“I am writing you regarding the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Global Discovery program, a counternarcotics effort in Afghanistan that DEA conducted in partnership with the Department of Defense,” wrote McCaskill in the letter to the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “The primary purpose of this program was the purchase and modification of a large aircraft to provide DEA aerial surveillance capabilities in the combat environment of Afghanistan. A recent U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (OIG) report identified that the Global Discovery program has cost taxpayers more than $86 million, yet the aircraft, in the OIG’s words, ‘remains inoperable, resting on jacks, and has never actually flown in Afghanistan.’ Given the DEA’s drawdown in Afghanistan, it is likely the aircraft, if it is ever completed, will never fly there.”

McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and the top-ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, raised a number of oversight concerns contained in a report from the top watchdog at the Department of Justice, including:

·         The Global Discovery program was initially intended to be completed in 2012, but instead has missed every subsequent delivery date. The aircraft now has a planned delivery date of June 2016, but given the program’s history it appears likely that this date will not be met, either. 

·         At the same time that the delivery date has continually been extended, the DEA has admitted that the aircraft will not be completed with all the required modifications to the aircraft.

·         The DEA failed to comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and its own solicitation in purchasing the aircraft. The DEA did not take into account the cost it would incur to establish an infrastructure of pilots, mechanics, trainers, and spare parts required to operate a new type of aircraft. The DEA also failed to evaluate each bid received on the factors it listed in its solicitation, potentially awarding a contract for an aircraft that did not meet DEA’s requirements.

·         The DOD awarded a $1.9 million contract for a hanger to store the DEA aircraft, but the aircraft was never housed there, and likely never will be.

·         The OIG audited a select number of expenditures made by the Global Discovery Program, and among those expenditures alone found more than $2 million in unallowable and unsupported costs.

·         DEA had no performance metrics to determine whether the Global Discovery program was an effective part of DEA’s counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan.  Reviewing the reports that DEA filed on the missions flown using available aircraft, OIG found that DEA’s data was not accurate.

·         DEA spent nearly $50,000 in travel to oversee the Global Discovery contract, even though contract oversight for this program clearly failed.

McCaskill, who in 2010 began investigating insufficient oversight of counternarcotics contracts at the Departments of State and Defense that made it impossible to know if tax dollars are being used properly, released a report that showed federal agencies do not have systems in place to adequately track money spent on more than $3 billion in counternarcotics contracts or evaluate whether those contracts are achieving their goals.

McCaskill has led a successful effort to end hundreds of millions in taxpayer spending on unsustainable overseas projects, bring those resources home, and increase accountability for the remaining U.S.-Afghan projects. During her first term in the Senate, McCaskill waged a successful six-year battle to rein in wasteful wartime contracting practices in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ultimately passed into law the most expansive reforms to wartime contracting practices since World War II.

Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

32,000 Missourians Participating in Central States Pension Plan Face Severe Cuts

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week joined the top-ranking Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and the top-ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, along with more than 40 other Senators, to send a message to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew about the Central States Pension Fund’s application to reduce its participants’ pension benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014.

McCaskill and her colleagues noted that the Treasury Department’s decision on the application will have enormous stakes for the 270,000 retirees in the plan who face potential cuts, with a significant number of those retirees facing cuts of 50 percent and, in some cases, more than 70 percent of their monthly pension.

In Missouri, more than 32,000 individuals participate in the Central States Pension Plan and are at risk of a severe pension cut.

“In light of the enormous stakes for the 270,000 CSPF retirees, we expect Treasury to conduct a thorough analysis and carefully check every aspect of CSPF’s application and their assumptions,” the Senators wrote in the letter. “…We ask that you proceed with a careful analysis when making a determination on this application. It is of utmost importance that Treasury gets this right.”

Before the Treasury Department makes a decision on the application, the Senators requested Secretary Lew to carefully consider several aspects of the application, including whether market conditions were appropriately taken into consideration, if investment assumptions in the application were reasonable, if future employer contribution assumptions were realistic, and if the Central States Pension Fund pursued all other reasonable measures before considering cuts.

“This comes at a time when workers, retirees, and surviving spouses across the country are worried about the state of their pensions,” the Senators’ letter stated. “They contributed to their pensions over the course of many years – making the sacrifices of giving up better pay or improved benefits, or even staying in a physically exhausting job that took them away from their families – so they could earn a pension that they believed could never be taken away.”

McCaskill is co-sponsor of The Keep Our Pension Promises Act, which would repeal the “benefit suspension” provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act enacted at the end of the last Congress,which she opposed. Those provisions allow the trustees of certain financially-troubled multiemployer pension plans to reduce the benefits of retirees and their widows and widowers.The Keep Our Pension Promises Act would ensure that Missouri pensioners will continue to get their full benefits.

McCaskill -- Postal Service "Last Mile" Pricing is Issue in Rural Areas

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today questioned the U.S. Postal Service’s pricing for its “last mile” of delivery in rural areas, and why she believes it may be losing money by under-charging competitors such as UPS and Fedex to carry mail to those areas.

“I have been on a harangue about giving deals to our competitors,” said McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service. “…We are giving a really good deal to our competitors. I’ve never seen another business entity who says, because we are so starving for volume, we’re going to take the most expensive part of our architecture, which is the last mile, and we’re going to give our competitors a deal on that last mile. And I have yet to have anyone give me the analysis that shows me that they have, in fact, at the Postal Service, considered what price they’re giving to UPS and FedEx for that last mile of delivery as it relates to our costs.”

In January, McCaskill demanded answers from the Postal Service on how it will protect mail delivery for rural Missourians and efficiently manage the cost-sharing benefits with competitors to carry mail the “last mile,” especially in rural areas, saying: “I think it’s really important we get a handle on [rural delivery times]. Those of us who are really pushing to protect rural delivery…think it’s important we know what we’re working with from a data-driven basis.”

In 2014, McCaskill asked the Government Accountability Office to look at these agreements, and the agency confirmed some of her concerns when they discovered the Postal Service wasn’t accounting for key cost-drivers such as package size and weight when making agreements, and wasn’t collecting some of the revenue it was owed from the deals.

McCaskill, al ongtime advocate for postal service in rural communities, is widely credited with having waged a successful campaign over several years to save rural post offices and maintain delivery times when faced with closures and the slowing of standards.

McCaskill recently backed the Rural Postal Act, a bill that aims to improve postal service, delivery times, and standards in rural communities that have been disproportionately affected by cuts to the Postal Service. The bill—sponsored by Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and also cosponsored by Jon Tester of Montana—would restore overnight delivery, return a faster First-Class mail standard, make six-day delivery permanent, and enact strict criteria the Postal Service would have to meet before closing a post office to ensure that rural communities are still able to easily access the mail system.

Last year McCaskill requested an examination of the interaction between the lack of adequate access to broadband technology in rural areas and the reliability of Postal Service delivery. Without efficient and effective mail service as a result of recent Postal Service consolidations, rural Missourians are put at an economic and communications disadvantage, the effects of which haven’t yet been properly studied. McCaskill also recently signed on to a request for the federal government’s top watchdog to review the Postal Service’s calculation of delivery times and standards, and she helped win a one-year moratorium on postal closings until the impact of those closings is fully understood.

Postal Service Seeking to Close Post Offices Under "Emergency Suspensions."

 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is calling out the U.S. Postal Service for its use of “emergency suspension” authority to close down Missouri post offices, potentially circumventing the standard process that requires input from communities that would feel the effects of a closure and notifications to Congress.

“I recently became aware of a number of post offices in Missouri that were closed via ‘emergency suspension’ and never reopened,” wrote McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and senior member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in a letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan. “I am concerned that these closures are circumventing the United States Postal Service’s standard discontinuance process, and communities are being adversely affected without the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the decision-making process.

The USPS’ Annual Compliance review for fiscal year 2015 shows no post offices, stations, or branches closed but lists 469 post offices and 107 stations and branches under active suspensions. Communities have been told that some of these post offices will not reopen, and even for those that will reopen, some of the affected communities have not been told when that will happen.

“I am concerned that these suspension rules are not being followed and that rural post offices are either being left in suspension for prolonged periods of time or closed without the requisite feasibility study and corresponding public and Congressional notifications,” McCaskill wrote. “…Emergency suspensions should not be used as de facto closures.”

McCaskill, a longtime outspoken advocate for postal service in rural areas, has previously demanded answers from USPS on how it will protect mail delivery for rural Missourians and efficiently manage the cost-sharing benefits with competitors to carry mail the “last mile,” especially in rural areas. The Postal Service also heeded McCaskill’s call for a one-year moratorium on postal closings until their impact was fully understood last May.

McCaskill Backs Legislation To End Tax Breaks for Companies Shipping Jobs Overseas

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is backing a measure to boost job creation by rewarding companies that “insource” jobs to the U.S., while ending tax breaks for those companies shipping jobs overseas.

The Bring Jobs Home Act introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow, creates a special 20 percent tax credit for the moving expenses of companies who shift operations back to the U.S. from abroad.

The bill also prevents companies from deducting from their taxes the costs associated with shipping jobs overseas. Under current law, companies can deduct 100 percent of the cost of shipping equipment overseas, terminating leases, and other expenses associated with offshoring a business—meaning that taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars annually.

“Right now, some companies are undercutting hardworking Americans by sending valuable jobs out of the country,” McCaskill said. “We shouldn’t be rewarding them for doing it. Instead, let’s use some common sense, and reduce their incentive to outsource by ending tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, and rewarding companies that bring jobs back to the United States.”

A similar measure had bipartisan majority support in the Senate last year, but ultimately failed to advance after a Republican filibuster.

McCaskill Statement on 10th Anniversary of Iraq War

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement on the 10^th anniversary of the beginning of combat operations in Iraq:

“On this anniversary, I join all Missourians in offering my enduring gratitude to the American troops whose sacrifices were made both on and off the battlefield. Many of our servicemembers heroically gave their lives in service to our security and freedom, a sacrifice we will never forget and forever honor. Thousands of veterans also continue to cope with injuries, both physical and psychological, and it remains our obligation to ensure that they have the resources they need to recover and the benefits they've earned.

“Unfortunately, the war in Iraq will also be remembered for the staggering amount of taxpayer dollars wasted as a result of contracting. Combating that waste and fraud has been a focus of mine for six years, and I remain committed to ensuring that Congress and the Administration learn from the painful lessons of this war, so that we don’t find ourselves in the same position next time.”

McCaskill has served on the Armed Services Committee since joining the Senate in 2007. She has been a leader on identifying waste within the Pentagon, particularly within the area of federal contracting. Last year, after identifying up to $60 billion in contracting waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, she passed an historic reform bill overhauling how federal contracts are awarded and monitored during military contingencies. 

McCaskill Calls out Postal Service Over Failure to Provide Answers on Five-Day Delivery

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement after the U.S. Postal Service’s failure to provide answers in a timely manner concerning its proposed move to five-day delivery:

“Eliminating six-day delivery would impact families, small businesses and seniors in communities around the country—it’s not responsible to move forward with this drastic plan without knowing if it would even make a substantial difference in dollars saved. The Postal Service has the data we need, and it’s time for officials there to stop dragging their feet.”

More than six weeks ago, McCaskill requested information from the Postmaster General and Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) about the Postal Service's claims that it would realize substantial savings by moving to a five-day delivery model—claims McCaskill has previously questioned. 

McCaskill received a response from PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway in a meeting last week, but the PRC reported that it would “need the Postal Service to provide complete and updated data” in order to give an accurate estimate of cost savings. The response to McCaskill from the PRC is available on her website HERE.

Last year, McCaskill successfully fought to keep hundreds of rural post offices in rural Missouri open and operating. She has previously argued that shutting down rural post offices would not help the Postal Service achieve substantial cost-savings, and cutting Saturday mail delivery would deal significant blows to communities across rural America.

McCaskill Will Begin Drafting Legislation to Loosen Restrictions on Electronic Devices on Planes

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is refusing to turn off and stow her effort to reevaluate rules restricting in-flight use of portable electronic devices [PEDs], telling the nation’s air travel chief today that she will begin drafting legislation to loosen the restrictions.

In December, McCaskill wrote to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta, telling him that she would look at legislative solutions if his agency delayed a reconsideration of restrictions. Today, after a response from the agency that McCaskill deemed “concerning,” she criticized Huerta for his “lack of direct engagement” on the issue.  

“…[G]iven my concerns with the agency’s lack of commitment to adopt changes to the current PED rules, I am beginning to draft legislation,” McCaskill wrote in her response. “In the coming weeks, I will be meeting with various stakeholders to receive input on the issue, and I will be working with my colleagues to build bipartisan support for action in Congress.”

McCaskill’s previous letter to Huerta highlighted the flaws in the existing rules by pointing out that the FAA already allows airlines to replace their paper flight manuals in the cockpit with tablet computers. Current rules do not allow passengers to use PEDs for the full duration of a flight. Other government officials, including Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, have also urged the FAA to change the current rules regarding PED use.

Last week, McCaskill met directly with Genachowski to discuss a variety of issues, including expanded use of PEDs.  

McCaskill has served on the Senate Committee on Commerce since joining the Senate in 2007, which has jurisdiction over aviation and communications policy, and this year was named Chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance.