Oversight

A weekly rundown of the latest efforts of lawmakers to scrutinize the actions of the executive branch.

•House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (12/3/07) — Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) wrote to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, and Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle urging those organizations to request adequate funding resources for the FDA. A recent report by the FDA Science Board’s Subcommittee on Science and Technology found that funding shortages at FDA have undermined science and endangered public health.

{mosads}"There is much that you can do to strengthen FDA so that it is prepared to meet these challenges, starting with requesting adequate funds and resources for FDA,” Waxman wrote. “I urge you to ensure that the budget request you submit to the Department of Health and Human Services includes sufficient resources for FDA.”

•Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (12/4/07) — Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.), along with committee members Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), wrote a letter urging President Bush to help poorer nations cope with the problems caused by climate change. Such a policy would prevent hardship in those countries and stem the potential of greater global instability.

“As you are aware, impoverished countries will be hit first and worst by climate change and have the least capacity to cope with increasingly devastating impacts, including water scarcity, droughts, sea-level rise, floods, severe weather events, disruption of agricultural production, and spread of disease,” the senators wrote. “Ensuring assistance to vulnerable countries facing these impacts is a moral commitment our country should make to the poorest around the world.”

 • Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (12/5/07) — Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and ranking member Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) sent a letter to Steven Preston, administrator of the Small Business Administration, informing him of a hearing in January to hold the Bush administration accountable for promises to implement programs to help small businesses succeed.