On Monday, May 1, at 12 p.m., Sen. Grassley will receive the American Physical Therapy Association's year 2000 Public Service Award. He will be given the award during the association's government affairs forum in Washington. Last year, Sen. Grassley successfully won passage of a two-year moratorium on the $1500 limit on outpatient therapy services that was imposed as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
On Tuesday, May 2, at 9:30 a.m., in SH-216, Sen. Grassley will participate in a discussion on reintegrating Russia into the West. Three other members of Congress and two members of the Russian Duma will be on a panel with Sen. Grassley. The seminar has been organized by the Free Congress Foundation.
On Tuesday, May 2, at 10 a.m., in SD-562, Sen. Grassley will convene an Aging committee hearing to examine the misuse of benefits by individuals who are officially designated to receive retirees' Social Security checks. The committee will hear testimony from a woman who lost her home to a payee who controlled her Social Security checks and from a convicted felon who will describe the tricks of the trade. Sen. Grassley plans to introduce a bipartisan bill to address the problem of reimbursing victims of these crimes.
On Tuesday, May 2, at 2 p.m., in SD-226, Sen. Grassley will participate in a Judiciary subcommittee hearing regarding airline competition.
On Wednesday, May 3, at 10 a.m., Sen. Grassley will conduct a hearing of the Joint Committee on Taxation to review the IRS reforms mandated by the agency overhaul passed by Congress in 1998. Sen. Grassley was a leading proponent of the reforms which stemmed from his work on the bipartisan National Commission on IRS Reform with Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. Sen. Grassley was the author of the first-ever taxpayer bill of rights in 1988, and he has successfully advanced subsequent legislation to empower taxpayers in dealing with the federal government's tax-collecting agency. Sen. Grassley will chair this hearing because Sen. Roth, chairman of the Finance committee, is recovering from surgery.
On Wednesday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m., Sen. Grassley will meet with Chamber of Commerce and economic development leaders from Mt. Pleasant, Burlington, Ft. Madison and Keokuk during the May 2-5 Southeast Iowa Economic Development Summit in Washington. Key issues include regional air transportation and Amtrak issues, the U.S. Coast Guard on the Ft. Madison Bridge, highway issues, the Avenue of the Saints, Mississippi River issues, Brownfields sites, regional education, workforce development, housing and quality of life issues, and anti-drug efforts.
On Thursday, May 4, at 9:30 a.m. in SD-215, Sen. Grassley will conduct a Finance committee hearing to consider the role that the Health Care Financing Administration will play in reforming Medicare and HCFA's readiness to achieve reforms. Sen. Grassley will chair this hearing because Sen. Roth, chairman of the Finance committee, is recovering from surgery.
On Tuesday, May 9, at 10 a.m., Sen. Grassley will conduct a hearing to examine the consequences of heroin use, which has typically been considered a drug used only by hard-core addicts but for which use has risen dramatically among younger Americans. Sen. Grassley is chairman of the Caucus on International Narcotics Control and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee.