Q&A: National Adoption Month

Q. How are you working to observe National Adoption Month this year?

Q. What other initiatives do you have in store for foster youth?

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I announced this week that a fellow senator and I will introduce the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2016. The bipartisan legislation would make certain types of hearing aids available over the counter and remove unnecessary and burdensome requirements that currently create barriers for consumers who could benefit from hearing aids. The goal is that by making more products more easily available to consumers, competition will increase and lead to lower costs. If you want more details on the bill, you can read our fact sheet.

Following reports that the Department of Defense has ovepaid millions in taxpayer dollars for EpiPen purchases, I am calling on Mylan to reimburse the Defense Department for all the past overpayments. Two of my Senate colleagues and I sent a letter to the Mylan CEO asking for the company to right this wrong. 

As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I am also seeking a Federal Trade Commission review of Mylan, the EpiPen maker, for potential antitrust violations. Recent reports suggest that Mylan engaged in exclusive contracts with schools, precluding them from purchasing products that compete with the EpiPen. I co-authored a letter with Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy to the FTC emphasizing our priority of enforcing antitrust laws to help increase competition among drug makers for consumer benefit.

I am part of an effort urging the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to nullify the sweeping regulation commonly known as "Waters of the United States" or WOTUS. I joined 87 other senators and members of Congress in signing an amicus brief, a document explaining our position on WOTUS, to the court. The rule, if allowed to take effect, would regulate 97 percent of the land in Iowa as a waterway, subjecting it to new federal regulations and permitting requirements. We all value clean water, but this vast overreach by the EPA would impose costs and penalties for families, farmers and businesses for activities on land nowhere near an actual body of water.

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