Q&A:
21st
Century
Cures
Act
Q.
What
is
the
"21st
Century
Cures
Act?"
Q.
Which
provisions
of
the
sweeping
legislation
did
you
influence
before
final
passage?
Q.
How
will
this
bill
help
Iowans?
Quick
Links
This
week
the
Senate passed
a
bill
I
authored
called
the
Public
Safety
Officers'
Benefits
Improvement
Act.
The
bill
will
provide
more
transparency
about
the
wait
times
that
families
are
experiencing
before
being
notified
about
survivor
benefits
of
public
safety
officers
killed
in
the
line
of
duty.
The
passage
of
this
bill
carries
a
particularly
heavy
weight
for
me
and
for
all
Iowans,
coming
only
one
month
after
two
central
Iowa
police
officers
were
ambushed
and
killed
while
on
patrol.
The
bill
now
must
be
taken
up
by
the
House
of
Representatives.
On
Tuesday
morning,
I
met
with
United
States
Attorney
General
nominee
Jeff
Sessions.
As
chairman
of
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee,
I
will
lead
the
hearings
on
his
appointment.
He
will
receive
the
fair
and
thorough
vetting
process
he
deserves,
as
have
the
last
four
nominees
to
be
Attorney
General.
Senator
Sessions
is
an
honorable
man
who
cares
deeply
about
the
even-handed
application
of
the
law.
This,
along
with
his
knowledge
of
the
Justice
Department,
will
serve
him
well
should
he
be
confirmed.
I
am
seeking
the
immigration
and
criminal
history
of
the
man
who
launched
an
attack
on
Ohio
State
University's
campus
Monday,
leaving
11
people
injured.
The
student,
Abdul
Razak
Ali
Artan,
who
crashed
his
vehicle
into
a
crowd
before
getting
out
and
slashing
people
with
a
knife,
is
believed
to
be
a
refugee
originally
from
Somalia.
In
my
letter
to
Secretary
of
Homeland
Security
Jeh
Johnson,
I
am
requesting
all
records
related
to
Artan's
background
so
we
can
gain
a
better
understanding
of
the
circumstances
surrounding
his
arrival
in
the
United
States
and
the
occurrences
leading
up
to
these
disturbing
events.
I
have
been
working
to
ensure
that
inspectors
general,
the
watchdogs
within
the
federal
bureaucracy, have
access
to
all
the
necessary
tools
to
root
out
waste,
fraud
and
abuse
on
behalf
of
the
American
people.
This
week,
I
requested
to
bring
up
my
legislation,
called
the
Inspector
General
Empowerment
Act,
to
clarify
once
and
for
all
that
inspectors
general
are
to
receive
all
documents
necessary
to
do
the
jobs
Congress
requires
of
them.
More
and
more
federal
agencies
have
begun
flouting
this
oversight,
making
this
legislation
more
and
more
important.
For
two
years
I
have
been
working
on
legislation, the
Juvenile
Justice
and
Delinquency
Prevention
Reauthorization
Act to
protect
and
improve
the
lives
of
young
people
involved
with
our
federal
juvenile
and
criminal
justice
systems.
On
Wednesday,
I
took
to
the
Senate
floor
to
request
passage
of
our
bipartisan
legislation.
Sadly,
our
bill
was
blocked.
But
we
will
continue
working
to
find
a
path
forward
to
provide
a
long
overdue
policy
update
to
the
federal juvenile
justice
program
and
ensure
that
it
is
effectively
serving
our
most
vulnerable
youth
as
intended.
On
Thursday,
I
introduced
the
Over-the-Counter
Hearing
Aid
Act
of
2016. I've
been
working
on
this
bipartisan
legislation
with
a
Democratic
colleague
in
order
to
make
certain
types
of
hearing
aids
available
over
the
counter
and
remove
burdensome
requirements
that
inhibit
access. The
goal
is
to
make
hearing
aids
more
easily
available,
which
will
increase
competition
and
lead
to
lower
costs.
Post
of
the
Week
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