Q&A:
Over-the-Counter
Hearing
Aids
Q.
Why
are
you
working
to
ensure
certain
types
of
hearings
aids
are
available
over
the
counter?
Q.
How
can
we
apply
lessons
learned
from
this
commonsense
approach
to
other
areas
of
health
care?
Quick
Links
An
in-depth
investigation
found
that
federal
agencies
sometimes
put
employees
on
paid
leave
for
years,
either
to
avoid
making
tough
management
decisions
or
to
sideline
whistleblowers.
I
made
my
own
inquiries
and
then co-authored
legislation
that
would
limit
this
practice,
so
agencies
won't
continue
to
shortchange
taxpayers
by
avoiding
termination
of
problematic
employees
or
sidelining
valuable
ones.
This
week,
the
legislation
passed
as
part
of
the
National
Defense
Authorization
Act
and
is
now
on
its
way
to
the
President
for
consideration.
On
Monday,
I
sent
a
letter
calling
on
the
Obama
administration
to
declassify
its
plan
to
admit
into
the
country
potentially
more
than
2,400
refugees
whom
Australia
has
refused
to
admit.
These
secret
negotiations
between
the
Obama
administration
and
Australia
have
left
Americans
in
the
dark
about
the
full
scope
of
these
resettlement
plans.
We
need
this
declassification
so
the
American
people
can
review
this
deal.
It
was
announced
this
week
that
President-elect
Trump
has
named
Governor
Branstad
as
his
United
States
Ambassador
to
China
nominee.
Iowans
have
chosen
Governor
Branstad
for
his
successful
track
record
as
the
chief
executive,
his
trustworthiness
and
his
reputation
as
a
straight
shooter.
I
know
he
will
serve
our
country
well
for
those
same
reasons
if
confirmed.
This
week
I
met
with
President-elect
Trump's
Treasury
Secretary
nominee,
Steven
Mnuchin,
to
discuss
tax
priorities
and
whistleblowers.
I
met
with
the
President-elect's
Secretary
of
Health
and
Human
Services
nominee,
Rep.
Tom
Price,
to
discuss
rural
hospitals,
Medicaid
oversight
and
soaring
drug
prices.
And
I
also
met
with
the
President-elect's
nominee
to
become
Administrator
of
the
Centers
for
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services,
Seema
Verma,
to
discuss
the
importance
of
reviewing
drug
price
increases.
This
week,
the
Senate
Judiciary
Antitrust
Subcommittee
began
looking
at
the
AT&T-Time
Warner
merger,
the
biggest
transaction
of
the
year. The
Judiciary
Committee’s oversight
responsibility
helps
flesh
out
potential
issues
and
highlight
possible
impacts
of
the
merger
on
the
market
and
consumers.
My
investigation
of
the
EB-5
foreign
visa
program
shows
that
the
program
is
riddled
with
fraud
and
abuse. I’m
making
the
case
why
it
should
be
reformed
or
eliminated
altogether.
Keep
Up
With
My
Work
 @ChuckGrassley
 fb.com/Grassley
 @senatorchuckgrassley
 youtube.com/SenChuckGrassley
 @ChuckGrassley
@GrassleyPress
And
follow
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee...
@senjudiciary
fb.com/senjudiciary
Post
of
the
Week
|