Pinning Hopes on Olympic Reversal

Wrestling was part of both the ancient Greek Olympic Games and the modern Olympic Games, and wrestling remains a popular sport around the world, so it’s very hard to understand the new proposal of the executive board of the International Olympic Committee to eliminate wrestling from the Summer Games starting in 2020. What tradition will be eliminated next? Will it be the marathon? I’m hopeful that negative public reaction to the proposal will reverse it. Last week, I introduced a bipartisan... Read more

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New Tactics in the Battle on Meth

The battle to curb methamphetamine use and production is ongoing. As criminals evolve their techniques, law enforcement and regulators have to do the same. Congress took strong action to control the sale of pseudoephedrine, a cold medicine that is a key ingredient used to make meth, in the 2005 Combat Meth Epidemic Act. As a result of that law, meth lab incidents declined significantly across the nation. However, a recent uptick requires us to re-examine our efforts. A new report from the... Read more

Curbing the Revolving Door

In the nation’s capital, those seeking to enforce the law often switch sides to work for those accused of breaking the law. The private sector often pays much better than the government, and skilled employees are in demand at certain firms. The switch happens frequently between the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities industry, which the commission regulates. A new report shows the commission’s revolving door is moving faster than ever. The report documents how and why the revolving door can... Read more

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Closing Long-abused Loopholes of the Farm Program

A strong safety net is critical to a safe and affordable food supply. And, ensuring that farm program payments are going to those who need it most is a crucial component to keeping that safety net in place. Unfortunately, small- and medium-sized farmers get too little of the very program that was created to help them. In an effort to get a better balance in the farm program, I’ve introduced The Farm Program Integrity Act of 2013. The legislation would establish a per farm cap of $50,000 on all commodity program benefits, except those associated with the marketing loan program (loan deficiency payments and marketing loan gains), which would be capped at $75,000. Thus the combined limit would be $125,000, or, for married couples, $250,000. The $50,000 cap would apply to whatever type of program is... Read more