An American Tradition

Inauguration of the President of the United States every four years is a reminder of the strength of the 225-year history of our democracy. The transfer or reaffirmation of tremendous power is peaceful and orderly. This week, after Monday’s ceremony, all of us representing Iowa in the United States Congress hosted Iowans who were in Washington, D.C., for inaugural events at a reception in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. Read more

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Corporate Penalty or Perk?

Companies and big banks regularly settle allegations of wrongdoing with the federal government by writing a big check to the taxpayers. Securities fraud and mortgage fraud are major categories. The settlements of millions and sometimes billions of dollars generate major headlines. What gets a lot less attention is when the companies later deduct a big part of the settlement from their federal taxes as a business expense. The financial settlement is supposed to discourage repeats of the actions that drew the government’s attention in the first place. But the tax deduction reduces the sting of paying the fine for the corporation. Taxpayers end up subsidizing the... Read more

Delays in Getting Cheaper Prescription Drugs to Consumers

According to the Federal Trade Commission, evidence continues to pile up showing increases in the number of potential pay-for-delay settlements. The Commission just last week released a report that shows the number of these anti-competitive patent settlements rose more than 40 percent last year. Pay-for-delay settlements occur when brand-name drug companies seek to... Read more

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Protecting Whistleblowers Who Expose Criminal Antitrust Violations

Too often whistleblowers who expose waste, fraud and abuse are treated like second class citizens. They often risk their careers by sticking their necks out to simply tell the truth. It happens in both the federal government and in private business. As part of my ongoing commitment to strengthen whistleblower laws and advocate on behalf of whistleblowers, I’m introducing legislation with Senator Patrick Leahy to provide protection from retaliation for private sector employees who are willing to come forward with information about criminal antitrust violations. Some examples of criminal antitrust violations are price fixing or bid rigging. For instance, if an individual working at a company discovers that his company and a competitor are violating the antitrust laws, that person can reach out to either law enforcement or... Read more