Diana DeGette

I take a backseat to no one on program integrity issues in the Medicaid program.

There is simply nothing in the recent reviews of program integrity that justify the policy proposals that are now on the table.

But as important as combatting fraud and abuse in Medicaid is, policymakers should keep it in perspective.

Program integrity problems are, however, not new.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's good to be back for another session of Congress.

Despite sometimes unfair opposition, EPA has commendably responded to unprecedented environmental challenges facing the country and the planet.

What they want is they want clean air, they want clean water, they want safe drinking water.

So the bulk of the settlement is either dedicated to fixing or replacing the cars, to stop the ongoing harm, and then about a third of the settlement is designed to mitigate or reverse the damage that these vehicles have already caused, or…

After discovering this massive cheating scheme, the Obama administration brought multiple parties to the table, including VW, the State of California, and the Federal Government, and they reached a partial settlement.

The EPA has not always received the support it deserves from Congress.

We need to send a clear and unambiguous message that we are committed to working with the rest of the world to combat climate change.

This was not the EPA forcing VW to do this. It was part of a settlement that both parties agreed on.

I think this is a pretty good compromise. And we should--we should continue to oversee this to make sure that both that the consumers are made whole and that the environment is protected.

The settlement requires that VW remove from commerce or modify at least 85 percent of the 2.0-liter vehicles that are still polluting the air.

The Democrats were all in a meeting with Vice President Biden this morning. And as often happens with the Vice President, he was extremely late.

Hi, I am Congress. Congress could authorize that.

This hearing offers the subcommittee a valuable opportunity to check in on the progress that the Federal Select Agent Program has made.

I am eager to hear about those efforts, but I also want to know what more needs to be done to address the possible risk to public health.

I will ask unanimous consent to put the full statement in the record and also all the other statements of the other members.

In reviewing the GAO's August 2016 report, there is now six additional recommendations to improve oversight of these high containment laboratories in the Select Agent Program.

I guess we are lucky that nobody has been injured or killed from exposure to these agents in the last few years.

This is something we just simply have to get right.

I just want to register my displeasure with this process this morning not letting Members fully speak.

The American people want to see us work together, not lurch from one thing to another.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.