Letters 2006

Letters archive: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |

• 12/1/2006: Letter to President Bush
  A letter calling for the President to reconsider his appointment of Dr. Eric Keroack as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Population Affairs
• 11/15/2006: Letter to CMS Administrator Norwalk
  Joint Thomas/Stark letter asking CMS to justify current Medicare policy allowing hemoglobin levels for dialysis patients above what the FDA recommends.
• 11/06/2006: Letter to Leslie Norwalk
  Letter to the Acting CMS Administrator expressing concern about her apparent desire to increase enrollment in Medicare's private plans
• 10/25/2006: Letter to HHS Secretary Leavitt:
  Letter to the head of Health and Human Services expressing concern over the lack of objectivity in the 2007 Medicare & You Handbook.
• 10/09/2006: Letter to House Leaders
  A Letter to House Leaders urging them to take action to protect 600,000 children from losing their eligibility for health insurance
• 10/02/2006: Letter to Appropriations Committee
  A letter to Appropriations Committee urging full funding for Comunity Health Centers
• 09/27/2006: Letter to Budget Director Rob Portman
  Letter urging increased funding for the Peace Corps
• 9/26/2006: A Letter to Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
  A letter protesting the decision to exclude the Ports of Oakland and San Francisco from the recent round of port security grants.
• 09/26/2006 Letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
  Letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnsonrequesting that a waiver be granted to California so that improved emissions standards and technologies can be implemented to combat global warming.
• 9/26/2006: Letter to CMS Administrator McClellan
  A letter raising concerns about inadequate CMS oversight of Medicare prescription drug plan brokers and agents.
• 09/25/2006: Letter to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir
  A letter calling for the Sudanese President to apologize for and retract his statements about the Jewish community.
• 9/19/2006: Letter to Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General
  A letter calling for the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate
  President Bush's domestic wiretapping program
• 09/15/2006: Letter to Defense Appropriations Conferees
  A letter calling for increased funding for the Defense and Veterans’ Brain Injury Center.
• 9/14/2006: Letter to President Bush:
  A letter calling for sufficient funding in the fiscal year 2008 budget for
  veterans health care and benefits.
• 08/02/2006: A letter to Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulus
  A letter thanking Cyprus for assisting American citizens fleeing Lebanon.
• 08/01/2006: A letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
  A letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging United States support for the continued operation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Bogotá, Colombia.
• 08/01/2006: A letter to Molly Warlow, Director of the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs
  A letter to DOJ OIA Director Molly Warlow urging American cooperation with a Spanish National Court warrant freezing the financial assets of eight particular former Guatemalan human rights abusers.
• 07/31/206: A letter to Representative Duncan Hunter, Chair of the House Armed Services Committee
  A letter to House Armed Services Committee Chair Duncan Hunter in support of a health study on the impact the use of depleted uranium in armaments such as tank shells has had on United States troops.
• 7/31/06: A letter to Fabian Nunez, the speaker of the California State Legislature, in support of AB 32.
  AB 32 is pending legislation in California that would provide for caps and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
• 07/26/2006: A letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao
  A letter protesting the arrest and detention of family members of Uyghur human righs activist Rebiya Kadeer.
• 07/17/2006: A letter to Alvaro Uribe Velez, President of the Republic of Colombia
  A letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez urging he request funds for economic development for anti-poverty programs rather than for military fumigation of cocoa fields.
• 06/21/06: A Letter to Secretary of State Rice (pdf):
  A letter urging the Secretary of State to push for strict United Nations guidelines on the transfer of small arms and light weapons.
• 6/21/2006: A Letter to Mark McClellan (pdf):
  A letter to CMS Administrator McClellan requesting data about the Medicare prescription drug program.
• 06/19/2006: A letter to President George W. Bush
  A letter to President George W. Bush calling on him not to issue a pre-emptive nuclear strike against  Iran.
• 06/15/2006: A letter to Randall Tobias, Director of Foreign Assistances and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator
  A letter to Ambassador and U.S. AID Administrator Randall Tobias, requesting he address signifcant cuts in food rations to the people of Darfur.
• 6/8/06: A Letter to President Bush (pdf):
  A letter calling for the President to provide free credit monitoring for
  veterans affected by data theft
• 5/18/06: Congress Examines Process Used to Accredit Hospitals
  Members of Congress this week asked the Commission responsible for assessing the safety of America's hospitals and, in turn, determining the eligibility of hospitals to participate in the Medicare program, to answer questions about the relationship between the Commission and a subsidiary corporation and to account for the results of its new accreditation process.
• 5/18/06: A Letter to the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House (pdf)
• 5/16/06: A Letter to President Bush (pdf):
  A letter calling for the President to clarify his position on access to contraception.
• 5/12/06: A Letter to President Bush (pdf):
  A letter calling for a Special Counsel to investigate domestic wiretapping by the National Security Agency (NSA).
• 05/10/2006: A letter to Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon
  A letter to Assistant Secretary of State Thomas A. Shannon urging increased technical assistance for the timely and thorough investigations of homicides in Guatemala.
• 5/3/06: A Letter to the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee (pdf):
  A letter calling for increased federal funding for state veterans extended care facilities.
• 4/28/06: Trustees Should Not Sign 2006 Social Security / Medicare Report (pdf)
  Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Stark and Social Subcommittee Ranking Member Sander Levin sent the following letter to President Bush today outlining their grave concern regarding the preparation of the 2006 reports of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. Specifically, Ranking Members Stark and Levin question the Administration's unprecedented recess appointments of John L. Palmer and Thomas R. Saving to serve a second term as public trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs, and its effect on the pending 2006 reports.
• 2006-04-28: La Times -- Congressman Revels in His Ultra-Liberal Rating
• 4/26/06: A Letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt (pdf):
  Representatives John D. Dingell, Charles B. Rangel, Pete Stark, Henry A. Waxman, Sherrod Brown and Jan Schakowsky sent a letter today to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt requesting that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fully disclose information collected at taxpayers' expense about the performance of Part D prescription drug plan “call centers.”
• 4/6/06: A Letter to Mr. Fred Buenrostro, CEO, California Public Employees' Retirement System (pdf):
  A letter calling for the CalPERS pension fund to divest from Sudan because of the genocide in the Darfur region.
• 4/6/06: A Letter to the Interior and Environment Subcommittee (pdf):
  A letter calling for a continued moratorium on new offshore drilling.
• 4/6/06: A Letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt (pdf):
  Today, U.S. Representatives Rahm Emanuel (IL), Charles Rangel (NY), John D. Dingell (MI), Henry Waxman (CA), Pete Stark (CA), Sherrod Brown (OH), Rosa DeLauro (CT), Benjamin Cardin (MD) and Frank Pallone (NJ) released a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt calling on him to release the funding that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) promised 46 states.
• 4/5/06: A Letter to the Foreign Operations Subcommittee (pdf):
  A letter calling for increased funding for international family planning programs.
• 03/19/2006: Letter to CMS
  Letter to CMS urging them to withdraw a proposal to reduce Medicaid payments to public hospitals.
• 3/16/06: A Letter to the Energy and Water Subcommittee (pdf):
  A letter calling for increased federal funding to strengthen levees in
  California.
• 3/16/06: A Letter to the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee (pdf):
  A letter calling for funding for seismic safety upgrades to BART.
• 3/13/06: A letter to President Bush (pdf):
  A letter to the President calling for an extension to the May 15 Medicare Prescription Drug enrollment deadline.
• 2/24/06 — A letter to CMS Administrator McClellan (pdf):
  A letter to CMS recommending that the best way to simplify Medicare Part D is to put a real drug benefit in Medicare.
• 2/17/06 — Letter to Secretary of the Treasury Snow (pdf):
  Stark/Rangel/McDermott letter to Treasury Sec. Snow requesting data on their proposal to expand Heath Savings Accounts.
• 2/17/06 — Letter to Committee on Ways and Means (pdf):
  Letter to the Committee on Ways and Means asking to schedule a series of hearings to oversee implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug program.
• 2/9/06 — Letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Leavitt (pdf):
  Stark/Emanuel letter to HHS Sec. Leavitt regarding Medicare Advantage Plan Overpayments.
• 1/31/06: Letter to President Bush (pdf):
  Letter to President Bush concerning warrantless surveillance of American citizens on American soil.
• 1/27/06: Letter to President Bush (pdf):
  Letter to President Bush asking that he use the State of the Union speech to address problems in the Medicare prescription drug program and propose solutions.
• 1/26/06: Letter to CMS Administrator McClellan and HHS Inspector General Levinson (pdf):
  Stark calls on the Administration to investigate Humana and other prescription drug plan sponsors for their apparently illegal marketing tactics.
• 1/26/06: Democrats to Hastert: Must Reimburse States for Medicare Expense (pdf):
  U.S. Representatives John D. Dingell (D-MI), Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Pete Stark (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) released the following letter to Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) highlighting the importance of assuring that states are fully reimbursed for their effort to ensure that low-income seniors and people with disabilities get their prescription drugs.
• 1/24/06 — Letter to Secretary of the Treasury Snow (pdf):
  Letter to Secretary of the Treasury Snow requesting he end the IRS practice of unnecessarily freezing refunds of low-income taxpayers.
• 1/23/06 — Letter to Secretary of Health and Human
  Services Leavitt (pdf):
  Letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Leavitt: Rep. Stark joins senior democrats requesting a 'Comprehensive Response' to Fix Medicare Rx Plan.
• 1/17/06 — Letter to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (pdf):
  Letter to Secretary of Agriculture urging the Department to cease using funds to pay for federally mandated inspection of horses prior to slaughter.