Committee InfoDescriptionHello Representatives and welcome to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, or less formally the Senate Finance Committee. The committee's responsibilities include overseeing taxation, debt, customs, public money, health programs, social security, and tariffs and quotas. The Senate Finance Committee has a long history of very influential policies, including enacting the Social Security Act during the New Deal. It is interesting to note that the Senate Finance Committee was one of the first committees of Congress, and is arguably on of the most powerful committees in Congress.Recently, the Committee has been focused solely on The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is essentially the Health Care Reform bill that is being heavily debated today in the political world. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care and will create the transformation within the health care system necessary to contain costs. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is fully paid for, will provide coverage to more than 94 percent of Americans while staying under the $900 billion limit that President Obama established, bending the health care cost curve, and reducing the deficit over the next ten years and beyond. The Senate Finance Committee's main responsibility is to edit and update the bill as debate continues, and as different flaws are spotted within the bill. As a whole, the Committee is aggressively pursuing the bill's passage. The Committee is also working on the Small Business Penalty Relief Act. The purpose of it is to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to limit the penalty for failure to disclose reportable transactions based on resulting tax benefits. The jurisdiction of the Committee on Finance today encompasses vital areas which affect every American citizen. The Finance Committee has the responsibility for all revenue used to finance the Federal Government. The committee also has responsibility for the terms and conditions under which the Government borrows money. The Social Security program which provides retirement, survivorship, and disability benefits for workers and their families are also under the wing of the Finance Committee. The Committee oversees the cost of health insurance under the Medicare program for aged and disabled social security beneficiaries as well. The Committee also has control over providing Federal financing to assist States in operating programs of social services, child welfare services, adoption assistance, foster care, and related training. The committee has the responsibility for all legislation affecting tariffs and import trade. The role of the Committee on Finance is very similar to that of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The one exception in area of jurisdiction is that the Committee on Finance has jurisdiction over both Medicare and Medicaid, while the House Ways and Means Committee only has jurisdiction over Medicare. The other difference in terms of power is that all revenue raising measures must originate in the House giving the Ways and Means committee a slight edge in setting tax policy. In addition to having jurisdiction over legislation the Finance Committee has extensive oversight powers. It has authority to investigate, review and evaluate existing laws, and the agencies that implement them. The Committee is chaired by Democrat Max Baucus, of Montana, and the Ranking Minority Member is Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa. There five subcommittees all of which work under the Finance Committee, and they include Health Care, Taxation, Energy and Natural Resources, Social Security, and International Trade and Customs. The Committee currently consists of ten Republicans and thirteen Democrats. A famous member currently on the Senate Finance Committee is John Kerry. If you want to further research the Senate Finance Committee feel free to visit the Committee's website: http://finance.senate.gov/. -------------------- Hey guys! My name is Liz Wessel and I am a sophomore at Penn. I love model congress and can’t wait to start working with you all… I am the Chief of Staff (last year I was deputy chief of staff) and am the chair of the White Senate Committee on Finance. Outside of Model Congress, I am a member of a bunch of clubs at Penn, as well as a sorority member of Theta. I also am majoring in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics), with minors in Japanese and Math. I hope you all can feel free to e-mail me with any and every question you may have about our committee, our conference, or Pennl! My e-mail address is ewessel@sas.upenn.edu. I look forward to meeting you guys! Hello, my name is Jonathan Torem and I am currently a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania. I am currently in the College of Arts and Sciences and I'm pursuing a major in Economics. This is my first Model Congress and I really look forward to this year's conference. I'm from Los Angeles, California and outside of classes I enjoy writing for the Daily Pennsylvanian as well as following different sports. I am a huge soccer fan (yeah soccer) as well as basketball, baseball, and football. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about our committee. My email address is jtorem@sas.upenn.edu. I look forward to meeting you all and working with you during this year's conference. Hey! My name is Eden Greenstein. I am in the College of Arts and Sciences, in the class of 2012. My major is Communication & Public Service, with minors in Economics and Political Science. I went to the Wheatley School for high school and my hometown is Old Westbury, NY. I am the Recording Secratary in Kappa Alpha Theta, and last year was in the Riepe Mentors Program. Feel free to contact me with any questions at all! edeng@sas.upenn.edu Good luck and we look forward to meeting you! Chairs
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Account LoginConference DatesMarch 31 - April 3, 2011 RegistrationRegistration is now closed. InformationClick here for more details about PENNMC 2011! Check us out on Facebook!
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