S6458 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 19, 2012 

Dive School at the Washington Navy 

Yard should be provided for the Man in 

the Sea Memorial Monument to honor 

the members of the Armed Forces who 

have served as divers and whose service 

in defense of the United States has 

been carried out beneath the waters of 

the world. 

S. CON. RES. 50

At the request of Mr. RUBIO, the 

names of the Senator from Connecticut 

(Mr. BLUMENTHAL), the Senator from 

Massachusetts (Mr. BROWN), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. COBURN) and 

the Senator from Illinois (Mr. KIRK) 

were added as cosponsors of S. Con. 

Res. 50, a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding actions to preserve and advance the 

multistakeholder governance model 

under which the Internet has thrived. 

S. RES. 176

At the request of Ms. MIKULSKI, the 

name of the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. BROWN) was added as a cosponsor of S. Res. 176, a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that 

the United States Postal Service 

should issue a semipostal stamp to support medical research relating to Alzheimer’s disease. 

S. RES. 181

At the request of Mr. GRAHAM, the 

name of the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. HOEVEN) was added as a cosponsor of S. Res. 181, a resolution designating May 15, 2011, as ‘‘National 

MPS Awareness Day’’. 

S. RES. 232

At the request of Mr. MENENDEZ, the 

names of the Senator from Iowa (Mr. 

HARKIN) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. BROWN) were added as cosponsors of S. Res. 232, a resolution 

recognizing the continued persecution 

of Falun Gong practitioners in China 

on the 12th anniversary of the campaign by the Chinese Communist Party 

to suppress the Falun Gong movement, 

recognizing the Tuidang movement 

whereby Chinese citizens renounce 

their ties to the Chinese Communist 

Party and its affiliates, and calling for 

an immediate end to the campaign to 

persecute Falun Gong practitioners. 

S. RES. 434

At the request of Mr. WARNER, the 

names of the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. MANCHIN), the Senator from 

Minnesota (Ms. KLOBUCHAR) and the 

Senator from Hawaii (Mr. AKAKA) were 

added as cosponsors of S. Res. 434, a 

resolution supporting the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s disease by the year 2025, as articulated in the draft National Plan to 

Address Alzheimer’s Disease from the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

S. RES. 466

At the request of Mr. DURBIN, his 

name and the name of the Senator 

from Pennsylvania (Mr. CASEY) were 

added as cosponsors of S. Res. 466, a 

resolution calling for the release from 

prison of former Prime Minister of 

Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko. 

S. RES. 543

At the request of Mrs. BOXER, the 

names of the Senator from Illinois (Mr. 

DURBIN) and the Senator from Rhode 

Island (Mr. REED) were added as cosponsors of S. Res. 543, a resolution to 

express the sense of the Senate on 

international parental child abduction. 

S. RES. 556

At the request of Mr. INHOFE, the 

name of the Senator from Utah (Mr. 

LEE) was added as a cosponsor of S. 

Res. 556, a resolution expressing the 

sense of the Senate that foreign assistance funding to the Governments of 

Libya and Egypt should be suspended 

until the President certifies to Congress that both governments are providing proper security at United States 

embassies and consulates pursuant to 

the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. 

S. RES. 558

At the request of Mr. HELLER, his 

name was added as a cosponsor of S. 

Res. 558, a resolution congratulating 

the athletes from the State of Nevada 

and throughout the United States who 

participated in the 2012 Olympic and 

Paralympic Games as members of the 

United States Olympic and Paralympic 

Teams. 

f 

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED 

BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS 

By Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL): 

S. 3556. A bill to provide penalties for 

email marketing fraud; to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

f 

TELEMARKETING FRAUD 

MODERNIZATION ACT 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I 

rise today to talk about an issue that 

is extremely important to people in 

Rhode Island and across the United 

States: protecting consumers and securing the integrity of Medicare by 

preventing waste and fraud. Individuals 

who commit Medicare fraud are not 

simply stealing from the government, 

they are stealing from the men and 

women who have paid into the system 

their whole lives, they are stealing 

from our Nation’s seniors, and they are 

stealing from the taxpayers. We have 

an obligation to ensure that Medicare 

dollars are spent keeping seniors 

healthy, and not lining the pockets of 

predatory opportunists. 

In March, I held a hearing in Rhode 

Island on efforts at the Federal, State, 

and local levels to identify and reduce 

fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. I 

heard testimony from a representative 

of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as State and 

Federal law enforcement officials, including Rhode Island’s Attorney General, Peter Kilmartin; and the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, Peter 

Neronha. They discussed a number of 

the efforts underway to identify potentially fraudulent claims, recover improper payments, and use state-of-theart analytic software to identify and 

prevent improper payments. 

I was pleased to hear about the steps 

being taken to modernize Medicare’s 

anti-fraud efforts, but there is still 

much that can be done. In particular, I 

believe we must crack down on deceptive and fraudulent telemarketing and 

email schemes that force unwanted and 

unnecessary medical equipment onto 

unsuspecting seniors. I have heard 

from Rhode Islanders concerned about 

these ‘‘too-good-to-be-true’’ offers. 

During my March hearing, I heard testimony about Medicare beneficiaries 

receiving unsolicited phone calls from 

a company called Planned Eldercare, 

which promised to provide them with 

free medical products. If a senior 

agreed to the offer, Planned Eldercare 

would submit as many claims as it 

could to Medicare on that beneficiary’s 

behalf, even if the products for which 

they were submitting claims were not 

medically necessary or even requested 

by the senior. This scheme defrauded 

Medicare out of more than $2.2 million. 

These schemes prey on older Americans and rob Medicare of millions of 

dollars that would otherwise be used to 

improve the health and well-being of 

seniors. We must do more to prevent 

fraud of this kind, which is why I am 

joining with my colleague, Senator 

Blumenthal, in introducing the Telemarketing Fraud Modernization Act. 

This bill would close loopholes in the 

existing telemarketing fraud statute 

and update the law to include Medicare, Medicaid, and health care fraud, 

as well as schemes to fraudulently induce investments—like Ponzi schemes. 

It would also expand existing law to 

apply to schemes perpetrated via 

email, instant messages, and other 

forms of electronic communication. 

Updating the telemarketing fraud statute will give law enforcement agencies 

the tools they need to rein in scam artists, protect our Nation’s seniors, and 

strengthen the integrity of the Medicare program. 

I look forward to continuing to work 

with my colleagues on both sides of the 

aisle on this important issue. 

By Mr. FRANKEN (for himself, 

Mr. HARKIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. LEAHY, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE): 

S. 3557. A bill to amend the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions of higher education that participate in programs under title IV of 

such Act from including predispute arbitration agreements in enrollment 

contracts; to the Committee on Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pensions. 

Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I rise 

today to talk about a bill I have just 

introduced, the Arbitration Fairness 

for Students Act, and to talk about 

why it is so important to protect our 

Nation’s students. 

Access to higher education is becoming increasingly important in our Nation. In 2018, 70 percent of the jobs in 


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