What Brookings experts are saying on Capitol Hill

U.S. lawmakers frequently call on Brookings experts to testify before congressional committees to share their knowledge on a wide variety of issues. This year so far, experts have testified on topics ranging from health care, U.S. relations with Russia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and more. Catch up on the most recent expert testimonies below.

What Congress can do to help people in multi-employer pension plans

“There is no question that the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 was and remains controversial,” said Joshua Gotbaum, a guest scholar in Economic Studies, who testified on March 1 before the Senate Committee on Finance. Gotbaum addressed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and provided valuable insights on how policy can best assist people in multiemployer pension plans.

Read his testimony here.

Examining the financing and delivery of long-term care in the U.S.

This March, Alice Rivlin, a senior fellow in Economic Studies, testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health. In her testimony, Rivlin discussed the important issue of long-term health care.

Rivlin stated that “While policymakers failed to agree on big legislative solutions, amazing progress has been made at the community level in finding new ways of keeping older Americans and people with disabilities out of institutions and in the community where they are happier and less isolated and can be served more effectively and cheaper.” 

Rivlin also emphasized the importance of a “constructive bipartisan policy process” in delivering long-term care to Americans. 

Read her testimony here.

Understanding and deterring Russia: U.S. policies and strategies

According to Foreign Policy Senior Fellow Fiona Hill, who directs the Center on the United States and Europe, “Russia today poses a greater foreign policy and security challenge to the United States and its Western allies than at any time since the mid-1980s, when it was incarnated as the Soviet Union and the U.S. and the USSR were engaged in a nuclear arms race that seemed set to bring the world to the point of a nuclear conflagration.” 

Hill spoke in detail about the relationship between the United States and Russia with the House Armed Services Committee this past February. She also discussed the role of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian interests in Syria, and strategies for dealing with Russia.

Read her testimony here.

Deepening the U.S.-Africa trade and investment relationship

In his opening statement before the United States International Trade Commission, Global Economy and Development Senior Fellow Joshua Meltzer explained that “The United States’ trade relationship with sub-Saharan Africa remains underdeveloped.”

Meltzer identified robust economic growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa as a key factor in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and called on the United States to deepen trade investments in the continent.

Read his testimony here.

How to deal with currency manipulation in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been the subject of significant media coverage in recent months, as well as a talking point in the 2016 presidential race. Prior to the TPP’s ratification, Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development, testified before the House Ways and Means committee to provide context on the deal, and to address issues with currency manipulation.

Prasad stated that the agreement “has the potential to substantially increase trade flows within the region, benefiting the economies of all 12 members,” but also emphasized how currency issues could prevent the deal from having its full impact.

Read his testimony here.

See all testimony by Brookings experts here.