Overview
What Congressional committees have jurisdiction over FDA and what are their specific areas of focus? Congressional Committee experts will sort out the jurisdictions and roles of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House/Senate Appropriations Committees, relevant subcommittees, and how they interact with other Congressional Committees and FDA. The webinar will discuss how Committee authorities have changed over time, rules and procedures, how committee inquiries originate, and recent inquiries, referrals, and investigations.
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Speakers
Karen Christian, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
James Paluskiewicz, Republican Chief Counsel for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health
Aliza Fishbein Silver, Health and Oversight Counsel, Senate Committee on HELP
Moderated by Wade Ackerman, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP
KAREN ELIZABETH CHRISTIAN is a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She advises companies, institutions, and individuals on all aspects of congressional investigations and related oversight, including parallel civil, criminal, state attorneys general, inspector general, Government Accountability Office, and other regulatory investigations. She also lends her experience to formulate defensive and/or affirmative corresponding legislative strategy and to address a broad range of regulatory issues. Before joining Akin Gump in January 2019, Karen spent nearly 13 years conducting and overseeing congressional investigations the former general counsel of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. During that time, Karen oversaw and ran some of the most high-profile and complex congressional investigations of the last decade, and also managed all facets of the Committee’s legislative processes.
ALIZA FISHBEIN SILVER is senior health and oversight counsel on the majority side of the HELP committee. Previously, Aliza worked on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Senate Appropriations Committee, aswell as in FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel and in the White House. In the private sector, Aliza was a lobbyist for a large DC law firm and also clerked for the general counsel of Johns Hopkins Health System. Aliza covers FDA matters for Chairman Alexander as well as health IT,privacy, cybersecurity, and oversight. She earned her law degree at George Washington University and her Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
WADE ACKERMAN is a partner in Covington’s FDA Regulatory group and advises companies and trade associations on complex FDA issues that require coordinated legal, regulatory, and public policy strategies. Through his previous positions at the Senate HELP Committee and FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel, Wade has acquired unique insights into the evolving legal and regulatory landscape facing companies marketing FDA-regulated products. While at the Senate HELP Committee, Wade served as Senior FDA Counsel to Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and, prior to that, Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA). Wade was involved in all major FDA legislative initiatives, oversight hearings, and other HELP Committee activities concerning the FDA, including the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016. Before taking his Senate role, Wade served for more than five years as Associate Chief Counsel within the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel (OCC). At OCC, he was responsible for providing legal advice to FDA staff on a wide range of issues. He also helped implement the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) of 2012 and the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) of 2013—both significant reforms to the Agency’s authorities. Wade received his JD from Harvard Law School in 2004, and his BS from the University of Illinois in 2001. 
