Sen. Alexander thinks the HHS secretary should explain something: "Secretary Sebelius' fundraising for and coordinating with private entities helping to implement the new health care law may be illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by Congress," Alexander said. The ranking Republican on the Senate committee that oversees health care policy, Alexander likened Sebelius' actions to the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal. That erupted when it was discovered that a Reagan administration official, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, sold arms to Iran and sent some of the money through private groups to arm Nicaraguan rebels after Congress refused to appropriate funds for that purpose. "Only the Congress has the authority to appropriate money," Alexander told reporters in Nashville. "And when the secretary seeks to do things outside of the government, which Congress refuses to do, the Constitution doesn't permit [it] and the federal law makes it illegal."