National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh said the organization will not say who attended Monday night’s health care roundtable and dinner at Washington, D.C., steakhouse, where U.S. Sen. Richard Burr was a featured speaker.

"We don’t release names of those who attend private events," Walsh said, adding that the NRSC will disclose its contributors as required under federal campaign law.

"This policy is no different than countless fund-raisers by President Obama," Walsh said.

Burr, who sits on the Senate health committee, was one of three GOP senators who spoke on behalf of the NRSC fund-raiser Monday night, Barb Barrett reports.

For checks of $2,000 per political action committee, up to 35 attendees were offered seats at a "Roundtable on Healthcare Issues" at Charlie Palmer’s steakhouse. A more exclusive group of 20 could stay for dinner at a cost of $5,000, according to the invitation posted by the Sunlight Foundation.

Also speaking were Republican U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Mike Enzi of Wyoming, who sits on both committees.

Burr’s campaign consultant earlier said the Burr campaign had no details about who attended the NRSC event.

A blogger at Huffington Post tried to crash the event but was prevented access. He did, however, chat with a representative of the American Staffing Association and a hospital CEO from Texas. 

U.S. Sen Charles Grassley criticized a former Duke professor working for a government health institute in Research Triangle Park.

In a letter to the head of the National Institutes of Health, the  Iowa Republican questioned ethical and financial decisions made by Dr. David Schwartz while overseeing the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The senator says Schwartz hired himself out to testify in asbestos lawsuits, retained inappropriately close ties to Duke, which receives research money, and use taxpayer money to decorate and office and buy a $936 limousine ride to a meeting.

Schwartz said they were innocent mistakes. 

 "I believe I have worked in a very reputable way consistent with the highest ethical standards in the decisions I've made and the actions I've taken," he said. (N&O)

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has co-sponsored another amendment in the immigration debate, this one a measure from Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa to toughen enforcement on those who have their visas revoked.

It would take away the chance for those people whom the government decides shouldn’t be in the United States after all from having their cases considered in court, Barb Barrett reports. Instead, it would require immediate removal. Dole calls the amendment an important anti-terrorism measure.

The Senate may vote on the amendment today.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly described the amendment.