This Week's Senate Committee Schedule

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold some interesting meetings this week dealing with the way the Bush administration has decimated the Army and Marine Corps. There will be hearings on Tuesday to examine "whether the Army and Marine Corps are properly sized, organized, and equipped to respond to the most likely missions over the next two decades while retaining adequate capability to respond to all contingencies along the spectrum of combat."

On Wednesday, Armed Services looks at issues affecting support for military families in a hearing about "quality of life and family support programs to assist families of Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserve military personnel."

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will look into the controversy surrounding subprime mortgages.

But, of course, all eyes this week will be on the Judiciary Committee Tuesday as Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) swears in U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to get to the bottom of the shady personnel dealings at the Justice Department.

The hearing is in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building, just in case you're in the area and actually think you'll get a seat to watch Gonzales squirm.

Here's the full Senate Committee schedule for the week:

Aging

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 p.m. To hold hearings to examine bioidentical hormones.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

Apr 18, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine economic challenges and opportunities facing American agricultural producers today, focusing on livestock, poultry and competition issues.

Appropriations

Apr 17, 2007 at 2 p.m. To hold hearings to examine combating autism, focusing on undertaking a coordinated response. (Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee)

Apr 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for maternal and child health, and family planning and reproductive health. (State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee)

Apr 18, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the Department of Energy. (Energy and Water Development Subcommittee)

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine rising highway fatalities. (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee)

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the United States Marshal Service (Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee)

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction Budget Request for the Army, Navy & Marine Corps (Military Construction & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee)

Apr 20, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine testimony on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for the National Institutes of Health: The Burden of Chronic Diseases (Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee)

Armed Services

Apr 17, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine whether the Army and Marine Corps are properly sized, organized, and equipped to respond to the most likely missions over the next two decades while retaining adequate capability to respond to all contingencies along the spectrum of combat.

Apr 17, 2007 at 3 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the current readiness of United States ground forces in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program. (Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee)

Apr 18, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine whether the Army is properly sized, organized, and equipped to respond to the most likely missions over the next two decades while retaining adequate capability to respond to all contingencies along the spectrum of combat in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program. (Airland Subcommittee)

Apr 18, 2007 at 3 p.m. To receive testimony on the readiness impact of quality of life and family support programs to assist families of Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserve military personnel in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program. (Readiness and Management Support and Personnel Subcommittees)

Apr 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to receive testimony on the Department of Defense's management of costs under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) contract in Iraq.

Apr 19, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the military space programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request and the Future Years Defense Program; with the possibility of a closed session in SR-222 following the open session. (Strategic Forces Subcommittee)

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Apr 17, 2007 at 3 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the role of securitization relating to subprime mortgage market turmoil. (Securities, Insurance and Investment Subcommittee)

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Apr 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine XM Sirius.

Apr 18, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold oversight hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the United States Coast Guard. (Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee)

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine United States competitiveness through basic research. (Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee)

Energy and Natural Resources

Apr 16, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine S.731, to develop a methodology for, and complete, a national assessment of geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide, and S.962, to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize and improve the carbon capture and storage research, development, and demonstration program of the Department of Energy.

Environment and Public Works

Apr 18, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the nomination of Lieutenant General Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr. to be Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Finance

Apr 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Administration's plan for reducing the tax gap, focusing on goals, benchmarks, and timetables.

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine grains, cane, and automobiles relating to tax incentives for alternative fuels and vehicles.

Foreign Relations

Apr 18, 2007 at 9:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the nominations of R. Niels Marquardt, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Union of Comoros, Janet E. Garvey, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon, and Phillip Carter, III, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Apr 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine domestic violence in the workplace. (Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee)

Apr 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to markup S.1082, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to reauthorize and amend the prescription drug user fee provisions, and any pending nominations.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Apr 19, 2007 at 9 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the impact of global warming on private and federal insurance.

Apr 19, 2007 at 2 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the current state of the Postal Service along with the efforts underway to implement the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435). (Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security Subcommittee)

Intelligence

Apr 17, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Open/Closed Hearing: FISA

Apr 19, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Closed Hearing

Judiciary

Apr 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold oversight hearings to examine the Department of Justice. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will testify.

Apr 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the following issues and bills:

The possibility of the issuance of certain subpoenas in connection with the investigation into the replacement of United States Attorneys.

• S. 1079: A bill to establish the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, and for other purposes
• S. 495: Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007
• S. 221: A bill to amend title 9, United States Code, to provide for greater fairness in the arbitration process relating to livestock and poultry contracts
• S. 495: Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007
• S. 376: Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2007
• S. 119: War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007
• S. 735: Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007
• H.R. 740: Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement (PHONE) Act of 2007

The committee will also examine the following nominations:

• Robert Gideon Howard, Jr., of Arkansas, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas
• Frederick J. Kapala, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
• Benjamin Hale Settle, of Washington, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington

Rules and Administration

Apr 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine repealing the limitation on party expenditures on behalf of candidates in general elections.

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Apr 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine Public Law 107-204 addressing proposed regulatory changes and their impact on capital markets.