This Week's Senate Committee Schedule

It's a slow week coming up for most Senate committees but a big one for Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and the Senate Judiciary Committee as we find out the answer to the question "will she or won't she?" "She" is former White House Political Director Sara Taylor, who is scheduled to testify before the committee on Wednesday on the political firings at the Justice Department -- and the latest word from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is that the stonewalling will continue.

“In our view, it is unfair to Ms. Taylor that this constitutional struggle might be played out with her as the object of an unseemly tug of war,” wrote Taylor's attorney, W. Neil Eggleston, in a letter over the weekend to the committee and to White House counsel Fred Fielding. Eggleston says Taylor is willing to appear before Leahy's committee but that she expects the White House to order her to stay home.

It was just last month that George W. Bush refused to comply with subpoenas for documents from Taylor and former presidential counsel Harriet E. Miers.

"Again and again, the evidence the Committee has obtained in this investigation shows significant involvement by Sara Taylor, Harriet Miers, and others in the White House, but the White House has shut down all avenues of obtaining information about that extremely important involvement," wrote Leahy and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) in a letter to the White House on June 29.

But Leahy commented over the weekend that he's hopeful the committee will get to hear from Taylor on Wednesday.

"I look forward to Ms. Taylor testifying next week to comply with a subpoena authorized by the Judiciary Committee. It is unfortunate that the White House is trying to interfere with Ms. Taylor’s testimony before the Senate and with Congress’s responsibility to get to the truth behind the unprecedented firings of several U.S. Attorneys," said Leahy on Saturday. "There is clear evidence that Ms. Taylor was one of several White House officials who played a key role in these firings and the Administration’s response to cover up the reasons behind them when questions first arose. There is also clear evidence that Ms. Taylor was part of more than 66,000 RNC e-mails that have been kept hidden from the public as part of a White House-wide effort to avoid oversight by ignoring the laws meant to ensure a public record of official government business."

I'm guessing I have a better chance of winning the New York Lotto than Leahy does of having Taylor show up on Wednesday, but we shall see.

Oh, and on Thursday, the Judiciary Committee will move on to the weighty subject of too many Americans not knowing the words to the national anthem and will consider S. Res. 236, "a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of the National Anthem Project, which has worked to restore America's voice by re-teaching Americans to sing the national anthem."

Hey, it's bipartisan -- having such unlikely fellow cosponsors as Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Trent Lott (R-MS) -- so I'm sure it's harmless enough.

But let's get this one out of the way quickly, OK?

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

Appropriations

Jul 10, 2007 at 3 p.m. Business meeting to markup proposed legislation making appropriations for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008. (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee)

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Jul 11, 2007 at 9 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the following nominations:

• Bijan Rafiekian, of California, and Diane G. Farrell, of Connecticut, both to be Members of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
• William Herbert Heyman, of New York, William S. Jasien, of Virginia, and Mark S. Shelton, of Kansas, all to be Directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation

Jul 12, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine cross-border exchange mergers, focusing on the global view.

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Jul 11, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine United States weather and environmental satellites, focusing on their readiness for the 21st century.

Jul 12, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine issues related to the ability of consumers to port telephone numbers between competing voice service providers.

Energy and Natural Resources

Jul 12, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the following nominations:

• Clarence H. Albright, of South Carolina, to be Under Secretary of Energy
• Lisa E. Epifani, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy
• James L. Caswell, of Idaho, to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management

Jul 12, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the following legislation:

• S. 488: A bill to revise the boundary of the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in the State of North Carolina, and for other purposes
• H.R. 1100: Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Boundary Revision Act of 2007
• S. 617: A bill to make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available at a discount to certain veterans
• S. 824: A bill to amend Public Law 106-348 to extend the authorization for establishing a memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States
• H.R. 995: To amend Public Law 106-348 to extend the authorization for establishing a memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States
• S. 955: A bill to establish the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, and for other purposes
• S. 1148: A bill to establish the Champlain Quadricentennial Commemoration Commission and the Hudson-Fulton 400th Commemoration Commission, and for other purposes
• S. 1380: A bill to designate as wilderness certain land within the Rocky Mountain National Park and to adjust the boundaries of the Indian Peaks Wilderness and the Arapaho National Recreation Area of the Arapaho National Forest in the State of Colorado
• S. 1182: A bill to amend the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor Act of 1994 to increase the authorization of appropriations and modify the date on which the authority of the Secretary of the Interior terminates under the Act
• S. 1728: A bill to amend the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 to reauthorize the Na Hoa Pili O Kaloko-Honokohau Advisory Commission

Environment and Public Works

Jul 10, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine lessons learned from Chemical Safety Board investigations including Texas City, Texas. (Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality Subcommittee)

Jul 11, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed revision to the Ozone NAAQS. (Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee)

Finance

Jul 11, 2007 at 10 a.m. Carried Interest, Part 1

Jul 12, 2007 at 10 a.m. Airport Airways Trust Fund: The Future of Aviation Financing

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Jul 12, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the nomination of James W. Holsinger, Jr., of Kentucky, to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service, subject to qualifications therefor as provided by law and regulations, and to be Surgeon General of the Public Health Service.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Jul 9, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Investigations To continue hearings to examine excessive speculation in the natural gas market.

Jul 10, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), focusing on addressing a prominent obstacle to the Gulf Coast rebuilding. (Disaster Recovery Subcommittee)

Jul 10, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. From Warehouse to Warfighter: an Update on Supply Chain Management at DoD, a hearing to examine the supply chain management at the Department of Defense. (Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee)

Jul 11, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine ways to strengthen the unique role of he Nation's Inspectors General.

Jul 12, 2007 at 9 a.m. To hold hearings to examine certain vulnerabilities in the government's procedures for licensing radiological materials, focusing on the effectiveness of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's materials licensing policies and procedures, and the vulnerability of those licenses to counterfeiting. (Investigations Subcommittee)

Jul 12, 2007 at 2 p.m. To continue hearings to examine the state of public-private collaboration in preparing for and responding to national catastrophes. (State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration Subcommittee)

Indian Affairs

Jul 12, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold an oversight hearing to examine transportation issues in Indian country.

Intelligence

Jul 11, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.

Jul 12, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.

Judiciary

Jul 11, 2007 at 10 a.m. To continue hearings to examine the Department of Justice politicizing the hiring and firing of United States Attorneys, focusing on preserving prosecutorial independence (Part VI).

Jul 12, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:

• S. 1145: A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for patent reform
• S. 1060: A bill to reauthorize the grant program for reentry of offenders into the community in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, to improve reentry planning and implementation, and for other purposes
• S. Res. 248: A resolution honoring the life and achievements of Dame Lois Browne Evans, Bermuda's first female barrister and Attorney General, and the first female Opposition Leader in the British Commonwealth
• S. Res. 236: A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of the National Anthem Project, which has worked to restore America's voice by re-teaching Americans to sing the national anthem

The committee will also consider the following nominations:

• William Lindsay Osteen, Jr., of North Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina
• Martin Karl Reidinger, of North Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina
• Timothy D. DeGiusti, of Oklahoma, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma
• Janis Lynn Sammartino, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of California