This Week's Senate Committee Schedule

Obviously all eyes will be on the Senate floor this week as the Department of Defense Authorization bill is debated along with key amendments like those restoring Habeas Corpus and setting a timeline for ending the war in Iraq.

But there's a few interesting committee hearings, including Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs examining "The Military’s Role in Disaster Response: Progress Since Hurricane Katrina." This should be intriguing to the extent that discussing any progress in the Gulf Coast since Katrina always raises more questions than answers but also because there really can't be a military role in actually helping Americans when the troops are all off policing the Iraqi civil war.

On Thursday, the Foreign Relations Committee will get an "update from the field" from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who will undoubtedly try to convince the panel that Disney has just committed to opening a new theme park in Fallujah because it's so safe and life-affirming there.

Will Dick Lugar (R-IN) hit Crocker with some of his newly-discovered doubts about progress in Iraq? Will Jim Webb (D-VA) toss him around like an old dishrag if he starts spitting White House spin?

And will David Vitter (R-LA) grill Crocker on the availability of hookers in Baghdad?

Stay tuned…

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

Aging

Jul 18, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine abuse of elderly citizens, focusing on prevention methods.

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Jul 18, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine modernization of Federal Housing Administration programs.

Jul 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the semiannual monetary policy report to the Congress.

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Jul 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine improving air services to small and rural communities. (Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee)

Jul 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold an oversight hearing to examine the federal response to ensuring the safety of Chinese imports.

Jul 19, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:

• S. 1769: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate number portability in order to increase consumer choice of voice service provider
• S. 1780: A bill to require the FCC, in enforcing its regulations concerning the broadcast of indecent programming, to maintain a policy that a single word or image may be considered indecent
• S. 1582: A bill to reauthorize and amend the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act, and for other purposes
• S. 1771: A bill to increase the safety of swimming pools and spas by requiring the use of proper anti-entrapment drain covers and pool and spa drainage systems, to educate the public about pool and spa safety, and for other purposes
• S. 1778: A bill to authorize certain activities of the Maritime Administration, and for other purposes
• S. 1492: A bill to improve the quality of federal and state data regarding the availability and quality of broadband services and to promote the deployment of affordable broadband services to all parts of the Nation

Energy and Natural Resource

Jul 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine S.1634, to implement further the Act approving the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America.

Environment and Public Works

Jul 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the following nominations:

• Robert Boldrey, of Michigan, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation
• Kristine L. Svinicki, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• R. Lyle Laverty, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife

Finance

Jul 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following nominations:

• David H. McCormick, of Pennsylvania, to be an Under Secretary, and Peter B. McCarthy, of Wisconsin, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of the Treasury
• Kerry N. Weems, of New Mexico, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Tevi David Troy, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Charles E. F. Millard, of New York, to be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Jul 19, 2007 at 2:15 p.m. To hold hearings to examine aviation financing, focusing on industry perspectives.

Foreign Relations

Jul 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the efficacy of democratic developments in Sub-Saharan Africa. (African Affairs Subcommittee)

Jul 17, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine protocol Amending the Convention Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Finland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, signed at Helsinki May 31, 2006 (the "Protocol") Convention Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income signed at Copenhagen May 2, 2006 (the "Protocol") (Treaty Doc.109-19), protocol Amending the Convention Between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital and to Certain Other Taxes, Signed on August 29, 1989, signed at Berlin June 1, 2006 Declaration (Treaty Doc.109-20), patent Law Treaty and Regulations Under the Patent Law Treaty (the "Treaty"), done at Geneva on June 1, 2000, between the Governments of 53 countries including the United States of America (Treaty Doc.109-12), and the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (the and signed by the United States on July 6, 1999 the Law of Trademarks (Treaty Doc. 110-2).

Jul 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the war in Iraq, focusing on an update from the field.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Jul 17, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the federal response to the Alzheimer's epidemic. (Retirement and Aging Subcommittee)

Jul 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:

• S. 625: A bill to protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate tobacco products
• S. 1183: A bill to enhance and further research into paralysis and to improve rehabilitation and the quality of life for persons living with paralysis and other physical disabilities, and for other purposes
• S. 1551: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to making progress toward the goal of eliminating tuberculosis, and for other purposes
• S. 579: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Jul 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine federal acquisition, focusing on ways to strengthen competition and accountability.

Jul 17, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To continue hearings to examine the readiness of the Census Bureau for the 2010 census. (Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security Subcommittee)

Jul 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the military's role in disaster response, focusing on progress since Hurricane Katrina.

Jul 19, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the mayoral proposal to reform the District of Columbia's public school system, focusing on assessments, assurances, and accountability. (Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee)

Indian Affairs

Jul 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. Business meeting to consider pending calendar business, to be immediately followed by a hearing to examine draft legislation to amend and reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act.

Intelligence

Jul 19, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.

Judiciary

Jul 17, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the prosecution of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

Jul 18, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following:

• S. 1145: A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for patent reform
• 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
• 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. 261: A resolution expressing appreciation for the profound public service and educational contributions of Donald Jeffry Herbert, fondly known as "Mr. Wizard"

The committee will also consider a bill entitled, "School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvements Act" as well as the following nominations:

• Roslynn Renee Mauskopf, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York
• 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
• Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, of Puerto Rico, to be United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico
• Joe W. Stecher, of Nebraska, to be United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska.

Jul 19, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to continue consideration of the bills and nominations considered in the meeting of July 18, 2007.

Jul 19, 2007 at 2:45 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the following nominations:

• Sharion Aycock, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi
• Jennifer Walker Elrod, of Texas, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit
• Richard A. Jones, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Jul 18, 2007 at 2 p.m. To hold hearings to examine increasing government accountability and ensuring fairness in small business contracting. [SR-428A]

Veterans' Affairs

Jul 17, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense collaboration and cooperation and the education needs for the returning service members.