CONGRESSIONAL WEEK AHEAD

From the Congressional Record Daily Digest for July 15, 2005

Week of July 18 through July 23, 2005

Senate Chamber

On Monday, at 2:30 p.m., Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 3057, Foreign Operations Appropriations.
On Tuesday, at 10 a.m., Senate will meet with the House of  Representatives in the House Chamber to receive an address from Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India.

During the balance of the week, Senate expects to complete consideration of H.R. 3057, Foreign Operations Appropriations and will consider any other cleared legislative and executive business,  including any other appropriation bills, when available.  

Committee Meetings of Interest below the fold.

Senate Committees  

(Committee meetings are open unless otherwise indicated)

     Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: July 20, to  hold hearings to examine biosecurity preparedness and efforts to address agroterrorism threats, 10 a.m., SR-328A.

     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: July 20, Subcommittee on Global Climate Change and Impacts, to hold hearings to examine the climate policy of the United States, 10 a.m., SR-253.

     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: July 20, Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, to hold hearings to examine S. 703, to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of Land Management land in the State of Nevada to the Las  Vegas Motor Speedway ... and H.R. 1101, to revoke a Public Land Order with respect to certain  lands erroneously included in the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, California, 2 p.m., SD-366.
     July 21, Full Committee, to hold hearings to examine the current state of climate change scientific research and the economics of strategies to manage climate change, focusing on the relationship between energy consumption and climate change, new developments in climate change research and the potential effects on the U.S.  economy of climate change and strategies to control greenhouse gas emissions, 10 a.m., SH-216.

     Committee on Foreign Relations: July 18, to hold hearings to examine improving security in Iraq, 9:30 a.m., SH-216.
     July 19, Full Committee, to hold hearings to examine advancing Iraqi political development, 2:30 p.m., SH-216.
     July 20, Full Committee, to hold hearings to examine economic progress in Iraq, 10:15 a.m., SD-419.
     July 21, Full Committee, to hold hearings to examine United Nations reform, 10 a.m., SD-419.

     Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: July 19, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security, to hold hearings to examine efforts to protect national information infrastructures that continue to face challenges relating to cyberspace, focusing on  challenges in protecting U.S. critical infrastructures from cybersecurity threats, 2 p.m., SD-562. [This is especially interesting given that the DHS public website was apparently hacked this week]

     Committee on the Judiciary: July 19, to hold hearings to examine reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, 11 a.m., SD-226.
     July 20, Full Committee, to hold hearings to examine issues and implications relating to reporters' shield legislation, 9:30 a.m.,  SD-226.  

House Committees

     Committee on Armed Services, July 19, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, hearing on the Current Status of Military Recruiting and  Retention, 11 a.m., 2118 Rayburn.
     July 19 and 20, Subcommittee on Projection Forces, hearings on Department of the Navy FY06 Plans and Programs for the DD(X) Next-Generation Multi-Mission Surface Combatant Ship, 3:30 p.m., 2118 Rayburn on July 19 and 2 p.m., 2212 Rayburn July 20.
     July 20, full Committee, hearing on the Air Force's Future Total Force Plan, 10 a.m., 2118 Rayburn.

     Committee on Energy and Commerce, July 19, hearing entitled "China's Bid for U.S. Energy Assets," 10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn.
     July 20, Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, hearing entitled "Electronic Waste: An Examination of Current Activity, Implications for Environmental Stewardship, and the Proper Federal Role," 2 p.m., 2123 Rayburn.
     July 20, hearing on Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy, 10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn.

     Committee on Government Reform, July 19, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, hearing  entitled "Occupational and Environmental Health Surveillance of  Deployed Forces: Tracking Toxic Casualties," 10:30 a.m., 2154 Rayburn.

     Committee on Homeland Security, July 19, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science, and Technology and the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight, to continue joint hearings entitled "The National Training Program: Is Anti-Terrorism Training for First Responders  Efficient and Effective, Part II," 9:30 a.m., room to be announced.

     Committee on International Relations, July 21, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, hearing on Falun Gong and China's Continuing War on Human Rights, 2 p.m., 2172  Rayburn.

     Committee on the Judiciary, July 19, Subcommittee on the Constitution, oversight hearing on Can Congress Create A Race-Based  Government?: The Constitutionality of H.R. 309, Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, and S.147, Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, 2 p.m., 2141 Rayburn.
     July 19, Subcommittee on the Constitution, hearing on H. Res. 97, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that judicial  determinations regarding the meaning of the Constitution of the United States should not be based on judgments, laws, or pronouncements of foreign institutions unless such foreign  judgments, laws, or pronouncements inform an understanding of the original meaning of the Constitution of the United States, and the  Appropriate Role of Foreign Judgements in the Interpretation of American Law, 4 p.m., 2141 Rayburn.

     Committee on Science, July 20, Subcommittee on Energy and the Subcommittee on Research, joint hearing on Fueling the Future: On the Road to the Hydrogen Economy, 10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn.

Joint Meetings

     Conference: July 19, meeting of conferees on H.R. 6, to ensure jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and reliable energy, 10  a.m., room to be announced.

•  Department of Homeland Security Website Hacked?

  Further to my comment above regarding the hearing on  cyberterrorism, here is a screen shot of the DHS public website earlier this week:

  PWNED!

  by Julia Grey on Sat Jul 16, 2005 at 02:51:11 AM PDT

•  That HRes 97 is part of the Const Restoration Act.

  That HRes 97 is part of an oldie but a goodie called the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005. It was proposed by the Wingnuts so that no one could challenge God in the US Courts. It would enshrine us as a glittering Theocracy on a hill. But thankfully it has never gone anywhere. So they seem to be trying to slip little bits and pieces of it in.

  This HRes 97 about not allowing the courts to use foreign court decisions or rules come right out of the wingnuts hating the fact that the SCOTUS ruled you couldn't execute children because it violated the 8th Amendment. When Kennedy wrote the opinion he talked about how they looked at ruling from other countries and it sent the wingnuts into a high froth.

  Makes me wonder what they are going to try to slip in next. Thanks for the round up.

  by Eckhart1234 on Sat Jul 16, 2005 at 03:26:53 AM PDT

  •  Thanks for the information

    IMO, the resolution strikes the heart of the difference in judicial philosophies that most Republican and Democratic appointees espouse.  Republican appointees generally believe that we should only use the original intentions of our founding fathers when interpreting the Constitution.  In contrast, Democratic appointees -- well, the more liberal appointees, at least -- believe, as Al Gore stated in a 2000 Presidential debate with former Senator Bill Bradley, that "our Constitution is a living and breathing document, and was intended to be interpreted in light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people."  This could mean that the standards of human dignity and decency and human rights should evolve as values and standards for human dignity and decency change around the world.  Anyhow, here is the exact context of the Gore quote:
    

    Q: What criteria would you use to select the new Supreme Court Justices?
    GORE: I would look for justices of the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a living & breathing document, that it was intended by our founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people. The right of privacy, just to take one example, was found by Justice Blackmun in the Constitution, even though the precise words are not there.

    BRADLEY: Other than war & peace, Supreme Court appointments are the most lasting contribution that a president ever makes. It is imperative to find people of real integrity and unquestioned ability, somebody that's able to see a context in the times in which they live. Not someone who's locked into a original interpretation of the Constitution as if 1787 is the year 2000. But someone who sees the law as something that moves to adjust to the times and can do so in a way that furthers the deepest values of our country.

    Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles Mar 1, 2000
    

    by jim bow on Sat Jul 16, 2005 at 05:05:01 AM PDT