Hearings this week

[TayTay]

There are few, then again, I heard something about some Supplemental Bill on Emergency Funding for the IRaq and Afghanistan military actions. Gee, I wonder if that means some floor time for certain Senators? (It could happen.)

[TayTay]

1. Finance, 3/14 at 10AM, Getting to Universal Health Care Coverage

Charting a Course for Health Care Reform: Moving Toward Universal Coverage
March 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Member Statements:
Max Baucus, MT
Charles Grassley, IA

Witness Statements:

James J. Mongan, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Partners HealthCare, Boston, MA

Stuart H. Altman, Ph.D., Dean and Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

John Sheils, Vice President, The Lewin Group, Falls Church, VA

Richard G. Frank, Ph.D., Vice Chair, Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, Boston, MA.

Ah, I would guess that the good Senator is here, cuz, ahm, there are a ton of Mass folks scheduled to testify. (Who invited them? Sure, they love us when they need wonkish figures and such, but does anyone consider that Mass-souls have needs too? We might want to be invited to discuss other topics, things that don't require spreadsheets, scientific experiments and accounting? No, it's always, hey Mass people: 'get us some serious backup here, we need numbers, how-to's and charts. You know, that gravitas stuff that you guys have up there.' Sigh! )

[TayTay]

4. SFRC, 3/15 9:30AM, UN Ambassador Nomination

Nomination
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HEARING
before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 15, 2007

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Time: 9:30 AM
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Nelson

Nominee:
The Honorable Zalmay Khalilzad
To be Representative to the United Nations, with
the rank and status of Ambassador, and the
Representative in the Security Council of the United
Nations, and to be Representative to the Sessions of
the General Assembly of the United Nations during his
tenure of service as Representative to the
United Nations

What a difference two years make! In 2005, it was John Bolton testifying to the strains of "I am the Walrus, coo-coo-ca-choo!) Now, it's going to be a love-in for Zalmay Kahlilzad. Wow, forced sanity sort of works.

[Inuca]

6. Are you sure it is sanity?

Everyone says good things about Khalizad, so I assume he is OK, but don't you think that he should have stayed in Iraq. When I heard of his promotion, it seemed to me like another example of this administration's ineptitude. I wonder what you guys think about this...

[TayTay]

7. It makes sense in context

The US actually sat at the same negotiations table as delegates from Tehran this past weekend. Khalilzad speaks Persian and Arabic. Maybe, just maybe, he can show the UN that the US has not totally taken leave of its senses and might be willing to, ahm, talk to other Nations without stamping its feet and demanding it get its own way. (Hell, we even had those talks with North Korea. )

The new Ambassador to Iraq seems fine to me. I thought this was a decent move. Khalilzad seems like a good face to put on the new "we are too sane" effort to convince the UN to help us out.

[Inuca]

8. "we are too sane" or....

"we, too, are sane" :-), something that too many I think doubt nowadays.

[TayTay]

2. SFRC: 3/13, at 3:00 pm. Nominations

Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance,
Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection
Robert Menendez, Chairman
John F. Kerry
Barbara Boxer
Barack Obama
Robert P. Casey, Jr. C

huck Hagel, Ranking Member
Bob Corker
Lisa Murkowski
Jim DeMint

Nominations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEARING
before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time: 3:00 PM
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Menendez

Nominees:
Panel 1
The Honorable James R. Kunder
To be Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development

The Honorable Douglas Menarchik
To be Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development for Europe and Eurasia

Dr. Paul J. Bonicelli
To be Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development for Latin America and the
Caribbean

Ms. Katherine Almquist
To be Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development for Africa

Panel 2
The Honorable Margrethe Lundsager
To be U.S. Executive Director of the International
Monetary Fund

Mr. Eli Whitney Debevoise, II,
To be U.S. Executive Director of the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Mr. Curtis S. Chin
To be U.S. Director of the Asian Development Bank,
with the Rank of Ambassador

[TayTay]

3. SFRC, 3/14 at 2:30 pm. Violence in the Phillippines

Extrajudicial Killings
In The Philippines:
Strategies To End The Violence

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HEARING
before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time: 2:30 PM
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Boxer

Witnesses:

Panel 1
Mr. Eric G. John
Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs
Department of State
Washington, DC

Mr. Jonathan D. Farrar
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor
Department of State
Washington, DC

Panel 2
Mr. T. Kumar
Advocacy Director for Asia & the Pacific
Amnesty International USA
Washington, DC

Mr. G. Eugene Martin
Executive Director
Philippine Facilitation Project
U.S. Institute of Peace
Washington, DC

Bishop Eliezer Pascua
General Secretary of the United Church of Christ
in the Philippines
Quezon City, Philippines

Ms. Marie Hilao-Enriquez
General Secretary of KARAPATAN
Quezon City, Philippines

Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Barbara Boxer, Chairman
John F. Kerry
Russell D. Feingold
Barack Obama
Jim Webb

Lisa Murkowski, Ranking Member
Johnny Isakson
David Vitter
Chuck Hagel

[TayTay]

5. Commerce Comm, 3/15 10AM Coast Guard Funding

Sort of Fisheries, right?

U.S. Coast Guard Budget and Oversight

Thursday, March 15, 2007
10:00 AM

SR - 253
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Witnesses

Opening Remarks
Admiral Thad W. Allen
Commandant
United States Coast Guard

Mr. Stephen Caldwell
Director
Homeland Security and Justice Issues, Government Accountability Office