Hearings this week.

[TayTay]

This is from the US Senate site: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/b_three_sections_with_teasers/committee_hearings.htm
(Ah, that is one very, very full schedule.)

Details on specific hearings to follow.

Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2007

10 a.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
To hold hearings to examine competition and
consumer choice relating to exclusive sports
programming.
SR-253

10 a.m.
Finance
To hold hearings to examine opportunities and
challenges in the U.S.-China economic
relationship.
SD-215

Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2007

10 a.m.
Finance
To hold hearings to examine risks and reform,
focusing on the role of currency in the
U.S.-China relationship.
SD-215

10 a.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine the future of the
Coast Guard Dive Program.
SR-253

10 a.m.
Rules and Administration
Business meeting to consider S.223, to require
Senate candidates to file designations,
statements, and reports in electronic form.
SR-301
NOT a Kerry Hearing, but he is co-sponsor on this bill.


11:45 a.m.
Foreign Relations
Business meeting to consider S.193, to increase
cooperation on energy issues between the United
States Government and foreign governments and
entities in order to secure the strategic and
economic interests of the United States, S.613,
to enhance the overseas stabilization and
reconstruction capabilities of the United States
Government, H.R.1003, to amend the Foreign
Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 to
reauthorize the United States Advisory Commission
on Public Diplomacy, S.Res.30, expressing the
sense of the Senate regarding the need for the
United States to address global climate change
through the negotiation of fair and effective
international commitments, S.Res.65, condemning
the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist and
human rights advocate Hrant Dink and urging the
people of Turkey to honor his legacy of
tolerance, S.Res.76, calling on the United States
Government and the international community to
promptly develop, fund, and implement a
comprehensive regional strategy in Africa to
protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian
operations, contain and reduce violence, and
contribute to conditions for sustainable peace in
eastern Chad, and Central African Republic, and
Darfur, Sudan, and the nominations of Katherine
Almquist, of Virginia, to be an Assistant
Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, Paul J. Bonicelli, of
Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the
United States Agency for International
Development, Curtis S. Chin, of New York, to be
United States Director of the Asian Development
Bank, with the rank of Ambassador, Eli Whitney
Debevoise II, of Maryland, to be United States
Executive Director of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, Sam Fox, of
Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America
to Belgium, Zalmay Khalilzad, of Maryland, to be
the Representative of the United States of
America to the United Nations, with the rank and
status of Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary, and the Representative of the
United States of America in the Security Council
of the United Nations, Margrethe Lundsager, of
Virginia, to be United States Executive Director
of the International Monetary Fund, and Douglas
Menarchik, of Texas, to be an Assistant
Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development. (Reappointment).
SD-419


2:30 p.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Space, Aeronautics, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine transitioning to a
next generation Human Space Flight System.
SR-253

Thursday, Mar. 29, 2007

9:30 a.m.
Foreign Relations
To hold hearings to examine an update on Iran;
may be followed by a business meeting to consider
pending calendar business.
SD-419

9:30 a.m.
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Business meeting to markup S.163, to improve the
disaster loan program of the Small Business
Administration.
SR-428A


10 a.m.
Finance
To hold hearings to examine clean energy from the
margins to the mainstream.
SD-215

[TayTay]

1. Tuesday, March 27th, 10 AM, Baseball TV deal

Here's the lineup for that hearing.

Exclusive Sports Programming: Examining Competition and Consumer Choice
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
10:00 AM
SR - 253

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1838

Witnesses

Opening Remarks
Mr. Rob Jacobson
President and Chief Executive Officer
iN DEMAND Networks

Mr. Stephen F. Ross
Professor of Law
The Dickinson School of Law, The Pennsylvania State University

Mr. Carl Vogel
Chairman & Vice President
EchoStar Satellite L.L.C.

Mr. Robert DuPay
President and Chief Operating Officer
Major League Baseball

Mr. Chase Carey
Chief Executive Officer
DIRECTV Group, Inc.

I think some agreement on this has been reached, but this should still be a chance to air this issue out.

[TayTay]

2. Thursday, 3/29, SFRC 9:30 am Update on Iran

Iran: An Update

HEARING
before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Time: 9:30 AM
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Biden

http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2007/hrg070329a.html


Witness:
+The Honorable R. Nicholas Burns
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Department of State
Washington, D.C.

+Additional Witnesses May Be Added…

Direct from his smash appearance in from of the Senate Banking Committee, held on the same day as when Al Gore testified on global climate change so no one would notice, it's the sane man from the State Dept, Nicholas Burns. (Good hearing last week. They actually talked about diplomacy and how some countries are breaking the sanctions and doing business with Iran and how those countries should be dealt with and, ahm, banking stuff.)

Remember when only RW wackos like John Bolton testified before this Committee? Sure the war is going well, really it is. Just put these rose-colored glasses on, drink this magic 'feel good' cup of cocoa and join us in a chorus of "We are the World" with our own lyrics. I think those days may be over.

[TayTay]

3. Thursday, 3/29, Finance: Clean Energy Technology

Clean Energy: From the Margins to the Mainstream

March 29, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Member Statements:
Max Baucus, MT
Charles Grassley, IA

http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing032907.htm

Witness Statements:

His Excellency John Bruton, Ambassador, European Commission Delegation, Washington, DC

John Krenicki, President and Chief Executive Officer, General Electric Energy, Atlanta, GA

Gregory E. Abel, President, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, Des Moines, IA

Dr. Ryan H. Wiser, Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California

Johan Van’t Hof, Chief Executive Officer, Tonbridge Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Congress has held about two or three dozens hearings on climate change, global warming, new energy technologies and how to deal with the threat of negative environmental change. OMG, the Democrats must be back in control. Wow! What a difference an election makes.

So, how does tax policy bring about better, cleaner energy technology anyway?

[blm]

7. SFRC and Small Biz meetings are scheduled exact same time - 9:30am

Geez - ya think Biden wants to limit Kerry's time at SFRC?

[TayTay]

9. The Energy Hearing in Finance is also at this time

That hearing is the result of a re-org of the Finance Committee structure. Kerry is Vice Chair on this. First Energy hearing in this comm about energy vis a vis environmental concerns.

Hmmm, 3 good hearings, all at about the same time. Hmmmmmm, indeed blm.

[karynnj]

12. OK Tay - come clean - did the cloning process work and you not tell us

This really is going to be tough.

[karynnj]

4. We should be calling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

people on Sam Fox - whose name you bolded.

[TayTay]

5. Bob Geiger is on top of this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3181996&mesg_id=3181996

I agree.

[karynnj]

6. He's a great person to have on this

His entire post is incredible - from commending Kerry, as too much a stateman to punch Fox after his disengenuious calling Kerry a hero to this comment:

"At which point, I'm sure the people of Belgium will look at us wondering if we sent someone like Fox because one of the GOP's many convicted or suspected felons was not available."

[TayTay]

8. Interesting, how a "Hold" works

“Holds”

A hold is a device by which Senators can block or delay action on a treaty,
nomination or legislation, merely by telling their party leader that they want to delay
floor action on the matter in question. Whether to grant that request is a decision of
the leaders.

Nowhere in the written Senate rules is the tradition of “holds” to be found, and
it is not clear when the practice began. The very nature of the holds process gives the
majority and minority leaders a great deal of discretion in deciding whether to honor
a request for a hold and, if so, for how long. However, implicit in a request for a
hold is the ability of a Senator to use parliamentary tools to filibuster or to delay
consideration of the nomination or legislation at issue. Also implicit in a request for
a hold is the desire of the Senator to be consulted by party leadership on the matter
subject to the hold. Holds can sometimes kill a nomination, but more frequently they
delay action.

Whether a Senator has placed a hold on a nomination or legislation is not
publicly available information, and the information is closely held by the two party
leaders. Only when a Senator announces that he or she has placed a hold on a
measure or a matter does the information become public.

Because every Senator can place a hold at any time for any reason, situations
can get complicated with “multiple holds” and “counter holds.” Consider the
following situation:

In 1997, then-Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, a Democrat, put a hold
on President Clinton’s nomination of Joe Dial for another term on the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), precluding the
nomination from being voted on before the end of the congressional
session and thereby killing the nomination for good. In retaliation,
Republican Senator Phil Gramm, a friend of Dial’s, maintained as of
the spring of 1998 a hold on two judicial nominees for the state of
Illinois. In retaliation against Gramm’s hold, Illinois’s other
Democratic Senator, Richard Durbin, blocked the Senate’s
consideration of a Republican education bill, pending final Senate
action on the two judicial nominees from Illinois. The logjam ended,
however, at the end of March 1998, when President Clinton agreed to
nominate a Republican to the CFTC seat to which Dial had not been
appointed. Almost immediately thereafter, Senator Gramm released
his hold on the two Illinois judicial nominees, who were easily
confirmed in early April 1998.

http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/data/2005/upl-meta-crs-6156/RL31948_2005Mar29.pdf

Okay, I get this. I understand enough of it, I think to figure out what might happen.

However, I would keep this in mind:

The office of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, issued the following press release:

June 23, 2006

Dear Conferee,

On March 28, 2006, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to end secrecy in the use of Senate holds and to require an open and accountable process when senators utilize this powerful tool. The U.S. Constitution makes clear that, "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings..." The hold is a unique feature of the Senate, arising out of its own rules and practices with no equivalent in the House of Representatives. As such, we view the standing order passed by the Senate requiring public disclosure of holds to be a non-negotiable item in the conference committee on the Lobbying Reform Bill.

During the debate on this measure, some points were made in opposition that focused on legitimate reasons why a senator may wish to place a hold on a piece of legislation or a nomination. It is, therefore, important to point out that this measure does not limit the ability of senators to place holds so long as they are made public within three days, nor does this amendment prohibit the practice of senators seeking consultation with leadership when action on a measure or matter is contemplated.

There is no good reason why holds should be kept anonymous. The notion that there can be a legitimate purpose for senators to block legislation or nominations without being accountable to their constituents flies in the face of the democratic principle of open government. If there is a legitimate reason to place a hold, senators should have no fear of making their actions known to their colleagues and their constituents.

The use of anonymous holds in the Senate undermines public accountability, and eighty-four senators have voted to end this shadowy practice. The Senate has spoken and we expect this standing order to remain intact in the final conference report on the Lobby Reform Bill.

Sincerely,

Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Ron Wyden of Oregon

Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma

Daniel Akaka of Hawaii

Lamar Alexander of Tennessee

Joe Biden of Delaware

Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico

Christopher Bond of Missouri

Dick Durbin of Illinois

Russ Feingold of Wisconsin

Johnny Isakson of Georgia

Jim Jeffords of Vermont

John Kerry of Massachusetts

Herb Kohl of Wisconsin

Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey

Carl Levin of Michigan

Richard Lugar of Indiana

Barbara Mikulski of Maryland

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Barack Obama of Illinois

Mark Pryor of Arkansas

Pat Roberts of Kansas

Ken Salazar of Colorado

Charles Schumer of New York

Gordon Smith of Oregon

Olympia Snowe of Maine

Jim Talent of Missouri

Craig Thomas of Wyoming

David Vitter of Louisiana

[beachmom]

10. Kicking -- I missed this, and did a new post which I deleted

So just think this should get more visibility. :)

[karynnj]

11. These are interesting

Here is a case where you would almost want the hold to be public and the reason stated.

[TayTay]

13. That Rules Comm hearing

no Kerry, but he has endorsed ths piece of legislation:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/20/151820/417