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Table of Contents
TODAY'S HILL ACTION
CANTOR & HOYER TO MEET
VA BONUS CHALLENGE
SENATOR BYRD IN HOSPITAL
Congressional
Climate Bill Tracking 
Keyhole Image H.R.3607 - FAA FY10 Extension Act
Keyhole Image S. 1451 - FAA Reauthorization Bill
Keyhole Image H.R. 2454 - American Clean Energy & Security Act
Keyhole Image S.1 - Stimulus Bill
Keyhole ImageH.R. 3200 - America's Affordable Health Choices Act
Keyhole Image S.560 - Employee Free Choice Act
Keyhole Image H.R.3288 - Department of Transportation Appropriations
Keyhole Image H.R.3126 - Consumer Financial Protection
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Greetings!
 
Please enjoy today's issue of the Congressional Climate newsletter, brought to you by Keys to the Capitol!
Today's Hill Action: 
 
THE SENATE:
 
The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. ET and will conduct morning business until 11 a.m. The Senate will then resume consideration of H.R.2996, the Interior appropriations bill.  
 
SENATE COMMITTEES:
Senate Judiciary (2:30 p.m.): Hearings to examine the nominations of Jacqueline H. Nguyen and Dolly M. Gee, both to be a United States District Judge for the Central District of California, and Richard Seeborg and Edward Milton Chen, both to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California.
 
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation (2:30 p.m.): Hearings to examine the nominations of Anne S. Ferro, of Maryland, to be Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and Cynthia L. Quarterman, of Georgia, to be Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, both of the Department of Transportation.
 
Senate Judiciary (10 a.m.): Hearings to examine reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act.
 
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (10 a.m.): Hearings to examine the Defense Contract Audit Agency, focusing on reform.
 

THE HOUSE:
The House meets at 10 a.m. Last votes are predicted to fall between 5 and 6 p.m.

HOUSE COMMITTEES:
 
House Veterans' Affairs (10 a.m.): Oversight and Investigations Subc. On Senior Executive Service bonuses and other administrative issues at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
House Transportation and Infrastructure (10 a.m.): Aviation Subc. On the Federal Aviation Administration's call to action on airline safety and pilot training.

House (Select) Intelligence (4 p.m.): Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence Subc. On the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
 
House Science and Technology (10 a.m.): Research and Science Education Subc. Markup of Cybersecurity Research and Development Amendments Act.

House Judiciary (1 p.m.): Commercial and Administrative Law Subc. On discharging educational debt in bankruptcy.
 
House Judiciary (10 a.m.): Courts and Competition Policy Subc. On the expansion of top level domains its effect on competition.
 
House Financial Services (2 p.m.): On federal regulator perspectives on financial regulatory reform proposals. Dept. and public witnesses.
 
House Financial Services (9:30 a.m.): On the Obama administration's proposals for financial regulatory reform. Timothy Geithner, Secretary, Department of Treasury testifies.

House Energy and Commerce (10 a.m.): Markup of pending legislation.
 
House Education and Labor (10 a.m.): On H.R. 3017 - Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
House Oversight and Government Reform (10 a.m.): On the impact of the economic downturn on minorities.

House (Select) Intelligence (2 p.m.): On Afghanistan and Pakistan.

House Small Business (1 p.m.): On the impact of financial regulatory restructuring on small businesses and community leaders.
 
House Transportation and Infrastructure (2 p.m.): Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subc. On examining existing security level categories in federal buildings and the allocation of security funds. Dept. and public witnesses.
Cantor Agrees to Meet With Hoyer on Health Care: 
Cantor Hoyer
 
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Wednesday accepted House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) offer to meet and discuss areas of bipartisan agreement on health care reform.
 
But Cantor said the conversation would not center on the Democratic health care reform bill, which many Republicans believe should be "scrapped."
 
Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted to sit down with the Virginia Republican and Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) to find out what aspects of the Democratic health care proposal the GOP lawmakers support.
 
Cantor and Boustany have contended that they do not support any part of the House Democratic legislation. But they said they are willing to work with Democrats on a set of mutual health care goals.
 
Boustany accepted Hoyer's offer to sit down in a letter Tuesday afternoon.
 
"American families need health care reforms to lower costs and increase access to a quality doctor-patient relationship," Boustany wrote Tuesday. "We can achieve many of these bipartisan reforms without disrupting existing coverage, growing the deficit or threatening jobs."


KTC
Congress Challenges VA Bonuses: 
Veterans Affairs
 
Lawmakers are questioning whether millions of dollars in bonuses were appropriately awarded to employees at the Veterans Affairs Department.

The VA's inspector general recently found that over a two-year period, $24 million in bonuses were awarded to technology office employees at the VA, some under questionable circumstances.

Arizona Rep. Harry Mitchell, who chairs the House veterans oversight subcommittee, says at a hearing Wednesday that among VA executives in all departments last year some received bonuses over $60,000. He says veterans should have full confidence the bonuses were tied to performance.

The VA has promised changes.

KTC
Senator Byrd Admitted to Hospital After Fall:
 
Senator Byrd
U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, the Senate's longest-serving member, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and will remain there for several days to be monitored for a possible infection, his spokesman said.
 
Byrd, 91, was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after he fell at home, his spokesman Jesse Jacobs said.

He did not suffer broken bones or bruises from the fall, but is being treated with antibiotics after doctors found an elevated white blood-cell count, a possible indicator of infection, Jacobs said.

"Senator Byrd is in good spirits and expressed his disappointment that he was unable to join all his Senate colleagues this afternoon for the biennial Senate photo," Jacobs said in a statement.

First elected in 1958, the West Virginia Democrat has been absent from the Senate much of the year because of health-related matters.
Until tomorrow,
 

Keys To The Capitol