Today's Hill Action:
THE SENATE:
The Senate convenes at 2:00 p.m. ET. At 4:00, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R.2847, appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and related agencies. There will be no roll call votes.
SENATE COMMITTEES:
No committee meetings
THE HOUSE:
The House is not in session.
HOUSE COMMITTEES:
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Senate Finance Health Care Vote Delayed:
The Senate Finance Committee will not vote Tuesday as expected on final approval of a massive health care reform bill because the Congressional Budget Office has not yet finished scoring the bill.
Democratic aides said the panel would vote later this week, but no sooner than Wednesday.
"We expect CBO scores later this week and anticipate a vote once we have them," said one Senate Democratic source. "The Senators agreed to wait for the scores and intend to live up to that agreement.
" It was unclear if the Finance panel's inability to vote Tuesday would affect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) plan to bring the bill to the floor next week. Reid plans on merging the Finance measure with a separate measure passed by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and he has indicated he would like to have his own CBO score of the merged product before bringing it to the floor.
But some Democratic aides indicated that Reid may start debate on the package before a formal CBO score, in order to start the clock ticking on time-consuming procedural motions that will be needed to bring the bill to the floor.
KTC |
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Congress to Review NFL Head Injuries: 
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he will hold hearings on head injuries among NFL players.
Michigan Democrat John Conyers made the announcement Friday. It comes following a preliminary study done for the NFL which suggested retired pro football players may have a higher rate than normal of Alzheimer's disease or other memory problems. The study, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, was done by researchers at the University of Michigan.
The hearings will look at the lasting impact of head injuries, how to limit them, and how to compensate players and their families.
No dates have been set for the hearings.
KTC
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German Chancellor Merkel to Address US Congress: 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to the United States next month and address both houses of Congress, the government said on Monday.
Government spokesman Thomas Steg said Merkel, who won a second four-year term in a September 27 federal election, would address Congress on November 3 after accepting an invitation to appear by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"It's a rare honor for foreign guests of state to be able to speak before the Senate and the House of Representatives," Steg told a news conference.
"Of Germany's chancellors only Konrad Adenauer, who spoke to both houses in May 1957, has had this privilege."
Adenauer, like Merkel a member of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), was West Germany's first postwar chancellor and an ally of the United States in the Cold War.
Merkel would also hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama during the visit, Steg said. In a meeting in Washington in June, the two presented a united front on Iran, efforts to tackle climate change and regulation of financial markets.
Steg said details of Merkel's speech were still being worked out, but that it would mention the Fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, an event which led to the reunification of Germany and helped bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union.
KTC |
