Committee Action

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30TH
At 10:00 a.m., the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the President’s FY2012 budget request for the Department of Energy—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.  Cathy Zoi, Acting Under Secretary for Energy and Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Patricia Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; and Dr. Victor Der, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, are scheduled to testify.

At 10:00 a.m., the House Budget Committee will hold a hearing on the FY2012 House Budget.  Members of the 112th Congress will be allowed to testify.

At 1:00 p.m., Chairman Simpson will hold a hearing of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee on President Obama’s FY2012 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry EchoHawk will testify.

At 2:00 p.m., the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the President’s FY2012 budget request for the Department of Energy—Environmental Management, Legacy Management.  Dr. Ines Triay, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, and David Geiser, Acting Director, Office of Legacy Management, are scheduled to testify.

At 2:30 p.m., Chairman Simpson will hold a hearing of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee on President Obama’s FY2012 budget request for the Office of the Special Trustee.  Acting Special Trustee Ray Joseph will testify.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31ST
At 9:30 a.m., Chairman Simpson will hold a hearing of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee on President Obama’s FY2012 budget request for the Indian Health Service.  IHS Director Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H., will testify.

At 10:00 a.m., Congressman Simpson will chair the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the President’s FY2012 budget request for the Department of Energy—Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  Dr. Peter Lyons, Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, and Gregory Jaczko, Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are scheduled to testify.

At 2:00 p.m., the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the President’s FY2012 budget request for the Department of Energy— Loan Guarantee Program and ARPA-E.  Dr. Arun Majumdar, Director, ARPA-E, and Jonathan Silver, Director of the Loan Guarantee Program, are scheduled to testify.

FRIDAY, APRIL 1ST
At 10:00 a.m., the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the impact that health care reform legislation passed in the 111th will have on the federal budget into the future.  HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to testify.

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, MARCH 28TH
Monday, the House is not in session.

TUESDAY, MARCH 29TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

H.R. 1079 - Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011 (Suspension, 40 Minutes of Debate (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Ways and Means Committee)

H.R. 839 - The HAMP Termination Act of 2011 (Structured Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Patrick McHenry / Financial Services Committee)
The rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:
Rep. Richard Hanna Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Mike Quigley Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Jay Inslee Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Maxine Waters Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Doris Matsui Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez Amendment (10 minutes of debate)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30TH
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

H.R. 471 - Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Boehner / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

H.R. 872 - Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 (Suspension, 40 Minutes of Debate) (Sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Agriculture Committee)

THURSDAY, MARCH 31ST
On Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

Begin Consideration of H.R. 658 - FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Science and Technology Committee / Judiciary Committee)

FRIDAY, APRIL 1ST
On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 658 - FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Science and Technology Committee / Judiciary Committee)

In the News

March 19, 2011
Deal reached to lift wolf protections in Idaho, Montana

If a judge agrees to delist the predators, hunters in Idaho could be targeting wolves in a matter of months.

By Rocky Barker, March 19, 2011, The Idaho Statesman
If a judge agrees to delist the predators, hunters in Idaho could be targeting wolves in a matter of months.

Once again U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy will decide whether to take wolves in Idaho and Montana off the endangered species list, after a settlement announced Friday between environmental groups and the Obama administration.

If Molloy goes along with the deal, Idahoans could again hunt wolves this fall. The settlement came because legislation to remove Endangered Species Act protection for wolves sponsored by Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson and Montana’s two Democratic senators was likely to pass Congress.

“This settlement proposal makes it clear to me that those who have forced wolves back on the endangered species list realize that their position is not defensible,” Simpson said in a statement Friday.

He said that if Molloy does not accept the agreement, Congress may still step in. “I will continue to push to have this measure signed into law.”

Molloy will have a chance to rule on the issue as early as next week when he has a hearing on another wolf case.

Ten of the 13 groups who had initially sued agreed to ask Molloy to restore the delisting approved in 2009 in Montana and Idaho but to leave Utah, Oregon and Washington out of the Rocky Mountains recovery area. Wyoming remains in the same recovery area, but since it doesn’t have an approved recovery plan like Idaho and Montana, wolves there remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

By leaving Washington and Oregon out, wolf advocates hope they can now develop a second wolf population in the Pacific Northwest that is distinct from the Northern Rockies population.

“This opens the door for what we think will be real wolf recovery in Oregon and Washington,” said Kieran Suckling, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, another of the groups that settled.

The agreement lasts only five years. The environmental groups also got the Obama administration to agree to set up a scientific panel in two years to determine how many wolves would be in a fully recovered population.

The agreement makes no reference to a 2008 Idaho Department of Fish and Game plan that set a goal for wolves in Idaho at just over 500. It does specifically reference the state’s 2002 management plan, which required only about 150 wolves.

“We look for professionals to make reasonable judgments,” said Mike Clark, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, one of the groups that settled.

After Molloy’s decision in 2010 placing wolves back on the list, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission backed off its 2008 plan. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter was traveling Friday and had no official comment, said his press secretary Jon Hanian. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer supports the deal.

The current Idaho wolf population is estimated at 705 wolves, a 19 percent drop from 2009.
The Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project and Friends of the Clearwater did not agree to the settlement. Neither did the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.