The Week Ahead (Feb. 25-29)

February 22, 2008
12:08 PM
  • On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the full committee will examine U.S. oil inventory policies, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Invited witnesses include Frank Rusco, acting director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability Office; Katharine Fredriksen, principal deputy assistant secretary, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy; Frank Verrastro, director and senior fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Melanie Kenderdine, associate director, Strategic Planning, MIT Energy Initiative.  (Dirksen 366 at 10:00 a.m.) 

  • On Wednesday, Feb. 27, the full committee will consider two nominations:  Stanley C. Suboleski, of Virginia, to be assistant secretary, Fossil Energy, at the Department of Energy; and, J. Gregory Copeland, of Texas, to be general counsel of the Department of Energy.  (Dirksen 366 at 9:45 a.m.)

  • On Wednesday, Feb. 27, the subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests will consider the following: S. 832, to provide for the sale of approximately 25 acres of public land to the Turnabout Ranch, Escalante, Utah, at fair market value; S. 2229, to withdraw certain Federal land in the Wyoming Range from leasing and provide an opportunity to retire certain leases in the Wyoming Range; S. 2379, to authorize the Secretary of Interior to cancel certain grazing leases on land in Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon, to provide for the exchange of certain Monument land in exchange for private land, to designate certain Monument land as wilderness; S. 2508/H.R. 903, to provide for a study of options for protecting the open space characteristics of certain lands in and adjacent to the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in Colorado;  S. 2601/H.R. 1285, to provide for the conveyance of a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station; H.R. 523, to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district; H.R. 838, to provide for the conveyance of the Bureau of Land Management parcels known as the White Acre and Gambel Oak properties and related real property to Park City, Utah.  Invited witnesses include The Hon. Dave Freudenthal, governor, State of Wyoming; The Hon. Melissa Simpson, deputy undersecretary, Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture;  and Luke Johnson, deputy director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.  (Dirksen 366 at 2:30 p.m.)

  • On Thursday, Feb. 28, the full committee will examine the impact of increased minimum wages on the economies of American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  Witnesses include The Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, delegate, U.S. House of Representatives; The Hon. Togiola Tulafono, governor, American Samoa; The Hon. Pedro Tenorio, resident representative, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;  The Hon. Benigno R. Fitial, governor, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; Jay Berman, senior economist, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor; and a representative from the U.S. Department of the Interior.  (Dirksen 366 at 9:30 a.m.)

  • On Thursday, Feb. 28, the subcommittee on Water and Power will consider the following: S.177/H.R. 2085, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the McGee Creek Authority certain facilities of the McGee Creek Project in Oklahoma;  S.1473/H.R. 1855, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera Irrigation District to support the Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project in California; S. 1474/H.R. 1139, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to plan, design and construct facilities to provide water for irrigation, municipal, domestic and other uses from the Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin in California; S. 1929, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to study water augmentation alternatives in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed in Arizona;  S. 2370, to clear title to certain property in New Mexico associated with the Middle Rio Grande Project;  and H.R. 2381, to promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin .  Invited witnesses include Carl Janzen, president, Madera Irrigation District;  Mick Cornett, mayor, City of Oklahoma City; John Rossi, general manager, Western Municipal Water District; Charles Potucek, city manager, representing the Upper San Pedro Partnership; and representatives from the Department of the Interior.   (Dirksen 366 at 2:00 p.m.)

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