During the week of February 28, 2011, Speaker of the House Boehner (R) plans to bring a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to the House floor for a vote, as funding for the Federal government expires March 4, 2011.
On February 25, 2011, the President signed into law H.R. 514, the “FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011,” which extends certain surveillance authorities included in the USA PATRIOT Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus (D) spoke in Bogota on February 25, 2011 about the urgent need for the U.S. to approve the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) this year. However, he called on the U.S. and Colombia to develop a concrete plan to build on the "tremendous progress to date" strengthening human and labor rights so that the U.S. can approve the FTA as soon as possible this year.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations has announced a series of subcommittee hearings from March 1-3, 2011 regarding the administration's fiscal year 2012 budget requests for the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 02/22/11 news, 11022250, for BP summary of the DHS FY 2012 budget request hearing scheduled for March 3, 2011.)
During February 22, 2011 meetings, Senator Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Brazil's Ministers of Foreign Relations, Finance, Agriculture, and Deputy Minister of Trade discussed opportunities to increase trade between the U.S. and Brazil, including the conclusion of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and the need to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced that it is relaunching its investigation into tainted heparin and calling on the Food and Drug Administration to release documents related to its response to the unsolved case of toxic and sometimes lethal contaminated heparin supplies that were imported from China and given to U.S. patients. In a letter sent to the FDA, Committee Chairman Upton (R), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Stearns (R), and Health Subcommittee Vice Chairman Burgess (R) argued that the public deserves long-overdue answers about the contamination of this blood-thinning drug in order to prevent similar dangers in the future.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D) went to Colombia and Brazil on February 19, 2011 to meet with senior government officials in both countries to discuss key economic and trade issues, including the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Baucus is accompanied by agricultural and business leaders from Montana, who will explore new business partnerships and export opportunities in both countries.
The House Homeland Security Committee has announced that it has rescheduled its hearing entitled “The President’s FY 2012 Budget Request for the Department of Homeland Security,” for March 3, 2011. The hearing was originally scheduled for February 17, 2011. DHS Secretary Napolitano is expected to testify.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Bingaman (D) issued a press release on his recently introduced bill to strengthen and improve energy efficiency standards for a wide range of consumer products. According to Bingaman, the "Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act of 2010" (S. 398) would increase efficiency standards for such energy-intensive products as furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers and dryers, and dishwashers. It also would create new standards for certain outdoor lighting, pool heaters, drinking water dispensers, commercial food cabinets and several other smaller product classes. Bingaman says it is an updated version of the appliance standards legislation that the Senate nearly passed at the end of the last Congress.
The fiscal year 2011 Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 1), which passed the House on February 18, 2011, contained numerous amendments prohibiting the use of FY 2011 funds for specific government programs and requirements.