U.S. Government

Senate Facing Another Busy Week of Hearings

After a two-week recess, the House is back in session this week and ready to tackle a full legislative schedule, including a measure which would grant the District of Columbia a voting member in the House. The Senate plans to be active as well, and among other things will consider a bill (passed by the House in January) to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceuticals for Medicare recipients. In addition to legislation, the Senate is again planning to hold a number of important committee hearings, including the highly anticipated testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Judiciary Committee concerning his role in the U.S. attorney firings scandal. Here, courtesy of GovTrack, is a quick rundown of all of this week’s Senate hearings (the House doesn't have easily accessible committee schedules, something the folks at the OpenHouseProject are trying to fix):

NIH Cancels Contract with Conflicted Consultants

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Sciences International -- the firm that evaluated the safety of certain chemicals for the U.S. Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, "helping the government determine whether they pose dangers to reproduction and newborn babies" -- has been fired by the federal government.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, April 14, 2007
Topics: 
Children
Corporations
Ethics
Health
Science
U.S. Government

TheWeekInCongress (April 7-13, 2007)

With the House out of session this week, there was less news than usual to report from Capitol Hill. The Senate, however, did consider a number of important issues such as stem cell research and funding for federal intelligence agencies. For a thorough analysis of this action, we again turn to Robert McElroy’s TheWeekInCongress. His site is a great resource for citizens wishing to keep track of what their members are up to in Washington, and we urge you to check it out. Follow the headlines below to the Congresspedia articles covering the respective issues, which in turn link to and heavily rely on McElroy's analyses.

AP Photographer Marks One Year in U.S. Prison Camp

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

For one year, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been "held at a prison camp in Iraq by U.S. military officials who have neither formally charged him with a crime nor made public any evidence of wrongdoing," AP reports.

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Main Source: 
Associated Press, April 11, 2007
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Defend the Press
Human Rights
International
U.S. Government

Consulting Firm OK's Its Own Conflicts of Interest

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"The National Institutes of Health has temporarily suspended" the consulting firm Sciences International, which "had been reviewing the health dangers of chemicals for the government while also working for the chemical industry," reports Marla Cone. The evaluation of the firm's work is ongoing, and its $5 million government contract, "which runs through June 2008," remains in force.

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Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2007
Topics: 
Corporations
Ethics
Health
Science
U.S. Government
Women

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