Boy oh boy, this week is busy on the Hill. So you might have heard that Congress has been wrangling with this economic bailout. Congress will juggle that, plus a huge slate of civil liberties issues this week. (Hey, at least they're not passing resolutions honoring country music stars.)
In addition, from Wednesday to Saturday, the Congressional Black Caucus will hold its annual legislative conference. And cross your fingers for a Senate vote this week on reporters' shield legislation. There is still a possibility of a markup in House Judiciary of Rep. Jerrold Nadler's (D-N.Y.) state secrets bill. And of course we wait, with bated breath, for the final Inspector General report on National Security Letters. Any day now, Mr. Fine…
Tuesday, September 23
Attorney General Guidelines
The Senate Select Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing titled "New Attorney General Guidelines for Domestic Intelligence Collection." This hearing is open to the public, so ACLU Legislative Counsel Mike German will attend, and will podcast his thoughts after the hearing. Stay tuned!
Controlled Unclassified Information
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is expected mark up legislation on controlled unclassified information. This is a transparency issue about the overclassification of government documents.
Equal Pay
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled “Barriers to Justice: Examining Equal Pay for Equal Work.” Lilly Ledbetter, of Ledbetter v. Goodyear fame, will be testifying.
Wednesday, September 24
Fusion Centers
The Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment Subcommittee of House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing titled "A Report Card on Homeland Security Information Sharing." (This hearing is also known as "Everything the Government Wants to Know About You, and Is Willing to Share with Everyone Else.")
Immigration
The Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "The Visa Waiver Program: Mitigating the Program Risks to Ensure the Safety of All Americans."
Voting Rights
The Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of House Judiciary Committee and Elections Subcommittee of House Administration Committee will hold a joint hearing on federal, state and local efforts to prepare for the 2008 general election. Grace Chung Becker, head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division will be testifying. (If you're a regular Blog of Rights reader—and who isn't?— you'll remember Ms. Becker's name from an encore-worthy presentation she gave in Geneva about the federal government's "robust" and "comprehensive" response to Hurricane Katrina.)
Thursday, September 25
Broadband Providers and Consumer Privacy
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on broadband providers and consumer privacy.
Death in Custody Reporting Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark-up H.R. 3971, the Death in Custody Reporting Act.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Regulation on Religious Refusals
Hey! If you haven't submitted you comment to HHS's new rules, which threaten women's access to health care, they're due today! So write now! As currently written, the rule leaves open the possibility that based on religious beliefs, institutions and individuals can deny women access to birth control. It also permits individuals to refuse to provide information and counseling about basic heath care services. And it expands existing laws by permitting a wider range of health care professionals to refuse to provide even referrals for abortions. We're upset about it too, so make sure to submit a comment today!
Torture
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing titled "The Authorization of Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape [SERE] Techniques for Interrogations in Iraq: Part II of the Committee's Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody." You can learn more about SERE's use in Afghanistan here. As DOD lawyer Williams Haynes once said, "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong."
Voting Rights
The Elections Subcommittee of House Administration Committee will hold a hearing titled "Ensuring the Rights of College Students to Vote."
The Senate Rules and Administration Committee will vote on pending nominations of Gracia M. Hillman, Donetta Davidson, Rosemary E. Rodriguez and Gineen Bresso Beach to be members Election Assistance Commission.
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