This Week on the Hill, 7/21/08 – 7/25/08

Tuesday, July 22nd

First Amendment

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing on “Issues in Telecommunications Competition.” The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website starting at 2:00pm EDT.

Wednesday, July 23rd

First Amendment

House Select Intelligence Committee will hold a closed hearing on cyber security.

LGBT

House Armed Services Personnel Readiness Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “don't ask, don't tell” policy.

Torture

We expect the torture issue to be raised during the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing over the Department of Justice, with Attorney General Michael Mukasey scheduled to testify. The hearing will be webcast on the committee website starting around 10:15am EDT.

U.S. Sentencing Commission Nomination

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of William Carr to be a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission .

PEPFAR

The House will take the Senate’s PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) bill, S. 2731 , sometime on or after Wednesday. Repeal of the HIV immigration/travel ban included, and the president is indicated he’ll sign.

Thursday, July 24th

Health Privacy

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will hold a meeting of the American Health Information Community Confidentiality, Privacy, & Security Workgroup , which will "continue discussing and evaluating the confidentiality, privacy, and security protections and requirements for participants in electronic health information exchange environments."

Immigration

House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the immigration raid in Postville, IA. The ACLU will be submitting a written statement. The hearing will be webcast live on the committee website starting around 11:00am EDT.

Privacy

Today and Friday, the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office will be hosting a Public Workshop : Implementing Privacy Protections in Government Data Mining.

Pay Equity

The House Education & Labor Committee will mark up H.R. 1338 , the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Also happening this week:

Reporters’ Shield

The Senate could consider a compromise reporters shield bill in the coming week/weeks.

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) Reauthorization

The Senate Judiciary Committee may schedule a markup for S. 3155 , a bill to reauthorize and improve the JJDPA. The ACLU has sent a letter of support to Judiciary Committee members and staff.