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Week of September 14th
ENVIRONMENT: As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee, I will join the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Monday to announce $1.36 million in grants for 15 Maryland projects to help protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program supports protection and restoration actions that contribute to restoring healthy waters, habitat and living resources of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Federal funding for projects like these will help protect and restore critical aquatic ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay. One of my top priorities is to improve the health of streams, creeks and rivers that make up the Bay's watershed.
HEALTH CARE: On Monday, I will visit Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, MD, to meet with doctors, nurses and hospital administrators to discuss health care reform. They are on the front lines of our health care system and I want to solicit their suggestions for improving patient care. I will also receive an update on Washington Adventist Hospital's ongoing collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to medical and scientific research.
AFGHANISTAN: As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will participate this week in two hearings on the current state of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. My colleagues and I will hear from former military officials, key policy experts and academics on military and political prospects. On Tuesday, I also will be briefed by the Department of State Intergovernmental Agencies group, including Richard Holbrooke, United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ambassador Holbrooke has assumed the lead in coordinating improved cooperation on a diplomatic and reconstruction level. I have long felt and voiced that our efforts in Iraq were misguided, distracting us from the real fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists hiding in Afghanistan.
FBI OVERSIGHT HEARING: On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). As a member of the Committee, I will be questioning Robert S. Mueller, III, Director of the FBI, about renewal of certain provisions of the Patriot Act, as well as security at biological research laboratories like Fort Detrick. As Chairman of the Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee, I will be holding a hearing next week on the security of these critical laboratories.
APPROPRIATIONS: This week, the Senate is considering the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. This legislation provides funding for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban and Development, as well as independent agencies like the Federal Maritime Commission, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and National Transportation Safety Board. This bill includes funding for important Maryland projects like the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Baltimore's Red Line, BRAC-related infrastructure, the Maryland Food Bank, and more.
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