06 Sep
2016
15 Years Since 9/11, and Congress is Back With a Host of Hearings: Sphere’s TenCount – 9.5.16
- Sunday marks 15 years since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash of Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pa. So naturally a number of events this week focus on terrorism and its prevention. “Fifteen Years Later: Are We Any Safer?” is the topic of a discussion hosted by The Atlantic magazine Thursday. Concurrently, the Heritage Foundation hosts (and webcasts) “The Evolving Threat: Islamist Terror 15 Years After 9/11.”
- More Terrorism-Related Events: On Wednesday, the Brookings Institution conducts a discussion on “Disrupting ISIS Recruitment Online”; the Institute of World Politics holds a lecture focused on “getting ahead of the terrorist attack cycle in the era of ‘lone wolves’ and ‘self-radicalization’” and the Council on Foreign Relations discusses “Fighting the Financing of Terrorism” (Webcast here). On Friday, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy hosts an assessment of “The Military Campaign Against the Islamic State” (Webcast here).
- Congress is Back! And hard at work, with too many hearings this week to detail all of them here. So, a sampling: The House Rules Committee kicks things off on Tuesday evening with a session to formulate rules on three bills, including HR 5063, the “Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016,” which aims to halt the Justice Department’s practice of forging settlements that require or provide for payments to non-victim third parties.
- Other hearings this week include the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Wednesday to examine “The Commission On Care and the Future of the VA Healthcare System”; the Foreign Relations Committee, also on Wednesday, on “The Administration’s Proposal for a UN Resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty”; and on Thursday, the Joint Economic Committee on the consequences of a growing federal debt.
- Nothing gets members of Congress riled up like their inability to ride herd on the rulemaking powers of independent agencies. A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel looks at “Reviewing Independent Agency Rulemaking” on Thursday. A House Financial Services Committee panel examines “The Danger of Ransom Payments to Iran” on Thursday, and on Friday a House Oversight and Government Reform panel examines FEMA’s response to the Baton Rouge flood disaster.
- The nation’s highway system is old and crumbling, we all know. What to do about it is the question. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, following a prescription in last year’s transportation bill, has established the Committee for a Study of the Future Interstate Highway System, which will hold its first public meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington.
- Long ago, the automobile overtook the railroad as a preferred method of long-distance travel. The Federal Railroad Administration holds out hope, however. In June it issued a proposal for a pilot program allowing independent bidders to run long-distance trains on as many as three routes currently operated by Amtrak. On Wednesday, the agency will conduct the first public hearing on the proposal.
- Ransomware, the alarming practice of hacking into a computer and encrypting files, then demanding a ransom for the decryption key, is the latest scheme to afflict computer networks. The Federal Trade Commission will conduct an afternoon workshop on the practice on Wednesday featuring an address by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, to be webcast here.
- The economy and monetary policy get a going-over this week with a trio of events. The Cato Institute and the Mercatus Center team up for a daylong conference Wednesday on “Monetary Rules for a Post-Crisis World.” Brookings hosts “The Productivity Puzzle: How Can We Speed Up the Growth of the Economy,” on Friday, while the American Enterprise Institute conducts a seminar Wednesday evening on “Protecting the Financial System From Panics.”
- Thomas J. Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, and other influential leaders will engage in a thought-provoking conversation about the most important issues and policies facing the marketplace lending industry at the MPL Summit, Sept. 13 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington. The summit seeks to create opportunity for responsible industry participants to propose standards and provide regulators and policymakers with consensus viewpoints on the regulation of marketplace lending.