Hearings

The Senate Armed Services Committee will meet next week to hear from military leaders in the Pacific Command and Korea to discuss the future military needs in the region.

North Korea has been escalating threats of attacks against South Korea and the United States. General James Thurman, Commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, will testify before the committee on Tuesday along with U.S Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Locklear.

A subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee will meet next week to challenge the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) response to the sequester.

The subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency will hold a hearing next Friday called "The Impact of Sequestration on Homeland Security: Scare Tactics or Possible Threat?"

The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin to examine immigration reform next week.

On Monday, the Judiciary Committee will be looking at how immigration reform should address the needs of women and families. A new member of the committee, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), will preside over that hearing, rather than Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Senate Democrats will take up President Obama’s goal to raise the minimum wage in a hearing next week.

During his State of the Union address last month, Obama called for Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. 

Two House committees will meet next week to consider how the Obama administration has decided to cut the $85 billion in spending as required by the sequester.

On Thursday, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee will meet in a hearing called "Sequestration Oversight: Understanding the Administration's Decisions on Spending Cuts and Furloughs."

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday evening approved a rule for the 2013 spending bill that will allow no amendments to be considered when the bill comes up later in the week.

The committee approved the closed rule in a typically partisan 9-4 vote.

The House Rules Committee will meet on Tuesday to approve a rule for H.R. 933, the continuing spending resolution for the rest of 2013.

The meeting is being designated as an "emergency meeting" because Republicans just posted the text of the bill on Monday. Usually a few legislative days are allowed between the posting of a bill and a Rules Committee hearing on that bill.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will markup gun-control bills next Thursday.

One of the bills is Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) S. 150, which would reinstate the assault weapons ban. 

Congress hasn't stopped the sequester, but it is looking into how to stop Armageddon by meteor. 

House members next week will be examining the effect budget cuts will have on the U.S. military.

On Tuesday, Chief of Staff to the U.S. Army Gen. Raymond Odierno will discuss the fiscal challenges facing the Department of Defense as defense spending continue to shrink. He is testifying before the House Appropriations Committee.