Hearings

House members next week will spend a considerable amount of time on foreign affairs and national security issues, although high gas prices will also be a focus.

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing to assess threats to the U.S. after the death of Osama bin Laden. On the same day, the House Foreign Affairs Committee meets to discuss whether Congress needs to approve further military action in Libya.

Some members say continued military activities after the 60-day mark would require congressional approval.

A key committee meeting in the House next week will be held by the House Armed Services Committee on May 11, when it holds a markup of the fiscal 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

House Foreign Affairs holds two meetings next week, one to examine U.S. export control policy, and another assessing the Peace Corps after 50 years.

Closer to home, the House Education and the Workforce Committee examines "federal overreach into school meals."

In light of the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima reactor, the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works will lead an exploration of nuclear safety in the United States next Tuesday.

Senate committees next week will also take up the issue of funding for NASA, U.S. forces on the South and North Korean border, and deficit reduction efforts. Below is a list of featured hearings for next week:

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Barring a government shutdown, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will testify next week on her department's priorities. Her testimony comes just after House Republicans have offered a budget plan that would reform Medicare, which prompted Democrats to argue that Republicans are seeking to gut that program.

House committees next week also take up mortgage markets, sanctions against North Korea and higher gas prices. A list of featured committee hearings follows:

New signs emerged mid-week that Republicans and Democrats are ramping up their efforts to focus on U.S. job creation, although, as expected, they continue to press completely different ideas on how to make it happen.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday announced a hearing March 30 to explore "impediments to job creation," and Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said it is already clear to the GOP that government intervention is a major impediment.

"Contrary to what some in Washington believe, we cannot spend our way to prosperity," Camp said. "Washington needs to create an environment that allows the private sector to do what it does best — invest and create jobs. This hearing will help us identify areas where Congress needs to act to ensure that the government is not impeding job creation."

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday his panel would take up legislation to combat counterfeiting in response to a “60 Minutes” probe that found tens of thousands of fake prescription pills enter the U.S. each year.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said his legislation would give the Justice Department better tools to combat the sale of counterfeit drugs.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday announced plans to move legislation next week that would end four federal housing programs.

The Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity subcommittee will hold a hearing on the four bills on March 2, and the full Financial Services Committee will hold a mark-up of the legislation on March 3. But it is still unclear when the bills might make it to the House floor for a vote.

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, she will take questions from committee members, and possibly anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

Clinton testifies on March 1, which will mark the first use of a system by which the committee will consider asking questions e-mailed by the public. Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Thursday announced the "Your Seat on the Dais" feature, and said the committee would review questions that are submitted and use some of the questions during the hearing.

Ros-Lehtinen said questions would be asked "on behalf of the submitter" during the hearing.

House Republicans on Friday morning rejected Democratic arguments that an amendment to defund last year's healthcare law should be ruled out of order and not considered on the floor.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) raised the point of order against the amendment to the fiscal 2011 spending bill by saying House Republican rules prevent consideration of legislation that would increase budget authority. She said the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that defunding the healthcare law in fiscal 2011 would cost $5.5 billion.

But the sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), said the point of order should be rejected, in part because House Republicans estimate that defunding the law would save $100 billion in 2011.