House to explore meningitis outbreak, TSA, trade adjustment assistance

The House returns to work next week, and will hold several hearings at the committee and subcommittee level on a range of issues, including the outbreak of meningitis in the eastern United States just a few months ago.

A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss whether the meningitis outbreak could have been prevented. The outbreak, which is responsible for 31 deaths so far this year, has been traced back to tainted steroids made at the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.

Elsewhere, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will meet Wednesday to examine the effectiveness of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which provides funds for retraining people who have lost their jobs due to trade.

And on Thursday, a subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee will continue its probe of the Transportation Security Administration, this time by examining the effectiveness of TSA's latest move to replace X-ray scanners that many said led to invasions of privacy.

More details about these and other House hearings follow here:

House Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
November 14, "The Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: Could It Have Been Prevented?" FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg testifies
10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

House Homeland Security

Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
November 15, "WMD Terrorism: Assessing the Continued Homeland Threat"
10 a.m., 210 Cannon House Office Building

Subcommittee on Transportation Security
November 15, "TSA's Recent Scanner Shuffle: Real Strategy or Wasteful Smokescreen?"
10 a.m., 311 Cannon House Office Building

Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management
November 16, "A Line in the Sand: Assessing Dangerous Threats to Our Nation's Borders"
9 a.m., 311 Cannon House Office

House Oversight and Government Reform

November 14, "Trade Adjustment Assistance for U.S. Firms: Evaluating Program Effectiveness and Recommendations"
10 a.m., 2247 Rayburn House Office Building

House Science, Space and Technology

Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation
November 14, "Is 'Meaningful Use' Delivering Meaningful Results? An Examination of Health Information Technology Standards and Interoperability"
10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn House Office Building

November 15, "The U.S. Antarctic Program: Achieving Fiscal and Logistical Efficiency While Supporting Sound Science"
10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn House Office Building

House Transportation and Infrastructure

November 14, "An Update on the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program: Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned"
10:45 a.m., 2167 Rayburn House Office Building

House Veterans' Affairs

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
November 15, "Review of Veterans Employment Challenges and Initiatives of the 112th Congress"
10 a.m., 334 Cannon House Office Building

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