Washington, D.C. - The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold two full committee hearings and one business meeting next week.

The full committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, March 7 at 9:30 a.m. in room SD-366 to discuss the goal of energy independence.

Invited Witnesses Include:

R. James Woolsey
Vice President
Booz Allen Hamilton
McLean, VA

Susan M. Cischke
Vice President, Environmental and Safety Engineering
Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, MI

Amory B. Lovins
Chief Executive Officer
Rocky Mountain Institute
Snowmass, CO

Frank A. Verrastro
Director and Senior Fellow, Energy Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Washington, DC
    
The full committee will hold a business meeting on Wednesday, March 8 at 10:00 a.m. in room SD-366 to consider the following bills:

S. 476 - To authorize the Boy Scouts of America to exchange certain land in the State of Utah acquired under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.

S. 1131 - To authorize the exchange of certain Federal land within the State of Idaho.

S. 1288 - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements to protect natural resources of units of the National Park System through collaborative efforts on land inside and outside of units of the National Park System.

S. 1346 -  To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of maritime sites in the State of Michigan.

S. 1378 - To amend the National Historic Preservation Act to provide appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

S. 1913 - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease a portion of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center for use as a visitor center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

S. 1970 - To amend the National Trails System Act to update the feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for the inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds associated with that trail.

S. 2197 - To improve the global competitiveness of the United States in science and energy technology, to strengthen basic research programs at the Department of Energy, and to provide support for mathematics and science education at all levels through the resources available through the Department of Energy, including at the National Laboratories.

S. 2253 - To require the Secretary of the Interior to offer the 181 Area of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing.

S. Con. Res. 60 - Designating the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as America's National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

S. J. Res. 28 - Approving the location of the commemorative work in the District of Columbia honoring former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

H.R. 318 - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Castle Nugent Farms located on St. Croix, Virgin Islands, as a unit of the National Park System.

H.R. 326 (S. 505) - To amend the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to adjust the boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.

H.R. 409 (S. 179) - To provide for the exchange of land within the Sierra National Forest, California.

H.R. 1129 (S. 100) - To authorize the exchange of certain land in the State of Colorado.

H.R. 1728 (S. 323) - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the French Colonial Heritage Area in the State of Missouri as a unit of the National Park System.

H.R. 2107 - To amend Public Law 104-329 to modify authorities for the use of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Maintenance Fund.

H.R. 3443 (S. 1498) - To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain water distribution facilities to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.
           

The full committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, March 9 in room SD-366 to consider the following nominations:
    
• Raymond L. Orbach, of California, to be Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy

• Alexander A. Karsner, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy)

• Dennis R. Spurgeon, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy (Nuclear Energy)

• David Longly Bernhardt, of Colorado, to be Solicitor of the Department of the Interior