At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on nuclear terrorism, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), describes the seriousness of the threat of nuclear attacks. He says that attacks would be “devastating and deadly.” He adds that an improper response to an attack “would only magnify its impact.” (0:33)

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The airline industry’s impact on entrepreneurs and the US economy was discussed by the House Committee on Small Business. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) said that the United States is in an air travel crisis and that small business owners across the country will feel the impact of struggling airlines.
Paul Ruden, vice president of legal affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents, said demand for airspace and runways exceeds supply in the United States. Ruden stated that excess demand for seats, congestion in airports, the introduction of fees for services once included in the ticket price, and the increased cost of oil leave consumers alienated. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) said airline fuel costs have increased from $16 billion in 2000 to an estimated $61 billion in 2008. Chabot suggested increasing domestic oil production, citing a FOX News survey which says 76 percent of Americans support drilling offshore and in Alaska.
Roger Dew, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association, said Americans’ frustrations with airline travel predates the soaring price of oil and that oil costs will only amplify frustrations with security lines and an unreliable infrastructure. Terry Segerberg, a small business owner in Cincinnati, Ohio, said airline and other transportation costs are forcing her and other business owners to spend thousands monthly on travel, a reality that causes companies to struggle to remain competitive. Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition said Congress can help entrepreneurs by cracking down on oil speculation, strengthening the dollar, pressuring OPEC to increase oil supply, and suspending federal taxes and fees on airlines until March 2009.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on “Nuclear Terrorism: Providing Medical Care and Meeting Basic Needs in the Aftermath – The Federal Response.” Chairman of the Committee, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), said that although preventing a nuclear terrorist attack is the top priority, the is risk is so real that serious preparations must be made for an attack on an American city.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that the majority of medical responders and general practitioners do not know how to handle a nuclear attack. She added that inaction would lead to enormous consequences.
David Paulison, an administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that although there is very little probability that a nuclear attack will occur, the impact would be very high. Preparation for a nuclear terrorist attack is one of FEMA’s greatest concerns. Craig Vanderwagen, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that his department learned many lessons from events in Tel Aviv, London, and Madrid. Since those attacks, the department made many improvements in their response plans. He said that 87 percent of hospitals now participate in mass care programs to handle the influx of injured people in the case of an attack. James H. Schwartz, Chief of the Arlington Country Fire Department, an example from a local level, said that a mutual aid system between cities is necessary because no city can deal with a nuclear attack alone. He expressed a need for more information sharing, collaboration, and cooperation between cities and also between the local, state and federal levels.

Legal Affairs correspondent Jay Tamboli will be covering Supreme Court decisions. Our Washington Bureau will also be attending the 25th Annual Latino Political Conference and Convention, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Hillary Clinton will be speaking.
Other events House Small Business Hearing on how increases in airfares and flight delays are impacting travelers and small firms, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on “Nuclear Terrorism: Providing Medical Care and Meeting Basic Needs in the Aftermath the Federal Response”, the third part of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee’s hearing on “From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules”, and the Senate Judiciary Committee Crime and Drugs Subcommittee’s hearing on “They Can Run, But they Can’t Hide: Catching Fugitives in the 21st Century”, which will focus on the need to improve the identification, apprehension, and extradition of felony fugitives.

Guy Caruso, Administrator for the Energy Information Administration (EIA), says that the EIA has the lead role in collecting and analyzing data concerning physical energy markets. However, the EIA there are important needs for improvement. Caruso explains that EIA is actively supporting efforts by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to improve data on energy related financial derivatives. (1:09)

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Dr. Allen Keller says that ‘enhanced interrogation’ is still torture at a discussion hosted by the National Endowment of Democracy (NED). Keller says that if it looks like torture and smells like torture, then it is torture. He also reiterates that water boarding is simulated drowning, not just something that sounds like a sport, and emphasizes that language has meaning. (0:26)

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Dr. Allen Keller, associate professor of medicine at New York University says that there is a profound difference between choosing not to sleep and being deprived of sleep by someone. Keller says sleep deprivation results in anxiety, palpitations and delusions. He says it is not an effective way of getting useful information and is rather, meant to get people to confess. (1:09)

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Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) explains a chart which shows that the price of oil doubled in the past year. Dorgan, however, says that he saw nothing that has fundamentally changed or altered which would justify this increase in price. (0:35)

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Congressman Al Green (D-Tex.) discusses the two aspect of diversity, namely the legal and moral components. Green says that affirmative action is a key to the moral component for diversity initiatives.(1:09)

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Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) discusses how diversity should be introduced to companies at a roundtable discussion on the challenges in achieving model diversity initiatives. Thompson says that diversity is ‘not a bad thing.’

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