The Akaka bill will have a hearing before the full Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, June 11. The hearing can be watched live as a webcast, and will probably also be available as an archived video for at least several days thereafter.
The hearing will be on Thursday, June 11, at 10 AM D.C. time (i.e., 4 AM Hawaii time), in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Three versions of the Akaka bill have been introduced so far this year. The version scheduled for hearing is H.R. 2314, which was introduced on May 7. Full text of the bill can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/py93l5
A 66-page point-by-point analysis of this bill was written by attorney Paul M. Sullivan two years ago, when the bill was S.310 and H.R.505 in the 110th Congress. The current bill H.R. 2314 has identical content and format; therefore Mr. Sullivan's analysis remains valid on each point. Mr. Sullivan's analysis (including cartoons by Daryl Cagle) can be downloaded in pdf format at http://tinyurl.com/3ydth9
At the present time the list of witnesses who will testify at the hearing has not yet been posted. However, a witness list does get posted, it can be found on the committee's webpage at http://tinyurl.com/n8shpn
To watch the hearing live at 4 AM HST on June 11, go to the committee webpage (above), and look halfway down the left-hand column, immediately above the calendar, where there is a button to "View Live WebCasts."
In case anyone has trouble getting out of bed at 4 AM: Archived videos of hearings held last week are currently available, so it is reasonable to expect that an archived video of the Akaka bill hearing will remain on the committee website for at least a few days. However, it might take a few hours or a day after the hearing before a link gets posted.
The committee does not seem interested in receiving testimony from anyone other than invited witnesses; because there is no procedure for submitting testimony. Nevertheless, those who wish to submit testimony in favor of the bill might send it to Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D,HI) who is the bill's chief sponsor.
Those opposed should not send testimony to ranking Republican member Don Young (R,AK) because he favors the bill. In 2007 Rep. Jeff Flake (R,AZ) organized the opposition to the bill during floor debate. He is a member of the committee that will be hearing the bill. His D.C. office can be reached by phone at (202) 225-2635, or written comments might be faxed to him at (202) 226-4386. His e-mail contact is through a webform intended for use only by his own constituents in Arizona.
