House Energy And Commerce Committee U S

Opening a split among congressional Democrats that could affect President-elect Barack Obama's efforts to curb global warming, a California environmentalist is trying to wrest control of a crucial House committee from its chairman, who is the automobile industry's strongest ally in fighting stricter antipollution standards. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) has announced that he wants to replace Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.

The head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said he was backing off on a controversial auto emissions provision that had stalled an energy bill his committee was drafting. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), a longtime protector of the automakers, said he was dropping language that would have barred the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and would have blocked California and 11 other states from doing so.

Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) was "very concerned." Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) was "frustrated" and "angry," as well as "concerned." And Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) was "just baffled." No one, in fact, said he or she was pleased during a hearing by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which spent hours Thursday examining what led to a break in one of BP's Alaska oil pipelines this year.

Telecommunications executives told a congressional panel Wednesday that three proposed mega-mergers would help the beleaguered industry modernize the nation's communications networks without hurting consumers. The hearing, held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, follows warnings from some experts that the cost of Internet and telephone service could rise with Sprint Corp.'s planned acquisition of cellphone carrier Nextel Communications Inc., SBC Communications Inc.'

Broadcast indecency soared to the top of the congressional agenda after Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance at the Super Bowl. And as luck would have it, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the new chairman of the House committee that oversees the nation's airwaves, was at the game. But he never saw Janet Jackson. He was busy pleading with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to get the Senate to pass the long-stalled energy bill, which Barton helped write.

Chiron Corp. came under fresh scrutiny Thursday as the House Energy and Commerce Committee sought documents on bacterial contamination at the company's factory in Britain, which led to the U.S. shortage of flu vaccine. The request came one day after government inspection reports released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) revealed that Chiron first discovered bacteria in unfinished batches of vaccine in March and opened an internal investigation into the problem in April.

As chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, W.J. "Billy" Tauzin is used to getting what he wants. In June, the Louisiana Republican broke six years of political deadlock and helped win approval of the biggest expansion of the Medicare program in nearly 40 years. And he outmaneuvered House Democrats this spring when he pushed through a major energy bill, handing President Bush a victory on a key economic policy issue.

As Congress opens hearings today into the cause of last month's Northeast power blackout, one outcome is likely to be a surge of support for a measure designed to make the nation's electric transmission grid more reliable.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt took the chairman of the House Commerce Committee to task for pressing for delays in major rule changes for the Nasdaq Stock Market, according to a letter released Monday. The pressure from Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) threatened to interfere with a recently concluded SEC investigation of the Nasdaq market, Levitt complained in his July 30 letter to Bliley.

The chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the powerful House Commerce Committee have gone to exceptional lengths in recent days to keep secret the nature of a closed-door meeting last week, raising the possibility that the two have reached a compromise in a fight over rule revisions that would profoundly change the Nasdaq Stock Market.