2/9. Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) announced that they have reached an agreement with representatives of the Bush administration regarding extending the sunsetted provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

The House approved the conference report [219 pages in PDF] on HR 3199, the "USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005", on December 14, 2005, by a vote of 251-174. See, story titled "House Approves Conference Report on PATRIOT Act Extension Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,273, Thursday, December 15, 2005.

The Senate has not approved this conference report. A cloture motion to end a filibuster of the bill failed on December 16, 2005. The vote was 52-47. A supermajority of 60 votes is required for approval. Republicans voted 50-4. Democrats voted 2-44. See, Roll Call No. 358. The four Republicans who voted against the motion were Sen. Sununu, Sen. Craig, Sen. Murkowski, and Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN). However, Sen. Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, favored approval of the motion, but switched his vote to no at the last moment, to preserve his ability to bring a motion to reconsider. See, "Cloture Motion on PATRIOT Act Extension Bill Defeated in Senate" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,275, Monday, December 19, 2005.

The just announced agreement would bring the vote in favor of another cloture motion up to 56 -- still four votes short of a 60 vote majority. However, two Democrats, Sen. Tim Johnson (SD) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), voted for the cloture motion in December. The switch of these Republican votes would deprive Democrats opposing cloture of the claim that opposition is bipartisan. In contrast, support for the cloture motion would be bipartisan, if only barely.

The four Senators who just announced an agreement with the administration stated in their first release that "The package includes modifications to the Conference Report in three specific areas to better protect civil liberties while still providing law enforcement with expanded tools to conduct terrorism investigations."

The Senators' first release offers briefs summaries of the three changes. However, the four Senators also issued a more detailed second release [PDF] that limits and qualifies the statements in the first release.

Section 215 Orders. The most controversial of the sunsetted sections of the PATRIOT Act is Section 215, which pertains to access to business records, including library records, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The Senators' first release states that recipients of Section 215 orders "would have the explicit right to challenge the non-disclosure requirement" of these orders.

The Senators' second release offer more details, but not actual statutory language. It provides details that suggest that the right to challenge the non-disclosure requirement of Section 215 would be cosmetic and illusory. For example, these orders could be challenged "after one year of receipt". After one year the records would have been disclosed, privacy rights impacted, and the issue rendered moot.

Moreover, it provides that if certain Department of Justice (DOJ) officials certify to the Court "that disclosure may endanger the national security of the United States or interfere with diplomatic relations, such certification shall be treated as conclusive, unless the judge finds that the certification was made in bad faith".

And furthermore, the Court could only quash a Section 215 order if there is "no reason to believe that disclosure may endanger the national security of the United States, interfere with a criminal, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with diplomatic relations, or endanger the life or physical safety of any person". There would be no weighing or balancing. If the government can articulate any reason, the order withstands review.

Under this proposed settlement, few if any Section 215 orders would ever be quashed by a Court.

Disclosure of Attorney in NSL Challenges. The Republican Senators' first release also addresses the procedure for challenging National Security Letters (NSLs), another extrajudicial procedure. It states that "The agreement removes a requirement from the conference report that an individual provide the FBI with the name of an attorney consulted regarding an NSL."

The second release adds that the agreement "Removes from the conference report the requirement that a person inform the FBI of the identity of an attorney to whom disclosure was made or will be made to obtain legal advice or legal assistance with respect to a NSL order".

NSLs and Libraries. Third, the Senators' release states that the agreement "Clarifies current law to ensure that libraries functioning in their traditional roles, including providing Internet access, are not subject to NSLs".

Reaction. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who is one of the leading opponents of the Conference Report, stated in a release that "A bipartisan coalition in the Senate made a valiant stand to make clear that security and liberty are not mutually exclusive values in America. We can and we should have both. But White House nay-saying and partisanship have obstructed this from becoming the better bill that it should be, and that is deeply regrettable."

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) stated in its web site that "The deal makes minor changes and fails to include the common sense privacy and civil liberties protections from the bill passed unanimously by the Senate last summer."

The ACLU's Caroline Fredrickson stated in a release that "Serious problems remain in the Patriot Act that require serious reforms ... Unfortunately, the proposed changes to the reauthorization bill do not correct the secret record search powers and do not require that there be any individualized suspicion of wrongdoing by Americans before their financial, medical, library or other records can be searched. Common sense reforms could have required that records sought be connected to a suspected terrorist or terrorist organization."

2/9. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Media Bureau (MB) released a report [61 pages in PDF] titled "Further Report On the Packaging and Sale of Video Programming Services To the Public". See also, FCC release [PDF].

This report follows the November 18, 2004, report [217 pages in PDF] of the FCC titled "Report on the Packaging and Sale of Video Programming Services to the Public". See also, story titled "FCC Releases Study on Cable and Satellite A La Carte Pricing" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,024, November 23, 2004.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated in a release [PDF] that "Today, the Commission issued a further report, which concludes the earlier report contained mistaken calculations, relied on unsupported and problematic assumptions, and presented an incomplete analysis. According to today's report, a careful analysis reveals that a la carte and increased tiering could offer consumers greater choice and the opportunity to lower their bills."

The just released report concludes that the "First Report presented an incomplete and flawed analysis of the costs and benefits of bundling in the MVPD marketplace, as compared to offering programming a la carte. Characterizing bundling as an economically efficient way of distributing programming, the First Report paid short shrift to the potential impact of bundling on consumers. Bundling may drive up the price of video programming, making programming less affordable and precluding some consumers from purchasing programming services all together. Moreover, bundling mutes signals from consumers about the programming they find most desirable. Consumers may find that the programming they pay for as part of a bundle contains networks they do not watch and fails to include other quality programming that they would enjoy."

It adds that "further examination reveals the promise of a la carte as a means of combating rising MVPD rates and lowering consumer bills. For example, under a la carte, a consumer could cut his programming bills merely by electing to purchase fewer networks. And a la carte could make service affordable to those who cannot afford bundled rates. A la carte also could offer consumers the ability to pay only for the programming that they value."

It also concludes that "several alternatives for increasing consumer choice merit further consideration. Preliminary analysis suggests that mixed bundles, themed tiers, and subscriber-selected tiers all potentially offer consumer benefits, as compared with bundling channels into tiers of service. Each of these options would allow some consumers to reduce their MVPD bills and permit others to purchase video programming that they do not currently receive because of bundled pricing."

The First Report stated that "a la carte regulation will likely increase operational expenses for MVPDs in three main areas: (1) equipment and infrastructure; (2) customer service operations; and (3) billing and back office support. Unless constrained by regulation, many of these increased costs would likely be passed on to subscribers, resulting in higher subscriber fees. In addition, the MVPD cost increases would be most detrimental to smaller cable operators, who often have more limited and more costly options when it comes to obtaining capital to support investment in their operations."

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, stated in a release that "If a la carte is not more expensive for consumers, I will support an effort to take such an approach, subject to discussions with providers on the downside of such a process."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) stated in a release that "I am pleased that the Commission has concluded that ‘a la carte’ offering could reduce consumers' cable bills by as much as 13 percent. The report confirms what I have believed for years -- if consumers are allowed to choose the channels their families view then their monthly cable bill will be less. Choice is far preferable to being forced to buy a host of channels they don't even watch."

Sen. McCain (at right) added that "It is regrettable that the cable companies continue to balk at offering channels on an ‘a la carte’ basis and instead continue to raise the price of their bundled offering. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that consumers can expect to rate increases of as much as six percent during 2006. Therefore, I will soon be introducing legislation that would entice all providers of television services to offer an ‘a la carte’ option in addition to a package of channels in return for regulatory relief. I hope that the cable industry will appreciate the ability to choose despite their failure to provide meaningful choices to their customers."

Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable Telecommunications Association (NCTA), stated in a release that "Most studies conclude that a mandated a la carte regime would be more expensive for consumers and result in less diversity in programming. It is disappointing that the updated Media Bureau report relies on assumptions that are not in line with the reality of the marketplace. Over the last 25 years, the American free enterprise system created the most diverse video programming on Earth with the best value for the customer."

McSlarrow added that "The marketplace in which cable, satellite, broadcasters and others vigorously compete for customers should decide video offerings, not mandates and price controls imposed by Washington, D.C. The notion that the government knows better how to improve on a competitive marketplace is not supported by the evidence."

BellSouth's Herschel Abbott stated in a release that BellSouth "is in full agreement with the position expressed by Chairman Martin and some Members of Congress that providers of video programming need to be more responsive to consumer demands for choice with respect to the programs that come into their homes. The surest way to ensure consumer choice of programming options is through increased competition in the video market. Currently, one of the greatest roadblocks to telephone companies providing this competitive stimulant is the existing local franchising process and lack of a streamlined franchising framework. However, if these obstacles are removed, greater customer control over the programs entering their homes is just one of the many consumer benefits of telephone companies' Internet Protocol TV. As long as content can be acquired by competitors in a manner that allows flexibility, BellSouth would look forward to meeting the needs of our customers though a la carte and family-friendly tiered offerings."

2/9. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) released a paper [6 pages in PDF] titled "Patents and Loser Pays: Why Not?". It was written by the PFF's Solveig Singleton. See also, PFF release.

The paper states that "The ``American Rule´´ for attorney's fees is that each party pays its own attorney's fees, and this has been the general rule in United States since at least the eighteenth century. ... But judges have the discretion to order the loser to pay the winner's attorney's fees only in exceptional patent cases. Fees are shifted to the alleged patent infringer in only about one percent of suits terminated by pre-trial motion or by trial, almost always because the patent holder was found to be engaging in vexatious litigation or inequitable conduct, failed to investigate whether infringement was present, or abused the discovery process." (Footnotes omitted.)

In contrast, "The ``English Rule´´ or ``loser pays´´ rule is that the loser pays his own attorney's fees and those of the winner".

The paper concludes that "``Loser pays´´ rules discourage nuisance suits over time by encouraging defendants to litigate those suits. In patent law, such an effect would be desirable given current problems with patent quality and the fact that firms have little incentive to seek to invalidate even weak patents."

It adds that "loser pays is the fairest rule as a general matter, because it alone leaves the party in the right wholly compensated after the lawsuit".

2/8. John White was named to be Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance. He will start on March 20, 2006. He will replace Alan Beller. White is currently a partner in the law firm of Cravath Swaine & Moore. See, SEC release.

2/8. Mike Mullen was named Director of Government Relations at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). He previously worked for Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), who is a member of the House Commerce Committee, and its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. See, NAB release.

2/8. President Bush signed S 1932, the "Deficit Reduction Act of 2005". See, White House release. Title III of this bill is the "Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005". That is, President Bush has signed into law the DTV transition bill. See also, story titled "Congress Enacts DTV Transition Legislation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,303, February 3, 2006.

2/8. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a two count criminal complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Premio Inc. alleging collusion and fraud involving the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) e-rate tax and subsidy program. One count charges Premio with submitting rigged bids to a school district in Fresno, California. The other charges Premio with substituting ineligible equipment for approved equipment, submitting false and fraudulent documents to hide the fact that it installed ineligible equipment, and submitting false invoices. The DOJ also announced in a release that Premio has agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.7 Million in fines and restitution.

The House will not meet. It will next meet on Tuesday, February 14.

The Senate will meet 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of S 852, the asbestos claims bill.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in FMStar Semiconductor v. International Trade Commission, App. Ct. No. 05-1129. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

8:30 - 11:45 AM. The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) will host an event titled "Tuning In to the New Age of Video: Ensuring the Benefits of Advanced Technology for All Americans". The speakers will include Johanna Shelton (House Commerce Committee), Eloise Gore (FCC Media Bureau), Link Hoewing (Verizon), and Larry Goldberg (WGBH National Center for Accessible Media). See, notice. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

11:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a hearing in Electronic Privacy Information Center v. Department of Justice. This is a hearing on the EPIC's motion [PDF] for an order compelling the DOJ to expedite its processing of the EPIC Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents regarding the National Security Agency's (NSA) extra-judicial surveillance program. See also, story titled "EPIC Files FOIA Complaint Against DOJ for Records Related to NSA Domestic Terrorist E-Surveillance" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,295, January 24, 2006. This case is D.C. No. 06-0096. For more information, contact David Sobel (EPIC General Counsel) at 202 483-1140 x105, or Marcia Hofmann at x112. Location: Courtroom 27A, Prettyman Courthouse, 3rd and Constitution, NW.

11:45 AM - 1:45 PM. The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) will host a luncheon titled "Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards Luncheon". See, notice.

Day one of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in FCC v. ATT, App. Ct. No. 05-1096. Judges Randolph, Garland and Williams will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Luncheon with State PUC Officials". See, registration form [MS Word]. The price to attend ranges from $35 to $70. Location: Atrium Ballroom, Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "The Federal Budget Outlook". The speakers will be Donald Marron (acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office), Chris Edwards (Cato), and Stephen Slivinski (Cato). See, notice and registration page. Lunch will be served. Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON. David Goldston, Chief of Staff of the House Science Committee (HSC), will host an event titled "Pen and Pad Press Availability". He will discuss HSC activities, the outlook for the second session of the 109th Congress, President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative and FY 2007 budget proposal". Pizza will be served. RSVP to Joe Pouliot at joe dot pouliot at mail dot house dot gov or Zachary Kurz at zachary dot kurz at mail dot house dot gov. Location: Room 2325, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [26 pages in PDF] regarding Section 621(a)(1)'s directive that local franchising authorities (LFAs) not unreasonably refuse to award competitive franchises. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 3, 2005, and released it on November 18, 2005. It is FCC 05-189 in MB Docket No. 05-311. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 14, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 239, at Pages 73973 - 73980. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding Local Franchising of Video Services" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,247, November 4, 2005.

Day two of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks". See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Randall Kroszner and Kevin Warsh (to be members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) and Edward Lazear (President's Council of Economic Advisors). See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

5:30 PM. The House Armed Services Committee will meet to mark up HRes 645, which requests the Bush administration "to transmit to the House of Representatives all information in the possession of the President or the Secretary of Defense relating to the collection of intelligence information pertaining to persons inside the United States without obtaining court-ordered warrants authorizing the collection of such information and relating to the policy of the United States with respect to the gathering of counterterrorism intelligence within the United States". Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

Day three of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "FCC Activities and Policy". See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY 31. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Video Franchising". The witnesses will be Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon), James Ellis (AT&T), Thomas Rutledge (Cablevision Systems Corporation), Brad Evans (Cavalier Telephone), Lori Tillery (National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors), Anthony Riddle (Alliance for Community Media), Gene Kimmelman (Consumers Union), and Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge). See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "The Law and Economics of Interchange Fees". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will meet to received the Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) semiannual monetary policy report. FRB Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify. See, HFSC release. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee (HSC) will hold a hearing titled "An Overview of the Federal R&D Budget for Fiscal Year 2007". The witnesses will be John Marburger (Director of the EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy), Samuel Bodman (Secretary of Energy), David Sampson (Deputy Secretary of Commerce), Arden Bement (Director of the National Science Foundation), and Charles McQueary (Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the DHS). For more information, contact Peter Rooney (Republican staff) at 202 225-6371, or Christal Sheppard (Democratic staff) at 202 225-6375. The hearing will be web cast by the HSC. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "President's Fiscal Year 2007 Budget". Secretary of the Treasury John Snow will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

1:30 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "President Bush's Trade Agenda". See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold the sixth in a series of weekly meetings to prepare for the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) 2006 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, to be held November 6-24, 2006, in Antalya, Turkey. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 21, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 244, at Page 75854. This notice incorrectly states that these meetings will be held on Tuesdays; they are on Wednesdays. For more information, contact Julian Minard at 202 647-2593 or minardje at state dot gov. Location: AT&T, 1120 20th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing to examine developments in nanotechnology. See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for its 2006 SURF grants. These are the Gaithersburg Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program, and the Boulder Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. The NIST distributes grants for, among other topics, electronics and electrical engineering, and information technology. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 9, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 5, at Pages 1411 - 1416.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Common Carrier Practice Committee will host a continuing legal education seminar (CLE) titled "Federal Universal Service Regulation and Policy: Where are We Going, and Why?" The first of two panels is titled "USF Contribution Mechanisms". The speakers will be Joel Lubin (AT&T), Tina Pidgeon (GCI), Donald Stockdale (FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau), and Rick Cimerman (NCTA). The second panel is titled "USF Distribution Policies". The speakers will be Paul Feldman (Fletcher Heald & Hildreth), Eric Einhorn (AT&T), Nannette Thompson (GCI), and Bob Rowe (Rowe & Balhoff). See, notice [MS Word] and registration form [MS Word]. The price to attend ranges from $75 to $125. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW.

Day four of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled "First Monetary Policy Report to the Congress for 2006". Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the Bush administration's trade agenda for 2006. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Copyright and Fair Use". The speakers will include Ronald Dove (Covington & Burling), Margaret Esquenet (Finnegan Henderson), and Matthew DelNero (Covington & Burling). The price to attend ranges from $15-$25. For more information, call 202 626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

TIME? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host a half day conference titled "Private Securities Litigation Ten Years After the PSLRA: What’s Working, What’s Not?". See, notice. Location: U.S. Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering Committee will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "FCC Regulation of New Technologies". The speakers will be Mitchell Lazarus (Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth), Julius Knapp (Deputy Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology), Rashmi Doshi (Chief of the FCC's OET's Laboratory Division), Karl Nebbia (National Telecommunications Information Administration), Barry Ohlson (assistant to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein), and Jay Birnbaum (Current Communications Group). See, notice and registration form [PDF]. The price to attend ranges from $50 to $125. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

8:15 PM. Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) will host a panel discussion titled "The War on Terror: Civil Defense vs. Civil Liberties". The speakers will be Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Neal Katyal (GULC), Seymour Hersh, and Wolf Blitzer (CNN). Location: GULC, Hart Auditorium, McDonough Hall, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

George Washington's birthday.

The House will not meet on Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24. See, Majority Whip's calendar.

The Senate will not meet on Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24. See, 2006 Senate calendar.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other federal offices will be closed. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) list of federal holidays.

12:00 NOON UTC. Deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding the proposed agreements that would settle litigation between VeriSign and the ICANN. See, story titled "ICANN Seeks Comments on Settlement of Litigation with VeriSign" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,300, January 31, 2006.

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