On Wednesday, January 21st, at 1:30 the Committee will hold a business meeting to mark up H.R. __ the Digital Television Transition Extension Act of 2009.  This legislation will help mitigate anticipated challenges for consumers posed by the digital television (“DTV”) transition.  The bill would postpone the DTV transition until June 12, 2009, so that efforts to prepare and educate consumers can be substantially enhanced by the incoming administration.  
- Discussion Draft

On Thursday, January 22, at 10 a.m. the Committee will hold a business meeting to mark up portions of the economic recovery package that are in the jurisdiction of the Committee.  Three separate measures are likely to be considered at this markup concerning the following issues: health, broadband, and energy.   The health, broadband, and energy texts are posted below. 
- Health Text
- Broadband Text
- Energy Text
Also read the Summary of the Energy & Commerce Provisions on
Medicaid and the Unemployed and Health Information Technology.

Chairman Waxman and Chairman Stupak wrote to the Peanut Corporation of America to seek information and records relating to the company's recent recall of peanut butter linked to the recent nationwide outbreak of Salmonella that has reportedly caused 434 illnesses and five deaths.
Read the Letter

Chairmen Henry A. Waxman and Bobby L. Rush, together with Senator John D. Rockefeller, incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Senator Mark L. Pryor, sent a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission expressing concerns about implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.  The letter highlighted four issues of particular concern and urged the Commission to take swift action to address critical issues of implementation.
Read the Letter

House Democratic leaders introduced legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance currently for more than 7 million children.  This legislation will protect coverage for those children and expand it to include an additional 4 million children who would otherwise be uninsured.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing titled, “The U.S. Climate Action Partnership” on Thursday, January 15, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will present the perspectives of members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (“USCAP”), a coalition of over 30 businesses and nongovernmental organizations that has called for Congress to pass legislation to address the climate change threat.