Officially, the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications and Technology will meet to ask federal officials about the billions (yes, billions) they plan to spend to create a communication system that allows police, fire and other public safety officials to talk to each other.

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Key Democrats, such as high-ranking members like Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Pete Stark (D- CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, have backed the repeal of IPAB.

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The federal government has opened a criminal investigation into the company, and its president, Stewart Parnell, repeatedly refused to answer questions Wednesday before the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which is seeking ways to prevent another outbreak.

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Whatever the merits of Winnick's offer, it did distract attention from the ostensible subject of the hearing of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which was how much Winnick knew about his company's deteriorating finances when he sold his last large block of Global Crossing shares in May 2001.

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The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is investigating what went wrong at the company and why it was able to continue to function despite a history of problems.

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In 2005, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, called for a hearing on the BCS before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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As I testified last February before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this view was confirmed by my own experience in negotiating an agreement with the Japanese concerning Japan's participation in the Strategic Defense Initiative.

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The bill now sits in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where it was referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology last year.

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