Congressional Calendar July 22, 2010

The House of Representatives has its chance to pass an extension in unemployment insurance benefits. If the measure succeeds, the next stop for the bill will be on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue on President Obama’s desk.

The Senate will move on to a bill designed to boost small business. The legislation, which increases SBA loans and extends small business tax cuts, is currently short of the 60 votes needed to end debate.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers testimony on the state of the economy to the House Financial Services Committee at 9:30 a.m. ET. On Wednesday he told a senate panel that the nation’s economic recovery looks “unusually uncertain,” but that the Federal Reserve would be able to step in if the nation’s financial situation deteriorates yet again.

A relatively benign hearing on the 20th anniversary of the American Disabilities Act at 2:00 p.m. ET has the chance to explode Thursday afternoon. Tom Perez, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice may face tough off topic questions on the department’s handling of a New Black Panther Party voter intimidation investigation by Republican committee members.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the catalyst for a series of hearings on the Hill Thursday.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examines the Interior Department’s ability to effectively oversee offshore oil drilling operations with Secretary Ken Salazar and the new head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement Michael Bromwich.

BP wasn’t the only company with a financial interest at the Macondo well, so should they be the only ones to pay out damages? That’s the question that Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee will be trying to answer at 2:30 p.m. ET. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation owns a 25% stake in the well, but balked when BP sent them at $272 million bill for cleanup expenses. Other investors are refusing to chip in as well.

Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic brief members of Congress on a new breast cancer vaccine. Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., a breast cancer survivor, will make opening remarks at 10:00 a.m. ET.

It’s a full day on the Hill and we’ll be all over these stories and more so stay with Fox News for all the latest.