Congressional Calendar June 15, 2010

Before President Obama addresses the nation to speak about the Gulf oil spill, there will be a flurry of action on the topic on Capitol Hill. Top executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and BP America testify before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hears from a panel of health experts, who will testify about potential health problems for cleanup crews in the Gulf of Mexico.

Members of the Gulf Coast Congressional delegation will call on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to end the current moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling. They say that despite the accident aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, offshore drilling is a safe way to harvest natural resources.

The spill has also pushed Congress to act on energy and environmental legislation, which was thought to be dead on arrival before the accident. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., will hold a press conference to talk about their bill, the American Power Act. Getting 60 votes for it will be an uphill climb though, as the drilling provisions in the legislation are probably enough to kill the bill in the Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, plans to introduce legislation to increase the tax companies pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund from 8 cents to 21 cents. The trust fund is used to clean up after spills.

CENTCOM Commander Gen. David Petraeus speaks with the Senate Armed Services Committee about the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

Senate leadership hold dueling press conferences to outline the week ahead. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky leads off at 2:30 p.m. ET, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to follow.

There are also events on health care, Wall St. reform, and more Tuesday so be sure to check back with Fox News for the latest.