Democrats began urging the House Oversight Committee to begin a probe into the phone-hacking allegations last year, alarmed by reports that 9/11 victims may have been among those targeted. Republicans likely will be reluctant to prick News Corp., whose properties (most notably Fox News Channel) are viewed as sympathetic to conservatives. But a lack of candor with the government is grounds for the FCC to revoke a broadcaster's license, so if News Corp. is found to have targeted U.S. citizens or lied about it to the government, they face the very real prospect of FCC action.
House Panel Wants Pentagon and VA to Share Medical Records: CQ's Eugene Mulero reports the House Appropriations Committee approved a draft bill spending on Wednesday that would call on the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to share information on veterans seeking benefits. VA has historically been plagued with problems in its IT infrastructure, though those have been mitigated by improved management under the Obama administration. VA is currently facing a backlog of 1 million unprocessed claims from veterans, even as pressure has built on the agency to share more information with the Department of Defense. The draft bill would fence off funding for the DoD-VA integrated health record technology initiative until both departments implement recommendations from the Government Accountability Office. The overall House fiscal 2013 Military Construction-VA spending bill would preserve 2012 funding at $71.7 billion. Draft Intel Spending Bill Preserves Spy Satellites: CQ's Tim Starks reports a draft fiscal 2013 measure to reauthorize spy agencies is likely to preserve commercial satellite contracts slated for cuts by the Obama administration. The bipartisan draft bill from House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland is scheduled for a markup behind closed doors on Thursday and could come to the floor as soon as the end of this month. Both sponsors have expressed concern about the administration's proposal to cut funding for the commercial satellite imagery contracts from $540 million to $250 million. Intelligence authorization has become a bipartisan issue in recent years, meaning the administration will likely have to look elsewhere for savings. Grassley Questions NASA on Google Lease of Airfield: Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote to NASA this week questioning an arrangement that allows Google to make use of Moffett Federal Airfield in Santa Clara County, Calif. The private airfield is operated by the NASA Ames Research Center; Google reportedly signed a 40-year lease with NASA in 2008 for 42 acres at the airfield for a cost of $3.7 million per year. Grassley questioned the benefit to the U.S. government of allowing Google to house its fleet at the airport and cited reports that claim only five percent of the flights were for scientific missions. Grassley also accused Google of purchasing jet fuel from the government well below market prices thanks to preferential tax treatment.Ken Ambrose, vice president of H211, LLC responded to Grassley by clarifying that the aircraft are owned by his firm (a holding company reportedly owned by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin), not Google. Ambrose claims his company pays above-market rent for its hangar space at Moffett Federal Airfield, and that it has conducted more than 150 science and support missions for NASA with its aircraft. He also noted that House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has visited the facility and been briefed on the operation, and that the only fuel available on the airport is controlled by a Pentagon contractor. Grassley reportedly responded to Ambrose by posing the same list of questions he put to NASA on the arrangement. He expects answers by May 30.