Week ahead: Kerry returns to the Capitol
A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing next week.
Secretary of State John Kerry can expect to face questions about Iran and Middle East peace talks when he returns to Capitol Hill next week.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to finally hear from America's top diplomat on Tuesday, April 8, about his $46.2 billion FY2015 budget request, after two postponements due to the crisis in Ukraine. This will be Kerry's first appearance since Israeli-Palestinian talks teetered and nuclear talks with Iran resumed.
The committee is then slated to hear from USAID administrator Rajiv Shah on Thursday, April 10, about the budget's international development priorities. Shah's appearance risks being overshadowed by the Associated Press' bombshell revelation of a secretive USAID program to create a "Cuban Twitter" aimed at undermining the Castro regime's control on information.
Shah is also scheduled to appear before Senate and House appropriators on Tuesday, April 8, before addressing the House Foreign Affairs panel on Wednesday, April 9.
