A number of Congressional committees have held hearings recently on health policy issues, including a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing examining increasing health costs facing small businesses and a House Appropriations Committee “briefing” on the “2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Examining the Federal, State, and Local Public Health Response.” In addition, on November 18, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing on “H1N1 Preparedness: An Overview of Vaccine Production and Distribution.”