Welcome to Washington’s Russia week.

All eyes are on former FBI Director James Comey today as he testifies openly for the first time since President Donald Trump fired him. More than 120 reporters, not including photographers, are stuffed in a congressional hearing room to watch it unfold, and millions of Americans are tuned into the live stream. Every major TV outlet is ready to broadcast, and across town, bars are opening early to host watch parties. At Union Pup, about a block away from Comey’s hot seat, patrons will enjoy free drinks every time Trump tweets about the ordeal.

Comey gave us a primer Wednesday by allowing the Senate Intelligence Committee to publish his opening statement. Comey confirmed he never opened an investigation into Trump personally. But get ready for senators to press him on that today.

Comey is not the only person of interest testifying about Trump and the Russia saga this week. Two top U.S. intelligence chiefs addressed the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday. Senators wanted clarity on whether Trump ever asked them to downplay Russia inquires.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., pressed Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: "Are you prepared to say you have never been asked?”

“I am not prepared to go down that road right now,” Coats said.

House advances genocide bill

The House of Representatives advanced new aid for genocide victims in Iraq and Syria this week, a small victory in the long path to save endangered religious minorities in the region.

In March 2016, then-Secretary of State John Kerry made a historic declaration that Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists were not committing random attacks, but were conducting genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities. This marked only the second time in history the United States recognized genocide amid an ongoing conflict. Once the State Department declares a genocide, it can’t just sit idly by and watch entire populations of people go extinct.

Or can it?

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and other Capitol Hill advocates such as Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., worked for more than two years to get the State Department to recognize genocide in the Middle East. But the State Department has yet to enact a strategy or designate funding to respond to the crisis.

On Tuesday, the House unanimously advanced a bill from Smith and Eshoo to provide emergency aid for genocide victims in Iraq and Syria. The bill needs approval in the Senate and a signature from Trump, but advocates say it’s a relief to finally get the ball rolling.

Because of persecution, Iraq’s Christian population is already 90 percent depleted, and it could be zero in a few years without drastic changes.

The bill would deploy millions of dollars in humanitarian relief to minority communities in Iraq and Syria.

Fortunate survivors have made it to relative safe havens such as in Erbil, Iraq. But even those who found some refuge from ISIS still need assistance for basic needs such as food and clean water, not to mention infrastructure to build a new life or a pathway to ever reclaim their ransacked homeland.

Even after the genocide declaration, no U.S. funds have gone to aid genocide victims directly.

The legislation would untie the hands of the State Department to provide immediate relief. It would also undo an important restriction by allowing State Department dollars to go into the hands of church workers on the ground for the first time.

Getting rid of this roadblock would make it easier for the United States to direct funds to areas most in need, Smith told me.

But Smith explained the bill would establish new accountability procedures so the United States can better track where funds are going and gauge what’s working.

Without State Department relief funds, nongovernmental agencies have tried to fill in the gaps. Since 2014, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than $12 million in support of persecuted religious minorities.

Smith and Eshoo first introduced the bill in September and hope the Senate will move quickly to get it across the finish line.

Jameson Cunningham, a spokesman for Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., who was an original co-sponsor of the bill, put it this way: “There’s a lot on everyone’s plate, but the Senate should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

The transfer of power in Washington has slowed the pace of many agenda items for lawmakers but has also left many executive agencies grossly understaffed.

The State Department has many vacant top positions, including the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Philippe Nassif, executive director for In Defense of Christians, told me an understaffed State Department is incredibly frustrating.

“This is an issue that everyone who works in this space has recognized,” Nassif said. “You have a situation where there are not enough people at State to handle everything being given to them. They are overwhelmed.”

Smith agreed the State Department needs more staff and resources, but he’s hopeful for the future. He said his conversations with the White House, particularly with Vice President Mike Pence, make him confident the Trump administration cares about helping genocide victims. —E.W.

A vice president who prays

Vice President Mike Pence may not be Catholic anymore, but that didn’t preclude him from headlining the 13th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday.

Each year thousands of Catholics gather in Washington, D.C., to share a meal and pray for the nation. President George W. Bush spoke at the event four years in a row during his final term in office, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., spoke last year.

Pence grew up as one of six children in an Irish Catholic family. He attended Catholic school for eight years and even served as an altar boy. Pence later converted to Protestantism in college.

“While my own faith journey has taken me and my family in a different direction, I want you all to know how much I cherish my Catholic upbringing and cherish the church,” he said.

The vice president touted the Trump administration’s commitment to religious liberty and protecting the lives the unborn.

“President Trump stands with those who are persecuted for their faith around the world—no matter the country they call home or the creed they profess,” Pence said. “And President Donald Trump stands with the most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, and the unborn.”

He pointed to the reversal of the Mexico City policy to prevent taxpayer funding from organizations that perform or promote abortions abroad. Pence also mentioned Trump has signed multiple pieces of pro-life legislation, including a congressional review act which granted states the ability to partly defund Planned Parenthood.

In January, Pence became the first sitting vice president to speak at the March for Life and said he was there because of Trump.

“The president pointed his finger at me without hesitation and said, you go. You go and you tell them we're with them,” Pence recounted. —E.W.

No new NIH director

Last month, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and 39 other lawmakers delivered a letter to the White House requesting Trump select a new pro-life director for the National Institutes of Health. Francis Collins, an Obama administration holdover, has remained in the post because Trump never nominated a new director. This isn’t out of the ordinary since the NIH director is historically a nonpartisan position. But Banks and others don’t like Collins’ record on life, particularly because of his support of embryonic stem cell research. But this week Trump decided not to make a change at NIH. “I am hopeful that Dr. Collins will turn away from embryo-killing research as he continues his tenure as NIH director,” Banks said. —E.W.

Can’t we just talk about infrastructure?

On Monday, the White House kicked off a series of events and speeches to draw attention to the president’s infrastructure goals. Trump spoke at the White House on Monday alongside Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to promote air traffic control reforms. Chao has been motorcading around town appearing before multiple congressional panels and evening donor events to promote the proposed reforms and the administration’s 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure outline. Meanwhile, Trump delivered an impassioned speech in Cincinnati on Wednesday hoping to get Americans excited about building new infrastructure.

But the White House has failed to focus the country’s attention. The president’s erratic tweets and big-ticket Russia hearings have dominated headlines. And the White House’s infrastructure week has become the target of jokes from Trump’s critics.

“Just wanted to say I'm enjoying infrastructure week,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, jested on Twitter. —E.W.