Here is the response from the State Department:

You may also recall that you wrote to Secretary of State Powell on July 21, 2003... Attached is a copy of the Department's September 25, 2004 reply to that letter. As you know, the Commission on the Capabilities of the United States regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction exhaustively investigated the issues surrounding the intelligence on alleged Iraqi efforts to obtain uranium from Niger, including the status of the information at the time of the President's January 2003 State of the Union Address. I refer you to the Commission's public report at pages 76-79 for its detailed findings on this subject.

Look, 1) we already did not answer your questions when Colin Powell was Secretary, 2) the Republicans in 2003 already looked at this, and 3) why do you keep asking us questions when we already did not answer them?

The State Department's response is a masterfully written stream of non sequitor gobbledygook. The department cites not only the non-answer about the Niger Forgeries: the appointment of Ambassador Richard Jones, the MERC program, the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission, Croatia, needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and the failure of Ambassador Tim Carney to appear before the Committee regarding Iraq reconstruction. The letter concludes, "I hope this response clarifies the points raised in your letter."

Chairman Waxman responds:

On April 3, 2007, I did receive a letter from your assistant secretary for legislative affairs, Jeffrey Bergner. Mr. Bergner's letter does not answer many of the Committee's questions, nor does it provide most of the information and documents the Committee requested. As a result, I continue to request your appearance before the Committee on April 18, 2007.

Wow! You mean all that other stuff doesn't really relate to the Niger forgeries and the Iraqi WMD claims asserted to by the Secretary Rice and the White House? Furthermore, Chairman Waxman writes:

Rather than address any of these questions, Mr. Bergner forwarded copies of two old State Department letters that have no bearing whatsoever on your knowledge of, your role in, or your statements about the Niger claim. Mr. Bergner also failed to respond to the Committee's questions about the seemingly inconsistent way in which the White House has responded to leaks of classified information, such as the disclosure of the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.

Waxman to Rice: Pay attention, because I want answers from you. I am not to be ignored. Waxman wants answers from Rice concerning:

Whether Secretary Rice had any knowledge that would explain why Bush cited the Niger forgeries in the State of the Union address.

Whether she knew before the State of the Union address of the doubts raised by the CIA and the State Department about the veracity of the Niger claim.

Whether there was a factual basis for her reference in her January 23, 2003, New York Times op-ed "Why We Know Iraq Is Lying" (also archived at the White House website), to "Iraq's efforts to get uranium from abroad".

Whether she took appropriate steps to investigate how the Niger claim ended up in the State of the Union address after it was revealed to be fraudulent.

Chairman Waxman adds:

...the Committee will not withdraw the invitation for you to testify on April 18, 2007. ...As I wrote in my prior letter, the Committee staff is available to discuss an alternative date for the hearing if necessary given the demands on your time as Secretary of State.

It seems to me that Secretary Rice has two options: 1) answer Waxman's questions, or 2) stay overseas. I think if Rice keeps avoiding the Oversight Committee and chooses no. 2, then Waxman is going to be forced to subpoena her majesty and compel her to testify.

It may seem like a slow dance, but Waxman isn't going to let up. For more background in Waxman's efforts to get Rice to answer the questions, see:

Update: Think Progress is reporting today that State Dept. Blows Off Waxman’s Niger Inquiry, Falsely Claims Rice Has ‘Answered In Full’ (hattip to Jeff in SF).