[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 92 (Thursday, June 28, 2001)] [Daily Digest] [Pages D652-D655] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Committee Meetings (Committees not listed did not meet) FEDERAL FARM BILL Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee held hearings to examine the context, framework, and content of the comprehensive federal Farm Bill reauthorization and new agriculture policy that can provide a more sustainable and predictable long-term economic safety net, receiving testimony from [[Page D653]] Leland Swenson, National Farmers Union, Washington, D.C.; Bob Stallman, Columbus, Texas, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation; Charles W. Fluharty, Rural Policy Research Institute, Columbia, Missouri; Craig Cox, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa; Howard A. Learner, Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest, Chicago, Illinois; Barbara P. Glenn, Federation of Animal Science Societies/Coalition on Funding Agricultural Research Missions, Bethesda, Maryland, on behalf of the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research; Sharon Daly, Catholic Charities USA, Alexandria, Virginia; and David E. Carter, Mountain View Harvest Cooperative, Longmont, Colorado. Hearings recessed subject to call. APPROPRIATIONS--INTERIOR Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported H.R. 2217, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, with amendments. APPROPRIATIONS--FCC/SEC Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary concluded hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2002, after receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from Michael K. Powell, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; and Laura Simone Unger, Acting Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission. APPROPRIATIONS--INTERIOR Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior approved for full committee consideration H.R. 2217, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, with amendments. APPROPRIATIONS--FAA/AMTRAK Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation concluded hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2002, after receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from Senators Biden and McCain; Jane F. Garvey, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, and George D. Warrington, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), both of the Department of Transportation. AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 2002 for the Department of Defense and the Future Years Defense program, focusing on the 2002 budget amendment, after receiving testimony from Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary, and Dov S. Zakheim, Under Secretary/Comptroller, both of the Department of Defense; and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, USA, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. NOMINATIONS Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported 2,130 military nominations in the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. IRAN AND LIBYA SANCTIONS ACT Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on S. 994, to amend the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 to extend authorities for five years under that Act, after receiving testimony from E. Anthony Wayne, Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs, and James Larocco, Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, both of the Department of State; Patrick Clawson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Bradley Gordon, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, William A. Reinsch, National Foreign Trade Council, on behalf of USA*Engage, and William F. Martin, Washington Policy and Analysis, Inc./Council on Foreign Relations Energy Security Group, former Deputy Secretary of Energy/Executive Secretary of the National Security Council, all of Washington, D.C.; and Stephanie Bernstein, Justice for Pan Am 103, Bethesda, Maryland. BUDGET SURPLUS AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine the state of the projected budget surplus following approval of the Congressional budget resolution and enactment of the recent tax- reduction legislation, and the outlook of the United States economy, after receiving testimony from Robert Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Robert L. Bixby, Concord Coalition, and Carol Cox Wait, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, all of Washington, D.C. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD'S MERGER RULES Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine concluded hearings to examine the Surface Transportation Board's new rules governing mergers of large railroads adopted in Major Rail Consolidation Procedures, STB Ex Parte No. 582 (Sub-No. 1), after receiving testimony from Linda J. Morgan, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board, Department of Transportation; Claudia L. Howells, Oregon Department of Transportation, Salem; John W. Snow, [[Page D654]] CSX Corporation, Richmond, Virginia; Paul M. Tellier, Canadian National Railway Company, Washington, D.C.; Michael R. Haverty, Kansas City Southern Railway Company, Kansas City, Missouri; and William L. Gebo, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan. CLIMATE CHANGE Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee held hearings to examine the recent National Research Council report on the science of climate change, energy technology options for managing the risks posed by climate change, what impact any effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would have on energy policy, and provisions to establish an Interagency Working Group on clean energy technology transfer of S. 597, Comprehensive and Balanced Energy Policy Act, receiving testimony from James Edmonds, Senior Staff Scientist, and William Chandler, Senior Staff Scientist and Director, Advanced International Studies Unit, both of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Mark D. Levine, Director, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, all of the Department of Energy; F. Sherwood Rowland, University of California, Irvine, John M. Wallace, University of Washington, Seattle, and Eric Barron, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, all on behalf of the National Research Council; and Robert M. Friedman, H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, Washington, D.C. Hearings recessed subject to call. ZIMBABWE'S CRISIS Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs concluded hearings to examine the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe, after receiving testimony from Walter H. Kansteiner III, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Robert I. Rotberg, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Prevention, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on behalf of the World Peace Foundation; Yves Sorokobi, Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, New York; and John Prendergast, International Crisis Group, Washington, D.C. ELECTRIC INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURING Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings to examine the impact of electric industries restructuring on system reliability, focusing on new participants in the electric business, changing roles of traditional participants, increasing the number of wholesale power transactions, as well as increasing the distances over which power transactions take place, receiving testimony from Kevin A. Kelly, Director, Division of Policy Innovation and Communication, Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy; David N. Cook, North American Electric Reliability Council, Princeton, New Jersey; Phillip G. Harris, PJM Interconnection, Norristown, Pennsylvania; and Irwin A. Popowsky, Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate, Harrisburg, on behalf of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. Hearings recessed subject to call. ELECTION REFORM Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded hearings to examine a report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights regarding the November 2000 election and election reform in general, after receiving testimony from Representatives Conyers, Ney, Hoyer, Wexler, Blunt, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Reyes, Becerra, Kildee, Waters, Corrine Brown, Deutsch, Meek, Jackson-Lee, Foley, Gonzalez, and Sweeney. VETERANS BENEFITS Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on proposals providing for certain Veteran's benefits, including S. 131, to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the annual determination of the rate of the basic benefit of active duty educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill, S. 228, to amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent the Native American veterans housing loan program, S. 409, to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the standards for compensation for Persian Gulf veterans suffering from certain undiagnosed illnesses, S. 457, to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of service- connection for certain veterans with Hepatitis C, S. 662, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish headstones or markers for marked graves of, or to other wise commemorate, certain individuals, S. 781, to amend section 3702 of title 38, United States Code, to extend the authority for housing loans for members of the Selected Reserve, S. 912, to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase burial benefits for veterans, S. 937, to amend title 38, United States Code, to permit the transfer of entitlement to educational assistance of the Montgomery GI Bill by members of the Armed Forces, S. 1063, to amend chapter 72 of title 38, United States Code, to improve the administration of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, S. 1088, to amend title 38, United States Code, to facilitate the use of educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill for education leading to employment in high technology industry, S. 1089, to [[Page D655]] amend section 7253 of title 38, United States Code, to expand temporarily the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in order to further facilitate staggered terms for judges on that court, S. 1090, to increase, effective as of December 1, 2001, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, S. 1091, to amend section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, to modify and extend authorities on the presumption of service-connection for herbicide-related disabilities of Vietnam era veterans, and S. 1093, to amend title 38, United States Code, to exclude certain income from annual income determinations for pension purposes, to limit provision of benefits for fugitive and incarcerated veterans, to increase the home loan guaranty amount for construction and purchase of homes, and to modify and enhance other authorities relating to veterans' benefits, after receiving testimony from Senators Johnson and Hutchison; Leo S. Mackay, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, who was accompanied by several of his associates; and John R. Vitikacs, American Legion, Sidney Daniels, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Rick Surratt, Disabled American Veterans, and David M. Tucker, Paralyzed Veterans of America, all of Washington, D.C. LONG-TERM CARE Special Committee on Aging: Committee held hearings to examine the Administration's efforts to address the long-term care needs of this nation's elderly and disabled, including the role of families in providing care, and the role of federal programs in financing services, receiving testimony from former Senator David Durenberger, on behalf of the Citizens for Long Term Care Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services; Carol V. O'Shaughnessy, Specialist in Social Legislation, Congressional Research Services, Library of Congress; and Robert B. Blancato, Matz, Blancato and Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C., former Executive Director, White House Conference on Aging. Hearings recessed subject to call.