[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 31, 2001)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1074-D1075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
STEM CELL RESEARCH
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education concluded hearings to examine the progress in 
making stem cells available to federally-funded researchers, after 
receiving testimony from Wendy Baldwin, Deputy Director for Extramural 
Research, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Bert Vogelstein, Johns Hopkins University Oncology Center and 
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, on behalf of the 
Biological and Biomedical Applications of Stem Cell Research Committee 
of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine; James 
Thomson, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine/Wisconsin Regional 
Primate Research Center, and Carl E. Gulbrandsen, Wisconsin Alumni 
Research Foundation, both of Madison; Martin Pera, Monash University, 
Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and Joseph Itskovitz, Technion--Israel 
Institute of Technology and Rambam Medical Center Department of 
Obstetrics and Gynecology Haifa, Israel.
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Fisheries, 
Wildlife, and Water concluded oversight hearings to examine financial 
innovations for improving the utilization of available drinking water 
and wastewater infrastructure funding, focusing on who is developing 
and using these innovations, the relative effectiveness of each, and 
specifically, what role the federal government can play in promoting 
those innovations that are most effective, after receiving testimony 
from G. Tracy Mehan, Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental 
Protection Agency; Stephen E. Howard, Lehman Brothers, New York, New 
York; Rick Farrell, Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities, 
and Peter L. Cook, National Association of Water Companies, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Harold J. Gorman, Sewerage and Water Board of New 
Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, on behalf of the Association of 
Metropolitan Water Agencies; and Paul Pinault, Narragansett Bay 
Commission, Providence

[[Page D1075]]

Rhode Island, on behalf of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage 
Agencies.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of George L. Argyros, Sr., of California, to be Ambassador 
to Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation 
as Ambassador to Andorra, Robert M. Beecroft, of Maryland, for the rank 
of Ambassador as Head of Mission, Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lyons Brown, Jr., 
of Kentucky, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, Stephan 
Michael Minikes, of the District of Columbia, to be U.S. Representative 
to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the 
rank of Ambassador, William D. Montgomery, of Pennsylvania, to be 
Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Melvin F. Sembler, of 
Florida, to be Ambassador to Italy, and Ronald Weiser, of Michigan, to 
be Ambassador to the Slovak Republic. Mr. Brown was introduced by 
Senator McConnell, and Mr. Minikes was introduced by Senator Specter.
POSTAL TERRORISM PROTECTION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded joint hearing 
with the Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation and 
Federal Services to examine the effects of terrorism on the U.S. mail 
service, focusing on safeguards to protect postal employees and its 
customers, after receiving testimony from Senators Clinton and 
Wellstone; Mitchell L. Cohen, Director, Division of Bacterial and 
Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Raymond J. Decker, Director, Defense Capabilities and 
Management, General Accounting Office; Maj. Gen. John S. Parker, USA, 
Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and 
Fort Detrick; Ivan C.A. Walks, District of Columbia Department of 
Health, Washington, D.C.; Dan Hanfling, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls 
Church, Virginia, on behalf of the Inova Health Systems Emergency 
Management and Disaster Preparedness Task Force; and Tara O'Toole, 
Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies, 
Baltimore, Maryland, former Assistant Secretary of Energy for 
Environment Safety and Health.