[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 68 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D540-D542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine disaster assistance issues, focusing on drought, 
flood, disease, and their effects on livestock and crops, after 
receiving testimony from Senator Enzi; Keith Collins, Chief Economist, 
Department of Agriculture; Craig Hill, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, 
Milo; Larry Barbie, Montana Grain Growers Association, Inverness; Bryan 
Dierlam, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Washington, D.C.; 
Robert S. Green, Michigan Bean Commission, St. Johns; and Brian 
Chandler, Midland, Texas, on behalf of the National Farmers Union.
BANKING AND REAL ESTATE
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Financial Institutions concluded oversight hearings to examine banking 
and financial holding company engagement in real estate brokerage and 
property management, after receiving testimony from Tom Murphy, Chell 
Realtors, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on behalf of the National 
Association of Realtors; James E. Smith, Citizens Union State Bank and 
Trust, Clinton, Missouri, on behalf of the American Bankers 
Association; John Taylor, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 
Washington, D.C.; Howard W. Hanna III, Howard Hanna Real Estate 
Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the Real Estate 
Services Providers Council, Inc., and the Realty Alliance.
YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY SITE
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings 
on S.J. Res. 34, approving the site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the 
development of a repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive 
waste and spent nuclear fuel, pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 
of 1982, and a related Administration proposal recommending the Yucca 
Mountain site for development of a repository, and the objections of 
the Governor of Nevada to the Administration's recommendation, after 
receiving testimony from Richard A. Meserve, Chairman, Nils J. Diaz, 
Greta Joy Dicus, and Edward McGaffigan, Jr., all Commissioners, all of 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Gary Jones, Director, Natural 
Resources and Environment, General Accounting Office; Jeffrey R. 
Holmstead, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Environmental 
Protection Agency; Robert Card, Under Secretary, Department of Energy; 
Jim Hall, Transportation Safety Coalition, Washington, D.C., former 
Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; and Jared L. 
Cohon, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on behalf 
of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  Two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 
both of which were adopted at New York, May 25, 2000: (1) The Optional 
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Involvement of 
Children in Armed Conflict, and (2) The Optional Protocol to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child 
Prostitution and Child Pornography, signed on July 5, 2000 (Treaty Doc. 
106-37). (Protocol 1, with five understandings, and three conditions; 
and Protocol 2, with one reservation, six understandings, one 
declaration, and one condition);
  S. 2487, to provide for global pathogen surveillance and response;
  S. Res. 182, expressing the sense of the Senate that the United 
States should allocate significantly more resources to combat global 
poverty, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Res. 252, expressing the sense of the Senate regarding human 
rights violations in Tibet, the Panchen Lama, and the need for dialogue 
between the Chinese leadership and the Dalai Lama or his 
representatives, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

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  S. Res. 263, congratulating the Republic of Croatia on the 10th 
anniversary of its recognition by the United States, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Con. Res. 109, commemorating the independence of East Timor and 
expressing the sense of Congress that the President should establish 
diplomatic relations with East Timor, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. Res. 253, reiterating the sense of the Senate regarding Anti-
Semitism and religious tolerance in Europe, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. Res. 274, expressing the sense of the Senate concerning the 2002 
World Cup and co-hosts Republic of Korea and Japan;
  S. Res. 272, expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the success 
of the Varela Project's collection of 10,000 certified signatures in 
support of a national referendum and the delivery of these signatures 
to the Cuban National Assembly, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of David A. Gross, of Maryland, for the rank of 
Ambassador during his tenure of service as Deputy Assistant Secretary 
of State for International Communications and Information Policy in the 
Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and U.S. Coordinator for 
International Communications and Information Policy, Jack C. Chow, of 
Pennsylvania, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service 
as Special Representative of the Secretary of State for HIV/AIDS, Paula 
A. DeSutter, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of State for 
Verification and Compliance, Michael Alan Guhin, of Maryland, for the 
rank of Ambassador during tenure of service as U.S. Fissile Material 
Negotiator, Stephen Geoffrey Rademaker, of Delaware, to be Assistant 
Secretary of State for Arms Control, and certain foreign service 
officer promotion lists.
D.C. VOTING RIGHTS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings to 
examine voting representation in Congress for the citizens of the 
District of Columbia, after receiving testimony from Senator Feingold; 
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson; District of Columbia Delegate 
Eleanor Holmes Norton; District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams, 
Linda W. Cropp, Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia, and 
Florence H. Pendleton, District of Columbia Statehood Senator; and Wade 
Henderson, University of the District of Columbia School of Law, on 
behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Adam H. Kurland, 
Howard University School of Law, and Jamin B. Raskin, American 
University Washington School of Law, all of Washington, D.C.
PUBLIC SCHOOL EQUALITY
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded hearings to examine educational equity and resource adequacy 
among public school systems within and among states, after receiving 
testimony from Representatives Fattah and Isakson; Judy Catchpole, 
Wyoming Department of Education, Cheyenne; Hugh B. Price, National 
Urban League, and Michael A. Rebell, Columbia University Law School, on 
behalf of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc., both of New York, New 
York; and Mary-Beth Lang, Fairfield, Connecticut, on behalf of the 
National Education Association.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 1868, to establish a national center on volunteer and provider 
screening to reduce sexual and other abuse of children, the elderly, 
and individuals with disabilities, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1989, to authorize the establishment of a National Cyber Security 
Defense Team for purposes of protecting the infrastructure of the 
Internet from terrorist attack, with an amendment; and
  The nominations of D. Brooks Smith, of Pennsylvania, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, to be 
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Steven D. 
Deatherage, to be United States Marshal for the Central District of 
Illinois, Thomas M. Fitzgerald, to be United States Marshal for the 
Western District of Pennsylvania, G. Wayne Pike, to be United States 
Marshal for the Western District of Virginia, and David William Thomas, 
to be United States Marshal for the District of Delaware.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of Lavenski R. Smith, of Arkansas, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit, Henry E. Autrey, to be United 
States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, Richard E. 
Dorr, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of 
Missouri, Henry E. Hudson, to be United States District Judge for the 
Eastern District of Virginia, Amy J. St. Eve, to be United States 
District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, and Timothy J. 
Savage, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf. Mr. Smith was introduced by Senators Hutchinson and 
Lincoln, Mr. Autrey was introduced by Senator Bond and Representative 
Clay, Mr. Dorr was introduced by Senator

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Carnahan and Representative Clay, Mr. Hudson was introduced by Senators 
Warner and Allen, and Representative Scott, Ms. St. Eve was introduced 
by Senators Durbin and Fitzgerald, and Mr. Savage was introduced by 
Senators Specter and Santorum, and Representative Robert Brady.
WOMEN IN RETIREMENT
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
challenges women face concerning retirement and security, focusing on 
financial education, retirement saving incentives, and social security 
modernization, after receiving testimony from Dorcas R. Hardy, Dorcas 
R. Hardy and Associates, Spotsylvania, Virginia, former Commissioner, 
Social Security Administration; Cindy Hounsell, Women's Institute for a 
Secure Retirement, Laurie Young, Older Women's League, and John Hotz, 
Pension Rights Center, all of Washington, D.C.; Muriel F. Siebert, 
Muriel Siebert and Company, Inc., and Women's Financial Network at 
Siebert, New York, New York; Irene LaMarche, Boise, Idaho; and Joan 
Mackey, Salem, New Jersey.