[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D368-D370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations; Subcommittee on Homeland Security held a 
hearing on Special Security Events. Testimony was heard from Ralph Basham, 
Director, U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
LABOR, HHS, EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education and Related Agencies continued hearings on NIH. 
Testimony was heard from the following officials of the Department of Health 
and Human Services, NIH: Elias Zerhouni, M.D., Director; Raynard Kington, 
M.D., Deputy Director; James Battey, M.D., Director, National Institute on 
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; and Francis Collins, M.D, 
Director, National Human Genome Research Institute; and Thomas Insel, M.D, 
Director, National Institute on Mental Health.
VA, HUD AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent 
Agencies held a hearing on NASA. Testimony was heard from Sean O'Keefe, 
Administrator, NASA.
SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH FAIRNESS ACT
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Employer-Employee 
Relations approved for full Committee action, as amended, H.R. 660, Small 
Business Health Fairness Act of 2003.
DESIGNING 21ST CENTURY MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Health held a hearing 
entitled ``Designing a Twenty-First Century Medicare Prescription Drug 
Benefit.'' Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
CHECK CLEARING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and 
Consumer Credit held a hearing on H.R. 1474, Check Clearing for the 21st 
Century Act. Testimony was heard from Roger W. Ferguson, Vice-Chairman, 
Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System; and public witnesses.
HOMEOWNERSHIP THROUGH DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Housing and Community 
Opportunity held a hearing entitled ``Promoting the American Dream of 
Homeownership through Down Payment Assistance.'' Testimony was heard from 
Mel Martinez, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and public 
witnesses.
ONDCP REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug 
Policy, and Human Resources held a hearing entitled ``ONDCP Reauthorization: 
The High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and CTAC.'' Testimony was 
heard from Scott Burns, Deputy Director, Office of State and Local Affairs, 
Office of National Drug Control Policy; Roger Guevara, Chief of Operations, 
DEF, Department of Justice; Christy McCampbell, Chief, Bureauof Narcotics 
Enforcement, Department of Justice, State of California; Wayne Wiberg, 
Commander, Narcotics and Gang Investigation Section, Police Department, 
Chicago, Illinois; the following officials of the State of Maryland: Lt. 
Col. Steve Moyer, Chief, Homeland Defense/Intelligence Bureau, State Police; 
and Anthony Romano, Chief, Organized Crime Division, Baltimore Police 
Department; Ron Burns, Chief, Lakewood Police Department, State of Colorado; 
and Peter Modafferi, Chief of Detectives, Rockland County, District 
Attorney's Office, State of New York.
CALIFORNIA'S ELECTRICITY MARKET
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural 
Resources and Regulatory Affairs held a hearing on ``California's 
Electricity Market: Refunds and Reform.'' Testimony was heard from Patrick 
Wood III, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of 
Energy; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--FEDERAL GOVERNMENT--CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and 
Financial Management held an oversight hearing entitled ``The Consolidated 
Financial Statements of the Federal Government for Fiscal Year 2002.'' 
Testimony was heard from David M. Walker, Comptroller General, GAO; Linda M. 
Springer, Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management, OMB; and 
Donald V. Hammond, Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury.
CYBER SECURITY
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Technology, Information 
Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census held a hearing entitled

[[Page D369]]

``Cyber Security: The Challenges Facing Our Nation In Critical 
Infrastructure Protection.'' Testimony was heard from Mark A. Forman, 
Associate Director, Information Technology and Electronic Government, OMB; 
Robert Dacey, Director, Information Security Issues, GAO; Thomas Pyke, Chief 
Information Officer, Department of Commerce; Richard Clarke, former Special 
Advisor to the President for Cyberspace Security; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative 
Law held an oversight hearing on the ``Reauthorization of the United States 
Department of Justice: Executive Office of the United States Attorneys, 
Civil Division, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Executive Office 
for United States Trustees, and Office of Solicitor General.'' Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of Justice: Thomas 
Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources 
Division; Stuart Schiffer, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil 
Division; Guy Lewis, Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; and 
Lawrence Friedman, Director, Executive Office for United States Trustees.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and 
Public Lands held a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 272, to direct the 
Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, 
and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, 
Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries; H.R. 437, Coltsville Study Act of 
2003; and H.R. 1113, to authorize an exchange of land at Fort Frederica 
National Monument. Testimony was heard from Representatives Larson of 
Connecticut and Kingston; the following officials of the Department of the 
Interior: Bob Anderson, Acting Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and 
Resource Protection, Bureau of Land Management; and Jeffrey Taylor, 
Assistant Director, Legislative and Congressional Affairs, National Park 
Service; Gloria Manning, Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System, 
USDA; former Senator Mack Mattingly, State of Georgia; and a public witness.
PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT
Committee on Rules: The Committee granted, by voice vote, a structured rule 
providing 1 hour of general debate on H.R. 1036, Protection of Lawful 
Commerce in Arms Act of 2003. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill. The rule provides that the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now 
printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose 
of amendment and shall be considered as read. The rule makes in order only 
those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the 
resolution. The rule provides that the amendments printed in the report 
shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered 
only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and 
controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to 
amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the 
question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule waives all 
points of order against the amendments printed in the report. Finally, the 
rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Testimony 
was heard from Chairman Sensenbrenner, Representatives Watt, Lofgren, 
Jackson-Lee of Texas and Van Hollen.
LITIGATING THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT
Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Rural Enterprise, Agriculture 
and Technology held a hearing on Litigating the Americans with Disability 
Act. Testimony was heard from Representative Foley; and public witnesses.
ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT IMPLEMENTATION
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing 
to examine implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. 
Testimony was heard from Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary, Administration 
for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services; Cornelia 
Ashby, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, GAO; and 
public witnesses.
2003 TAX RETURN FILING SEASON AND BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on the 
2003 Tax Return Filing Season and the IRS Budget for Fiscal Year 2004. 
Testimony was heard from Robert E. Wenzel, Acting Commissioner, IRS, 
Department of the Treasury; James R. White, Director, Tax Issues, GAO; Karen 
Hastie Williams, member, IRS Oversight Board; and public witnesses.
Joint Meetings
HUMAN CAPITAL
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Oversight of Government 
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia concluded 
joint hearings with the House Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency 
Organization to examine the federal government's strategic human capital 
management and consider pending legislation on the federal workforce, and 
building on the current momentum to address high-risk issues, after 
receiving

[[Page D370]]

testimony from David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States; 
Dan G. Blair, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; Bobby L. 
Harnage, Sr., American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Colleen 
M. Kelley, National Treasury Employees Union, Carol A. Bonosaro, Senior 
Executives Association, Hannah S. Sistare, National Commission on the Public 
Service, Max Stier, Partnership for Public Services, and Major General 
Robert A. McIntosh, USAF (Ret.), Reserve Officers Association of the United 
States, all of Washington, D.C.; Karen Heiser, Federal Managers Association, 
Alexandria, Virginia; Steven J. Kelman, Harvard University John F. Kennedy 
School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Jeff Taylor, Monster, 
Maynard, Massachusetts.
F