[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 29, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D909-D911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of General Peter J. Schoomaker (Ret.), USA, for appointment 
as Chief of

[[Page D910]]

Staff, United States Army and appointment to the grade of general; and 
Lieutenant General Bryan D. Brown, USA, who was introduced by Senator 
Roberts, for appointment as Commander, United States Special Operations 
Command and appointment to the grade of general, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
CREDIT GRANTING PROCESS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine consumer awareness and understanding of the credit 
granting process, focusing on the importance of the national credit 
reporting system and credit scoring, adverse action notices and risk-
based credit pricing, the accuracy of consumer credit reports, consumer 
education and financial literacy, after receiving testimony from 
Dolores S. Smith, Director, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Donna J. Gambrell, 
Deputy Director for Compliance and Consumer Protection, Division of 
Supervision and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation; Joel Winston, Associate Director, Financial Practices 
Division, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission; 
Travis B. Plunkett, Consumer Federation of America, and Stacey Davis 
Stewart, Fannie Mae Foundation, both of Washington, D.C.; Cheri St. 
John, Fair Isaac Corporation, San Rafael, California; and Scott 
Hildebrand, Capital One Financial Corporation, McLean, Virginia.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Energy 
concluded hearings to examine the role of the Department of Energy's 
Office of Science in supporting research in physical sciences, programs 
that support many of the DOE's missions, and research that lays the 
foundation for many of the current and future developments in the 
applied missions of the DOE in energy, defense, and environmental 
issues, after receiving testimony from Spencer Abraham, Secretary, 
Raymond Orbach, Director, Office of Science, and Hermann A. Grunder, 
Director, Argonne National Laboratory, all of the Department of Energy; 
Burton Richter, Stanford University Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo 
Park, California; and G. Wayne Clough, Georgia Institute of Technology, 
Atlanta, Georgia.
MERCURY EMISSIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded hearings 
to examine climate history and its implications, and the science 
underlying fate, transport and health effects of mercury emissions, 
after receiving testimony from Deborah C. Rice, Maine Department of 
Environmental Protection, Augusta; David R. Legates, University of 
Delaware Center for Climatic Research, Newark; Michael E. Mann, 
University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences, 
Charlottesville; Willie Soon, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for 
Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Gary Myers, University of 
Rochester, Rochester, New York; and Leonard Levin, Electric Power 
Research Institute, Palo Alto, California.
IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
status and prospects for reconstruction relating to Iraq, focusing on 
pre-war planning, progress and the current mission, and efforts to 
restore public safety, health, power, oil, the economy, and funding for 
Iraq relief and reconstruction, after receiving testimony from Joshua 
B. Bolten, Director, Office of Management and Budget; and Paul 
Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary, and General John M. Keane, USA, Acting 
Chief of Army Staff, both of the Department of Defense.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of Joe D. Whitley, of Georgia, to be General Counsel, who 
was introduced by Senators Miller and Chambliss, and Penrose C. 
Albright, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Plans, Programs, 
and Budget, both of the Department of Homeland Security; and Joel David 
Kaplan, of Massachusetts, to be Deputy Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATION
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded hearings to examine the nomination of Howard Radzely, of 
Maryland, to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor, after the 
nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
L-1 VISA AND AMERICAN INTERESTS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration, Border 
Security and Citizenship concluded hearings on the L-1 visa and 
American interests in the 21st century global economy, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Dodd; Beth R. Verman, Systems Staffing Group, 
Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, on behalf of National Association of 
Computer Consultant Business; Daryl R. Buffenstein, Global Personnel 
Alliance, Atlanta, Georgia; Michael W. Gildea, Department for 
Professional Employees (AFL-CIO), and Austin T. Fragomen, Jr., American 
Council on International Personnel, Inc., both of Washington, D.C.; 
Stephen Yale-Loehr, Cornell Law

[[Page D911]]

School, Ithaca, New York; and Patricia Fluno, Orlando, Florida.
VETERANS HEALTH CARE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded to examine S. 613, 
to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to construct, lease, or 
modify major medical facilities at the site of the former Fitzsimons 
Army Medical Center, Aurora, Colorado, S. 615, to name the Department 
of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Horsham, Pennsylvania, as the 
``Victor J. Saracini Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient 
Clinic'', S. 1144, to name the health care facility of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs located at 820 South Damen Avenue in Chicago, 
Illinois, as the ``Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center'', S. 1156, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
and enhance the provision of long-term health care for veterans by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, to enhance and improve authorities 
relating to the administration of personnel of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, S. 1213, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
enhance the ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve 
benefits for Filipino veterans of World War II and survivors of such 
veterans, S. 1283, to require advance notification of Congress 
regarding any action proposed to be taken by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs in the implementation of the Capital Asset Realignment for 
Enhanced Services initiative of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
S. 1289, to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, after Paul Wellstone, after receiving testimony 
from Tim McClain, General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs; 
Cathleen C. Wiblemo, American Legion, Paul A. Hayden, Veterans of 
Foreign Wars of the United States, Adrian M. Atizado, Disabled American 
Veterans, and Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Richard Jones, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland.
COMBAT MEDICAL BADGE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
U.S. Army policies on the award of the Combat Medical Badge, after 
receiving testimony from Lieutenant General John M. LeMoyne, Deputy 
Chief of Staff, G1, United States Army; Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael 
J. Novosel, USA (Ret.), Enterprise, Alabama; Chief Warrant Officer 5 
John M. Travers, USA (Ret.), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and William 
Fredrick Castleberry, Owens Cross Roads, Alabama.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine a 
current law trust fund exhaustion scenario if no action is taken to 
strengthen Social Security, focusing on the GAO report analyzing the 
``do nothing'' scenario with the analytical framework previously used 
to evaluate the models developed by the President's Commission to 
strengthen Social Security, after receiving testimony from David M. 
Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, General Accounting 
Office; James B. Lockhart III, Deputy Commissioner of Social Security, 
Social Security Administration; Thomas R. Saving, Social Security Board 
of Trustees, College Station, Texas; and Brad Smith, Knoxville, 
Tennessee, on behalf of Social Good through Politics (Harvard 
University).