[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 30, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D916-D919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Lawrence Mohr, Jr., of South Carolina, to be a Member of 
the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health 
Sciences, Department of Defense, and 1,293 nominations in the Army, 
Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

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SPACE EXPLORATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine space 
exploration, focusing on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and 
Department of Defense partnerships in future spacecraft systems and 
products and services developed through their collaborative efforts, 
sensor development, research to operations, and collaborative 
activities in ground systems support, after receiving testimony from 
Brigadier General Richard C. Zilmer, USMC, Director, Strategy and Plans 
Division, Plans, Policies, and Operations Department, Headquarters, 
Marine Corps; Orlando Figueroa, Director, Mars Exploration Program 
Office, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration; Gregory W. Withee, Assistant Administrator for 
Satellite and Information Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, Department of Commerce; Michael J.S. Belton, Belton 
Space Exploration Initiatives, Tucson, Arizona; and Louis J. 
Lanzerotti, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following bills:
  S. 1279, to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to carry out a 
program for the protection of the health and safety of residents, 
workers, volunteers, and others in a disaster area, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute.
  H.R. 274, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the 
property in Cecil County, Maryland, known as Garrett Island for 
inclusion in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge;
  S. 930, to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act to establish a program to provide assistance to enhance 
the ability of first responders to prepare for and respond to all 
hazard, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  S. 269, to amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to further the 
conservation of certain wildlife species, with amendments.
  S. 551, to provide for the implementation of air quality programs 
developed in accordance with an Intergovernmental Agreement between the 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado concerning Air 
Quality Control on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, with an 
amendment.
  S. 793, to provide for increased energy savings and environmental 
benefits through the increased use of recovered mineral component in 
federally funded projects involving procurement of cement or concrete, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  H.R. 1018, to designate the building located at 1 Federal Plaza in 
New York, New York, as the ``James L. Watson United States Court of 
International Trade Building'';
  S. 1210, to assist in the conservation of marine turtles and the 
nesting habitats of marine turtles in foreign countries;
  S. 1425, to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the New 
York City Watershed Protection Program, with an amendment; and
  S. 1486, to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to implement the Stockholm 
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Protocol on Persistent 
Organic Pollutants to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air 
Pollution, and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent 
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in 
International Trade, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute to 
Title 1.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
the Nominations of Jeffrey A. Marcus, of Texas, to be Ambassador to 
Belgium, who was introduced by Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, Constance 
Albanese Morella, of Maryland, to be Representative of the United 
States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development, with the rank of Ambassador, who was introduced by 
Senators Sarbanes and Warner, George H. Walker, of Missouri, to be 
Ambassador to Hungary, who was introduced by Senators Bond and Talent, 
and Jackie Wolcott Sanders, for the rank of Ambassador during her 
tenure of service as United States Representative to the Conference on 
Disarmament and the Special Representative of the President of the 
United States for Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, who was 
introduced by Senator Warner, testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.
SARS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations concluded hearings to examine the best practices for 
identifying and caring for new cases of SARS, focusing on control 
measures to help contain the spread of SARS should future outbreaks 
occur, after receiving testimony from Marjorie E. Kanof, Director, 
Health Care-Clinical and

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Military Health Care Issues, General Accounting Office; and James M. 
Hughes, Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the Nominations of Joe D. Whitley, of Georgia, to be General Counsel, 
and Penrose C. Albright, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary, both 
of the Department of Homeland Security, and Joel David Kaplan, of 
Massachusetts, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of Howard Radzely, of Maryland, to 
be Solicitor for the Department of Labor, Michael Young, of 
Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 
Review Commission, and Thomasina V. Rogers, of Maryland, to be a Member 
of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 
428, to provide for the distribution of judgment funds to the 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
COBELL V. NORTON LAWSUIT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded oversight hearings on 
potential settlement mechanisms of the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit, after 
receiving testimony from James Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of the 
Interior; Tex G. Hall, National Congress of American Indians, 
Washington, D.C.; John Berrey, Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, Quapaw; John 
E. Echohawk, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, Colorado; Harold 
Frazier, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Eagle Butte, South Dakota; and 
Donald T. Gray, Nixon Peabody, LLP, San Francisco, California.
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT AMENDMENTS TO HOMELAND SECURITY
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded hearings to examine S. 
578, Tribal Government Amendments to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, 
a bill to amend the Homeland Security Act to include Indian tribes 
among the entities consulted with respect to activities carried out by 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, after receiving testimony from 
Thomas B. Heffelfinger, United States Attorney (Minneapolis, 
Minnesota), Department of Justice; Terry Virden, Director, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; Josh Filler, Director, 
Office of State and Local Government Coordination, Department of 
Homeland Security; William F. Raub, Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Health and Human Service for Public Health Emergency 
Preparedness; Roland E. Johnson, Pueblo of Laguna, Laguna, New Mexico; 
Audrey Bennett, Prairie Island Tribal Council, Welch, Minnesota; Earl 
Old Person, Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, Browning, Montana; 
Vivian Juan-Saunders, Tohono O'odham Nation, Sells, Arizona; Alvin 
Windy Boy, Sr., Chippewa Cree Tribe, Box Elder, Montana; Tim Sanders, 
Gila River Indian Community, Sacaton, Arizona; and Tex Hall, National 
Congress of American Indians, and Gary Edwards, National Native 
American Law Association, both of Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of Henry W. Saad, of Michigan, to be United States Circuit 
Judge for the Sixth Circuit, who was introduced by Representative 
Rogers (MI); Larry Alan Burns, to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of California, and Dana Makoto Sabraw, to be 
United States District Judge for the Southern District of California, 
who were both introduced by Senator Feinstein; Glen E. Conrad, to be 
United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, who 
was introduced by Senators Warner and Allen; Henry F. Floyd, to be 
United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, who 
was introduced by Senators Hollings and Graham (S.C.); Kim R. Gibson, 
to be United States District Judge for the Western District of 
Pennsylvania, who was introduced by Senators Specter and Santorum; and 
Michael W. Mosman, to be United States District Judge for the District 
of Oregon, who was introduced by Senators Wyden and Smith, after each 
nominee testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
  Also, testimony was received from Senators Levin and Stabenow.
MENTALLY ILL OFFENDER TREATMENT AND CRIME REDUCTION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings to examine S. 
1194, to foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources 
are effectively and efficiently used within the criminal and juvenile 
justice systems, after receiving testimony from Vermont State Senator 
John F. Campbell, Quechee; Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Supreme 
Court of Ohio, on behalf of the Advisory Committee on Mentally Ill in 
the Courts, and Reginald A. Wilkinson, Ohio Department of 
Rehabilitation and

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Correction, on behalf of the Association of State Correctional 
Administrators and the Council of State Governments, both of Columbus; 
Donald F. Eslinger, Seminole County Sheriff, Sanford, Florida; Ron 
Honberg, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Arlington, Virginia, 
on behalf of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform; and Rhonda Atkins, 
Sarasota, Florida.