[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 116 (Thursday, July 31, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D924-D927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
COAL DUST
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies concluded hearings to examine 
the proposed Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rule on coal 
dust, after receiving testimony from David D. Lauriski, Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health; Joseph A. Main, United 
Mine Workers of America, Fairfax, Virginia; and

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David Beerbower, Peabody Energy Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, on 
behalf of the National Mining Association.
OVERTIME PAY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies concluded hearings on a 
proposed rule on overtime pay, after receiving testimony from Tammy D. 
McCutchen, Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, Employment Standards 
Administration, Department of Labor; Christine Owens, AFL-CIO, and Ross 
Eisenbrey, Economic Policy Institute, both of Washington, D.C.; and 
Lawrence Lorber, Proskauer Rose, New York, New York, on behalf of the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
UNION FINANCIAL REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies concluded hearings to examine 
labor union financial reporting and disclosure, after receiving 
testimony from Victoria Lipnic, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Employment Standards; Jonathan Hiatt, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C.; Jay 
Cochran, George Mason University Mercatus Center, Arlington, Virginia; 
and Lynn Turner, Colorado State University Center for Quality Financial 
Reporting, Fort Collins.
IRAQ SURVEY GROUP
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive 
a briefing on the work of the Iraq survey group from David Kay, Special 
Adviser for Strategy Regarding Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction 
Program; Major General Keith W. Dayton, USA, Director, Iraq Survey 
Group; Major General John F. Kimmons, USA, former Director of 
Intelligence, U.S. Central Command; and Major General James A. Marks, 
USA, former Director of Intelligence, Coalition Forces Land Component 
Command, all of the United States Army.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following bills:
  S. 627, to prevent the use of certain payments instruments, credit 
cards, and fund transfers for unlawful Internet gambling, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  H.R. 659, to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act regarding 
the requirements for mortgage insurance under such Act for hospitals, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine measures to enhance the operation of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act, focusing on a proposed National Security Alert 
System, prohibition on the sale or transfer of identity theft debt, 
adverse action notices, private enforcement rights and agency 
enforcement, tools to protect privacy, mortgages, credit availability, 
and prescreening, and the importance of national uniformity to the 
security of consumers' personal information, after receiving testimony 
from John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury; and Edmund Mierzwinski, 
U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and Michael F. McEneney, Sidley 
Austin Brown and Wood, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both 
of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following bills:
  S. 150, to make permanent the moratorium on taxes on Internet access 
and multiple and discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce imposed by 
the Internet Tax Freedom Act, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1478, to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration; and
  S. 733, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2004 for the 
United States Coast Guard, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
ICANN
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers (ICANN), focusing on consumer issues, computer security and 
stability, root server systems, continued globalization of the 
internet, innovation in services and processes, the proposed Wait List 
Service, and new top-level domains, after receiving testimony from 
Nancy J. Victory, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
and Information, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration; Paul Twomey, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names 
and Numbers, Marina del Ray, California; Aristotle Balogh, VeriSign, 
Dulles, Virginia; Alan B. Davidson, Center for Democracy and 
Technology, Washington, D.C.; and Paul Stahura, ENom, Inc., Belleview, 
Washington.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: on July 30, 2003 Committee concluded hearings to 
examine the Nominations: of

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Robert Stanley Nichols, of Washington, to be Assistant Secretary for 
Public Affairs, and Teresa M. Ressel, of Virginia, to be Assistant 
Secretary for Management, both of the Department of the Treasury, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NORTH KOREA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs met in closed session to receive a briefing on corruption in 
North Korea's economy.
NORTH KOREA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs concluded hearings to examine corruption in North Korea's 
economy, after receiving testimony from Nicholas Eberstadt, American 
Enterprise Institute, and Michael J. Horowitz, Hudson Institute, both 
of Washington, D.C.
FINANCING TERRORISM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings to 
examine Federal efforts in identifying, tracking and dismantling the 
financial structure supporting terrorist groups, focusing on Saudi 
Arabia and the War on Terrorism, the USA PATRIOT Act and other related 
legislation, Executive Branch organizational changes, foundations of 
terrorist financing and support, the effect of the May 12, 2003 Riyadh 
attacks, multilateral actions against Al-Qaeda and other terrorist 
infrastructure, and the ideological roots of the new terrorism, after 
receiving testimony from John S. Pistole, Deputy Assistant Director, 
Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department 
of Justice; R. Richard Newcomb, Director, Office of Foreign Assets 
Control, Department of the Treasury; Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for 
Public Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel, former Israeli Ambassador to the 
United Nations; Steven Emerson, Investigative Project, Washington, 
D.C.; and Jonathan M. Winer, Alston and Bird, Atlanta, Georgia, former 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and member, Independent Task Force 
of the Council on Foreign Relations on Terrorist Finance.
HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded hearings to examine solutions to the problem of health care 
transmission of HIV/AIDS in Africa, focusing on injection safety, blood 
safety, safe obstetrical delivery practices, and quality assurance in 
medical care, after receiving testimony from E. Anne Peterson, 
Assistant Administrator for Global Health, U.S. Agency for 
International Development; Yvan Hutin, World Health Organization, 
Geneva, Switzerland; John Kiwanuka Ssemakula, Africa-America Institute, 
New York, New York; and Holly Burkhalter, Physicians for Human Rights, 
Boston Massachusetts; and John Stover, Futures Group, Glastonbury, 
Connecticut.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 1177, to ensure the collection of all cigarette taxes, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Res. 30, expressing the sense of the Senate that the President 
should designate the week beginning September 14, 2003, as ``National 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week'';
  S. Con. Res. 25, recognizing and honoring America's Jewish community 
on the occasion of its 350th anniversary, supporting the designation of 
an ``American Jewish History Month'', with an amendment;
  S. Res. 204, designating the week of November 9 through November 15, 
2003, as ``National Veterans Awareness Week'' to emphasize the need to 
develop educational programs regarding the contributions of veterans to 
the country;
  The nominations of Steven M. Colloton, of Iowa, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit; P. Kevin Castel, to be United 
States District Judge for the Southern District of New York; Sandra J. 
Feuerstein, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District 
of New York; Richard J. Holwell, to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of New York; R. David Proctor, to be United 
States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama; Stephen C. 
Robinson, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District 
of New York; and Rene Acosta,of Virginia, to be an Assistant Attorney 
General, Daniel J. Bryant, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Attorney 
General, and Paul Michael Warner, of Utah, to be United States Attorney 
for the District of Utah, all of the Department of Justice.
  Also, committee resumed consideration of S.J. Res. 1, proposing an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the 
rights of crime victims, but did not complete action thereon, and 
recessed subject to the call.
FORENSIC SCIENCES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight 
and the Courts concluded hearings to examine activities of the 
Administration and the Department of Justice relating to the use of DNA 
technology, including forensic tools and techniques, to solve crimes 
and promote public safety, focusing on a DNA initiative to improve the 
use of DNA technology in the criminal justice system by


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providing funds, training, and assistance, after receiving testimony from 
Sarah V. Hart, Director, National Institute of Justice, Department of 
Justice; Susan Hart Johns, Illinois State Police, Springfield, on behalf of 
the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors; Randall Hillman, Alabama 
District Attorney's Association, Montgomery; Frank J. Clark, Erie County 
District Attorney, Buffalo, New York; Michael M. Baden, Medicolegal 
Investigative Unit, New York State Police, former Chief Forensic Pathologist 
for the House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations, and 
Peter Neufeld, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, both of New York, New 
York; and Rosemary Serra, New Haven, Connecticut.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the intelligence 
community.
  Committee recessed subject to call.
        H