[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 17, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1009-D1010]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETPLACE
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing on digital rights management and privacy issues, focusing on 
interests of copyright owners and the threats to those interests that 
are posed by the misuse of new technologies, including peer-to-peer 
software, after receiving testimony from William Barr, Verizon 
Communications, Arlington, Virginia; James D. Ellis, SBC Communications 
Inc., San Antonio, Texas; John Rose, EMI Group and EMI Music, New York, 
New York; Lawrence J. Blanford, Philips Consumer Electronics North 
America, Atlanta, Georgia; Edward W. Felten, Princeton University, 
Princeton, New Jersey; and Cary Sherman, Recording Industry Association 
of America, Alan Davidson, Center for Democracy and Technology, Jack 
Valenti, Motion Picture Association of America, and Chris Murray, 
Consumers Union, all of Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Gwendolyn Brown, of Virginia, 
to be Chief Financial Officer, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, who was introduced by Senator Stevens, Karen K. Bhatia, 
of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of Transportation for 
Aviation and International Affairs, and Charles Darwin Snelling, of 
Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the 
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, who was introduced by 
Senator Specter, after each nominee testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S.J. Res. 16, to approve the ``Compact of Free Association, as 
amended between the Government of the United States of America and the 
Government of the Federated States of Micronesia'', and the

[[Page D1010]]

``Compact of Free Association, as amended between the Government of the 
United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the 
Marshall Islands'', and otherwise to amend Public Law 99-239, and to 
appropriate for the purposes of amended Public Law 99-239 for fiscal 
years ending on or before September 30, 2023, with an amendment; and
  The nominations of Suedeen G. Kelly, of New Mexico, to be a Member of 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Rick A. Dearborn, of 
Oklahoma, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and 
Intergovernmental Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 1548, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
incentives for the production of renewable fuels and to simplify the 
administration of the Highway Trust Fund fuel excise taxes, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. (As approved by the committee, 
the substitute amendment includes the Extension of Highway Trust Fund 
Provisions.);
  An original bill entitled National Employee Savings and Trust Equity 
Guarantee Act; and
  H.R. 743, to amend the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 to provide additional safeguards for Social Security and 
Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries with representative payees, 
to enhance program protections, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
FUTURE OF U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine what can be done to ensure the future viability of the U.S. 
Postal Service, focusing on universal mail service, best business 
practices, processing and distribution facilities, leveraging the 
private sector, and information technology, after receiving testimony 
from James A. Johnson, Perseus, L.L.C., Washington, D.C., on behalf of 
the President's Commission on the U.S. Postal Service.
LUMBEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 420, to provide for the acknowledgment of the Lumbee Tribe of North 
Carolina, focusing on Lumbee identity and culture, governance, and 
tribal history, after receiving testimony from Senator Dole; 
Representatives McIntyre and Faleomavaega; Aurene M. Martin, Principal 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs; Milton 
Hunt, Pembroke, North Carolina, Jack Campisi, Red Hook, New York, and 
Arlinda Locklear, Patton Boggs, Jefferson, Maryland, all on behalf of 
the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina; and James T. Martin, United South 
and Easter Tribes, Nashville, Tennessee.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing on the 
nominations of Margaret Catharine Rodgers, to be United States District 
Judge for the Northern District of Florida, who was introduced by 
Senator Nelson; Roger W. Titus, to be United States District Judge for 
the District of Maryland, who was introduced by Senators Mikulski and 
Sarbanes; and George W. Miller, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the 
United States Court of Federal Claims, who was introduced by Senator 
Allen, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
COMBATING GANG VIOLENCE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
effective federal, state and local law enforcement strategies to combat 
gang violence in America, focusing on the investigation and prosecution 
of gang members, Safe Streets Task Forces, and witness intimidation, 
after receiving testimony from Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States 
Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, Debra W. Yang, United States 
Attorney, Central District of California, Christopher J. Christie, 
United States Attorney, District of New Jersey, and Grant D. Ashley, 
Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division, Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, all of the Department of Justice; Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., 
District Attorney, District of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana; 
Robert P. McCulloch, Prosecuting Attorney, St. Louis County, Missouri, 
on behalf the National District Attorneys Association; and Wesley D. 
McBride, California Gang Investigators Association, Huntington Beach.