[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 131 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1028-D1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATION
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing on the 
nomination of Gordon England, of Texas, to be Secretary of the Navy, 
after the nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing on the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (P.L. 107-204), 
designed to protect investors by improving accuracy and reliability of 
corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws, focusing on 
reform of corporate governance, financial reporting and auditing, after 
receiving testimony from Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., 
PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York, New York; Edward Nusbaum, Grant 
Thornton, LLP, Chicago, Illinois; Sean Harrigan, California Public 
Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration, 
Sacramento; and William J. McDonough, Public Company Accounting 
Oversight Board, and Sarah Teslik, Council of Institutional Investors, 
both of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following bills:
  An original bill to provide for an extension of the Federal transit 
program pending the reauthorization of the program;
  An original bill to reauthorize the Defense Production Act of 1950; 
and
  An original bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act in order to 
prevent identity theft, to improve the use of and consumer access to 
consumer reports, to enhance the accuracy of consumer reports, to limit 
the sharing of certain consumer information, to improve financial 
education and literacy.
WATER RECLAMATION PROJECTS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded hearings to examine S. 213, to clear title to certain 
real property in New Mexico associated with the Middle Rio Grande 
Project, S. 1236, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish 
a program to control or eradicate tamarisk in the western States, S. 
1516, to further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization 
and Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an 
assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in 
water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses 
through control of salt cedar and Russian olive, H.R. 856, to authorize 
the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the 
Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San 
Angelo project, Texas, and H.R. 961, to promote Department of the 
Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of 
sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, after 
receiving testimony from Representatives Kind and Stenholm; A. Gordon 
Brown, Invasive Species Coordinator, Liaison to the National Invasive 
Species Council, Robert M. Hirsh, Associate Director for Water, U.S. 
Geological Survey, and Michael Gabaldon, Director, Policy, Management, 
and Technical Services, Bureau of Reclamation, all of the Department of 
the Interior; John Marshall, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, 
Denver; Tim Carlson, Tamarisk Coalition, Grand Junction, Colorado; 
Debra Hughes, New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, 
Carlsbad; and Holly Stoerker, Upper Mississippi River Basin 
Association, St. Paul, Minnesota.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported S. 1640, to provide an extension of highway programs funded 
out of the Highway Trust Fund pending enactment of a law reauthorizing 
the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.
NOMINATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing on the nomination of Michael O. Leavitt, of Utah, to be 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after the 
nominee, who was introduced by Senators Hatch and Bennett, testified 
and answered questions in his own behalf.
U.S.-MEXICO TRADE
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
impact of Mexican barriers to U.S. agricultural exports, after 
receiving testimony from Allen F. Johnson, Chief Agriculture 
Negotiator, Office of the US Trade Representative; Ron Litterer,

[[Page D1029]]

Iowa Corn Growers Association, Greene, on behalf of the National Corn 
Growers Association; Michael W. Jorgenson, Roquette America, Inc., 
Keokuk, Iowa, on behalf of the Corn Refiners Association; Sergio 
Sarmiento, TV AZTECA, D.F. Mexico; Jon Caspers, Swaledale, Iowa, on 
behalf of the National Pork Producers Council; Travis Satterfield, 
Benoit, Mississippi, on behalf of the Delta Council; and John Rice, 
Rice Fruit Company, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the U.S. 
Apple Association and the Northwest Fruit Exporters.
IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing on how to 
internationalize Iraq and organize the U.S. government to administer 
reconstruction efforts, focusing on the President's proposed 
supplemental funding request for sustaining U.S. military forces and 
supporting Iraq reconstruction efforts, after receiving testimony from 
J. Brian Atwood, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; James Dobbins, RAND International 
Security and Defense Policy Center, Arlington, Virginia; and John 
Hamre, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.
TERRORIST FINANCING
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded a closed hearing 
to examine certain issues relative to combatting terrorist financing, 
after receiving testimony from J. Cofer Black, Coordinator for 
Counterterrorism, Department of State; David Aufhauser, General 
Counsel, Department of the Treasury; and John S. Pistole, Assistant 
Director, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Department of Justice.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine health technology, focusing on 
nanotechnology, including the dangers and societal implications, market 
barriers and challenges of interdisciplinary research, and the Federal 
role of funding, coordination, and priority setting, after receiving 
testimony from Patricia M. Dehmer, Director, Office of Basic Energy 
Sciences, Department of Energy; Jeffrey A. Schloss, National Human 
Genome Research Institute, Washington, D.C.; Samuel I. Stupp, 
Northwestern University Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in 
Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; and Todd Lizotte, NanoVia, LP, 
Londonderry, New Hampshire.
BORDER SECURITY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration and Border 
Security concluded a hearing on information sharing and coordination 
for visa issuance in relation to homeland security, focusing on the 
ongoing cooperation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 
State Department, and Department of Homeland Security as it relates to 
accessing and using information to make visa determinations a part of 
antiterrorism and border protection efforts, after receiving testimony 
from John O. Brennan, Director, Terrorist Threat Integration Center, 
Central Intelligence Agency; Larry A. Mefford, Executive Assistant 
Director, Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Division, Federal Bureau 
of Investigation, Department of Justice; and William Parrish, Acting 
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis, 
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate.
VETERANS ELIGIBILITY
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
proposals to limit eligibility for veterans' compensation to veterans 
with disabilities directly related to ``performance of duty'' injuries 
only, after receiving testimony from Anthony J. Principi, Secretary, 
and Tim S. McClain, General Counsel, both of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs; Cynthia A. Bascetta, Director, Education, Workforce, and 
Income Security Issues, General Accounting Office; Dennis W. Snook, 
Domestic Social Policy Division, Congressional Research Service; Mark 
H. Olanoff, American Legion, Dennis Cullinan, Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
Rick Surratt, Disabled American Veterans, Carl Blake, Paralyzed 
Veterans of America, and Rick Weidman, Vietnam Veterans of America, all 
of Washington, D.C.; and Richard Jones, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland.
MEDICAL PRIVACY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the implementation of the Office of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) medical privacy and transaction rules, 
focusing on patient consent, notice of privacy practices, The Health 
Privacy Project, and regulatory implementation repercussions, after 
receiving testimony from Richard Campanelli, Director, Office for Civil 
Rights, and Jared Adair, Director, Office of HIPAA Standards, Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services, both of the Department of Health 
and Human Services; Cathy Treadway, The Woman's Clinic, Boise, Idaho, 
on behalf of the Medical Group Management Association; Mary R. Grealy, 
Healthcare Leadership Council, Allisa Fox, BlueCross BlueShield 
Association, and Janlori Goldman, Health Privacy Project, all of 
Washington, D.C.