[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D103-D105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
MAD COW DISEASE
Committee on Appropriations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the federal government's response to bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
(mad cow disease), focusing on how the finding of BSE has affected 
cattle and beef markets and what the short-term outlook is for these 
markets in coming months, including the Administration's efforts to 
normalize trade in certain U.S. export markets, and the development of 
a national animal identification program, after receiving testimony 
from Elsa A. Murano, Under Secretary for Food Safety, Keith J. Collins, 
Chief Economist, and Ron DeHaven, Deputy Administrator for Veterinary 
Services, Animal and

[[Page D104]]

Plant Health Inspection Service, all of the Department of Agriculture; 
Lester Crawford, Deputy Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, 
Julie Louise Gerberding, Director, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, all of 
the Department of Health and Human Services; and Dennis C. Wolff, 
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg.
GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ENTERPRISES
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine proposals for improving the regulation of the 
housing-related government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), specifically 
the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal 
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the Federal Home Loan 
Banks (FHLBs), and a proposal for the GSE regulator with certain 
authority, after receiving testimony from Alan Greenspan, Chairman, 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
INTERNET VOICE SERVICES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine Internet voice services and the role of the 
Federal Communications Commission to facilitate the growth and 
development of voice-over-Internet-protocol, after receiving testimony 
from Senator Alexander; Michael K. Powell, Chairman, Federal 
Communications Commission; Jeffrey Citron, Vonage Holdings Corporation, 
Edison, New Jersey; Glen A. Britt, Time Warner Cable, Stamford, 
Connecticut; Glen F. Post, CenturyTel Incorporated, Monroe, Louisiana; 
Stan Wise, Georgia Public Service Commission, Atlanta, on behalf of the 
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; and Kevin 
Werbach, Supernova Group LLC, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
NATION'S ELECTRICITY
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the current state of the nation's electricity 
transmission grid, focusing on the reliability of the bulk electric 
systems in North America, and the recommendations of the North American 
Reliability Council (NERC) to prevent and mitigate future blackouts, 
after receiving testimony from James W. Glotfelty, Director, Office of 
Electric Transmission and Distribution and U.S. Director of the Power 
System Outage Task Force, Department of Energy; Michehl R. Gent, North 
American Electric Reliability Council, Princeton, New Jersey; Phillip 
G. Harris, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., Norristown, Pennsylvania; James 
P. Torgerson, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, 
Indianapolis, Indiana; and Louise McCarren, Western Energy Coordinating 
Council, Salt Lake City, Utah.
HAITI
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on Haiti's political crisis from Roger Noriega, 
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
MIDDLE EAST
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine rethinking the road map regarding the Middle East, focusing on 
psychological obstacles to diplomacy, the 1967 ceasefire lines, Israeli 
settlements in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian political reform, after 
receiving testimony from Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State, 
Dennis Ross, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Robert Malley, 
International Crisis Group, and Martin Indyk, Brookings Institution, 
all of Washington, D.C.
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE WORKFORCE REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs:  Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the Report of the President's Commission on the United States 
Postal Service, focusing on the Commission's workforce recommendations, 
including performance-based compensation systems, collective bargaining 
for pension and retiree health benefits, and funding of accrued 
military service retirement benefits for postal employees covered by 
the Civil Service Retirement System, after receiving testimony from Dan 
G. Blair, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; William H. 
Young, National Association of Letter Carriers, William Burrus, 
American Postal Workers Union (AFL-CIO), and John F. Hegarty, National 
Postal Mail Handlers Union, all of Washington, D.C.; and Dale A. 
Holton, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, Alexandria, 
Virginia.
CYBERTERRORISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and 
Homeland Security concluded a hearing to examine the current threat of 
cyberterrorism, focusing on federal, state and local efforts to secure 
information networks, after receiving testimony from John G. Malcolm, 
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and Keith Lourdeau, Deputy Assistant 
Director, Cyber Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, both of the 
Department of Justice; Amit Yoran, Director, National Cyber Security 
Division, Department of Homeland Security; Howard A. Schmidt, eBay 
Incorporated, San Jose, California; and Dan Verton, Burke, Virginia.

[[Page D105]]


NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine current and future worldwide threats to the national security 
of the United States, focusing on global terrorism, Russia's nuclear 
weapons stockpile, chemical and biological weapons, missiles, 
information operations, and international crime, after receiving 
testimony George J. Tenet, Director, Central Intelligence Agency; 
Robert S. Mueller III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Department of Justice; and Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, U.S. Navy, 
Director, Defense Intelligence Agency.
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.
PREDATORY LENDING
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
federal and state government protection of older Americans from 
predatory financial lenders, including the usefulness of consumer 
education, counseling, and disclosures as a deterrence, after receiving 
testimony from David G. Wood, Director, Financial Markets and Community 
Investment, General Accounting Office; John C. Weicher, Assistant 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing-Federal Housing 
Commissioner; Howard Beales, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
Federal Trade Commission; Gavin M. Gee, Idaho Department of Finance, 
Boise; Lavada E. DeSalles, American Association of Retired Persons, 
Washington, D.C.; and Veronica Harding, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.