[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)] [Daily Digest] [Pages D313-D315] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Committee Meetings (Committees not listed did not meet) DC YOUTH ADMINISTRATION Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on District of Columbia concluded a hearing to examine the deficiencies at the District of Columbia's Youth Services Administration, after receiving testimony from Austin A. Andersen, Interim Inspector General; Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr., Director, Public Defender Service; Robert C. Bobb, City Administrator and Deputy Mayor; and Eugene N. Hamilton, Chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Safety and Juvenile Justice Reform, all of the government of the District of Columbia. APPROPRIATIONS: MILITARY CONSTRUCTION Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2005 for Defense-wide and Air Force military construction programs, after receiving testimony from Raymond F. Dubois, Jr., Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Installations and Environment; Nelson F. Gibbs, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Installations, Environment, and Logistics; Major General L. Dean Fox, USAF, Air Force Civil Engineer, U.S. Air Force; Brigadier General David A. Brubaker, USAF, Deputy Director, Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force; Brigadier General William M. Rajczak, USAF, Deputy to the Chief of Air Force Reserve, U.S. Air Force. APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Homeland Security concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2005 for border security and enforcement and immigration services, after receiving testimony from Robert C. Bonner, Commissioner, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection; Michael J. Garcia, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, all of the Department of Homeland Security. IRAQ SURVEY GROUP Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a closed hearing to examine the second interim report of the Iraq Survey Group, after receiving testimony from Charles A. Duelfer, Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence for Strategy Regarding Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs; and Major General Keith W. Dayton, USA, Commander, Iraq Survey Group. DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland concluded a hearing to examine the proposed Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2005 and the Future Years Defense Program, focusing on Army aviation programs, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Richard A. Cody, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, U.S. Army; Major General Joseph L. Bergantz, USA, Program Executive Officer for Aviation, U.S. Army; and Brigadier General Edward J. Sinclair, USA, Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation Center and Fort Rucker. MILITARY OPERATIONS Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive a briefing on operations and intelligence from Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense; and General Richard B. Myers, USAF, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. BUSINESS MEETING Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items: S. 2238, to amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reduce loses to properties for which [[Page D314]] repetitive flood insurance claim payments have been made; and The nomination of Alphonso R. Jackson, of Texas, to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. AVIATION SECURITY Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Aviation concluded a closed hearing to examine aviation security issues, after receiving testimony from Rear Admiral David Stone, USN, (Ret.), Acting Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, and Clark Kent Ervin, Inspector General, both of the Department of Homeland Security; and Norman J. Rabkin, Managing Director, Homeland Security and Justice, General Accounting Office. NOMINATIONS Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Theodore William Kassinger, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce; Deborah A.P. Hersman, of Virginia, to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Department of Transportation, who was introduced by Senator Hollings; Thomas Hill Moore, of Florida, to be a Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who was introduced by Senator Breaux; Alan Paul Anderson, of Florida, who was introduced by Senator Nelson (FL) and Representative Mica, and Joseph E. Brennan, of Maine, both to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner; and Jack Edwin McGregor, of Connecticut, to be a Member of the Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, who was introduced by Representative Shays, after each nominee testified and answered questions in their own behalf. ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, focusing on improvements in processing claims for compensation, after receiving testimony from Senator Grassley; Robert G. Card, Under Secretary of Energy; Shelby Hallmark, Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Department of Labor; Robert E. Robertson, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, General Accounting Office; and John Howard, Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services. NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National Parks concluded an oversight hearing to examine National Heritage Areas, including findings and recommendations of the General Accounting Office, the definition of a National Heritage Area, the definition of national significance as it relates to National Heritage Areas, recommendations for establishing National Heritage Areas as units of the National Park System, recommendations for prioritizing proposed studies and designations, and options for developing a National Heritage Area Program within the National Park Service, after receiving testimony from A. Durand Jones, Deputy Director, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Barry T. Hill, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, General Accounting Office; August R. Carlino, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area/Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, Homestead, Pennsylvania; Edward F. Sanderson, Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, Providence, on behalf of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers; Lisa Benton-Short, George Washington University Center for Urban Environmental Research, Washington, D.C.; Carol W. LaGrasse, Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc., Stony Creek, New York; and Dennis Frenchman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Cambridge. BUSINESS MEETING Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the nomination of Donald Korb, of Ohio, to be Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service and an Assistant General Counsel, Department of the Treasury. NOMINATIONS Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of John J. Danilovich, of California, to be Ambassador to Brazil, and Craig A. Kelly, of California, to be Ambassador to Chile, after each nominee testified and answered questions in their own behalf. FINANCIAL LITERACY Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and International Security concluded a hearing to examine the Federal government's role in empowering Americans to make informed financial decisions, focusing on financial education programs that help Americans obtain the knowledge to make informed financial choices throughout their lives, after receiving testimony from Senators Sarbanes, Enzi, and Stabenow; [[Page D315]] Brian C. Roseboro, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance; Nina S. Rees, Deputy Under Secretary of Education for Innovation and Improvement; Susan Ferris Wyderko, Director, Office of Investor Education and Assistance, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Don M. Blandin, American Savings Education Council, and Dara Duguay, Jump Start Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, both of Washington, D.C.; and Robert F. Duvall, National Council on Economic Education, New York, New York. NOMINATIONS Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee approved for reporting the nominations of Edward R. McPherson, of Texas, to be Under Secretary of Education, Lisa Kruska, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor, David Wesley Fleming of California, Jay Phillip Greene, of Florida, and John Richard Petrocik, of Missouri, each to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, Juanita Alicia Vasquez-Gardner, of Texas, and Patrick Lloyd McCrory, of North Carolina, each to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation, and Gerald Lee, of Pennsylvania, and Robert C. Granger, of New Jersey, each to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences, Department of Education. INDIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT REPORT Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to examine Inter-Tribal Timber Council's Indian Forest Management Assessment Team report, focusing on its recommendations providing the Department of the Interior with feedback to improve the delivery and management of forestry services provided to federally recognized tribes and individual Indian owners, after receiving testimony from Aurene M. Martin, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs; Nolan C. Colegrove, Sr., Intertribal Timber Council, Portland, Oregon; and John C. Gordon, Interforest, LLC, Branford, Connecticut, on behalf of the Second Indian Forest Management Assessment Team. INDIAN LAND RESTORATION Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine S. 868, to amend the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Restoration Act to provide for the cultural restoration and economic self-sufficiency of the Confederation Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon, after receiving testimony from Mark Rey, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment; Cheryl Hoile, Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, Coos Bay, Oregon; Peter M. Wakeland, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Grand Ronde, Oregon; and Jay Ward, Oregon Natural Resources Council, Portland. 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.