[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 7, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D360-D363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2005 for 
the National Guard and Reserve, after receiving testimony from 
Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, ARNG, Chief, National Guard Bureau; 
Lieutenant General Roger C. Schultz, ARNG, Director, Army National 
Guard; Lieutenant General Daniel James III, ANG, Director, Air National 
Guard; Lieutenant General James R. Helmly, USAR, Chief, Army Reserve; 
Vice Admiral John G. Cotton, USNR, Chief, Naval Reserve; Lieutenant 
General Dennis M. McCarthy, USMCR, Commander, Marine Forces Reserve; 
and Lieutenant General James E. Sherrard III, USAFR, Chief, Air Force 
Reserve.
APPROPRIATIONS: IRS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury 
and General Government concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2005 for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 
focusing on tax law enforcement and information technology challenges, 
after receiving testimony from Mark W. Everson, Commissioner, Internal 
Revenue Service, and Pamela J. Gardiner, Acting Inspector General for 
Tax Administration, both of the Department of the Treasury.
APPROPRIATIONS: ARMY/NAVY MILITARY CONSTRUCTION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2005 for Army and Navy military construction programs, after 
receiving testimony from Geoffrey G. Prosch, Acting Assistant Secretary 
of the Army (Installations and Environment); Major General Larry J. 
Lust, Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, Department 
of the Army; Major General Walter F. Pudlowski, Jr., Special Assistant 
to the Director, Army National Guard; Brigadier General Gary M. Profit, 
Deputy Chief, Army Reserve; Hansford T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of 
the Navy (Installations and Environment); Rear Admiral Michael Loose, 
Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and Brigadier General 
Willie Williams, Assistant Deputy Commandant for Installations and 
Logistics (Facilities), U.S. Marine Corps.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine 
proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2005 for certain Department 
of Agriculture programs, after receiving testimony from Keith Collins, 
Chief Economist, J.B. Penn, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign 
Agriculture Services, Mark E. Rey, Under Secretary for Natural 
Resources and Environment, Joseph Jen, Under Secretary for Research, 
Education, and Economics, and Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Acting Under 
Secretary for Rural Development, all of the Department of Agriculture.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
open and closed hearings to examine the proposed Defense Authorization 
Request for fiscal year 2005, focusing on defense intelligence programs 
and lessons learned in recent military operations, after receiving 
testimony from Stephen A. Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for 
Intelligence, Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander, USA, Deputy Chief 
of Staff, G-2, Department of the Army; Rear Admiral Richard B. 
Porterfield, USN, Director of Naval Intelligence, Headquarters, U.S. 
Navy; Major General Ronald F. Sams, USAF, Director of Intelligence, 
Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Department of the Air Force; Michael 
H. Decker, Acting Director for Intelligence, Headquarters, U.S. Marine 
Corps; and Brigadier General Donald C.

[[Page D361]]

Wurster, USAF, Director for Intelligence and Information Operations, 
U.S. Special Operations Command.
NATIONAL BANK PREEMPTION RULES
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the National Bank Preemption Rules, focusing on 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rulemakings pertaining to the 
applicability of State laws to national banks, after receiving 
testimony from John D. Hawke, Jr., Comptroller of the Currency, 
Administrator of National Bank, Department of the Treasury; North 
Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, Raleigh; Gavin M. Gee, Idaho 
Department of Finance, Boise, on behalf of the Conference of State Bank 
Supervisors; Martin Eakes, Self-Help and Center for Responsible 
Lending, Durham, North Carolina; Joe Belew, Consumer Bankers 
Association, Arlington, Virginia; William M. Isaac, Secura Group, Falls 
Church, Virginia; and Walter T. McDonald, National Association of 
Realtors, Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., George Washington University Law 
Center, and James D. McLaughlin, American Bankers Association, all of 
Washington, D.C.
NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded a hearing to examine the 
nature and origin of Near Earth Objects (asteroids and periodic 
comets), including the potential hazard they may pose, after receiving 
testimony from G.W. Van Citters, Director, Division of Astronomical 
Sciences, National Science Foundation; Lindley N. Johnson, Program 
Scientist, Near Earth Object Observation Program, Office of Space 
Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Grant H. 
Stokes, Near-Earth Object Science Definition Team, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington; Michael D. 
Griffin, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, 
Maryland; and Rusty Schweickart and Edward Lu, both of B612 Foundation, 
Tiburon, California.
COAST GUARD OVERSIGHT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Oceans, Fisheries and Coast Guard concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine U.S. Coast Guard activities, readiness, mission balance, and 
the proposed budget request for fiscal year 2005, after receiving 
testimony from Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, 
Department of Homeland Security; and Margaret T. Wrightson, Director, 
Homeland Security and Justice Issues, General Accounting Office.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 1814, to transfer federal lands between the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior;
  S. 441, to direct the Administrator of General Services to convey to 
Fresno County, California, the existing Federal courthouse in that 
county, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2286, to designate the Orville Wright Federal Building and the 
Wilbur Wright Federal Building in Washington, District of Columbia; and
  The nominations of Stephen L. Johnson, of Maryland, to be Deputy 
Administrator, Ann R. Klee, of Virginia, and Benjamin Grumbles, of 
Virginia, each to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Charles Johnson, of Utah, to be Chief Financial 
Officer, all of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Gary Lee 
Visscher, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard 
Investigation Board.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DRINKING WATER
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Fisheries, 
Wildlife and Water concluded an oversight hearing to examine the 
detection of lead in District of Columbia drinking water, focusing on 
needed improvements in public communications and the status of short- 
and long-term solutions, after receiving testimony from Benjamin H. 
Grumbles, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, and Donald S. 
Welsh, Administrator, Region III, both of the Environmental Protection 
Agency; Thomas P. Jacobus, General Manager, Washington Aqueduct, 
Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Jerry N. Johnson, 
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, Daniel R. Lucey, 
District of Columbia Department of Health, Gloria Borland, Dupont 
Circle Parents, and Dana Best, Children's National Medical Center, all 
of Washington, D.C.; and Jody Lanard, Princeton, New Jersey.
MEDICAID HOME AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
strategies to improve access to Medicaid home and community based 
services, focusing on giving older Americans and people with 
disabilities greater choices by expanding access to community based 
services, including the President's New Freedom Initiative and related 
measures S. 971 and S. 1394, after receiving testimony from Senator 
Harkin;

[[Page D362]]

Dennis Smith, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and 
Human Services; Carol Novak, Member, National Council on Disability; 
Ray Gerke, Iowa Olmstead Real Choices Consumer Task Force, Perry; Bruce 
E. Darling, Center for Disability Rights, Rochester, New York, on 
behalf of the ADAPT Community; Di Findley, Iowa CareGivers Association, 
Des Moines; and Jan Moss, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the United Nations oil-for-food program to address the 
humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq, focusing on recent 
allegations of possible mismanagement and abuse with regard to the 
implementation of the program, after receiving testimony from John D. 
Negroponte and Patrick F. Kennedy, each a United States Representative 
to the United Nations, United States Mission to the United Nations, New 
York, New York; Robin L. Raphel, Iraq Reconstruction Coordinator, 
Department of State; Joseph A. Christoff, Director, International 
Affairs and Trade, General Accounting Office; and Michael J. Thibault, 
Deputy Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Department of Defense.
HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine a progress report on fighting HIV/AIDS 
in Africa, focusing on funding for international health care 
initiatives HIV counseling and testing, and antiretroviral therapy, 
after receiving testimony from Randall L. Tobias, U.S. Global AIDS 
Coordinator, Department of State; Jonathan H. Mermin, Public Health 
Epidemiologist, Country Director for GAP Uganda, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services; Ernest 
Darkoh, African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships, Gabarone, 
Botswana; and Lulu Oguda, Doctors Without Borders, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Marc McGowan Wall, of Virginia, to be 
Ambassador to Chad, John Campbell, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to 
Nigeria, and Scott H. DeLisi, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador to 
Eritrea, after each nominee testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.
POSTAL REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee continued hearings to 
examine U.S. Postal Service reform issues, focusing on the chairmen's 
perspective on governance and rate-setting, including the ability of a 
modern system of ratemaking to provide adequate public protection while 
affording management the flexibility to easily and quickly adjust rates 
as circumstances and customers needs require, after receiving testimony 
from George Omas, Chairman, United States Postal Rate Commission; and 
S. David Fineman, Chairman, United States Postal Service Board of 
Governors.
FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Financial 
Management, the Budget, and International Security concluded a hearing 
to examine S. 346, to amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
Act to establish a governmentwide policy requiring competition in 
certain executive agency procurements, after receiving testimony from 
Senators Thomas and Stabenow; Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal 
Bureau of Prisons, and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Prison 
Industries, Department of Justice; Jack R. Williams, Jr., Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Federal Supply Service (Region 3), General 
Services Administration; John M. Palatiello, Management Association for 
Private Photogrammetric Surveyors, Reston, Virginia, on behalf of the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Kurt Weiss, U.S. Business Interiors, 
Alexandria, Virginia, on behalf of the Office Furniture Dealers 
Alliance; Andrew S. Linder, Power Connector, Inc., Long Island, New 
York; and Philip W. Glover, Council of Prison Locals, American 
Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 
1955, to make technical corrections to laws relating to Native 
Americans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
NINTH CIRCUIT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight 
and the Courts concluded a hearing to examine a proposal to split the 
Ninth Circuit, focusing on the administrative aspects of a split, with 
reference to the most recent restructuring of a federal judicial 
circuit, including related measures S. 562 and S. 2278, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Murkowski; Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, Mary M. 
Schroeder, Richard C. Tallman, and J. Clifford Wallace, each a Circuit 
Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Gerald B. 
Tjoflat, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 
Circuit; and John C. Coughenour, Chief District Judge for the U.S. 
District Court for the Western District of Washington.

[[Page D363]]


GASOLINE PRICES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition 
Policy and Consumer Rights concluded a hearing to examine crude oil 
relating to higher gas prices, focusing on merger enforcement in the 
oil and gasoline industries, gasoline monitoring and investigation 
initiative, the effects of market concentration on gasoline prices, and 
``boutique fuels'', after receiving testimony from Senator Wyden; 
William E. Kovacic, General Counsel, Federal Trade Commission; John 
Felmy, American Petroleum Institute, and Mark Cooper, Consumer 
Federation of America, on behalf of Consumers Union, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Justine S. Hastings, Yale University Department of 
Economics, New Haven, Connecticut; and George A. Bermann, Columbia 
University School of Law, New York, New York.
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.