[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 83 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D624-D626]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: HOMELAND SECURITY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved 
for full Committee consideration an original bill making appropriations 
for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2005.
VOIP REGULATORY FREEDOM ACT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine S. 2281, to provide a clear and unambiguous 
structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the 
offering or provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications, 
after receiving testimony from Laura H. Parsky, Deputy Assistant 
Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; James X. 
Dempsey, Center for Democracy and Technology, Washington, D.C.; Thomas 
Rutledge, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Bethpage, New York; David F. 
Jones, Spartanburg County Communications, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 
on behalf of the National Emergency Number Association; Stan Wise, 
Georgia Public Service Commission, Atlanta, on behalf of the National 
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; Jeff Pulver, 
pulver.com, Melville, New York; and Arturo ``Archie'' Macias, Wheat 
State Telephone

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Company, Udall, Kansas, on behalf of the Organization for the Promotion 
and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 155, to convey to the town of Frannie, Wyoming, certain land 
withdrawn by the Commissioner of Reclamation, with an amendment;
  S. 180, to establish the National Aviation Heritage Area, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 211, to establish the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area 
in the State of New Mexico;
  S. 323, to establish the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, 
Louisiana, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1241, to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the 
State of New York, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1467, to establish the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area in the 
State of Colorado, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1521, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 
land to the Edward H. McDaniel American Legion Post No. 22 in Pahrump, 
Nevada, for the construction of a post building and memorial park for 
use by the American Legion, other veterans' groups, and the local 
community, with an amendment;
  S. 1727, to authorize additional appropriations for the Reclamation 
Safety of Dams Act of 1978, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1957, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with 
the States on the border with Mexico and other appropriate entities in 
conducting a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, and modeling 
program for priority transboundary aquifers, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 2046, to authorize the exchange of certain land in Everglades 
National Park, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2180, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain 
lands in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in the State of 
Colorado, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2243, to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a 
hydroelectric project in the State of Alaska;
  S. 2319, to authorize and facilitate hydroelectric power licensing of 
the Tapoco Project, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 1648, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey 
certain water distribution systems of the Cachuma Project, California, 
to the Carpinteria Valley Water District and the Montecito Water 
District;
  H.R. 1658, to amend the Railroad Right-of-Way Conveyance Validation 
Act to validate additional conveyances of certain lands in the State of 
California that form part of the right-of-way granted by the United 
States to facilitate the construction of the transcontinental railway, 
with an amendment;
  H.R. 1732, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study 
and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
participate in the Williamson County, Texas, Water Recycling and Reuse 
Project;
  H.R. 3209, to amend the Reclamation Project Authorization Act of 1972 
to clarify the acreage for which the North Loup division is authorized 
to provide irrigation water under the Missouri River Basin project; and
  The nomination of Suedeen G. Kelly, of New Mexico, to be a Member of 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
AGRICULTURE FINANCING INTEGRITY
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine measures 
to strengthen regulations and oversight to better ensure agriculture 
financing integrity, focusing on a GAO report that evaluated 
qualifications and oversight associated with farm entity financing, 
specifically unlimited farm payments that have placed upward pressure 
on land prices leading to overproduction and lower commodity prices, 
after receiving testimony from Lawrence J. Dyckman, Director, Natural 
Resources and Environment, General Accounting Office.
U.S. NONPROLIFERATION POLICY
Committee on Foreign Relations: on Tuesday, June 15, Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the Sea Island G8 Summit status report 
on the global partnership against weapons of mass destruction, focusing 
on the Nunn-Lugar program and related programs at the Departments of 
State and Energy to improve the United States' nonproliferation agenda, 
after receiving testimony from Senator Domenici; John R. Bolton, Under 
Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security; and 
Linton F. Brooks, Administrator, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, Department of Energy.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Charles P. Ries, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to Greece, Tom C. Korologos, of the District 
of Columbia, to be Ambassador to Belgium, who was introduced by 
Senators Hatch, Bennett, McCain, Byrd,

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and Stevens, and John Marshall Evans, of the District of Columbia, to 
be Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, after each nominee testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 297, to provide reforms and resources to the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs to improve the Federal acknowledgement process, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1696, to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act to provide further self-governance by Indian tribes, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1715, to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act to provide further self-governance by Indian tribes, 
with amendments;
  S. 2172, to make technical amendments to the provisions of the Indian 
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act relating to contract 
support costs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2277, to amend the Act of November 2, 1966 (80 Stat. 1112), to 
allow binding arbitration clauses to be included in all contracts 
affecting the land within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Reservation, and motion to authorize the chairman to issue subpoenas in 
regards to tribal lobbying matters; to be followed by an oversight 
hearing to examine the No Child Left Behind Act (Public Law 107-110); 
and
  S. 2436, to reauthorize the Native American Programs Act of 1974.
  Also, Committee met in closed session to discuss the issuance of 
subpoenas, in regard to tribal lobbying matters.
OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE ANGOSTURA IRRIGATION PROJECT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 1996, to enhance and provide to the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Angostura 
Irrigation Project certain benefits of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 
basin program, after receiving testimony from Senator Daschle; Ross 
Mooney, Acting Director of Trust Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Department of the Interior; and John Yellow Bird Steele, Oglala Sioux 
Tribe, and Valerie Janis, The Red Shirt District, both of Pine Ridge, 
South Dakota.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the No Child Left Behind Act (Public Law 107-110), focusing 
on the implementation of the Act in Indian communities, after receiving 
testimony from Theresa Rosier, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary of 
Indian Affairs, and Edward Parisian, Director, Office of Indian 
Education Programs, both of the Department of the Interior; Victoria 
Vasques, Deputy Under Secretary and Director of the Office of Indian 
Education, and Darla Marberger, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Elementary and Secondary Education, both of the Department of 
Education; Lillian Sparks, National Indian Education Association, 
Alexandria, Virginia; Carmen Cornelius Taylor, National Indian School 
Board Association, Polson, Montana; Roger Bordeaux, Tiospa Zina Tribal 
School, Agency Village, South Dakota, on behalf of the Association of 
Community Tribal Schools, Inc.; Terry Ben, Mississippi Band of Choctaw 
Indians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Leland Leonard, Navajo Nation, 
Window Rock, Arizona.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Richard A. Griffin, of Michigan, who was introduced 
by Representative Camp, and David W. McKeague, of Michigan, who was 
introduced by Representative Mike Rogers (MI), each to be a United 
States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, and Virginia Maria 
Hernandez Covington, to be United States District Judge for the Middle 
District of Florida, who was introduced by Senator Nelson (FL), after 
each nominee testified and answered questions in their own behalf. 
Testimony was also received from Senators Levin and Stabenow on the 
nominations of Messrs. Griffin and McKeague.