[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D683-D686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural 
Development, and Research held a hearing to review Agricultural 
Biotechnology. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, JUDICIARY AND RELATED AGENCIES; AGRICULTURE 
RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FDA AND RELATED AGENCIES; AND LEGISLATIVE 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Ordered reported the following 
appropriations for fiscal year 2005: Commerce, Justice, State, 
Judiciary and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food 
and Drug Administration and Related Agencies; and Legislative.
FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs

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approved for full Committee action the Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing and Related Programs appropriations for fiscal year 2005.
U.S. GLOBAL DEFENSE FOOTPRINT
Committee on Armed Services: Held a hearing on the U.S. global defense 
footprint. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Defense: Douglas J. Feith, Under Secretary, Policy; and 
LTG James E. Cartwright, USMC, Director, Force Structure, Resources and 
Assessment (J8), Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ray DuBois, Deputy Under 
Secretary, Installations and Environment; and Lincoln P. Bloomfield, 
Jr., Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 
Department of State.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Held a hearing entitled ``No 
Child Left Behind: Raising Student Achievement in America's Big City 
Schools.'' Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
TRAVEL, TOURISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and 
Consumer Protection held a hearing entitled ``Travel, Tourism, and 
Homeland Security: Improving Both without Sacrificing Either.'' 
Testimony was heard from C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., Assistant Secretary, 
Border and Transportation Security Directorate, Department of Homeland 
Security; and public witnesses.
PROTECTING HOMELAND SECURITY
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Telecommunications 
and the Internet held a hearing entitled ``Protecting Homeland 
Security: A Status Report on Interoperability Between Public Safety 
Communications Systems.'' Testimony was heard from David Boyd, Deputy 
Director, Office of Systems Engineering and Development, Department of 
Homeland Security; John B. Muleta, Bureau Chief, Wireless 
Telecommunications, FCC; Robert Legrande, Deputy Chief Technology 
Officer, District of Columbia; and a public witness.
PROMOTING HOMEOWNERSHIP
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Financial Institutions 
and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community 
Opportunity held a joint hearing entitled ``Promoting Homeownership by 
Ensuring Liquidity in the Subprime Mortgage Market.'' Testimony was 
heard from Pamela Kogut, Assistant Attorney General, State of 
Massachusetts; and public witnesses.
CONSULTING CONTRACT; D.C. DIRECT REPRESENTATION PROPOSALS
Committee on Government Reform: Approved a Consulting Contract.
  The Committee also held a hearing entitled ``Common Sense Justice for 
the Nation's Capital: An Examination of Proposals to Give D.C. 
Residents Direct Representation.'' Testimony was heard from 
Representatives Regula and Rohrabacher; the following officials of the 
District of Columbia: Anthony A. Williams, Mayor; and Linda W. Cropp, 
Chairman, Council; and public witnesses.
GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Technology, Information 
Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census held a hearing 
entitled ``Geospatial Information: Are we Headed in the Right Direction 
or Are We Lost?'' Testimony was heard from Karen S. Evans, 
Administrator, E-Government and Information Technology, OMB; Linda D. 
Koontz, Director, Information Management, GAO; Scott J. Cameron, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Performance and Management, Department of the 
Interior; William Allder, Jr., Director, Office of Strategic 
Transformation, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Department of 
Defense; and public witnesses.
STOLEN PASSPORTS
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on Stolen 
Passports: A Terrorist's First Class Ticket. Testimony was heard from 
Clark Kent Ervin, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security; 
Frank Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Passport Services, Bureau of 
Consular Affairs, Department of State; and James M. Sullivan, Director, 
U.S. National Central Bureau Interpol Criminal Police Organization, 
Department of Justice.
HONG KONG--RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Asia and the 
Pacific held a hearing on Recent Developments in Hong Kong. Testimony 
was heard from public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported, as amended, the following 
bills: H.R. 3247, Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the 
Improvement of Lands Act of 2003; H.R. 338, Defense of Privacy Act; 
H.R. 3632, Anti-Counterfeiting Amendments of 2003, and H.R. 2934, 
Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003.

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OVERSIGHT--DETRIMENTAL IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION BACKLOG
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration, Border 
Security, and Claims continued hearings on ``Families and Business 
Limbo: The Detrimental Impact of the Immigration Backlog.'' Testimony 
was heard from Prakash Khatri, Citizenship and Immigration Services 
Ombudsman, Department of Homeland Security; and public witnesses.
AMERICAN INDIAN REFORM ACT
Committee on Resources: Held a hearing on S. 1721, American Indian 
Probate Reform Act of 2003. Testimony was heard from Ross Swimmer, 
Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior; and 
public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--DEVELOPING BIOMASS POTENTIAL
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
an oversight hearing on Developing Biomass Potential: Turning Hazardous 
Fuels into Valuable Products. Testimony was heard from Chris Risbrudt, 
Director, Forests Products Laboratory, Forest Service, USDA; and public 
witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing 
on the following: H.R. 4300, Eastern Municipal Water District Recycled 
Water System Pressurization and Expansion Project; H.R. 4389, To 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct facilities to 
provide water for irrigation, municipal, domestic, military, and other 
uses from the Santa Margarita River, California; H.R. 4459, Llagas 
Reclamation Groundwater Remediation Initiative; and H.R. 4606, Southern 
California Groundwater Remediation Act. Testimony was heard from 
William Rinne, Deputy Commissioner, Director of Operations, Department 
of the Interior; and public witnesses.
SPENDING CONTROL ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by a vote of 9 to 2, a structured rule 
providing 1 hour of general debate on H.R. 4663, Spending Control Act 
of 2004, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Budget. The rule waives all 
points of order against the bill and against its consideration. The 
rule makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules 
Committee report accompanying the resolution. The rule provides that 
the amendments printed in the report shall be considered only in the 
order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated 
in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the 
time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall 
not be subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House 
or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule waives all points of order 
against the amendments printed in the report, except that upon adoption 
of an amendment in the nature of a substitute, only the last amendment 
printed in the report shall be in order. Finally, the rule provides one 
motion to recommit with or without instructions. Testimony was heard 
from Chairman Nussle and Representatives Gutknecht, Hastings of 
Washington, Hensarling, Brady of Texas, Kirk, Chocola, Ryan of 
Wisconsin, Neugebauer, Spratt, Thompson of California, Stenholm, Turner 
of Texas and Matheson.
SAME DAY CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION REPORTED BY THE RULES COMMITTEE 
RELATING TO THE ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2005
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule waiving clause 6(a) 
of rule XIII (requiring a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the 
same day it is reported from the Rules Committee) against certain 
resolutions reported from the Rules Committee. The rule applies the 
waiver to any special rule reported on the legislative day of Thursday, 
June 24, 2004, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4614) 
making appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal 
year ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes.
VETERANS' MATTERS
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Held a hearing entitled: ``Protecting 
the Rights of Those Who Protect Us: Public Sector Compliance with the 
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and 
Improvement of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,'' including 
discussion of the following: H.R. 3779, Safeguarding Schoolchildren of 
Deployed Soldiers Act of 2004; H.R. 4477, Patriotic Employer Act of 
2004; the USERRA Health Care Coverage Extension Act of 2004; and the 
Servicemembers Legal Protection Act of 2004. Testimony was heard from 
Representatives McGovern, Bradley of New Hampshire, Slaughter and Ginny 
Brown-Waite of Florida; Dan G. Blair, Deputy Director, OPM; Scott J. 
Bloch, Special Counsel, Office of Special Counsel; Craig W. Duehring, 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Reserve Affairs, Department of 
Defense; David C. Iglesias, U.S. Attorney, District of Mexico, 
Department of Justice; Charles S. Ciccolella, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Veterans' Employment and Training Service, Department of 
Labor; and public witnesses.

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COIN MEASURES; U.S.-AUSTRALIA FREE TRADE IMPLEMENTATION ACT
Committee on Ways and Means: Ordered reported, as amended, the 
following bills: H.R. 1914, Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative 
Coin Act of 2003; H.R. 2768, John Marshall Commemorative Coin Act; and 
H.R. 3277, Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act.
  The Committee also approved the draft implementing proposal on the 
United States-Australia Free Trade Implementation Act.

Joint Meetings
HIGHWAY TRUST FUND ACT
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate and House 
passed versions of H.R. 3550, to authorize funds for Federal-aid 
highways, highway safety programs, but did not complete action thereon, 
and will meet again on Wednesday, July 7, 2004.