[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D763-D765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AMERICAN HOME FIRE SAFETY ACT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine home products fire safety issues, including a 
related measure, S. 1798, to provide for comprehensive fire safety 
standards for upholstered furniture, mattresses, bedclothing, and 
candles, after receiving testimony from Hal Stratton, Chairman, U.S. 
Consumer Product Safety Commission; John Dean, Maine State Fire 
Marshal, Augusta, on behalf of the National Association of State Fire 
Marshals; Norman Chapman, Inman Mills, Inman, South Carolina; Andy S. 
Counts, American Furniture Manufacturers Association, High Point, North 
Carolina; Robert Higgins, Candle-Lite, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, on behalf 
of the National Candle Association; and Al Klancnik, Serta, Inc., 
Itasca, Illinois.
ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded a hearing to examine adult 
stem cell research issues, focusing on ethical, medical, and political 
implications, therapeutic and human cloning, and neurodegenerative 
disorders, including Parkinson's Disease, after receiving testimony 
from Michel F. Levesque, University of California at Los Angeles School 
of Medicine; Jean D. Peduzzi-Nelson, University of Alabama at 
Birmingham Department of Physiological Optics; Irving Weissman, 
Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Pathology, 
Stanford, California; Robert A. Goldstein, Juvenile Diabetes Research 
Foundation International, New York, New York; Laura Dominguez, San 
Antonio, Texas; Susan Fajt, Austin, Texas; and Dennis Turner, San 
Clemente, California.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following bills:
  S. 203, to open certain withdrawn land in Big Horn County, Wyoming, 
to locatable mineral development for bentonite mining, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 931, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a 
program to reduce the risks from and mitigate the effects of avalanches 
on visitors to units of the National Park System and on other 
recreational users of public land, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1211, to further the purposes of title XVI of the Reclamation 
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the 
Secretary of the Interior to undertake a demonstration program for 
water reclamation in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2052, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate El 
Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 265, to expand the boundary of the Mount Rainier National Park;
  S. 2167, to establish the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in 
the States of Washington and Oregon, with an amendment;
  S. 2173, to further the purposes of the Sand Creek Massacre National 
Historic Site Establishment Act of

[[Page D764]]

2000, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2285, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a parcel 
of real property to Beaver County, Utah, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 2287, to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of 
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State of 
Louisiana, with an amendment;
  S. 2460, to provide assistance to the State of New Mexico for the 
development of comprehensive State water plans, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2508, to redesignate the Ridges Basin Reservoir, Colorado, as Lake 
Nighthorse, with an amendment;
  S. 2511, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a 
feasibility study of a Chimayo water supply system, to provide for the 
planning, design, and construction of a water supply, reclamation, and 
filtration facility for Espanola, New Mexico, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 2543, to establish a program and criteria for National Heritage 
Areas in the United States, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 1284, to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the Federal share of the costs of 
the San Gabriel Basin demonstration project, with an amendment.
  H.R. 1616, to authorize the exchange of certain lands within the 
Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site for lands owned by 
the City of Atlanta, Georgia; and
  H.R. 3768, to expand the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, 
Florida.
FEDERAL LANDS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands 
and Forests concluded a hearing to examine S. 2317, to limit the 
royalty on soda ash; S. 2353, to reauthorize and amend the National 
Geologic Mapping Act of 1992; H.R. 1189; to increase the waiver 
requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided 
to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands; and H.R. 2010, to protect the voting rights 
of members of the Armed Services in elections for the Delegate 
representing American Samoa in the United States House of 
Representatives, after receiving testimony from David B. Cohen, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs, and P. Patrick Leahy, 
Associate Director for Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, both of the 
Department of the Interior; Robert G. Marvinney, Maine State Geologist, 
Augusta on behalf of the Association of American State Geologists; 
James C. Cobb, Kentucky State Geologist, and University of Kentucky, 
Lexington; Michael K. Burd, United Steelworkers Union Local 13214 FMC 
Wyoming Alkali Plant and Mine, Green River, Wyoming; John F. McDermid, 
American Natural Soda Ash Corporation, Washington, D.C.; and Marion 
Loomis, Wyoming Mining Association, Cheyenne.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 2610, to 
implement the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
  Also, committee approved their recommendation for proposed 
legislation to implement the United States-Morocco Free Trade 
Agreement.
PAKISTAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine balancing reform and counterterrorism in Pakistan, focusing on 
U.S.-Pakistan relations and assess the Pakistan government's efforts to 
combat terrorism and implement reform, after receiving testimony from 
Teresita C. Shaffer, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 
and Marvin G. Weinbaum, Middle East Institute, both of Washington, 
D.C.; and Vali R. Nasr, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, 
California.
BALKANS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine U.S. policy toward Southeast Europe, focusing on efforts by 
countries in the Balkans to normalize their military relations with the 
U.S. and NATO, and to ensure regional stability, after receiving 
testimony from D. Kathleen Stephens, Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
State for South Central Europe; Mira R. Ricardel, Acting Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; James Dobbins, 
RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center, Arlington, 
Virginia; James C. O'Brien, The Albright Group LLC, Washington, D.C.; 
Ivan Vejvoda, Balkan Trust for Democracy, German Marshall Fund of the 
United States, Serbia and Montenegro; and Veton Surroi, KOHA Ditore, 
Pristina, Kosovo.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S.J. Res. 41, commemorating the opening of the National Museum of the 
American Indian, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1529, to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to include 
provisions relating to the payment

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and administration of gaming fees, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1530, to provide compensation to the Lower Brule and Crow Creek 
Sioux Tribes of South Dakota for damage to tribal land caused by Pick-
Sloan projects along the Missouri River, with amendments; and
  H.R. 2912, to reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the Osage 
Tribe to determine its membership and form of government.
AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-
341), after receiving testimony from Brian Pogue, Director, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, 
State and Private Forestry, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; 
Suzan Shown Harjo, The Morning Star Institute, Washington, D.C.; Walter 
Echo-Hawk, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, Colorado; Bernard Red 
Cherries, Jr., Northern Cheyenne Elk Society and Sundance Arrow, 
Valley, Washington; and Paul Bender, Arizona State University College 
of Law, Tempe.
DRUG IMPORTATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the implications of drug importation, focusing on the Prescription Drug 
Marketing Act of 1988, and on ways to make prescription drugs more 
affordable without jeopardizing patient safety or undermining 
incentives for the discovery of the next generation of therapies, and a 
related measure S. 2328, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs, after 
receiving testimony from Representative Sanders; Senators Nickles, 
Breaux, and Dorgan; William K. Hubbard, Associate Commissioner for 
Policy and Planning, and John Taylor, III, Associate Commissioner for 
Regulatory Affairs, both of the Food and Drug Administration, 
Department of Health and Human Services; Elizabeth G. Durant, Executive 
Director, Trade Compliance and Facilitation, Office of Field Operations 
at the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security; Rudolph W. Giuliani, Giuliani Partners LLC, New York, New 
York; Carmen A. Catizone, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, 
Park Ridge, Illinois; Elizabeth A. Wennar, HealthInova, Manchester, 
Vermont, on behalf of United Health Alliance; Joanne Disch, AARP, 
Washington, D.C.; Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, University of Minnesota 
College of Pharmacy, Minneapolis; and Kathleen D. Jaeger, Generic 
Pharmaceutical Association, Arlington, Virginia.
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine the Federal Election Commission, focusing on their 
enforcement and disclosure process relative to campaign finance, after 
receiving testimony from Senators McCain and Feingold; Bradley A. 
Smith, Chairman, Ellen L. Weintraub, Vice Chair, both of the Federal 
Election Commission; and Trevor Pott, Caplin and Drysdale, Benjamin L. 
Ginsburg, Patton Boggs LLP, and Robert F. Bauer, Perkins Coie LLP, all 
of Washington, D.C.